If there's one thing I really hate doing, it's housework. I'm sure this revelation doesn't exactly make me all that unique but it's true nonetheless and almost certainly something you can relate to. However there is one specific household job I loathe above most others and that is cleaning the windows. You see at least with other jobs, the end result is positive; when I iron my clothes they go from being messy to being neat, when I clean my kitchen counters they go from dirty to clean. That’s not the case with cleaning windows because when I’ve actually bothered to do it, they’ve always gone from being dirty to being clean but covered in so many streaks they actually look worse than when I started. If there’s anything more galling than wasting precious time doing boring chores, it’s doing them for no real benefit.
When I saw the new Kärcher Window Vac advertised I was immediately interested. The Vac is a handheld suction device that claims to leave windows completely streak free after cleaning. Naturally I was dubious, after all I’ve fallen prey to these kinds of claims before (how many magical fluids do you have in your home right now simply because they’ve claimed to do something miraculous, only to fail spectacularly? (I’m looking at you frizz reducing hair serum...) However I wanted to test these claims for myself, so I contacted Kärcher and they kindly sent me a Vac to try out at home. Firstly, the Vac is incredibly easy to use and also light enough that I can carry it around the house without feeling like I’m lifting weights, even when it’s full of water at the end of a mammoth cleaning session. Tech wise it’s quite simple, a suction device attached to a rubber nozzle that simply sucks up the water (or any liquid) quickly before it has a chance to leave marks on your surfaces, which is where most streaks come from. To clean windows you spray on your chosen detergent, clean with a cloth and then use the Vac to suck off the remaining moisture. It’s fast too -- I cleaned a pair of patio doors in under three minutes which is fairly akin to a miracle in my eyes, especially as these windows were filthy thanks to my cats and toddler putting their noses all over them. Noise-wise it’s a bit quieter than my hoover which means I’ll be able to use it during nap time without worrying about waking my son up which is always a bonus.
But what about the big question: Does it actually leave your windows streak free? Yes, it does!
Providing you use it correctly, it leaves windows and more completely streak free -- a product that actually lives up to its advertising hype, whoever imagined such a thing? Unfortunately, one thing I discovered on testing the Vac for this review is that it’s nigh on impossible to take photos of the cleanliness or otherwise of glass. It is possible however to take photos of stainless steel, on which the Window Vac also works exceptionally well. I took these two photos of the waste bin in one of our bathrooms which I cleaned twice. The first time around I cleaned it and used paper towels to dry it off, this left it covered in streaks no matter how hard I tried to avoid them. I re-cleaned the bin in exactly the same way (same cleaning product and cloth) and used the Window Vac to dry it which left no streaks. These photos have had their contrast boosted and have been sharpened identically in order to show the difference more clearly. However, no alterations to the images themselves have been made.
The Window Vac can be used for other tasks besides cleaning windows and stainless steel. Mirrors, shower doors and tiles can all be dried streak-free using the Vac, you can also use it to get rid of condensation which isn’t a problem in my house but could be very useful indeed in older houses prone to damp. It can also be used to rapidly mop up spills on hard floors without needing to use paper towels or cloths. For anyone with toddlers or pets, this could be the miracle you’ve been waiting for as wet paw prints and spilled milk vanish in seconds. As with the glass cleaning I was highly doubtful of the picture on the website that shows someone easily sucking up a spilled glass of red wine so I tested it out myself using a glass of water (dyed with some blue food coloring so it would show up on camera) and you can see the result below, just as good as advertised.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7QaKwnLCB0[/youtube]
I also tested the Vac out on our car. I mentioned before about needing to use the Vac properly to get the streak free results. Basically that means the nozzle head of the Vac needs to be pressed completely flat against the surface you are trying to clean. This means that any surface which is not completely flat, such as the undulating surface of our car’s hood, won’t clean as perfectly as a flat window. The Vac still does a great job on these surfaces, you just may find a few streaks where it lifted away from the surfaces. I found a similar problem with a few of our smaller windows where the nozzle head was just a little too wide to fit inside the frame so one side was always lifted away from the glass. Some newer editions of the Window Vac now come with a smaller nozzle head attachment, and if you already own one you can also buy these smaller heads as an accessory -- if you have small windows then this is almost certainly worth the extra money. If you clean your own car then the Vac is a very useful tool to have if you want to avoid streaks on your pride and joy, and as the nozzle head is made from soft rubber it won't damage your paintwork.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oil3lr1b4kw[/youtube]
The Window Vac is not a cheap addition to your household arsenal. In fact, at around $70 it’s probably one of the most expensive cleaning gadgets you’ll own. Whether it’s worth purchasing is almost certainly going to depend on your home and how you run it. If you wash your own windows, own a conservatory, have big mirrored wardrobes in your bedroom or have an indoor pool, chances are the Vac will be worth its weight in gold just for the time it will save you. For those in smaller homes or apartments it’s probably less valuable, but it still has plenty of uses in such dwellings such as cleaning up after children or helping you wash the car. I’m a huge fan of the Window Vac even with my small (certainly by American size standards) house because it saves me time, and for me that’s the biggest benefit any product can give me.
A Window Vac was provided free by Kärcher for this review.
