The downstairs of our house is all laid with hard flooring, which is great with a young family as it is easier to clean any spills.
My only frustration with it, is that I have to sweep, or vacuum and then mop it which doubles the cleaning time.
Earlier this month I was sent the Karcher FC5 Hard Floor cleaner which promises to cut my cleaning time in half as it vacuums and mops all in one action.
The Karcher FC 5 requires light assembly, simply slot the handle to the main unit, pop it in its stand, fill the water tank and you are ready to go.
The machine is suitable to use on many types of hard floors including laminate, lino, marble, tile, stone and sealed wood.
The innovative SmartRoller technology vacuums up dust, small debris and pet hair, whilst controlling the flow of water to clean your hard floors gently yet effectively.
We have a mixture of lino and tile flooring throughout the house and I was very impressed with how effective the cleaner was. Our kitchen tiles were in the house when we bought it and no amount of mopping seems to make them look good, but the FC5 has brought them up beautifully.
I was also really impressed that the machine does not need a lot of water. Included in the box was a small tester of their Universal Hard Floor Detergent, to help cut through grime and give a fresh citrus scent, but you can use the machine with just water. After cleaning the floor with the FC5 the floor was dry and streak free within a couple of minutes.
How does the Karcher FC5 Work
The machine has two micro-fibre rollers on the bottom which spin at 500rpm. These forward rotating rollers make the machine move across the floor almost by itself which takes some getting used to.
These rollers are can be easily removed and rinsed after use and are machine washable up to 60°C. They are colour coded so you put them back on the correct side and replacements are available to buy at £20.99
The cleaning head has a flexible hinge, which makes it easier to move around objects, clean under furniture and it also cleans right up to the edge.
It also has a two-tank system for keeping the clean and dirty water separate. Both tanks are easy to remove and once you have finished cleaning, you simply empty the dirty water tank, rinse it out and pop back in and you are ready to start again.
My Verdict
The machine is quite noisy and heavy to use – it does feel like it is running away from you, but I like the fact that it vacuums and mops at the same time. I have found that you have to keep the handle fairly low to keep the rollers rotating properly. Angle it to high and they tend to stick.
That said, I was really impressed with how well it cleaned the floors, although for heavy soiling you would need to vacuum or sweep the floor first and it is quite bulky to store.
The Karcher FC5 has an RRP of £249.99 but I have seen it quite a bit cheaper if you shop around.
I’ve also been trialling this out the last few weeks and found there are pluses and minuses to it, for me it is too heavy but the floors do look sparkling after and I love that they are almost dry straight away. Mich x
That’s a shame that it’s been a little heavy and noisy but if it cuts cleaning time it’s working out whether it’s worth it. Wooden flooring is much easier to keep clean than carpets though x
Yikes about the noise and the heaviness but it does look like a good cleaner! Also love the fact that it does two things in one go!
Sounds like a brilliant product for cleaning floors. Would love to try it for sure. I like products that make my life easier.
This sounds like a fabulous cleaner, although a bit on the pricey side. Sounds like a good investment though.
I would love to buy one of these as we have a new puppy coming home shortly. The noise may discourage us from choosing this model though.
My mum used to have wooden flooring and this would of saved her so much time as she used to hoover then damp mop it then sweep, she had 3 dogs in the house so it was a lot of work. She has carpet now and 4 dogs which is still a pain.
We have recently changed from carpet to wood floors and this sounds good – a little pricey though!
I love that it mops and vacuums at the same time, what a massive time saver. If I had the money spare, I’d probably look into it but I think buying a mop and a brush is a lot cheaper. It sounds good though, I’m just poor haha!
Kind of reminds me of one of those things school caretakers used to use? I always wanted one of them! 😀 I might well invest in one of these as the whole of our downstairs in our new house has hardwood and tile floors…
This looks like an awesome vacuum cleaner. I love that it vacuums and mops at the same time. It’s so efficient.
Hopefully they will make a lighter model next time. I like that it hoovers and mood though
This does seem like a great idea for cleaning hard floors. Ideal that you can run it just with water in it too. I’m a little put off with the price, the weight that you mention and the fact that it is another thing that needs storing.
This is a little out of my price bracket unfortunately – I have a mop and bucket, so will probably stick with that for now. But maybe I’ll ask for something like this as a present 🙂 x
I love that this product vacuums and mops. Two in ones are always a bonus! 🙂
Map and vacuum in one? That’s interesting. Glad to know your review on the product. MAybe it’s worth a try 🙂
This looks good, we have hard flooring downstairs too so could work in our house too.
Yikes about the noise and the heaviness but it does look like an awesome cleaner! Also love the reality that it does two things in a single cross!
After a long search, I found this !!!
Really informative content. All of our floors are either hardwood or ceramic tile. I have the Swiffer mop and it is such a money pit because you have to spend so much money on the pads that can only be used once!
I hope you will write this kind of content more. Thanks.