Shark HydroVac Cordless Hard Floor Cleaner with Antimicrobial Brush-Roll & Odour-Neutralising Multi-Surface Solution, Self-Cleaning, Vacuums & Mops Wet & Dry Messes, Grey WD210UK

I always rely on reviews to guide me through a purchase of this kind, so here's my experience. I've got quite a large area of stone floor to keep clean and with two labradors, it needs doing regularly. Prior to this purchase, it needed a vacuum, followed by a manual mop, which takes quite a while and is also is pretty taxing. The Shark does a really good job of performing both tasks, simultaneously. I went for the cordless version and for the money, I'm very happy. I didn't find it noisy and it's both light and manoeuvrable. I guess I should have expected the vacuum aspect to be good, but it really is very effective indeed. The mopping function is also pretty good, especially if you do the floors regularly. One thing to be aware of, is it doesn't lie flat to go right under sofas and furniture. A few quick practical bits; the assembly takes 10 seconds - slot the handle in and place the unit on it's charger. The fresh water/cleaning solution container, runs out 3/4 through cleaning my floors, but takes a few seconds to refill and you're off again. The battery lasts long enough, which is the main thing. Cleaning the unit after use is quick and simple. The reviews are correct regarding the fact the mop doesn't get right to the edge, but it's not a deal breaker and I suspect a very occasional manual mop, will be a good idea. One more thing... I looked at these gadgets for ages. There were some with apps, digital displays, bells and whistles, for £500+. I was put off by stories of reliability issues, problems getting service and parts etc. Having had a very good Shark vacuum, I was confident in the quality, back-up and spares situation, so am happy with my choice.

Brilliant piece of equipment . Easy to use and self cleaning. Perfect as I can't kneel to clean floors.

I’ve had the hydrovac for about 2 months now so I can write a fair review. First off, it’s a brilliant idea and saves a lot of time, space and your own energy! The fact that you can take apart the roller and filters to clean them manually is nice as I soak them in diluted zoflora in the sink. Personally, I do this every time I use it to maintain the cleanliness of everything. The self cleaning function ensures that the insides of the hydrovac where you cannot get to, like the pipes, are kept clean and fresh. It does also clean the roller, I just like to have peace of mind that it is properly sanitised. Performance wise, it does the job… mostly! The vacuum suction isn’t as strong as it is on my regular shark hoover, but I guess it wouldn’t work as a mop if it was. However it picks up most debris that is lurking about, that you probably wouldn’t see if you were brushing or vacuuming before regular mopping. The performance of the mop is good. It leaves the floors very clean. I’m always disgusted by the black water at the end! It you do have a stubborn or sticky mark you may need to go over it a couple of times until it is completely gone, but you’d also need to do that with a regular mop. This just takes away the physical energy of doing it. It leaves the floors slightly damp but it’s usually completely dry within 2 minutes. The head is narrow enough to squeeze into the smaller areas in my house, like between my toilet and sink (obviously this depends on your layout) which I was concerned it might not be. I also have a smaller downstairs toilet where I was surprised it managed to fit. You can use it on carpets or rugs to “freshen” them up. I did this a few times to see if it made any difference, but in my opinion, I didn’t notice them being any fresher or fluffed up. The weight is that of a regular upright vacuum cleaner. The charge lasts a good 45 to 60 min. Noise is around the same as a regular vacuum, if anything, maybe a tiny bit louder when it is doing the self clean, which lasts around two or so minutes. The charging stand has designated space for the roller and filter to air dry. And it is very easy to place the machine on charge. It simply just sits on, no fiddling around with it not being on properly or knack to make it stable. To set the self clean mode just press the button. And if you forget how the directions or on top of the machine. It is a very easy to use machine, literally only to buttons, one power button and the refresh mode button. Emptying the dirty water tank is very easy, just a little pull to take out and it very easily clicks back in. I must say I’d give it 10/10 for user friendliness. It comes with a small bottle of cleaning solution. It smells fresh and clean and does leave the floor clean however, the bigger bottles are expensive for what it is. I’m sure there are others that would do the same job for a lot less. Also, something that bugs me is I’m not sure if it’s antibacterial. I know the roller is supposedly got anti bacterial properties but I’d also like to be reassured with an anti bacterial solution. I have considered putting a diluted zoflora mix in instead of the shark solution, but I worry that this might invalidate the guarantee if anything breaks in the future. So why not 5 stars? There is definitely room for improvement… When mopping, it doesn’t quite manage to get right up to the edges. This doesn’t matter too much to me as I clean the base boards and skirting boards afterwards anyway, so a little wipe of the edges it has missed doesn’t bother me much. The charging stand has to be near a plug and therefore needs to be left out. If you don’t have a utility room like me then it’s left out on view. Mine is in a corner of the kitchen. I would prefer it to have the removable battery pack, like on cordless shark vacuums, and then have the little drying spaces for the roller and filter on board the machine. For the price, I think it could come with an extra roller so you can have one for bathroom and one for kitchen. Although these are available to buy separately. However, I do like the fact that I no longer have to store a big mop and bucket and have to put a lot of effort into physical mopping as I have a very bad back, which was my main reason for purchasing. Overall, it’s very handy, it saves me a lot of time and saves my back too. I’d especially recommend it if you struggle with physical activity due to pain etc…

To add to this - it did start flashing the dirty water indicator when in use. Emptying it did not do anything. I then took the tank and separator off and washed them throughly. I also took the roller off and washed it by hand. I cleaned out the pipe behind the roller and found some debris in there. I let everything dry and reassembled it and it's now working perfectly. I think what I've learned is not to rely in the self-clean - give it a good manual clean every now and then. I bought this with trepidation as I was really struggling with the mops and buckets of mucky water on our hard floors. I shouldn't have worried - it was so easy right out of the box. Really easy to put together - no struggling with difficult fittings and no bits that don't seem to fit anywhere. After a charge on its dock it was ready to go. A small bottle of the detergent comes with it, but I ordered a full size one as well. There is a line that you fill it up to and it doesn't use a huge amount each time. It uses very little water, in fact the floor dries very quickly and there is a slight but pleasant smell of the detergent. It's unbelievable how clean it gets it - the dirty water tank is really dirty, and I thought my floors weren't that bad. Pushing it is really easy, no struggle, and the light is most useful. When you've finished, empty the dirty water out - I take it outside as it looks too filthy to put down the sink. I then take the tank out and clean out any solid such as cat hair and fluff before putting the thing on to self-clean. I also remove bits of hair etc from the roller. The self-clean is dramatic, effective and quick. I leave the roller to dry for a while then put it back in, leave to recharge and it's ready for next time. By the way the cat is fascinated by it - goes to stare at it frequently.