Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

If you're having problems please don't take my comments the wrong way. I'm trying to help. But after years of reading through so many comments where peeps complain about, "This dishwasher is junk! If you leave dirty dishes in it for a few days it stinks!" (actual, word-for-word complaint!) I feel compelled to shake my head and try to help the less inclined. Maybe this will help you avoid a call to some offshore help center. This is a floor scrubber, not a vacuum cleaner you yank back and forth as fast as you can, leaving most of the dirt in the rug but you just can't see how poor of a job you're doing. Think of it as you would a carpet cleaner. First, use the vacuum only (selector switch/knob) to pick up loose dirt then empty the cup (or not, but dumping it first will result in less garbage in the brushes and less nastiness when emptying the dirt and liquid.) After dry vacuuming move the selector to 'Wash'. Pull the trigger as you move the cleaner forward. The slower you move the unit, the more water that will be dispensed - kind of a 'duh' thing, right? Release the trigger about four inches before you reach as far as you intend to go. Begin pulling the cleaner back, over the same path, and do not pull the trigger while doing so. This is when the scrubbers do most of their work. Don't pull too fast, about 2-3 seconds per foot works well as long as your floor isn't totally grubby (most household floor tiles are 12", so count "1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi..." per tile.) This will allow the scrubbers to do their job and the vacuum to suck up the dirty water. If you think there's too much water left behind read below to be sure the trash bin and nozzle are installed properly. If those are o.k., take a second pass without pulling the trigger and dumping more water. (duh, again) If you can't figure that out, turn the selector to 'DRY' and make a few more passes. I've read some complain that it worked fine the first time but wouldn't suck anything up after that. Well, what changed since the first time you used it? Hopefully you emptied the trash bucket! However, you must not have snapped the filter lid back on correctly. If you look closely you'll see there are two tabs on its front edge that need to be engaged. Chances are you missed them and it's sucking air from there instead of from the floor squeegee/nozzle. Or maybe you didn't quite get the dirt bucket pushed back and sealed properly to the rubber gasket on the cleaner. Any little thing that allows it to suck air before it gets to the nozzle will reduce vacuum considerably. Keep that in mind when re-assembling after cleaning. Likewise, if you continue to vacuum over rough surfaces, legos, gravel, concrete, etc. you'll damage the squeege edges on the nozzle and reduce its ability to suck up the water. If you see large streaks (there will normally be some dampness left behind), you have reduced vacuum, a damaged squeegee, vacuuming a rough or uneven surface or are just pulling it back too fast. If you're leaving tire/wheel marks you may have so much dirt/hair wrapped around the wheels they can't spin freely. Water leaking all over? I'd be looking at where the fresh water tank clips in. Is the little 'o'-ring missing or damaged? Are you absolutely certain you have it installed correctly? Do you think this is more work than mopping or using a wet Swiffer? Well, you're probably right. But then you probably also don't care that all you've been doing is smearing dirty water around on your floor. The only way to do better than this machine is to get on your hands and knees with a scrub brush and a stack of towels. BTW, in case you didn't notice... 'Vacuum' lifts the squeegee up, the brushes spin and the vacuum sucks up dirt. The brushes barely, if at all, touch the floor. 'Wash' lowers the squeegee and brushes to the floor. 'Dry' kills the brushes and leaves the squeegee on the floor to suck up water. Empty both of the tanks when finished. Clean the brushes. Wash the filter. Leaving water and dirt to dry will just lead to problems later, not to mention a stinky closet (or wherever you store it.) It will only take you a couple minutes. Leave the filter out to dry, clipping it back in will probably end up growing something that will smell and reduce suction. For those that are contemplating buying this machine, I think it works great. Although I haven't had it for a long time I can say it has done well for me - so far. Considering that a cheap vacuum cleaner normally costs this much, it's a pretty good deal. No slogging buckets, smearing dirty water around and calling it clean (enough.) No stuffing a wet mop in a closet afterward. I keep a fairly tidy house, it's just me - no kids, no pets (well, the fish don't track much dirt in) and it still sucked up enough dirt to grow tomatoes. Well, maybe not, but it was impressive. (read:yuck! LOL)