Test of the Thomas PARKETT MASTER XT vacuum cleaner: freedom from everyday cleaning

Autumn turning to winter. Rain, snow, mud – the creepy outdoors. The dog is shedding and preparing a new coat for winter. In my rustic house with wooden floors is the process of absorbing by these very floors of all that we bring from the street on the shoes and what flies off the dog. No, we are normal people and change shoes in the hallway, and wash the dog’s paws. But through the hallway we go to another part of the house, and the long-haired dog runs everywhere freely, carrying dirt wherever he wants. Dust and hair fly in the air, the result of cleaning is visible exactly half a day, no more. In general, I’m almost reconciled. And then THOMAS arrived.

The THOMAS PARKETT MASTER XT wet and dry vacuum cleaner with Aqua-Box water filtration system and HEPA dust bag

Specifications

POWER: Max 1700 Watt.

FILTERING: multi-stage water filtration Aqua-Box, washable EPA filter, micro filter blown air, HEPA dust bag. Filter fine filter EPA does not require replacement at least 1 year, and in the case of contamination can be washed under running water.

CONTROL AND INDICATION: 4-step adjustable electronic capacity control, waterproof buttons of electronic capacity control on the body, eco-mode, light indication of power levels, mechanical valve for airflow adjustment on the handle.

CONSTRUCTION: tank of 2 liters for collecting liquids, front wheels adapted for overcoming obstacles, large-diameter rear wheels with rubber rims, cord auto winding, cord length 8 m, telescopic tube of stainless steel, a range of 11 m, 2 “sockets” for storing nozzles on the body, the hose can rotate 360 degrees.

COMPLETE: switchable “floor-cleaner” nozzle, natural hair bristle nozzle for parquet and laminate, “Aqua Stealth” nozzle with 2 “cushions” of microfiber for wet cleaning of parquet and laminate, turbo brush for soft furniture, nozzle for soft furniture with thread lifter, Extended 360 mm slot nozzle, wet mopping nozzle with adapter for carpet and hard surfaces, wet mopping nozzle for upholstered furniture, THOMAS ProTex carpet cleaning concentrate, branded storage bag for accessories.

DIMENSIONS: 486x318x306 mm. WEIGHT of the device itself : 8 kg.

WARRANTY: 2 years.

COUNTRY OF MANUFACTURER: Germany.

Test #1 – general and about everything: cleaning, cleaning, the result

To be honest, at first I was just happy about such a powerful vacuum cleaner, not even going into all the details of its construction and equipment. I poured water into the Aquabox, turned it on full power – and the trash whistled in the tube. And that’s after a couple of hours of cleaning – I vacuumed because I didn’t know that the Thomas was coming that day. What can I say, my vacuum cleaner may only pick up surface dirt, but this one does it all – and we have lots of those cracks.

The nozzle for parquet and wooden floors with natural bristles helped a lot: it sweeps and sucks, and the wood is not scratched. I like it very much that the high power makes it go fast: I don’t have to move the nozzle back and forth about ten times. Especially valuable if the area to be cleaned is large. I have it is 120 square meters. The power can be adjusted – for this there are rubberized buttons on the body – big, with a light indication. A small disadvantage is – I think they are a bit tight. This rules out accidental switching, but still…

By the way, you should not use the maximum power constantly: for usual cleaning the eco-mode is quite enough. The strength of the air flow is mechanically adjusted right on the handle: you can not bend over the buttons and temporarily reduce the suction power. The manufacturer claims that it does not fall over throughout the cleaning process. It would be more correct to say that it is reduced slightly if the Aquabox is already full, as it was in my case.

Interestingly, I did not expect this at all: it is quite large, several liters, and the house was cleaned in the morning. I actually had to clean the Aquabox and change the water after cleaning the first floor 70 square meters, about 30 minutes , but I could tell that I needed to do this because the suction power dropped a little, about 30 minutes after I started.

In my case, there was a lot of dog hair in the dirt collected, which clings to the inner sides of the Aquabox, and soil – there are cracks in the boarded floor. We have our own sewer – I’m afraid to throw such clumpy clumps of dirt there. Wearing a rubber glove, I just removed the main mass, and then did as recommended: added water, shook, poured into the toilet.

Well, what can I say? THOMAS freed me from cleaning for about three days. I could breathe much easier, the air was more humid and the water filtration system helped to clean in a much more effective way than usual. In fact, these results are usually after a general cleaning.

Test #2 – “Guest on the Doorstep

This is usually the name of a light and quick dish which a housewife cooks in 15 minutes when the joyful voice of her mother-in-law, her husband’s friends or the children’s classmates keeps ringing in the telephone: “Here we go, we’ll be right back!”. For me, it is not very actual – a lot of supplies, pickles, cooking, but to put an express cleaning is very, very necessary.

A large dust bag is included for this purpose. It sets up quickly, no water handling required, and you can vacuum with it again after the guests leave. And it’s also indispensable if you spill anything: you don’t need an Aquabox at all to pick up flour, grits or tea from the floor. When taken out after use, the bag has a closed inlet – and you can store it until the next express cleaning.

Well, since the “guest on the doorstep” during the test appeared more than once, the bag had to be used as intended. By the way, it’s not even a third full.

Test #3.Wet mopping

Nozzles for wet cleaning in the set as much as three – for carpets and hard surfaces it’s such a nozzle “2 in 1” with an adapter for cleaning tiles, glass, linoleum, etc. .p. , the nozzle for wet cleaning of furniture, Aqua Stealth nozzle with a microfiber pad for wet cleaning of parquet. The way all the nozzles work is that clean water flows from the tank through a special hose that attaches to the main hose and handle, under pressure, to the nozzle, from which it is sprayed, again under pressure, onto the surfaces to be cleaned. Water is actually the user, by pushing the lever. Then this water is absorbed together with the dirt.

The main thing in this process – to adapt and adjust the movements, this requires some time. But if to train and get used to it then you can estimate the advantage of this way of washing: all surfaces are washed only with clean water, no muddling, no dipping a dirty mop in dirty water and wiping the floor with it. I admit that the process is not quick – where you can walk with a mop for 5-10 minutes, it takes a little more time.

But everything is washed much better, we can say perfectly, because when you ruffle with a rag, the remains of dirty water in the drying turns into dust and the floor is not very clean again. For carpets, furniture and all surfaces you can use ProTex Detergent Concentrate – add it to water and rely on it to remove stains and thoroughly clean. The AquaStels nozzle helps to gently blot the parquet after washing. Most of the liquid with dirt is sucked up, and the rest is wiped with a microfiber cloth. The parquet will not be completely dry, it remains slightly damp and dries in just a minute.

I don’t really like that you have to pump the water mechanically – I can’t really see what’s going on in the thin, clear hose. That’s perhaps the forgivable “but” of running a vacuum cleaner in this mode, which provides a thorough clean water wash without wringing and washing rags, without stirring up dirt, much less crawling on your knees.

Test #4: Nozzle storage

Actually, this is an important point, especially for a vacuum cleaner with such a rich set: in addition to the main and parquet nozzles, wet cleaning accessories, there is also a nozzle for furniture – regular, turbo-brush and crevice. All this goodness is stored in a Thomas branded bag, and our photographer said to me after we laid out the vacuum cleaner “dowry” for the photo shoot, “I bet you’ll never shove it all back in? And the zipper won’t close? Impossible to keep this pile of nozzles in this little purse!”

I didn’t argue, but I should have. Because I know very well that everything fits – I’ve tried it before. And the zipper zippers perfectly. “That’s because you put two nozzles in the sockets on the body of the vacuum cleaner,” nagged Lesha. “It’s because it’s so convenient: these attachments crevice and furniture have to be on hand at all times.”. “Oh, they forgot to put the concentrate in the bag! That’s exactly what it doesn’t do…”I take the concentrate, unzip it, put it in the bag, zipper it up. “Like putting a hippo in the refrigerator…” he mutters a childish joke. Eh, my honesty, I should have at least for a candy bar, but bet!

A huge selection of nozzles, excellent “ammunition” for the care of parquet and hardwood floors, air humidification during cleaning, high power, eco-mode, convenient nozzle storage, the ability to clean with Aquabox or a bag, the ability to suck up liquid dirt and pump out water.

Those who have never vacuumed with a Damp Vacuum Cleaner will need some time to get accustomed to the wet cleaning process at first.