I've seen George and his smaller brothers ~ James with a yellow face; Henry often red; Charles in blue ~ in various places; all are cheerful and all of them work hard. I've never known one fail to complete a task, and I've seen them smile their way through some really difficult challenges including getting schools, shops, offices, and even a ship, smartened up after the daytime personnel have gone off duty.

I had spent a few years battling with an expensive upright cleaner that looks fancy, but is too heavy and unwieldy; the extension hose is not long enough to reach the top of our stairs and I'd become fed up with trying to support a heavy and unbalanced weight with one hand and use a silly little brush with the other. The hoses block with hair and take ages to clear; the motor, combined with rotors, have scalped a rather nice rug and bits have kept jamming, breaking or falling off. I've been longing for a replacement from only a day or so after purchase, but there's always something more important on which to spend the money … so I've struggled with it and, frankly, have come to detest vacuuming! Not any more, thanks to George.

My George is green; he is the latest version of cleaners bearing his name. Like his little brothers he's also available with a blue, red or yellow face. He's quite heavy, weighing in at 8.8 kg (19.4 lb), but the weight is well balanced and doesn't figure as a negative point. He arrived here carefully packed in a huge cardboard box, the only packaging that was not immediately recyclable was the plastic bag containing the small tools. George was ready to get to work straight away; he came with a plentiful supply of dust bags and a bottle of shampoo.

All parts of the machine seem to have been well designed for functionality as well as looks. There are separate, dedicated, flexible hoses that attach to George's nose for use when vacuuming or shampooing. Up to three stainless steel extension tubes, two straight and one curved, can be attached to either of these and are used for both wet and dry cleaning. Common sense means leaving these stainless steel tubes time to dry before using them to dry vacuum. The curved steel tube can be connected one way round if you're tall, the other way round if you're less so ~ clever idea! There's a nifty sliding arrangement on this curved pipe, push it in one direction to get 'full power' suction, turn it the other way and a little hole in the pipe is revealed, reducing to 70% suction … or you can just leave it open and put your thumb over the hole!

George comes with a set of paper dustbags to hold the dust, debris and leaves he sucks up, they're simple to use, just push on/pull off … and they're roomy too. I haven't had to buy any yet, so I can't comment on how much replacements cost. George isn't marketed as a bagless vacuum cleaner although I know plenty of people who have done so without any apparent damage to the motor; this practice is not recommended by the manufacturer ~ which is why the opposition haven't noticed! So far he hasn't got blocked, although I've tried really hard by deliberately picking up sweet wrappers and leaves that have blown into the porch because the door has been left open. I'd previously had to use a brush and dustpan when this happens.

I have checked to see how easy it would be to clear a blockage, and to try to work out where one might occur. The very flexible hose cannot be bent at right angles, not even if you try to tie it in a knot, so nothing can get stuck there. This hose enters the 'body' of the machine near the top and leads to a baffle that directs the dust and rubbish in the right direction. This part is easy to get at by taking off George's hat. If it should get blocked it would be easy to clear, no more turning the machine upside down and spending half an hour with a piece of bent wire just because I've vacuumed up too much hair or a leaf!

Instructions for using George come in the form of a picture book; at first sight it's unusual but this format can be understood absolutely anywhere in the world and whatever your native tongue. I've found the instructions easy to follow.

To change George from a dry vacuum cleaner to a wet shampooing machine is remarkably easy. Open his lid and remove the white 'dry' filter and take off the paper dustbag pop the 'wet' filter on top and fasten his hat back on. To shampoo it's easy to slot the doughnut-shaped liquid container into the body of the machine, make sure you've added the right amount of shampoo (according to manufacturer's recommendations), attach the 'wet' hose and its' brass connectors, slot on the wand attachment that regulates the flow and the stainless steel pipe(s). When you've done that just choose between a wide spray nozzle and the narrow one and away you go!

~8~ Maintenance and reliability ~8~

I don't think George is going to need much maintenance, apart from changing cleaning his dry filter, changing his dustbags and wiping his face clean with a damp cloth. I've asked others who have used these cleaners for years, nobody has ever had to do more than I've just mentioned; nothing has broken off and no parts have ever failed to do their proper job.

The 'standard' George 'GVE370-2'; A26A kit contains :-
(quoted from the website)