Numatic Hetty

A moment of silence, please, for my previous hoover....

Some time ago, I wrote a rather uncomplimentary review about my Pet Lover vacuum cleaner, which at the time was performing rather badly. Since writing the review, I am sad to report that the cleaner "died" on me completely, less than a year after buying it. In theory, I could have claimed a new one on the guarantee, but I disliked the cleaner so intensely, I decided to cut my losses and go for something completely different. The mistake I had been making was that I thought (wrongly) that bagless cleaners were more straightforward to use than the bagless variety. In practice though, bagless cleaners are a bit of a nightmare, as they need constant emptying and the filters need cleaning out on a regular basis. My husband had been nagging me for some time to get a Henry vacuum cleaner, as he uses these at work and they have a reputation for being very reliable. I had always put off the idea of buying one because I didn't like the idea of changing bags regularly and I thought that they seemed quite expensive for what they were. However, because I'd had such a bad experience with bagless cleaners, and was shelling out £50 every 2 years for a new one, spending £100 on a cleaner that could potentialy last 10 years or longer seemed a much better long term strategy. In fact, I have since read reviews where people have had Henry cleaners for 18 years or longer, unheard of with any other brand of vacuum cleaner!

The buying process

Having read lots of reviews and convincing myself that I definitely needed a "Henry" in my life, I started checking the price comparison sites to bag myself a bargain. I had never seen these cleaners on sale for anything less than £100, yet I managed to find them on the Dixons website for £88! They had the traditional Henry cleaner in stock, as well as the famale version, Hetty, for the same price. The specifications were absolutely identical for both cleaners, and the only difference betwen Henry and Hetty is the colour, as Henry is Red and Hetty is a rose pink colour. Being a girly girl, I opted for Hetty rather than Henry, to add a bit of glamour to my boring cleaning routine! The online purchase process was very straightforward, and the cleaner arrived by courier within a couple of days.

What's in the box?

The cleaner arrived in a large cardboard box and I was pleasantly surprised that there were not loads of fiddly components to deal with! Basically, the cleaner is good to go as soon as you get it out of the box. The motor is housed within Hetty's black hat, which clips snugly onto her "body", which comes with a hepa flow bag already fitted in place, which I thought was a really thoughtful touch by the manufacturers. There is also a large hat shaped filter which slots simply over the bag as an extra layer of protection for the motor. Then it is simply a case of pushing all of the metal hose pieces onto the snakelike "nose hose" and fixing the relevant cleaning attatchment to the end of the hose. Sorted!

There are a few other items that come as part of the kit. Firstly, a rather cute, but sturdy Hetty bag, which would be great as a shopping bag, but I use it to store all of my attatchments and spare bags. The bag is bright pink with a smiley Hetty face on the front and back and strong handles, that I latch onto one of the hooks in my understairs cupboard for easy access to the accessories.

There are various different heads that you can attatch to the cleaner for different jobs, and these store away neatly in the bag. There is a round bristle head, which would be ideal for pet hair, a thin narrow brush head, a small head, and a long narrow crevice attatchment for reaching those hard to reach places, like down the back of the sofa. Some of the attatchments are more suitable for hardwood flooring, others for upholstery and things like curtains.

The manufacturer also supplies four Hepa flow bags with the cleaner. Each bag has a huge capacity, and will last for several months, so the four bags supplied could comfortably last a whole year. They do not feel like regular hoover bags, and are made from a soft, thick woven material, so basically, nothing is going to get through these bags! Replacement bags are easy to buy, at about £4 for 10 bags. It is also possible to buy a cloth zipped bag for about £10, which you can reuse time and time again, so running the cleaner is quite economical, and unlike my nasty bagless cleaner, does not require me to spend endless time brushing out clogged filters!

The cleaner also comes with a basic instruction manual, which is all in picture form. It shows you how to put together the cleaner, as well as how to change the bag, which is very easy and straightforward to do, as it simply clips into place.

The box also contains the two year guarantee certificate, as well as a list of replacement components available for both Henry and Hetty. Basically, any part is available to buy if it becomes worn, even wheels, filters, and the drum if necessary.

Using the cleaner

Hetty is very cute for a vacuum cleaner. She is a cylinder type cleaner, so is a bit of a change for me, as I have used upright cleaners for the past few years. Hetty has a large drum, which means that she has a good dust holding capacity and won't need emptying very regularly (unlike my old cleaner!). Hetty is pulled along on her four wheels. She has two small black castor wheels at the front, and two large pink wheels at the back, which offer good stability when using the cleaner. There are only two main controls, housed on the top of her black "hat". The first control is the power saving switch, which is a red switch that enables you to vary the power between low and high. To be honest, Hetty is a very powerful clenaer, and often lifts up the carpets even on the low power setting, so i have never actually had any reason to use the high power setting during my cleaning routine. The second switch is the green power switch, a large chunky switch that swtches the cleaner on and off.

The power cord and plug are stored within the cleaner, which I think is a fantastic idea. with previous hoovers, I always had a problem with the power cord getting tangled, or even splitting, which was dangerous. When using Hetty, you simply plug her into the socket, and as you pull her along the floor, the cable automatically unwinds, as you go. The cable length is very generous, and I can plug it in in the hall at the front of the house, and work through to the living room at the back without having to unplug the machine. Once i have finished cleaning, there is a winding device within Hetty's hat which winds the cable neatly back inside the machine. Genius!

Heety is pretty easy to manoeuvre around the house, and I have no problems at all. Most of the times, she just follows along, a bit like a dog, although she often needs a bit of help when going round chairs or doorways, where she can get stuck. She is quite light to carry compared with my old upright, so it is easy just to lift her up over any obstacle with the handy lift up handle which, again, is located on top of her black hat. The various attatchements mean that it is quite easy to clean all the corners and crevices of the home with ease, and the hose attatchemnt is a good length, which means I can clean over halfway up the stairs with Hetty sitting at the bottom and then carry her up to the top to finish the job.

Hetty does a great job at cleaning up everyday mess, but lately, she had a bit more of a challenge, as we were stripping wallpaper in my son's bedroom! After work, we cleaerd up the bulk of the paper off the floor and bought in Hetty to clear up the smaller bits. She did a great job, and did not get clogged up at all, despite the amount of papaer she had to suck up. Another great thing about Hetty compared to my old cleaner, is that she is a lot better at sucking up hair. I have long, blonde hair, which used to clog the rollers of the upright cleaner, and cause the belt to snap. Hetty just sucks the hair straight up the nozzle, where it is sent straight to the bag, no clogging, no fuss!

The main cleaning attatchment that I use the most can be adjusted by means of a foot level sitch, which either retracts or extends the bristles, enabling you to alternate easily between carpet and hard floors. We have tile effect laminate in our kitchen, and Hetty clens that just as efficiently as the carpet in the hall and living room. Another handy feature is a small, twistable attatchment on the hose, which allows you to manually vary the suction by as much as 70% during cleaning. Handy if you find the power is too strong, or conversely, if you need a bit of extra oomph to suck up a stubborn bit off the carpet! This is in addition to the power switch on the main cleaner, so you can have lots of control with this model.

The cleaner is lovely and quiet and whirrs gently when you switch it on. Again, a lot quiter than my noisy ond upright. You can even clean when the TV is on, and not have any moans from the kids!

Storing Hetty can be a bit of a pain, because although she is small and compact, the metal hose takes up quite a lot of space, and it can be awkward to store away. This is the only downside to this machine, in my view.

My thoughts

I have used Hetty for about a month now, and I am really pleased that I bought it. Hetty does a great job at cleaning my floors, and is fun to use, so much so that the kids want to do all the cleaning now! The cleaner is sturdy and durable, and easy to manoevre around the house, as well as being simple to maintain.

It is no wonder then, that Hetty, and Henry are so widely used in public buildings, such as churches, schools, offices and hospitals. Even workmen use them on heavy jobs. I read a review before i bought Hetty that really summed it up for me prfecty. The writer made the point that we never see any ads on TV for these cleaners, and yet they are instantly recogniseable and well trusted. That is the power of word of mouth recommendation, and the sign of a really good product, the fact that they have sold so many withou producing one single TV ad! Personally, I hope that Hetty lasts me for many years, and I certainly will never go back to using upright cleaners again.

For the techie minded among you, here are Hetty's specs:

Motor: Hi 1200W, Low 600W
Airflow: 45 litres/sec
Suction Hi 2600mm, Lo 1750mm
Capacity 9 litres
Cleaning range: 26.8m
Weight: 6.8kg