* Want your butt pumping? . .

Advantages: Very good idea, very green.
Disadvantages: Not a lot.

...You are reading about a submersible pump by Hozelock, designed to fit into your water butt, and provide a supply of water suitable for watering your garden. Simple idea, and a good one too. It will feed water with enough pressure to provide a decent spray. A very good idea in these days of hose pipe bans. I did a review on a drill operated pump, not a bad idea I thought, a cheap option, especially if you only have a limited amount to shift, although someone suggested that a drill operated pump is a bit of a waste, why not get a real pump? Good thinking, good point. I have baled out strip footings with a bucket before now, and must say any sort of pump is an improvement. A proper submersible one is ideal. I must admit I was thinking of adapting my drill operated gizmo to fit my water butt, but having used one of these, I know which...

smudgeybabes 27.01.2008 (26.01.2008) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Hozelock Water Butt Pump

* All hands to the pump . .

Advantages: Good for small jobs.
Disadvantages: Has limited use.

...OK, You are now going to read a review on a water pump, and not a bad one for the purpose it is designed, however it's use is limited. The idea is, you have a small pump, which you attach to your electric drill, then use it to pump whatever you need to. When not in use, the pump takes up little room, it does not rust, and it is there ready for use when the time comes. In these days of flooding, it is a handy thing to have around. The output is not fantastic at 1000 litres per minute, although this is a tonne of water. Your drill must be rated at 350 watts or more, and there is no filters to worry about, whatever goes in the inlet, is supposed to go through the system & out of the outlet. You will of course require electricity, but if your power supply has been interrupted, then you are likely to need more than one of these...

smudgeybabes 24.01.2008 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Sealey Water Pump Drill Powered

* All hands to the pumps . .

Advantages: Portable, self sufficient.
Disadvantages: Requires checking for fuel & blockages.

..."All hands to the pumps" is of course the old nautical term, luckily nowadays we no lonher have to work pumps manually. Firstly, these are centrifugal pumps, it just means they work by using centrifugal force to spin the water to the outside of the pump casing. It also means they are not self priming, which is fine as long as you have some other way of filling the system with water, otherwise you will not pump anything. Also, being a centrifugal pump, it will not slip water, meaning if you close the outlet it will build up pressure in the pump casing. In order to stop this, you will usuallyu find a by-pass, so excess pressure can divert, preventing the pump from exploding.Providing this by-pass is serviced, you will have no trouble. To expalin priming, all that happens is that you need to extract the air from the system, then...

smudgeybabes 03.10.2007 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of 2 Centrifugal Water Pump

Get the pump!

Advantages: Great insights, highly motivating
Disadvantages: Some elements were staged

...All things considered, Arnold Schwarzenegger has had an interesting life. He arrived in America with almost no money and barely able to speak a word of English, then through sheer hard work and determination went on to win bodybuilding's biggest title a record-breaking seven times, became arguably the greatest action movie star of all time and got elected as the governor of California. Clearly you don't achieve all that without having something a little special, and Pumping Iron gives us an insight into this. It's 1975 and Arnold Schwarzenegger is preparing to defend his Mr Olympia title for the sixth time in a row. He's been king of the hill for the last five years, but now there's new competition in the shape of Lou Ferrigno - a massive 6'5" bodybuilder who is younger, bigger and hungry for success. The documentary charts their...

Dr-Jones 14.10.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Pumping Iron (DVD)

easy to use breast pump

Advantages: Easy to use
Disadvantages: Not cheap

...I made sure that when I had my first baby I got a good breast pump so that I could not only enjoy breastfeeding my litle one, I could also ahv some time off while someone else fed my son but he still had breastmilk. This pump is a nice size and doesnt feel uncomfortable and you can adjust the strength. I found in the morning I was able to express more and I didnt use the strength of the pump to get some milk The importance of pumping while feeding is that it tricks your body into believing you are feeding baby and you therefore produce more milk. I kept this pump and used it again recently for my second child. the pump is durable and if you do need any assistance the customer service at medela is very good. Kim http://www.kiddycat.co.uk...

kiddycat 08.07.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Medela Mini Electric Breast Pump

Pump, pump, pump - but no milk!

Advantages: Small and easy to handle
Disadvantages: Breast cup not big enough, noisy and the suction was very weak, expensive

...I'm sure if you have a smaller breast then this might be a good pump for you, but having my breasts swell to a 42J cup this did nothing for me at all. I found the breast cup piece did not sit well at all and the suction was terrible. It didn't hug the breast as well as a hand held version nor did it pump quick enough to really get a good flow of milk going. It also makes quiet a loud noise when pumping so you have to do it in a room where your baby isn't! It is small and compact, so ideal for travelling but it means that you cannot get much milk in the bottle as it's so small so you have to empty it on a regular basis (that's if you get that far!) It is quiet expensive too, I paid over £50 for this even though a £10 hand held from tescos did the job much better!!! Overall it was easy to handle but it just didn't have enough...

clare0702 10.03.2008 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Medela Mini Electric Breast Pump

Pump It Up, Daisy

Advantages: Easy to assemble and use and very efficient
Disadvantages: A little bit noisy

...When my baby was born 5 months ago, we quickly found out that he wasn't taking enough breast milk from me - bless him, he was falling asleep before he had a chance to fill his tummy. So, my midwife suggested that I use a breast pump to express some milk off, and that I give him 20 ml in a small cup towards the end of every feed. Now I had bought a manual breast pump when my daughter was a baby, but to be honest with you, I'd never really got on with it. I found it quite uncomfortable on my breast, and it really made my hand ache trying to work the thing! So, I decided to look into the various options available for an electric breast pump. I eventually settled on the Medela Mini 'Electric breast pump, which I bought for £50 from Boots. When I got the pump home, I unpacked it (nicely packaged) and popped the non-motorised bits...

Valliann 21.10.2004 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Medela Mini Electric Breast Pump

Pumping, pumping, pumping

Advantages: Loads of milk, easy to use and clean
Disadvantages: ouch, my handies hurt!!!!

...microwave with 200mls of water. It can also be used as a carrying case or a cold water sterilising unit. Very handy if I need to express back at work. There is also a tiny flower on the top of the box with a small hole to allow the water to evaporate through, but the hole can be covered to transport items. The only downside to the box is that it is rather small and only just fits all of the parts in neatly and you have to pick the items out of the boiling water. As this wasn't the reason I bought the pump though I can safely say it is just a nice added bonus to actually have this as a carrying case. The instruction sheet was easy to read with small diagrams here and there. As there are only three parts (not including the valve) to put together it should have been fairly easy to use. Apart from I looked at this at the end of my pregnancy...

kamallan 28.10.2007 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Tommee Tippee Closer To Nature Freedom Breast Pump

TINY PUMP, BIG RESULTS!

Advantages: very easy to clean, extremely portable, convenient, quiet, discreet, attractive bag
Disadvantages: Your hands will get sore, stimulator falls off easily breaking seal, Takes practice, can be hard to put together at first.

...will not drain correctly into the bottle and backs up in the funnel area of the pump, watch out for any leaking at the entrance area. The maximum amount of milk I have managed to pump is 7 oz at one sitting (approximately 15 - 20 minutes). Usually I can get 2 - 3 oz from one breast within the approximate time of about 10 minutes. Pumping first thing in the morning works best for me. CLEANING AND CARE The pump is SOOOO easy to clean. The best part about the Isis is that every part is dishwasher safe. It is very easy to clean because of this. It is recommended to sterilise the pump before every use. Boiling the parts for 10 minutes or using a steam steriliser which takes about 5 minutes can achieve this. The pump and accessories can also be washed in soapy water, and then rinsed, you will need a bottlebrush to get in to...

mysteryshopper2 13.03.2004 (22.06.2005) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Avent Isis Breast Pump

Avent Breast Pump

Advantages: simple and easy to use and clean, partner able to feed baby, cheap
Disadvantages: none

...you to express breast milk, so that you can have a break of baby being latched on to you all the time, and also to give the partner or family/friends to feed baby too, it is also handy for making up bottles for going out on journeys too. The pump is easy to use and isn?t to strong on your breast, you can control how strong you want the suction by just pressing the handle of the pump, pressing the handle all the way down will create a stronger suction then just pressing it down a little. You don?t need to press the handle all the way down if you have a good supply of milk as a little suction will drain away your breast milk with ease. Cleaning the pump is easy too although the valve is little and could be lost if using a dishwasher to clean the pump. You can wash the pump in warm soapy water and then over to the steriliser once...

AngelEyes76 16.08.2007 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Avent Isis Breast Pump