Kärcher WV 5 Plus N Window Vac

Product Information

Laura started writing Swears By articles for Mumsnet in 2021 and has recently taken over responsibility for laundry content. She writes buyers guides, cleaning articles and tests products, to help Mumsnetters make informed choices when it comes to parting with their pennies. Reviewer Mel lives in a three-bedroom house in Sussex with her husband, two teenagers, three cats, three degus, two tortoises and a hamster called Winnie. There are several accessories available for the Karcher window vac including replacement pads, belt holders, cleaning liquid and extra battery chargers. The battery is integrated into the window vac, so you'll need to plug in the entire appliance for charging. The LED display proved useful as an indicator of how much charge, minute-by-minute, the Karcher Window Vac had accumulated, and also consumed when in use. The water tank/collection bottle can be easily emptied by undoing the rubber bung and the whole water tank can be removed for cleaning (although you have to detach the vac head to do this). The cleaning cloth is attached by Velcro so can easily be removed for washing (in a washing machine).

Another good use for the window vac is cleaning up liquid spills from hard floor surfaces, such as laminate, tiles or hardwood flooring. For this test, we simply poured water on the laminate/tile floor surface and the window vac handled this with ease. Again the surface was left clean and streak-free but we were surprised to find that the floor was almost entirely dry to the touch. After a good charge of around two hours, we used the Karcher for cleaning windows (a set of small French doors). It took us around two minutes to clean the windows which involved first spraying them with the cleaning tool then going over a couple of times with the vac.Condensation on windows can be the bane of life for many over the winter months. Except those smart enough to have bought a Kärcher Window Vac. It’s worth noting that it isn’t an essential cleaning appliance. It’s more of a handy add-on, as you can clean surfaces with spray and a cloth. But it did an effective job leaving areas streak-free, so it’s worth it if you’re looking for a simple way to keep on top of windows, mirrors and tiles. Karcher has a strategy of offering “basic” products alongside “premium” versions with extra (admittedly useful) accessories; this is common with their pressure washer range as well as their window vac range. It can sometimes be frustrating to choose which is better because it’s the tools and attachments that are useful to us and not really the base unit. Log in now or join Which? to see our full results and find out if any Karcher window vacs are good enough to earn our Best Buy recommendation. You use a separate spray bottle with window cleaner concentrate to help lift the dirt from the surface. While not exactly groundbreaking, a microfibre cleaning cloth head can be attached just above the spray nozzle to wipe over the spray when triggered. Ensure that the trigger is securely fixed to the bottle to avoid any leaks.

Spurred on by the success on my bathroom tiles, I turned my attention to the shower screen – which was in a pretty dire state. Although we have a squeegee sitting on the tiles for use after each shower, we seldom use it – which results in a buildup of limescale on the shower screen. However, the WV2 does have some minor disadvantages. We found that the spray bottle/cleaning head tool was a little bit fiddly to put together and on the first attempt we did not screw the trigger head on correctly and ended up with a wet floor. Most of the issues seem to be surrounding the water bottle. It has a tiny capacity which may be annoying for extended cleaning periods or if you live in a larger house. Additionally, there are no volume lines to measure out the mixture of cleaning fluid to water. We think that volume lines would be a useful feature as the instructions provided state that you should add 230ml water to the 20ml of cleaning fluid. All said and done we managed perfectly fine in our small window cleaning test and we think we could live with the small problems that we have discovered. Test no.1: Window cleaningThe battery arrives with just six minutes of power, so I first needed to set the appliance to charge. This took no longer than a few hours, and I could watch the battery indicator count up, minute-by-minute. Once it reached 100 minutes, we were ready to clean up to 300m² on one single charge. So, what can the window vac be used for? Well obviously, the main use is for cleaning windows but in our experience, it can also be used for cleaning shower doors and removing condensation from surfaces. The window vac is extremely versatile and we found it particularly useful for cleaning up liquid spills but you may find it handy for other applications. In fact, it will perform great on all smooth surfaces. What’s in the box? It comes with two interchangeable squeegee heads, which can be detached from the suction nozzle for cleaning after use. These heads measure in at 18cm and 28cm. Both feature the new lip technology to allow for upper-edge cleaning to the ground without interruption, to achieve a streak-free finish. Cleaning extras: Many window vacs come with cleaning bottles, microfibre pads and even their own branded cleaning spray. While useful, these extras are unlikely to perform any better than the stuff you already have in your cleaning cupboard. I also have a Karcher window vac. It's brilliant for clearing condensation and also for cleaning the windows.” Rated by Mumsnet user Clarice99 Our verdict