Sweeping Clean! (A GTech Review & Competition)

About a week before Christmas, when Mr. TheBoyandMe was completely and utterly sick of the sight of strands of tinsel all over the floor, he asked if we could get a swiffer. I gasped at him and told him that in no uncertain terms, we would not be getting such an antiquated, useless and unhygienic contraption, to just get the vacuum cleaner out and stop complaining! (He doesn't even do the vacuuming, so I have no idea what he's complaining about.)

My reticence at agreeing to one was based on traumatic flashbacks to my childhood in the early 1990s which involved one of these items:

My nan had one in '70s brown, and we had one in '70s blue and I hated them! They were noisy, awkward, dirty, didn't pick up the bits and, if you tipped it at a certain angle, they emptied the few bits that they had picked up all over your still dirty floor.

My husband slunk away having realised it was a no-go, and retrieved our cumbersome vaccum cleaner out of the understairs cupboard. Upon I realised the point he was making, but was determined not to back down!

Then I had an e-mail asking me if I'd like to review a cordless electric-powered floor cleaners. Curiosity sent me to the site, and I realised that the GTech SW20 was the 2012 version of what my mother had used, but with added extras. I giggled to myself at Mr. TBAM's reaction when I showed him and agreed to test it quite happily.

I did not realise just how clever this little device was going to be. The SW20 is a floor sweeper in the conventional sense, but with the added bonus of being electric and cordless. To charge the sweeper, it is placed onto the small, charging platform and left for up to five hours. From that, it gives an hour's worth of run time. That might not sound a lot, however I charged it three weeks ago and have used it every other day without recharging it once. It's designed so that you can leave it on the charging platform as it has an auto cut off device which allows you also to safely leave it on the stand to maintain full charge, however we didn't have a plug at the right height and out of the reach of The Boy.

"A conventional vacuum cleaner (2000 watt) used for 2 hours a week on a 0.30 tariff, will cost Β£300 over 5 years. Using a Gtech sweeper for the same period and tariff costs Β£7.80 and an energy saving of 55.5 KWh per year, per home."

So it's cheaper to use as well then?

As for my concerns about how unhygienic they are? Unfounded. The GTech SW20 has Germguard built into the handle and bin. Germguard action traps and kills over 99.9 of bacteria including MRSA, Salmomella, Listeria and E-Coli. It is also incredibly easy to clean; there's a pull out 'bin' which neatly collects all the dirt (and it gets up a lot) allowing for easy emptying and cleaning.

I did vacuum yesterday, I promise! And I had been wondering where that jigsaw piece had gone.

The other thing that I really like about the GTech is how easy it is to use. The extendable handle has a swivel motion when attached to the sweeper which allows for excellent manoeuvrability. It's so easy, even a two year old could use it:

At Β£69.95 it is slightly more expensive than the conventional carpet cleaner, but then there's nothing conventional about the GTech SW20 and I do think that with the money it saves, along with the time and effort, that it is worth it.

And thanks to the kind folk at GTech, I've got one for you to win!

Simply fill in the Rafflecopter form below:


a Rafflecopter giveaway

I was given a GTech SW20 for the purpose of this review. My opinion is honest and unbiased.

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Comments

  1. says

    Oh, I so want one of these. We first saw them when we were in a playcentre and they used them to clean the carpet around the tables after all the kids have eaten. Genius!

    I think you know my twitter id. πŸ˜‰

  2. Fiona Martin says

    I so need one of these instead of dragging the vacuum into the lounge everyday to clean up after my 2 little ones.

    I've entered.

    twitter name: @star100x

  3. says

    Thanks I've entered to try and win this for my mum she been going on about these for a few weeks (it's likely she saw it somewhere like QVC) knowing my mum lol. Thanks for the competition @clairelouise82. x

  4. Melanie Hunt says

    you gave a great review on this. would really like to win one now. i love new gadgets for the home x tweeted as @melandtony

  5. Rebekah Jones says

    I love the idea of a light weight "USEFUL" sweeper !!
    I too was put off these by the old fashioned versions, memories of my nan's heavy clumsy and near on useless push along sweeper.
    Having m.e. it is difficult to do anything around the house – I see this as my option to finally get some of my independance back. As your young man showed in the video it is very easy to use, and if a toddler can use one – I can. With the help of your review, I have been able to see that this particular sweeper is a viable alternative to hoovering that I would be able to finally do.
    Thank you for letting us all see how fab the modern version of the yacky old floor sweeper is!!!

    @BexJones1976 (TWITTER)
    Ade N Bex Jones (FACEBOOK)

  6. Hilda Hazel Wright says

    Hi! What a great prize this would be! I've done all the entrys, my twitter name is WrightyH! Thanks for the comp!

  7. Gillian Moloney says

    I have done all of the above πŸ™‚

    Good detailed review there hun, I have never seen this before but from the video, it looks like it works good πŸ™‚
    xx

    @mum2alesha

    x

  8. Denise Whiskin says

    Twitter name: @VelvetGlove2000

    They have come a long way since I was little! My mum had a bright yellow one.

  9. Jamie Glew says

    Entered! I'd love one of these – it's so much faff to hoover up all the time, so this'd be perfect!

    @jamie_glew

  10. Diana Cotter says

    This looks absolutely perfect for my Mum – she finds an ordinary cleaner too much work these days.

    @happyfox

  11. says

    I had something similar to this a few years ago…and it could also be used as a handheld..I loved it..sadly it stopped holding its charge so it had to go….please enter me
    @jessies_online

  12. Averagemummy says

    All entered, I think I messed up the tweet link πŸ™

    I stayed in a chalet with one if these last year. I nearly took it home it's so fab!

    @averagemummy

  13. Kara says

    Great review – could really benefit from having one of these!! Rafflecopter wouldn't let me put in my tweet link, but have tweeted as @chelseamamma

  14. laura hayes says

    ooo this prize is great, it would be so handy with 4 kids and 2 dogs, ive done all the above requirements, twitter id @lovelylaurahaye

  15. Zoe G says

    I really need one of these, I have to drag my hoover out everyday, this would save a lot of hassle, my twitter is @tiawanawana

  16. ANJU says

    God they've made a come back! My aunt had one & I used to think it was pointless as a child as it put more mess on the floor than it cleaned up.

  17. jen english says

    I used to love using my Nan's carpet sweeper. Like everything else it's come full circle – just a bit updated lol.

  18. Helen Eynon says

    This looks ideal for my household – with 4 people, a cat, dog, by a muddy lane and near the beach we really need a lightweight sweeper!

  19. Samantha Jayne Wright says

    Entered πŸ™‚

    @sam14no

    This takes me back to my childhood, playing with my Nanna's sweeper at her house and making more mess as the bits fell out of it lol. x

  20. Helen says

    Love your competition prize, I remember my grandma having one of these in the 60s and I remember her having kittens if I tilted it the wrong way and shed the entire contents of the sweeper back up on the floor, ha ha

    I've entered, my Twitter ID is @HolyMoly99

    Thanks x

  21. Dawn Costen says

    I adore these, like you I always have visions of the ones my nan used to have when I was little…but my mother-in-law gave me her old a couple of years ago and they are fantastic! Sadly mine is broken thanks to the 7 year old getting a little rough with "helping" to vacuum! So I would love to win this for that reason I miss it!
    Twitter name: @DawnCosten

    Thank you πŸ˜€

  22. Cheryll H says

    I've entered @pipersky1 – would love one of these as the Henry lives on the second floor and it's SUCH a pain in the behind lugging it up and down stairs all the time! Fingers crossed πŸ™‚

  23. Ellie Bromilow says

    entered via all the instructions and tweeted as @SqueekyMango. Would love to win this as I love cleaning! with pets and a 10yr old and working part time any timesaving appliances like these are a godsend! Ellie x

  24. Mummy Whisperer says

    I soooooo need one of these with the dog that's not meant to moult, but moults more than any dog I've ever had!

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