Roomba, Dysons, Thermomix and other household appliances

[Flashback]

Apparently we are getting a "retro" Smeg temperature selectable kettle. Im pretty sure water only boils at 100⁰C but apparently not..


Wow, you are buying me one? , thanks for your generosity.

Indeed, although it's useful for things like green tea where you want to heat the water up to a little less than boiling

Sorry, can't afford it. My wallet is hurting after having just bought a new Dyson Gen5 Detect Complete + a Wash G1. Remains to be seen whether the Wash G1 stays or gets returned to Dyson, but I'm confident the vacuum is here to stay.

Neither can I afford it, I may or may not have upgraded some components in my AV system and also added considerably to my vinyl collection............ My turntable, pre-amp, power amp etc. is a household appliance, right? RIGHT?

The thing that really drew me to vinyl was the expense and the inconvenience.

 

[DejaBrew]

The thing that really drew me to vinyl was the expense and the inconvenience.

I've been contemplating going down the rabbit hole that is vinyl. I think you may have just sold me on the idea!

 

[Quickstatus]

you want to heat the water up to a little less than boiling

Why ?

The thing that really drew me to vinyl was the expense and the inconvenience.

Its strange, spending hours contemplating the pros and cons of a kettle where the price difference is maybe a $100 or so

 

[Flashback]

Weird, won't let me quote the messages above.

@DejaBrew - happy to chat if you want any advice, or to bounce things off a sounding board

@Quickstatus - why? Well, that's what the instructions say. Also for things like Lemsip sachets etc.

Not sure what the pros/cons of a kettle has to do with vinyl and turntables, though.......

 

[Quickstatus]

Not sure what the pros/cons of a kettle has to do with vinyl and turntables, though.......

None, i was just using the "contemplating" bit

 

[Denali]

Does anyone know anything about ice coffee machines? Been thinking of getting one for the office but I dont drink coffee.

ta

 

[Lynda2475]

Does anyone know anything about ice coffee machines? Been thinking of getting one for the office but I dont drink coffee.

Iced coffee is just a shot of espresso served over ice topped up with milk of choice. If you already have a coffee machine then you are good to go (assuming your fridge has an ice maker).

If you what to make a Frappe (blended ice) then all that is needed is a good blender.

 

[DejaBrew]

Does anyone know anything about ice coffee machines? Been thinking of getting one for the office but I dont drink coffee.

If you want to make an iced coffee more akin to an iced latte, then as per @Lynda2475's suggestion, if you have a coffee machine already then you're pretty much good to go.

FWIW, I'd recommend looking at a cold brew maker instead. Doesn't need any fancy machinery, can be left to do its thing overnight in the fridge and will be much better for making an iced "long black" (if that's what you're trying to achieve). I bought this one 5 years back and it's still going strong. Plenty of alternatives available on Amazon these days.

 

[Denali]

We have a coffee machine but will look at cold brew makers. Maybe we need one of those ice maker things on the bench as well?

We dont have as many people in the office these days so was going to replace huge coffee machine for something smaller so will have room for a couple of new gadgets for the team

 

[prozac]

If you want to make an iced coffee more akin to an iced latte, then as per @Lynda2475's suggestion, if you have a coffee machine already then you're pretty much good to go.

FWIW, I'd recommend looking at a cold brew maker instead. Doesn't need any fancy machinery, can be left to do its thing overnight in the fridge and will be much better for making an iced "long black" (if that's what you're trying to achieve). I bought this one 5 years back and it's still going strong. Plenty of alternatives available on Amazon these days.

Recently discovered Bickfords coffee syrup. Too thin to be described as syrup imo but I am loving it over ice cream.

 

[Lynda2475]

My method works for iced long black too, except instead of topping up with mil you top up with chilled water from the fridge. Afterall a long black is just a diluted espresso shot anyway.

Or you can do what one local cafe here does.

Make 6 long blacks first thing in the morning, pour into a glass bottle and cool in fridge ready to pour over a cup of ice later. They also make 12 espresso shots, pour into bottle and chill ready for the ice latte orders.

Cold brew never tastes as good as a shot out of the espresso machine IMO.

@Denali imo Ice maker is the way to go, as people can also leverage that for other drinks.

 

[Daver6]

FWIW, I'd recommend looking at a cold brew maker instead. Doesn't need any fancy machinery, can be left to do its thing overnight in the fridge and will be much better for making an iced "long black" (if that's what you're trying to achieve). I bought this one 5 years back and it's still going strong. Plenty of alternatives available on Amazon these days.

I agree that using cold brew is the way to go....or just drink cold brew. I used to have that same unit until I smashed it. It was good, but this replacement https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B081N537XR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1 is even better. The mesh is much finer and I land up with significantly less sediment in my cold brew now.

 

[DejaBrew]

My wallet is hurting after having just bought a new Dyson Gen5 Detect Complete + a Wash G1. Remains to be seen whether the Wash G1 stays or gets returned to Dyson, but I'm confident the vacuum is here to stay.

Well, I have to say that I'm quite impressed with the Gen5 Detect. Obviously it's a new machine, but battery life was far superior to my older Dyson stick vacs (V6 Absolute + V10 Absolute) and whilst it only lasted long enough for me to vacuum as much of the house as either of the older devices have ever facilitated, I guarantee that the job was far more thorough with the Gen5 Detect. That Fluffy Optic head with its green LED is a fantastic addition - slightly scary in terms of showing just how much dust/debris is unseen on your floor, yet oddly satisfying/reassuring in validating that you're successfully cleaning it all up - and I no longer consider it to be a gimmick addition.

The Wash G1 is charging up and I'll be giving it a go either later today or tomorrow.

 

[DejaBrew]

The Wash G1 is charging up and I'll be giving it a go either later today or tomorrow.

Gave the Wash G1 its first run this afternoon. On the whole? Not bad. Not bad at all.

The good -:

• Despite the machine's weight, it's actually fairly easy to manoeuvre courtesy of the rollers spinning in opposite directions. It gives the device almost a hovercraft feel. Had read this on multiple reviews and can confirm it is indeed the case.
• Doesn't seem to use much water too quickly and doesn't leave a lot of it on your floor, meaning your floor dries off quite quickly.
• Accepts low-foaming floor cleaner, but it is imperative - and I can't stress this enough - that it is low-foaming and that you are judicious with your use of it as the higher power settings can build up quite the foam.
• Water containers - both clean and dirty - are easy to manage and (largely) no mess.
• Dirty water container makes it painfully obvious how dirty your floor is/was, but similar to the Gen5 Detect, seeing all that dirty water is somewhat reassuring as it's obvious that the device is doing its job and that dirt is no longer on your floors.
• Battery lasted longer than I was anticipating. I'd say it went for approximately 30-35 minutes (depending on the power setting used). If you've got a particularly soiled floor, then you definitely won't get through everything on a single charge, but for a light/regular clean, it's likely going to be fine. It does have a screen with a battery life countdown, so it at least lets you plan your cleaning strategy accordingly.
• Self-cleaning function at the end is handy, however you need to wait for it to finish and then empty the tanks.

The not so good -:

• Water tanks could be larger. I found I needed to empty the dirty water tank several times (admittedly it may not have been so bad without the floor cleaning solution), and needed to refill the clean water tank once.
• Charging is slow, so if you find yourself with a dead battery halfway through the job, you'll be waiting a while for it to recharge so you can finish the job. I think the battery is swappable, so potentially a second battery may not go astray (but I hate to think of the current pricing).
• Despite the fact that it is designed to collect floor debris, it does an average job of this at best. You wouldn't want to be relying on it as a washer/vac. Basically, make sure your floors have had a reasonable vacuum before using the Wash G1 and you should be fine.
• Even on its most powerful settings, really stuck on marks or grime will probably need some manual intervention (e.g. maybe a quick go over with a scouring pad or similar). Basically, if you expect this to be as effective at lifting off really baked on grime, then think again.
• Price. Let's be honest... this thing ain't cheap. I bought mine on special as part of a Black Friday deal, but there's no way in the world I'd pay full price for one.

On the strength of first impressions, the Wash G1 will be remaining at the DejaBrew household. We'll see if that impression changes over the next few uses, but so far, it's looking like a good buy.

 

[Quickstatus]

Wash G1

What's the benefit over....

 

[DejaBrew]

What's the benefit over....

View attachment 414985

• Much faster (IMHO at least) in achieving the equivalent results.
• I find that hand mopping tends to just move latent debris around, whereas the Wash G1 will at least pick it up (albeit not entirely foolproof).
• Dirty water is extracted into the waste tank, so you're largely using clean water (plus any floor cleaning solution) on the floors rather than dunking into a bucket of dirty water again and spreading the filthy water all about. Sure, you could use a two bucket approach for hand mopping, but I'm guessing most can't be bothered with doing that.
• Wash G1 has a mechanism to (largely) self-clean the rollers of debris and dirty water as they spin.
• Way easier to use for anyone with mobility issues who would otherwise struggle with the manual labour of mop + bucket.

I'm sure there are other benefits, but these are the first that come to mind.

 

[Quickstatus]

two bucket approach

Thats what we went back to after converting the house from carpet to timber

 

[Pushka]

Gave the Wash G1 its first run this afternoon. On the whole? Not bad. Not bad at all.

The good -:

• Despite the machine's weight, it's actually fairly easy to manoeuvre courtesy of the rollers spinning in opposite directions. It gives the device almost a hovercraft feel. Had read this on multiple reviews and can confirm it is indeed the case.
• Doesn't seem to use much water too quickly and doesn't leave a lot of it on your floor, meaning your floor dries off quite quickly.
• Accepts low-foaming floor cleaner, but it is imperative - and I can't stress this enough - that it is low-foaming and that you are judicious with your use of it as the higher power settings can build up quite the foam.
• Water containers - both clean and dirty - are easy to manage and (largely) no mess.
• Dirty water container makes it painfully obvious how dirty your floor is/was, but similar to the Gen5 Detect, seeing all that dirty water is somewhat reassuring as it's obvious that the device is doing its job and that dirt is no longer on your floors.
• Battery lasted longer than I was anticipating. I'd say it went for approximately 30-35 minutes (depending on the power setting used). If you've got a particularly soiled floor, then you definitely won't get through everything on a single charge, but for a light/regular clean, it's likely going to be fine. It does have a screen with a battery life countdown, so it at least lets you plan your cleaning strategy accordingly.
• Self-cleaning function at the end is handy, however you need to wait for it to finish and then empty the tanks.

The not so good -:

• Water tanks could be larger. I found I needed to empty the dirty water tank several times (admittedly it may not have been so bad without the floor cleaning solution), and needed to refill the clean water tank once.
• Charging is slow, so if you find yourself with a dead battery halfway through the job, you'll be waiting a while for it to recharge so you can finish the job. I think the battery is swappable, so potentially a second battery may not go astray (but I hate to think of the current pricing).
• Despite the fact that it is designed to collect floor debris, it does an average job of this at best. You wouldn't want to be relying on it as a washer/vac. Basically, make sure your floors have had a reasonable vacuum before using the Wash G1 and you should be fine.
• Even on its most powerful settings, really stuck on marks or grime will probably need some manual intervention (e.g. maybe a quick go over with a scouring pad or similar). Basically, if you expect this to be as effective at lifting off really baked on grime, then think again.
• Price. Let's be honest... this thing ain't cheap. I bought mine on special as part of a Black Friday deal, but there's no way in the world I'd pay full price for one.

On the strength of first impressions, the Wash G1 will be remaining at the DejaBrew household. We'll see if that impression changes over the next few uses, but so far, it's looking like a good buy.

So we now have all timber floors. This will 'mop' and vacuum at the same time? Price you paid? I've read that some of your cons have been noted in other reviews as well. Especially the small tanks.

 

[DejaBrew]

This will 'mop' and vacuum at the same time?

The Dyson V15s Detect Submarine will “mop” and vacuum. The Wash G1 mops and “vacuums”. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that it’s a 2-in-1 mop + vacuum, but it does have the ability to pick up some loose debris.

Price you paid?

Paid $770 with bonus set of rollers ($49 RRP), down from RRP $999. Like I said in my earlier post, admittedly not cheap and no way I’d buy it at full price. For $220 off RRP and a 45 day change of mind policy, I figured I’d give it a go.

I've read that some of your cons have been noted in other reviews as well. Especially the small tanks.

I can live with the tank size. Main thing I wanted to highlight is that if you expect to get the job done on one tank - clean or dirty - then think again. Caveat emptor etc etc.