I have been cleaning the floors in my house for the last 35 years. This job has got a lot easier in recent years with the addition of some robot vacuum cleaners, but a stick vacuum still has its place. Spot cleaning needs to be done when something is spilled in the kitchen, or my wife decides that, since a visitor is about to walk through the door, the floor is too dirty for their arrival.
But I had a dilemma: our old stick vacuum stopped working. This led me down a path of determining a replacement. Recently, Tineco sent me a Floor One S9 Artist wet-dry vacuum to try. It costs $1,199 in Australia at full price, but regularly goes on sale for around 40 per cent off. There’s also a pricier steam-cleaning version that’s good for sticky messes.
Right off the mark, the true judge, my wife, says the S9 Artist did a great job on the entry hall. Okay, that is a good start, but do I need a vacuum that mops while it vacuums, or just a replacement stick vacuum?
Should you use a wet-dry vacuum or a stick vacuum?
The S9 Artist is for hard-floor cleaning only and, as such, has a spinning brush roller designed to rub the floor without damaging it. This is a battery-operated device, so it requires charging in a supplied base. From flat, this will take 4-5 hours. Once you add one litre of water to a tank in the vacuum and a capful of cleaner (it comes with a 500ml bottle), you are ready to clean.
The first thing you notice is a powerful drive to move the unit. With a slight push forward, it goes forward; with a slight pull back, it goes back. Rotate the handle, and the vacuum goes in that direction. The unit weighs 5.5kg but feels light with this drive motion.
Image: Angus Jones.
Its battery lasts up to 50 minutes, which is also the same length of time a full tank of water lasts. The mop continuously cleans itself by adding fresh water and removing dirty water into a built-in 0.75-litre tank. This must be manually emptied after you are done. The mop dries automatically when you return it to the charging base, where hot air completes the job in about five minutes.
On the handle is a small screen and four buttons. One button turns the vacuum on and off, and the next changes between three modes: Auto, Max, and Suction. Suction is used to clean up a liquid spill. Note that it will not clean up foam. The screen shows which mode you are in, battery power, and any warnings, such as when the water has run out.
When you return the vac to its dock, a sensor determines if the mop needs cleaning. If required, you will hear a voice prompt you to press the self-cleaning button. You can also connect the appliance to the Tineco app, where it will keep a log of your cleaning, replicate the vacuum’s buttons and status, and enable software updates. My feeling is you don’t really need the app, and you could easily get by without downloading it.
Is the S9 Artist easy to use and clean?
Beyond automated cleaning, occasional maintenance is required to remove the brush roller, remove any hair or debris, wash it under a tap, and replace it. A spare roller and air filter come in the box, and Tineco recommends you replace these parts every six months. Tineco also highly recommend you use their cleaning fluid, which is available for roughly $70.
Images: Angus Jones.
One thing I found confusing was that the unit had a label with a QR code linking to a quick-start guide. It took me to the Tineco website home page, instead of a dedicated guide.
When using the vacuum, a light on the front of the unit turns from blue to red. This indicates how dirty the floor is. If it goes red, spend some extra time on that spot; if it goes blue, keep going somewhere else. The suction feature works exceptionally well, and after some unintentional spills, the floor was returned to its normal state in seconds. Lastly, the S9 will also lie flat to mop under furniture, assuming you have a 13cm gap.
Once you have finished, there is a holding tank in the upright section where the dirty water and floor waste are held. This tends to be a wet mess but is easily rinsed out.
Would I choose the S9 Artist as a stick vac replacement?
Now, I must admit I had my concerns about a wet-dry vacuum being a stick vacuum replacement, especially when I realised there is no air-only vacuum setting, just an always-on mop and vac.
I was pleasantly surprised, and after mopping, the results are better, leaving only a very thin film of water that dries in about a minute. The Tineco Floor One S9 Artist has earned its place as a replacement hard-floor stick vacuum with more.