Black & Decker Scum Buster Deluxe; Can't Cut The Mustard
Written: Sep 22 '03
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Pros: Many attachments, versapak battery
Cons: Many see review
The Bottom Line: There's not enough power with the Scum Buster to do a good job with hard cleaning problems. The battery doesn't last very long.
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| disartain's Full Review: Black & Decker S500 ScumBuster Handheld Vacuum |
If you take a tired housewife and add a dirty tile wall in the bathroom that numerous cleaners do not come close to cleaning, what do you get? A middle-aged housewife looking for a miracle in a cleaning machine, I thought I found the miracle when I found the Black & Decker Scum Buster Deluxe at Home Depot. I bought it took it home and used it then discovered WRONG AGAIN now let me tell you why.
Okay I’ll get to the story in a minute let me tell you what comes with the Scum Buster first.
The scrubber, the main character in this little charade, is waterproof and comes in a delightful shade of blue. Along the side are little white dots that I suppose are there to keep your hands from slipping, they feel different from the main scrubber but are not raised they just happen to have been put where some fingers reach depending on the size of your hand. Attached to this scrubber is the triangular disc, the icing on the cake so to speak, all the attachments fit on this triangle and the attachment spins when you turn it on. The switch to turn it on and off is right under the bottom where your forefinger rests on the scrubber, very convenient.
Step right up guys and gals and see what the lady got for her money!
All of the attachments fit onto the disc that fits on the main attraction.
Spiral Wheel Brush
Wide Bristle Brush
Mild Scrub Pad
Coarse Scrub Pad
Heavy Duty Pad
Sponge pad with a mesh bonnet that fits over the pad
Shampoo Brush
Nap Lifter
Versapak charger and battery.
A sample cleaning solution for carpet
A tray to tote all the stuff around as you whiz through the house.
The Myth
The Black & Decker Scum Buster Deluxe has attachments galore. It looked stupendous sitting on the shelf in the store, I was looking at the package and fantasying about all the things I could finally clean easily when I got home. I envisioned taking the little motor driven battery operated ScumBuster and whisking through the bathroom, kitchen, and then on to the tires on my van. What a dreamer I was, with this little machine there would be nothing I couldn’t clean.
The Truth and nothing but the truth
I came home eager to get started on that vile tile in the bathroom, opened the package, and looked to see that everything was there. I read the directions to see if it was as easy as it looked and realized that I had to wait six hours for the battery to charge. Okay, this is where that Versapak battery fits in; I have them all over the house from other tools that hubby and I use. In luck, I found one that was fully charged. I took the battery that came with the scrubber, plugged it into the outlet, took the fully charged battery, and put it in the scrubber. The back end of the scrubber comes off and the battery slips in.
“Take the chops out and fix the cocktails honey,” I told my hapless mate, “this cleaning shouldn’t take long at all,” famous last words.
I looked at all the attachments and tried to decide which one would scrub that tile down and make it look like new. Okay, I’ll go with the bristle brush to start, I thought. Grabbed it out of the tray and attached it to the scrubber. I turned on the hot water in the bathroom shower, got a bottle of spray cleaner, and sprayed away. Then I took the Black & Decker Scum Buster Deluxe and turned that baby on, and started to clean. It was cleaning pretty good I thought but it sure seemed slow. I guess I expected the speed of a drill but I sure didn’t get it.
Onward to other attachments, I turned the ScumBuster off and tried to take the brush off, I fiddled with it for a few minutes and still nothing. Darn, it is hard to take off; the little marks on the attachment show a lock and an open lock, I know I am turning the thing right. Looking at the directions now, it says, “snap twist it quickly and pull it off,” No luck. I spend 10 minutes trying to get the darn thing off before I finally give in and call my husband to come take the attachment off before the whole kit and caboodle is thrown in the trash. As always, he snaps, twists, and off it comes. Muttering under my breath, I give him a smile and say thanks.
I try another attachment and notice that the scrubber seems slower then before, looking at the tile it is not that clean either after all the work. Okay, I’ve had it with the Black & Decker Scum Buster Deluxe. “Honey, hold the cocktails and bring me the Brillo pads please.”
The Unvarnished Truth
The Black & Decker Scum Buster Deluxe has many uses and there are many different attachments that could conceivable clean most anything. The attachments are not the problem they are fine and I use some of them with just muscle power. The truth is the ScumBuster just does not spin fast enough with a full charge to clean hard areas.
It will clean a sink with ease or a toilet, and the fact that it can be wet with water is an added bell, but it just is not worth the money or the trouble to use it. It is far easier to use the attachments in your hands and use good ole muscle power to clean what you need too.
It is not a total waste of money we have another Versapak battery. Cleaning tires and some dirty areas it does okay but on tough cleaning jobs it just doesn’t have the oomph or the raw power to clean. The battery when fully charged only lasts about 20 minutes for and then I always have one on reserve.
This is a great idea and if they had just given it more power, it could have been a great cleaning tool. As it is now it’s just another gadget that I have to store in a closet until the next garage sale.
Thanks for reading
Diane
Copyright 2003
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 37.00
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Epinions.com ID:
disartain
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 in Pets, Home and Garden |
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Member: Diane Sartain
Location: Somewhere in SC
Reviews written: 374
Trusted by: 549 members
About Me:
Every day my children play is a good day. :)
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