What is the AirCraft Powerglide?
Cleaning hard floors isn’t a fun job, with a mop sometimes leaving floors far too wet with a risk of damage to more delicate surfaces. Opting for a mechanical cleaner is the way to overcome such issues, with the battery-powered AirCraft Powerglide a good example.
The Powerglide uses two rotating microfibre cloths alongside a spray control to direct your choice of detergent where you want it to go. It cleans well, it can handle more delicate floors, and even has cloths designed for waxing and polishing.
The light body and battery-powered design make this a handy and portable tool for keeping your hard floors looking their best.
AirCraft Powerglide design and features – Feels solid enough, but the remote controls are little odd
Arriving in a relatively small box, the AirCraft Powerglide requires some assembly to get it ready to go. First, you need to clip the extension pole into the cleaning unit and then the handle clips into the top. Once assembled, the handle and pole can be clipped upright, which enables the Powerglide to stand up unaided.
The handle can be extended, both for storage purposes and to make the Powerglide more comfortable to push around regardless of how tall (or small) you are.
At the bottom of the pole where the cleaning unit meets the mopping unit, is the removable battery. This gives 30 to 40 minutes of cleaning from a full charge. You can charge both in-situ or out-of-body. The latter is particularly useful if you buy a second battery (£34.95) to extend run-time.
Strangely, the handle requires two AAA batteries, too. This is because communication between the controls on the handle and the mop unit are wireless. It would be neater and more convenient if the controls were simply passed through the extension pole.
This design means that there are two power controls. First, there’s the power button on the mop unit that turns on the LED lights at the front and gets the Powerglide ready. Then, there’s the power button on the handle, which starts the microfibre mops spinning. Finally, there’s a button to spray fluid from the water container in the mop unit.
The mop unit has a water reservoir for cleaning, which you can use with your favourite floor cleaning fluid or just water. You can also use liquid wax in the container if you want to polish your floors, although it’s recommended that you run plain water through at the end to ensure that the nozzle doesn’t become blocked.
What you put in the reservoir will help you choose the microfibre cleaning cloths you use: pink for cleaning and blue for polishing and waxing. Both cloths are the same size and can be cleaned in a washing machine – but without fabric softener.
The cloths attach to the bottom of the mop via velcro clips. It can be a little fiddly to get the cloths to line up, ensuring an even amount of space around them.
AirCraft Powerglide performance – Excellent cleaning, if not a little tricky to manoeuvre at times
With everything in place, and both power buttons turned on, the Powerglide spins both microfibre cloths at 250rpm in opposite directions. To start cleaning, spray cleaning fluid on the floor. Thankfully, the fluid comes out in a fine spray that doesn’t splash up and cover furniture; it hits the floor just in front of the mop. For tougher stains, you may want to use a little more spray.
I found that a little spray was sufficient to get the microfibre cloths wet enough to start cleaning, following up with the odd spray here and there to keep the floor cleaning going. With the cloths spinning, the Powerglide is easy to move forward and back. Swiping it side to side is harder, though, as a result of the cloths spinning in different directions. That can make it mildly tricky to get around some furniture – although the lightweight of the Powerglide means a bit of force can get it where you want it.
The Powerglide can clean up to 20sqm per minute, although speed will depend on how soiled your floor is: dirtier parts of a floor may require more attention. To test, I put the Powerglide through its paces in my kitchen, which routinely becomes dirty thanks to four cats coming in and going out.
The first thing of which I became aware was that it’s essential to vacuum first. There’s no vacuuming action on the Powerglide, so surface dirt just gets flung around. What you want is a floor that has more ingrained marks, free of dust.
In this instance, the Powerglide does a great job. As you can see from the before and after images, the Powerglide picked up all of the dirt, leaving me with a shiny, clean floor that didn’t take very long to dry – and one that wasn’t as wet as when using a mop. The Powerglide even did well on harder stains, such as dried cat food stuck to the floor, which would normally require some elbow work when using a manual mop.
Carpet test: Dirty hard floor (left) vs Clean hard floor (right) – move slider to compare
Although the Powerglide is effective, it’s also relatively gentle, so ideal for more delicate floors. Just make sure you use the right cleaning fluid. And, once you’re done, you can even treat your hardwood floors with some liquid wax, making the Powerglide as versatile a floor cleaner as they come.
It’s worth mentioning how quiet the AirCraft Powerglide is, too. I measured it at just 62.1dB: quiet enough over which to have a conversation. The only real downside is that there’s no stand on which to place the Powerglide once you’re done cleaning. As such, you must remember to remove the cleaning cloths so as not to create a damp spot.
Should I buy the AirCraft Powerglide?
There’s a surprising amount of choice when it comes to cleaning hard floors. A steam cleaner can do a good job, alongside offering the versatility for cleaning other areas, but it can leave streaks. Plus, steam isn’t ideal for all surfaces.
Then, there’s the Karcher FC5 Hard Floor Cleaner, which is a touch more powerful and can suck plenty of mess, so you don’t necessarily need to whizz round with a vacuum before you start cleaning. The FC5 is only for cleaning, not for applying wax or polish, and it’s also heavier and mains powered.
In fact, the closest competition to the AirCraft Powerglide is the Samsung PowerStick Jet vacuum cleaner, which has a similar cleaning attachment. If you’re looking for an all-in-one option, it’s a great choice. However, the PowerStick Jet’s cloths have to be soaked in water before use, making it less flexible than being able to spray cleaner where you want it.
All the above are good choices, but the AirCraft Powerglide has its own niche: if you need a cordless cleaner that can clean all types of floor, and would like a tool for applying wax or polish, then the Powerglide is for you.
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