I'm also wondering what people are using in place of the Hoover soluntion. I just found the basic model 2800 at our local thrift shop. I'm not kidding this thing has to be brand new! checked it all out and it's about spotless so went ahead and splurged the $20 they were asking for the unit. Just used it on my linoleum kitchen floor and so far I like it. Used a vinegar/water solution since I wasn't sure what else I could use. Good luck with yours Betsy! I HATE mopping....honestly would rather clean a toilet so this is going to help A LOT!!!
Pep

Oh c'mon all you ultimate cleaners. Y'all talked me into this thing! Please tell me what you use in it.

I bought a used Hoover Floormate on Ebay. It worked okay at first, then the buttons that spray and pick up the solution broke. I had no recourse,it had no guarantee, so I threw the danged thing out. I was able to buy one bottle of the solution, I still have half of it left.Guess I'll use it for spot-cleaning my wood floors. I can't recommend the Floormate.

Forgot to beg in the subject line too :)

Be careful about using vinegar in those machines. I was using vinegar to save money over using the expensive cleaner that they sell and the vinegar formed a mother. I may have ruined the machine and I only have myself to blame for listening to those on discussion boards who recommended vinegar. I could kick myself for falling for it.

I have a floormate and love it- I ruined my first one that was a yard sale find by putting pine sol in it- yeah I didn't know any better. Bought the wide path one new and the directions said to not use solvents but the recommended floor cleaner or vinegar solution.

I love the FloorMate, and couldn't go back to mopping (it's like spreading the dirt around vs. putting down only clean water). My first one admittedly died after only 6 years, but I replaced it with a widepath that's currently going on 1.5 years with no issues.

Don't use vinegar or Pine Sol, but Hoover's Floor to Floor solution lasts ages if you use it at half the recommended strength. I actually prefer it at half strength; I notice no loss in cleaning ability or pick up, and zero residue when the floor dries.

I love the Hoover Floormate as far as cleaning my tile floors goes. I don't like cleaning the machine parts afterward, but that's what's necessary.

I had a Hoover Floormate, it broke after only one or two uses. I would not recommend this product for 3 reasons-Hoover no longer makes it, it is made of cheap plastic and easily breaks easily (what happened to mine) and it is darned near impossible to find the liquiud cleaner for it.

Sorry to hear you got a defective product, but your other two statements are quite false. Hoover still manufactures 7 different model variations of the FloorMate, all available and visible on their website:

http://www.hoover.com/productcategory.aspx?use=44&ds=false

The solution is available at any and every Walmart I've ever been to, but even if you oppose shopping at the big W it can be easily purchased at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Hoover-40303048-48-Ounce-Cleaner-FloorMate/dp/B0009GCYUE/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1264006546&sr=8-5

My FloorMate is going on two years, no problems, It replaced an earlier module that admittedly did break after 6 years of very frequent use. Use the solution at half strength and not only does it clean as good with no residue, but the bottle lasts a long, long time too.

Okay, here goes. I bought this one in Home Depot on clearance. First one had to be returned as it didn't work. Talked to customer service and didn't get a lot of help. Returned it to the store, same day. Second one was perfect. We have wood floors, tile floors, marble floors and vinyl "wood" plank floors. Also 4 LARGE German Shepherd Dogs in Florida, where there is tons of sand. Of course, we have to sweep first. That is a no-brainer. But, I have to say, this does an outstanding job. I have allergies and asthma. I have never been so symptom-free after using this. I am sold. I have read many articles on why you shouldn't use vinegar or other solvents. I don't want to replace my unit. So, here are links to buy the cleaning solution made for this machine at a reasonable price: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005D1MSBA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006Z078I6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

After reading all the posts, I have to admit, I broke my two previous Hoover floor mates by using pinesol and fabuloso in them in efforts to save on the cleaning liquid. I LOVED my floor mates and used them daily! Nothing else has ever cleaned my house floors which is tile throughout, like the floormate! I have been hesitant to buy another because I didn't want to loose another $125 or more but I just realized it wasn't the machine's fault, it was operator error!! I purchased a new floor mate the other day and am super excited to get my floors clean today! Nothing cleans them better than this floormate and eliminates the haste of a regular mop! It's super easy to just pull out and clean and just empty and fill containers! Hoover had been a godsend for me and my back and neck!! I have an American bulldog, a boxer and a hound who can all shed quiet a bit so I sweep ALL the time! I still like to sweep before using the machine but the Hoover leaves my floors so clean after mopping with it that I will never use anything else again!!

I've had my Hoover FloorMate SpinScrub Hard Floor Cleaner since about 2008. I love it. I've used it on my personal residence floors and also on some rental property I have. I've always used the recommended floor cleaner because my research results said not to use vinegar. Never have seen any benefit to the grout brush though. It has held up well. I have a Roomba that I clean the floors with daily so there is rarely any debris for the FloorMate to encounter.

I love mine...I always use Armstrong floor cleaner (it's blue), I think it's a pledge product. So does my mom but she doesn't use the dispenser and has my dad apply the cleaner solution with a mop and bucket and then she scrubs and drys with the floormate.

I still use my original floormate "the hard floor cleaner" I bought in 2001. I had a couple neighbors throw theirs out. Snagged them and we have used one for parts. The other one sits waiting except when my daughter first got married she borrowed it for a couple of years. She has the fancy one with the big tank now. What happened to them is they just needed a new squeegee on the bottom replaced. Its a wear item. Once that gets week it looses suction and that's when people mistakenly think its bad, kick it to the curb and then bad mouth it. I have replaced that on mine several times. Also I've only used the floormate solution half strength using warm not hot water and going over final rings sometimes with warm water after. About every third time doing my floors. I never use it as a vacume even though it has that function. I use my white pro shark navigator to go over my floors first. Too much sand in Florida and a house full of tile. Years ago I used to use one of those yellow buckets on wheels with a press for the mop. PTL for the floormate, those tourture days on my back pushing that thing around then when I was 41. I can't imagine how fun it would be now. I've bought the solution at Home Depot and Target. I believe Best Buy sells it also.

I've had my Hoover Floormate for 15+ years now and I've put it through hell, and used a pine cleaner, and it still works just fine, f you use a 3:1 water to pine ratio and don't let the solution set in the machine after use (run just water through after cleaning) it works just fine.

Floormate deluxe finally gave out after 13 years ... hose at bottom of handle split. Machine was used only for duradek balcony. Solution I used was 2 oz Mr Clean in a kids pail of hot water. Did deck in sections moving furniture and bbq around. Poured solution in small amounts and brushed with bristle brush. Then used floormate to scrub further and vac water. Took unit to Hoover service location and hose could have been fixed but was told motor and pump were on last legs. Had purchased a new backup unit couple years ago on sale for 120. Tech at hoover said should have used hoover hard floor cleaners as they are less harsh on internal parts. Will try using only Hoover hard surface cleaner and will report back on life of new unit. 32 oz of Hoover cleaner on sale for 8.99 at Canadian Tire in Edmonton. BTW Floormate did great job on deck every time cleaning up our puppy poo smears and pee drops.