PR 37232t
30 November 2015

Accuracy of testing - Flawed vacuum cleaner testing
should be re-examined - Justin Binks, MD, SEBO UK

Pictured is Justin Binks, MD of SEBO UK

EU labelling requirements for vacuum cleaners have already been much debated but, in the wake of the Volkswagen emissions scandal, it is worth nothing that vacuum cleaner manufacturers self-test and self-validate so it is all too easy for results to be fudged and skewed to present products in an advantageous light. Added to this, the tests themselves are unrepresentative of real world cleaning scenarios so magnify the confusion in the market place. Quite simply, the whole process is somewhat unbelievable and pointless.

Although the conditions are supposed to be the same in every manufacturer's testing station, there are inevitable variations. Pick up can differ between carpet samples by up to 10%. There are also margins of error that a manufacturer can factor in so a plus or minus of 3% is quite feasible. If the manufacturer always opts to add this percentage of error in their favour, they can potentially lift their product up a band in terms of percentage pick up. So far, despite many companies claiming results that cannot be true, no one has been prosecuted. 

There ought to be an officially sanctioned laboratory that does all the tests but, before thinking about this scenario, it is the tests themselves that should be examined. In particular, the tests for pick up are flawed as they do not represent the ‘real world' situations found either in homes or commercial premises.

Both the hard floor and carpet pick up tests require that a special type of sand be used. This is not something that is normally collected by vacuum cleaners. Generally, 80% of what is picked up is fluff, hair and fibre.

Equally unrepresentative is the so called ‘crevice' test used for hard floors. This results in the vacuum cleaner head being designed to ‘seal' down against the floor and does not take account of the need to clean the floor's surface. Consequently, dirt is simply pushed along in front of the head without being sucked up. Users also end up being frustrated because the machine is hard to use since the head ‘sticks' to the floor.

Ironically, the EU label was introduced to inform consumers on the energy consumption, performance, noise, dust re-emission and other essential characteristics of their vacuum cleaners. Instead, it has driven manufacturers to make vacuum cleaners that do not meet the needs of users in terms of ease of use or performance while, at the same time, the data provided fails to tell consumers how the machine is going to perform in practice.

At the very least, there should be some form of independent testing of manufacturers' claims. Where these claims cannot be substantiated, there must be rigorous enforcement and prosecution of companies that are providing inaccurate or misleading data.

For more information on the SEBO range please call 01494 465533 or visitwww.sebo.co.uk.

-ends-

With compliments:
Alison Relf
Taylor Alden Ltd
Unit 2, Temple Place
247 The Broadway
London
SW19 1SD
Tel: 020 8543 3866
Email: alison@tayloralden.co.uk