Ever get tired of rubbing and scrubbing to get something clean? The Kärcher KV 4 cordless all-surface cleaner is a vibrating wet cleaner that gives you the elbow grease without effort.
Essentially it is a rechargeable battery-powered vibrating washcloth with a motorised spray reservoir. You can use it on any smooth surface – glass, tiles, mirrors, stone benchtops, splashbacks, car windows, polished wood floors, two-pack and laminated cupboards or more. And it works so well on soap grimed tiles and shower screens.
It may provide the muscle, but the clearing pad won’t scratch delicate surfaces. It is way superior to hand cleaning windows (the window vac finished the job by removing the water for a streak-free finish). Our take – buy one and explore its many uses.
Kärcher KV 4 cordless all-surface cleaner
| Website | Range and product |
| Price | $69 or an extra $50 Also available as a companion to the Kärcher WV 6 Plus window vac (9.2/10) |
| From | Kärcher online, Bunnings, Sydney Tools, Mitre 10, Total Tools and Supercheap Auto. |
| Warranty | 2-year ACL |
| Country of origin | Italy |
| Company | Alfred Kärcher SE & Co. KG is a German family-owned company that operates worldwide. It is known for its high-pressure cleaners, floor care equipment, parts cleaning systems, wash water treatment, military decontamination equipment and window vacuum cleaners. |
| More | GadgetGuy Kärcher news and reviews |
First impression
Kärcher yellow – it has a real corporate thing going here! It is pretty compact at 260 x 94 x 100mm x 500g and has nice big buttons and a handle, so you won’t have any issues using it. In fact, if you have arthritis, this may be for you.
The spray tank holds 180ml, and you can use either the Kärcher Window cleaner (20ml makes 200ml) or pure water. The pump spray comes out under the pad.
Setup and use
Charge, put on a clean Velcro cleaning pad, fill the water reservoir and clean. No app.
The battery takes about 2.5 hours to charge and runs for about 35 minutes. That should be enough to do a 100m2 area. There is a meter showing the remaining charge.
Use it horizontally or vertically to the extent of your reach. There is a WV Evolution extension pole from .6 to 1.5 metres that could be handy
Once cleaned, water remains on the surface, and you can either use the WV 6 Plus window vac or a no-lint cotton cloth to remove it.
Depending on how dirty the surface is, you may want to handwash the pad every ten sq metres or so, and it is machine washable.
Options
Kärcher has a range of replacement pads – Scrubber, Tile, Soft, and Cleaning pads. You can turn the spray off so it can dry clean or polish.
Kärcher offers a range of cleaning solutions and supplies a 20ml sample of the Glass Cleaner concentrate. A 500ml bottle costs $11.90. I went to my local Bunnings, but they did not have a great range of Kärcher cleaning solutions.
Tests – aced them all
We cleaned about 10m2 of windows, and the battery showed 90% remaining. The pad removed grime like insect hits, bird droppings, dust and salt residue far easier and faster than if I had scrubbed with a light-duty, non-scratch, sponge scourer.
Where you tend to use a repetitive circular motion with a hand-held scourer, you can use long single-pass strokes – it is so much faster – by my estimates, 50% over hand cleaning.
Maintenance and storage
Clean the pads, buy extra cleaner, and that is it. While you probably could use other cleaning solutions, make sure that they don’t block the spray jets – they must be suitable for this type of device.
Storage – my take – you need to store it upright to keep the damp pad off any surface. You don’t have to empty the water reservoir.
Like all Kärcher products, this has great availability of user-replaceable spares.
GadgetGuy’s take
We have been looking at the Kärcher range to see how a bit of German know-how can help with cleaning.
Maybe I am getting old, so I am more aware of the need for a clean home and the need to use assisted cleaning aids that I did not need in my youth. This vibrating pad is a ripper taking the strain out of smooth surface cleaning – at $69 (plus spare pads and cleaning solution), it is a no-brainer.
Its Kärcher FC 7 cordless mop cleans like no other 9.7/10, and the Kärcher WV 6 Plus window vac 9.2/10 really leaves windows streak-free. The Kärcher K 4 Premium Full Control Pressure washer did a job that professionals quoted three times its purchase price to do (OK, yes, there was labour).
