Everyone knows Numatic’s infamous Henry range of vacuum cleaners. If there was a hall of fame for vacuum cleaners, a cheery red Henry would be a first-ballot inductee. Built here in the UK, Henry vacuum cleaners have proven themselves to be tough, affordable and reliable. In a world of built-in obsolescence, the Henry has a feel of permanency, and a bank of spare parts available should something go wrong.
George, also from Numatic, is a fairly big jump up compared to a Henry, in terms of both spec and price. For roughly £100 more than a standard Henry, the George takes the core aspects of what makes a Henry so good (the quality, power and cutesy face), and infuses it with a wet vacuuming function and the ability to shampoo carpet.
On paper, it sounds like the ultimate tool for car and home cleaning. Able to tackle any little debris, spillage and even stains with one singular tool. To see whether it’s a match made in heaven or if you should stick to separate carpet cleaners and vacuums, we’ve been busy putting George through its paces.
Meet George, Henry’s burly brother
The number one use for this vacuum will be day-to-day cleaning, so it’s important that it can vacuum both a car and home without any restrictions caused by the other features. The regular Henry excels here, with powerful suction and exceptional flexibility stemming from the hose and raft of attachments.
The George features both of these which make it exceptional as a regular vacuum cleaner. The power delivered by the 1060W motor ensures that there’s always plenty of suction on offer, perfect for collecting debris from small nooks and tackling particular dusty carpets where lesser (often battery-powered) vacuums begin to suffer.
The number of attachments included as standard is impressive too. There’s the usual floor attachment and crevice tool for getting into awkward crumb collection spots, but there’s also a smaller upholstery tool that’s the right size for accessing car seats and cleaning them effectively. It meant it was quite easy for me to roam around, sucking up everything that wasn’t bolted down.
The dusting tool is a real standout attachment, complete with long, soft bristles for collecting dust while posing no scratch risk, even on delicate surfaces like polished wood and glass. While this isn’t recommended for a car’s interior, around the home it made Saturday morning dusting far quicker.
Deeper cleaning
As anyone unfortunate to have spilt a drive-through burger in their car knows. vacuuming can only get you so far. Even the world’s best vacuum cleaner won’t be able to suck a stain out of fabric, a carpet shampoo and extraction system will be needed.
The George features both a wet vacuuming function (it can supposedly unblock a blocked sink in a pinch) and a shampooing feature to offer much deeper cleaning. Power remains unchanged here, but there’s a trigger that’ll deliver a blast of carpet shampoo to provide some chemical deep cleaning alongside the mechanical cleaning offered by the suction.
With the spot cleaner head attached and the vacuum cleaner set up to shampoo surfaces, the George was put to work navigating the boot and rear seats of the car. It was here that the 10-metre hose and 26.8-metre operating radius proved to be exceptionally useful. The base unit could sit happily on the floor while I tackled any rogue stains.
A particular benefit to the cylinder design is that the George can act as both a spot cleaner and a larger carpet cleaner. Previous spot cleaners we’ve tested are simply too small to be used to clean floors, not the case here. The George even comes with a big nozzle and mop-like attachment designed for cleaning soft and hard floors.
As part of the test we used it as both a spot and carpet cleaner around the home, and it excelled with almost every stain we could place in its path. The liquified banana residue on an office chair came up with no fuss, as did stains left by a cat and a small child on a carpet. The only area it struggled with was removing ingrained ketchup, leaving behind some residue.
Any downsides?
There are a lot of parts, and switching between the dry and wet functions is fiddly and rather complex. Switching from standard vacuuming to the shampooing setting requires the dust bag being removed and replaced with a tank for the shampoo, the filter is then removed and the normal hose is replaced with another complete with a channel for the shampoo. While everything clicks together with outstanding quality, it’s a fairly long process. It’s the first electronic thing where I’ve had to keep the instructions close at hand should I need to swap it over, which is unheard of in my Generation Z lifetime.
This selection of swappable parts also means you’ll be needing somewhere to keep everything for when the vacuum isn’t in use. You’ll always have one hose in storage alongside a raft of bulky attachments. The smaller head attachments have a home on the back of the unit, but the larger ones are going to need a shelf or cupboard to keep them organised.
It’s also a hefty unit with a box weight of 15kg, not a deal breaker thanks to the four wheels and obvious quality feel, but worth bearing in mind if you intend to lug George up and down stairs for cleaning. The box it was delivered in also lacked any grab handles, annoying for transporting it around.
Price and competition
The George sits in a very unusual spot in the vacuuming market, there aren’t that many products that combine a wet and dry vacuum cleaner with an extractor, on the domestic end of the market anyway. The best we could find was this Draper unit, which manages to look even more complex than the George but does cost a similar amount of cash.
That means that in order to get the same abilities as the George you’ll be left looking for a wet and dry vacuum cleaner and a spot cleaner separately. To buy a decent wet and dry vacuum cleaner and then get a carpet extractor will set you back roughly the same amount of cash as a George. Plus, you’ll be lumped with two reasonably large items to store and lug around for cleaning duties. With the added convenience of the Henry and quality, it does represent decent value for money.
Verdict
While George will always live in the shadow of good ol’ Henry, in terms of versatility it has the Henry beaten. In fact, I’d go so far as to call it the hidden gem of the Numatic lineup. It’s an incredibly logical move to combine a wet and dry vacuum cleaner with a carpet cleaner and the George gets it mostly right.
Sure, it’s a bit fiddly to swap functions, but it’s also exceptional once it’s set up. For car cleaning, nothing is more comprehensive in its ability to transform a tired-looking interior than the Geroge. It’s also a genuine space and cash saver if you consider this works as a wet and dry vacuum cleaner, spot cleaner and carpet cleaner.
This is all before you mention just how sturdy every little feature is. It’s heavy and a little ungainly compared to a modern cordless vacuum cleaner, but it’s so much more powerful and will probably outlast any cordless example.
Score 4.5/5
George Wet and Dry Vacuum
Price: £255 | VIEW OFFER
Pros:
• Very capable fabric cleaner
• Bank-vault construction
• Perfect for car cleaning
Cons:
• A complex bit of kit
• Heavy
Specs:
Motor: 1060W
Capacity (litres): 15L, 9L wet, 6L extraction
Weight: 14.68kg
Attachments: Floor tool, crevice tool, upholstery tool, dusting tool, carpet extractor, spot extractor, dual scrub brush
More items to consider
Draper 20L 1500W 230V Wet and Dry Shampoo/Vacuum Cleaner, RRP £250.94
Karcher SE 4001 Carpet Cleaner, £200
Vax SpotWash Home Pet-Design Spot Cleaner, RRP £179
How the product was tested:
George was tested both on a car and around the home to see if it was as versatile as it was marketed as being. For traditional vacuuming, it was used to clean a car’s interior before being used to clean both a flat and a house. The wet function was tested with a manufactured spillage in a kitchen, while the shampooing function was tested on a range of commonly found stains to measure real-world performance.
Ryan Gilmore is the Deputy Autos and Tool Editor for Parkers and CAR, specialising in car cleaning and hand tools. He also contributes to What’s The Best.
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