Vacuum cleaners that can both dust and “wash” the floor have been gaining popularity in online stores, offline home appliance shops and on TV home shopping channels.

Demand for hydro vacuum cleaners is ever rising, said chief executive Park Myung-duk of Chung Lim Aqua Co., a manufacturer specializing in cleaning equipment and agents.

“The vacuum cleaner market operates on one of the fastest-changing trends both at home and overseas,” Park emphasized. In less than a decade, the global trend of vacuum cleaners continuously shifted, from steam cleaners to circulating wet-cloth cleaners, then to the wireless vacuum cleaner and cleaning robots. 

According to Park, these models all have their own weaknesses, such as low power efficiency and extra post-vacuum cleaning. Cleaning robots appeal to customers’ curiosity, but have limits in cleaning ability, he claimed.

“After running the traditional vacuum cleaners, people still had to wet and wipe the floor to completely remove the microscopic dust and germs,” Park said. With “Aqua,” Chung Lim Aqua’s patented vacuuming-and-washing cleaner, users will be able to finish two jobs at once, the CEO said.

“Aqua” operates on two patented technologies: hydro-filtering technology and brushing technology for washing-vacuum cleaners. The hydro-filtering technique enables Aqua to absorb dust and polluted air into the cleaner, filter them with clean water, keep the pollutants and emit clean air.

Aqua’s patented brushing technology engages two wipers that wipe the floor with clean water. Dirty water is absorbed into the cleaner through the internal pipes.

The cleaner is effective in washing areas that are hard to clean with traditional vacuum cleaners, such as the inside of the vegetable storage section of a refrigerator. Pouring water into the storage, wiping them with detergent for drum washing machine, and absorbing the dirty water with Aqua will do, the company suggested.

Having developed hydro vacuum cleaners and related technologies since 2001, Park rolled out the company’s first water-absorbing vacuum cleaner in 2003.

By Chung Joo-won (joowonc@heraldcorp.com)