Shark HydroVac Brush to 9” Paint Roller Conversion - Wet Dry Vacuum Mop

FULL DISCLOSURE - USE AT YOUR OWN RISK, I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE THIS MAY CAUSE YOUR HOME, FLOORS, SHARK PRODUCT, OR ANYTHING OF TANGABLE VALUE.

With that out of the way (smiley face), this is my take on providing an alternative solution for Shark HydroVac Brushrolls. When I approached this design my objective was to improve the usability, capability, & ongoing maintenance of the new (as of last year) Shark HydroVac Cordless Pro XL electric floor mop. Being a big supporter of Shark products & recognition that this product out of the box was very price competitive (<$200), I knew there was opportunity to get this product to perform like it’s much more expensive competition. This design is my first take at doing so as Shark products provide a great platform for modification as the serviceability & reliability is quite good.

1) Out of the box this product worked well (Shark HydroVac Cordless Pro Xl), but the overall experience was not all that great. My biggest concern/ annoyance was the poorly designed brush roll – the injected molded end caps (which keep the drive/ non-drive brush fiber under control) continued to come in contact with my floor while generating a sound that any product that comes in contact with your floor should not make (even parts of my house that have both new hardwood & vinyl plank showed to be problematic). I did not allow this problem to persist (via this design), I would only assume if I continue to let this problem occur the plastic contact with the floor would eventually start to show (as damage).

2) Additionally (aside from my primary objective above), I found when the provided Shark brushroll did come in contact with the floor it had a tendency to pull the hydrovac in different directions making it quite unpredictable at times.

In conclusion problems in point 1 & 2 have been rectified, I wanted to find a way to provide better cleaning feedback to the user (really make the hydrovac feel like it’s working & working well) & provide more cleaning options for the user – this design enables users to use a 9” paint roller in place of Sharks provided OEM brushroll & even Non-OEM brushrolls purchased on amazon (I tired both – both problematic). This opens up so many avenues for Shark users as there are so many different paint rollers available each of which can be used to provide a different experience.

•      Nap Length = amount of water the roll will hold (Short Nap = less water saturation/ debris break down & Long Nap = more saturation/ more smear/ better debris break down)
  

•      Fabric Density =  quality of water coverage, essentially is the water being applied evenly Low Density = poor/ inconsistence area coverage & High Density = consistent area coverage)
  

•      Roller Quality = build process/ materials used to manufacture (Poor Quality = less life/ more lint separation/ less resilience to cleaning chemicals/ more abrasive  & Good Quality = long life, no lint separation, little impact from chemicals)
  

While I do have a handful recommendation I could provide, it would like to only share the following to make a point:

•      Limit the amount cleaning dilute you use when using a long nap brushroller, this will create soap suds/ bubbles which will work its way into the non-water safe components of the vacuum.
  

•      For the sake of your floor, do not use the Menards sale rack $.50 roller you picked up last week, use rollers with known materials that are safe for your floors, ideally Microfiber rollers (x3 for $13 at Home Depot).
  

TBD