Ionic Clean Review

We were hoping that the Ionic Clean, from HomeRight, would be a miracle washer for spot-free window and vehicle cleaning. Sadly, the Ionic Clean proved to be anything but effective for large surface spot-free cleaning, and/or cheap to maintain. Here's what we discovered when we used the Ironic Clean.

What It Does

The Ionic Clean isn't anywhere as efficient as the manufacturers would have you believe. It arrived in a large, long box and then had to be assembled before use. Once this was done, the Ionic Clean was designed so that you had to carry this large filter element around, which was not exactly light (depending on what you're trying to clean).
     
If this wasn't frustrating enough, we had to be extremely patient with it, while the de-ionized water literally trickled out of the filter. The Ionic Clean did not cover a lot of surface area, and so if you plan to wash the exterior of an RV, you are going to be there a long, long time.
     
The whole assembly, consisting of your own garden hose, the Ionic Clean filter and hose, and the Ionic Clean brush, was awkward to navigate around a vehicle or from window to window. The option selector (between the three different modes of by-pass, de-ionized water, and off) was on the filter and not the brush. This meant that when you wanted to change selections, you had to put down the brush and run over to the filter. Realistically, are you going to unpack, assemble, and carry around the Ionic Clean every time you wash windows or vehicles, and then repack it and return it to storage? 
     
We don't recommend the Ionic Clean for washing your tow rigs, boats, RVs, or toy haulers because it simply cannot filter the water fast enough to cover that large of a surface area. That's logical when you consider the size of the handheld filtering system to begin with. For windows that are not too high (since water flows back out of the brush when overhead and covers you with de-ionized water), you could be somewhat satisfied.

Costs

The Ionic Clean costs $250 or more, and the price of replacement filters is steep (up to $50 each), and you'll have to replace them regularly if you use the Ironic Clean weekly. That's a lot of money to have streak-free windows. A little bit of elbow grease, some crinkled up newspaper and water with vinegar is a whole lot cheaper, and works great if you clean the windows in the open shade, and not sun.

Results

Again, the Ionic Clean didn't cut it for washing a large truck, van or RV as we learned. And you will probably still need professional window washers, because there was still some streaking on the glass, although it did seem to work better than plain tap water. If you're just doing the windows, washing and drying them with old newspapers and diluted vinegar seems more environmentally responsible. We did not test the soap/chemical injector (which would seem to contradict the environmentally responsible benefit). We liked the brush attachment with the built-in spray nozzle, though. Unfortunately, a spray/cleaning wand and the soap/chemical injector were not included and have to be purchased separately, which is a bummer.