People think fashion magazines are glamorous. And from the outside, they are. On a daily basis we are dealing with luxury clothing and fine jewellery. We’re attending fashion shoots, and exquisitely curated brand events, often with a pre-planned colour palette dictating our outfit choices. It looks glamorous. But what people don’t see is the behind-the-scenes grind. Working on a print magazine, with a 360° platform that includes digital, social, and events, the FQ team are constantly on the go. We have daily deadlines with editorial and commercial contracts that we need to deliver on. Sometimes that means late nights, or early mornings. Often that means work life spills over into my home life. And herein lies the problem. A more than 9-5 job, and a demanding family of five to cater to round the clock.

Naturally, the mental load at home is weighty. The constant thinking, planning, plotting. Being the conduit between school, soccer, dancing, guitar, et al. As a mum of three I’m often the person in the household who knows what is happening, and when. The one who knows if it’s dress up in your house school colours, or in a pink T-shirt for pink shirt day. Most days, my mind is at capacity. Past capacity, really, and I’ve noticed things slipping through the cracks. I often dream about having a personal assistant to be that person, and take the organisational side of running a household off my hands. I also dream of having a cleaner, because on top of all that, one of the things I struggle with the most, is keeping the house in order. And keeping it clean.

Logistically there is no time for cleaning on the weekdays. By the time we’ve acted as Uber drivers to ferry our kids around for after-school activities, cooked dinner, eaten with the kids, bathed them, read a book and got them to bed, we’re exhausted. Each night I try to ‘reset’ the house — it doesn’t always happen. But if I can conjure up some energy I put away the scattering of toys that never made it back to the playroom. I wipe down the bench, and move my handbag from the long-suffering entranceway sideboard where I dump it à la Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada upon entering the Vogue office (sans the assistants, of course!)

So it transpires that Sundays have become our cleaning day. That’s the day everything is wiped down and deep cleaned, and I have to admit, integrating the Shark HydroVac™ Pro XL Cordless 3-in-1 cleaner has been life-changing. I was dubious, at first. The cleaning tool boasts that it vacuums and mops at the same time! It was too good to be true. Our downstairs has an expanse of tiles, so to vacuum, and then mop, is time-consuming. But when using the Shark HydroVac, I was pleasantly surprised. I didn’t have to look far to patch test it — a pile of blue glitter glinted at me underneath the table (remnants of the afternoon’s crafting activities!) I set the Shark HydroVac on it, and, poof, it was gone. Vacuumed up and mopped simultaneously.

Bolstered, I moved throughout the house, unanchored by an annoying cord to tie me down or tangle me up as I seamlessly transitioned between rooms. I set about the tiles and marvelled how the dirt was powerfully sucked up, and the floor cleaned. It was so much easier (and saved more water) as there was no need to fill a big bucket for the mop. Instead, the innovative two-tank system uses debris filtration technology in the dirty water tank, which is designed to separate solids from liquids so you can easily empty the tank.

What I liked the most was the deep clean. Much deeper than my own mop and bucket scenario. With its antimicrobial brushroll and odour neutraliser tech the house not only looked but smelled like it’d been professionally cleaned. It took me half the time it usually does to clean the house. That meant I miraculously clawed back a much needed hour on my Sunday.

When I was finished I placed the HydroVac back on its charging dock, which after every use activates self-clean mode so it cleans itself ready for the next use. Finally, I thought, something I don’t have to do myself.