A:
You have to use the tools. I used them and it took some experience, but they did work. Stairs just aren't easy. It would be risky to use the Hoover on stairs without the tools. I strongly discourage this. A plus is that the tube connecting to the tools is long, giving a lot of range. We have 14 stairs and I cleaned all of them with the Hoover unit at the bottom of the stairs. It is a challenge to get the unit up and down stairs when you have two levels to clean....From my research, this is a common problem as the cleaners need a certain amount of features to clean, which adds to weight, etc. There are some cleaners for smaller areas, including stairs, and results are mixed.