from Southfield, MI

I read the previous reviews on this shampooer and decided that I would purchase my first Hoover. I moved back into my house to discover that my tenants left the carpet absolutely filthy. I rented a heavy shampooer from the hardware store and because it didn't have rotating brushes, my carpet was left with clean and dirty streaks throughout. This shampooer has 6 rotating brushes and you have the option of low or high. Plus, the machine is easy to push back and forth. It did an amazing job and my light grey carpet is spotless.

What's great about it: Rotating Brushes

What's not so great: None

I would recommend this to a friend!

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Customer Rating

Well-Designed, easy and enjoyable to use

on February 5, 2009

Posted by: gummyroach

from Salt Lake City, Utah

I've had my house for about 6 years. The previous owners, (I call them Billy-Bob and Bubba) were absolute slobs. I doubt the carpets have ever been cleaned since it was installed. My carpets were so full of every kind of stain imaginable. Here a stain, there a stain. I will obviously need to replace the carpet, that's how bad it is, but I thought until I can afford to do that, why not get a steam cleaner and at least attempt to clean them anyway. Even if the carpets still looked horrible, I would at least have the necessary tools to maintain the new carpet when I finally install it.

The setup of this steamvac was very easy. The instructions are very clear, and it didn't take me more than about 15 minutes to assemble it and have it up and running.

The machine feels heavy-duty, but it's not too heavy. It's easy to move around. The accessory hose was a bit cumbersome. I couldn't figure out how to get it to store successfully on the back of the machine, so I just tossed the hose in a closet, will use the hose attachment some other day.

There are two tanks on this machine; one for the detergent and water, and a separate tank for recovery. The tanks are fairly small, but I wouldn't say they are necessarily too small. They're just about right, in my opinion. It DOES require freqent trips to the sink to refill or empty, and the machine can go thru a LOT of detergent, so it's best to pick up some extra bottles if you plan to really put this machine to use. One bottle will probably clean 2 rooms, depending on how dirty the carpets are.

Filling and emptying the tanks is a breeze. The cap on the detergent tank doubles as a mearsuing cup. It would have been nice if this cup had a pour spout to make pouring the detergent into the tank a little bit easier, but the fact that it is a mearsuing cup is still a great idea.

The trick behind using this machine is to go over the carpet S-L-O-W-L-Y. I probably went too fast when I first started using it. I later found that if I go forward, pulling the trigger and moving slowly, and then pull the machine slowly back, while pulling the trigger, I got better results. I would then go forward and back again without the trigger, to vacuum up the remaining solution. This worked pretty well, and the carpets dried in less than an hour.

Did it clean all the stains? No. But this really didn't surprise me much, as some of those stains were dried, latex paint, motor oil (Did I mention Billy Bob had a monster 4x4, and probably had oily truck parts all over the front room at one point?), food, and pet stains. It DID get a LOT of the stains up, though. I was impressed. Next time I may try some pre-treatment, along with some fabric softener.

It is true what professional carpet cleaners have said; if your carpets are extremely dirty, it is not uncommon for them to appear dirtier at first, when you first have them steam cleaned. This is because you are extracting dirt that has been embedded deep down into your carpets, and pulling it to the surface. You can keep a clean carpet clean, but for a carpet that is absolutely filthy, sometimes it requires several cleaning sessions to really get all the dirt out of it.

The recovery water in my machine was FILTHY! I was impressed! My carpets did look MUCH better on the first try. And the house smells wonderfull, too.

What's great about it: Easy to use, great suction power

What's not so great: Small tanks require frequent emptying/refilling, goes thru a lot of detergent

I would recommend this to a friend!

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Customer Rating

Great steamvac!

on February 10, 2009

Posted by: djwtarheel1

from Atlanta, GA

We have a dog and two cats ,and I have paid over $100 to have the house steamcleaned by professionals...so at that price, I decided to pick up one of these steam vacs to see if it would do the job. I researched a good bit, and decided on this one based on the reviews and its cost compared to some other models. Set-up was fairly easy as was actually using the vac itself (if you follow the directions of course). I noted that some people stated that it is easy to break and has plastics, but honestly all of the steam vacs I looked at were like this. The machine did a great job of cleaning the floors and I really couldn't believe how much dirt it sucked up-the carpets look great again. It took about an hour to dry completely. I would recommend one of these steam vacs - it will pay for itself in a couple of uses.

What's great about it: Good at doing what it says it will do...got out some stubborn stains

What's not so great: Dirty tank fills up quickly, uses a lot of detergent

I would recommend this to a friend!

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Customer Rating

The dirt on the Hoover SteamVac

on July 7, 2009

Posted by: JodyCoyote

from Central New Jersey

The Hoover SteamVac took longer to assemble than I had predicted due to the unclear instructions and impossible to see diagrams. It also is not of very rugged construction. But after the nightmare of assembly was over, the happiness began.

I was overjoyed and could not believe the amount of dirt the SteamVac pulled out of my carpets. Also, it completely elliminated stains and odors from cat urine, doggy messes, and water damage.

I also used the attachable upholstery tool for my couches and was very suprised that it also eliminated cat odors.

The only feature that I disliked was the automatic recovery tank shut-off feature which is annoying and unnecessary. This stops the brushes from turning and emanates an unbearable sound when the recovery tank is full with dirty water. I think people can visually figure out when the tank is full. What the directions don't mention is that you have to keep the Clean Solution tank full. If you only fill it up a third or halfway, the automatic shut-off kicks in every thirty seconds. Very annoying!

So have someone assemble the Hoover SteamVac for you and always keep the clean solution tank full and you will have a happy stress-free shampoo-fest!

What's great about it: It really gets out dirt, stains & odors.

What's not so great: Automatic recovery tank shut-off, instruction booklet

I would recommend this to a friend!

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Customer Rating

This Steam Vac is worth every penny!

on July 24, 2009

Posted by: michiganderer

from Chicago

I bought this SteamVac last fall after some drywall work was done in my home and there was dirt and dust everywhere. I have a bad back and could not lug a huge rental carpet cleaner up and down the stairs -- and the professional services were too expensive. I did a lot of research on this Vac and came to the conclusion that this would be the best model to purchase.

This machine has done an excellent job on a variety of rugs and carpeting in my home -- it has basically paid for itself many times already. I was shocked at how much dirt and dust this machine can remove from carpets and rugs! I wish the hand held attachment for stairs was a little more powerful (i.e. beater brush action, not suction power), but I assume it would be too overpowering for upholstery.

I have used it for nearly everything: hallway runners, stairs, car mats (works great on these), wool area rugs, etc. The only thing I have not used it for yet is upholstery fabric.

One last suggestion -- I highly recommend using the better quality Hoover carpet cleaning solutions vs. the more basic cleaner that was included with the vac. It's worth the extra few dollars.

What's great about it: It really does the job on all kinds of carpeting and rugs

What's not so great: I wish the hand tool for stairs/upholstry was a little more powerful, but it's alright

I would recommend this to a friend!

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Customer Rating

AWESOME CARPET CLEANER!!!!

on July 25, 2009

Posted by: SNMC

from Columbus, Ohio

Our carpets were bad--hadn't been cleaned in over a year. We used the carpet cleaner exactly how the directions stated--slowly forward, then back with solution, then forward and back to remove water. We weren't expecting great results, had used a Bissel Pro Heat before and it was awful--we were AMAZED by how well the Hoover worked!!! We went over everything twice and our carpets look almost brand new! Better than the carpet cleaner we had rented from a vaccum shop!! Will surely pay for itself shortly and was a decent price compared to all the other cleaners that probably don't even work as well! Just be ready to buy a few of those bottles of solution...we went through alot, but worth it to us!

What's great about it: Really gets carpets clean--enough said!!

What's not so great: How much solution you float through, and how frequently you change water

I would recommend this to a friend!

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Customer Rating

Very Good Investment

on August 19, 2009

Posted by: Brian21

from Plano, TX

We just bought this steam vac a few days ago and we used it in our apartment the past 2 days. For starters it is very simple to put together. It takes maybe 5-10 minutes to put it all together. Be sure and read instructions on how to use it and you will be fine. We ran it over our bedroom and dining room twice and we were very pleased with the results. It's not going to magically spring new life to your carpet itself but it will definately clean the dirt out of it. Being in an apartment the carpet is old and matted down in a lot of places and we didn't think it would change that and it didn't but it did clean it very well. We did the living room and hall today and we are extremely happy with this steam vac. The living room had stains and was very dirty and it looks great now. I highly recommend this if you have little kids that our still crawling around on the floor and especially for apartment renters who deal with old dirty carpet. We can't believe the filth that it picked up and to think we let our kids crawl around on that filth day after day..It's very scary and I am glad we finally decided to make this purchase. This is a very good investment for anyone to make

What's great about it: Simple to put together and very easy to operate

What's not so great: Haven't found a problem with it yet

I would recommend this to a friend!

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Customer Rating

Loved this claener so much I had to come write

on August 31, 2009

Posted by: APNC

from Raleigh, NC

After having owned two bissell carpet cleaners only to have the plastic bladder on them break several times and then not hold as much since they share a tank. I was ready for something else. Took a gamble on this Hoover and did our upstairs rooms. I was so impressed I came back to write a review.

First off the dump tank for the dirty water not only completely comes out of the machine but the top of that tanks comes off completely making dumping the bad water easy and rinsing the tank out easy as well. My bissells had just a little opening for this so rinsing the tank in them was a b%t^ch.

Secondly the hand tool has its own two rotating brushes. Very very important and no one seems to mention that not even best buy's description. Find that on a bissell...you won't cause none of them have it.

Last but not least it just cleans better. We have two pet stains that the super pricey bissell could never pull out that the hoover had no issues with and cranked them out as if they never were there.

So as I was using the hoover and think of all the money we spent on bissells that did not do anything I got kinda mad. I don't think I will buy bissell anything ever again and I certainty not tell any friends they can borrow my new cleaner (you know how things come back broken when lent out).

What's great about it: easy to empty dirty water tank

What's not so great: nothing yet

I would recommend this to a friend!

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