Carpet Cleaner Reviews

Assembly was reasonably easy, with only three screws to turn (provided) and a Phillips wrench required. This machine pulled up so much dirt from our berber carpet that I was really rattled that babies had been crawling on it. We had just shampooed it a week before, and the water was almost black. The 12-amp motor really gets a lot more dirt than your average rental shampooer. The stains (baby spit up and cat "hairball" stains, and one dark pawprint) did not come out, even with a pretreater. They faded considerably, but professionally carpet cleaning knocks these out immediately, which is what I expected with this Hoover (to never have to call a professional again after making the initial ... investment). I did use the hand-held tool, too, for treating the stains. I initially just used the surge cleaner, then tried the pretreater (letting sit for at least 10 minutes) followed by the hand tool, then used the upright again on the same spots. Still have visible spots. Maybe my baby and cat simply have bionic spit up, or it sat too long. But, unquestionably, it pulled up a LOT of dirt. My carpets are cleaner.

In desperate need of a shampooer, totally tired of borrowing all the time, my boyfriend picked this one up. OH MY GOD! It's amazing! It picks up dirt from the carpet with such ease! We have two boys who read the newspaper on the floor, and it's not doing a very good job of picking up the ink off the carpet, but I think we've at least extended the life of the carpet by ordering them off the floor and onto the couch. It turned our dark grey carpet almost white! (The bedroom hadn't been shampooed on years) It's extremely easy to handle, gliding along the roughest carpet with ease. It's not too loud, but, it's a shampooer, of course it's not to be used when someone's sleeping. It's easy to fill with shampoo, and easy to dump. It lets you know when you're running out by significantly changing the sound it makes. All in all, it's a good buy!

I'd been looking at SteamVacs for a while now and had used other Hoover models so knew I wanted one by them. With a new puppy, I couldn't put it off any longer. Brought it home today and immediately put it to the test. Easy to assemble and does a great job. The only thing is that you have to expect to dump the dirty water about every two times you fill with clean solution. Takes time and does take some work, but if you want clean carpets without the cost of paying someone to take care of it for you, you should pick this up.

I'M SO HAPPY WITH THIS MACHINE! IT IS DEFINITELY WORTH THE EXTRA MONEY. MY CARPETS CAME CLEANER THAN THE WHEN WE HAD THEM DONE PROFESSIONALY BEFORE THE HOLIDAYS. EASY TO USE, AND IT'S AMAZING TO SEE THE DIRT IT SUCKS OUT. THE GREAT PART IS YOU CAN CLEAN ANYTIME YOU WANT. THIS BABY WILL PAY FOR ITSELF IN NO TIME.

This carpet cleaner is unbelievable. I had my house professionally cleaned prior to moving in last year. There were some left over stains that couldn't be removed. Can you believe the Hoover got them out? I used the hand tools with the rotery brushes and now EVERY stain is gone. I am soooo tickled. My carpet looks brand new. I recommend this carpet cleaner to everyone. Tip: I put oxy clean in with the detergent.

I purchased this machine and I absolutely love it! It's a very wise investment, especially if you have children. It has saved my carpet on numerous occassions and I could not survive without it now. We used to rent those cheap ones from the local rental place and our carpet never looked or felt this clean. I can not say enough good things about this machine. I highly reccommend that you buy this steamvac if you value your carpeting, it will pay for itself within the first year.

Got the Roomba for Christmas thinking it would be really neat to have. We don't have carpet, so I thought it would do a great job. It did the first couple of times. However, it stopped picking up all the pet hair no matter how often I did the suggested "maintenance" on the vacuum. I find that to be a pain as well, having to unscrew things and try not to lose the tiny screw, etc. etc. It's kind of a gross process anyway. Also, I have now found there's a reason it only comes with a 90 day warranty. Got it in November, and it broke tonight. The rubber tread around one of the little wheels ripped and came off. What a strange piece to break. I don't see a replacement part for that on the iRobot web site, so my husband is trying to glue it back together. I might as well just throw it away. I wish I had asked for something different for Christmas! =(

The Roomba is cool technology, but it wasn't the solution for us. We have two dogs, and mostly carpet.

As soon as it arrived, we fully charged the battery (12hrs) and set it loose in our living room. From our upstairs bedroom, it sounded like somebody was being mugged. eeeeeeeeee.... BOOM! eeeeee.... BOOM! eeeeeee.... BOOM!.

It did a decent job, but not nearly as thorough as a real vacuum. Noticably poor at cleaning border areas... ie, carpet edge meets hardwood, I watched it repeatedly roll over clumps of dog hair in these borders and not pick them up.

Perhaps, since it's battery powered, it doesn't have enough suction to pull hair all the way into the dust bin, so it just wraps it around the brush.

When you add the time spent cleaning the brush, moving chairs so it doesn't get trapped and emptying the smallish dust bin two times per room, you could have used a conventional vacuum and done a much better job.

I would recommend Roomba only for non carpet, no-pet situations. I returned mine, but will not rule out the next generation of these devices.

I put Roomba on my christmas list kind of as a joke cause my boyfriend thought it was stupid. Well, Roomba has certainly proven him wrong! I also recieved the rapid charger, which, if you have a lot of house to clean, charges the battery in 3 hours instead of 12. I've gotten at least an hour out of Roomba's battery each time, many times it will go much longer. I have hardwoord floors in my living room and a low pile carpet in my hallway. I am UTTERLY AMAZED at what Roomba picks up. Sure, its filling the dust bin is one thing, but when you flip the bin over to empty the particle bin, you'll be shocked. It picks up sooo much dust and dirt. This is a blessing for me since I have severe allergies and asthma. It is also fun to watch. (Who can say that about your standard upright?!) It wasn't so hot picking up Christmas tree needles, but then again, I didn't expect it to be. It also liked to drag the fringed tree skirt around and any thin cords that are left on the ground. I'd definitly recommend Roomba for lazy people like me who hate to clean!

I have to say, I am pleasantly surprised with this machine. My wife and I have been researching deep cleaning machines for a while, and we have gone back and forth on a few different models. We have 2 very crazy dogs, both under a year old, and we have a very wet backyard. So, with spring (mud season) coming, we finally decided to stop comparing and just purchase something. We went to Home Depot, bought the cleaner for a whopping 300 bucks, and I must admit, being a pessimist, I was fully expecting the product to work just "okay". After some very easy assembly and reading of directions, we were ready to go. We started in our family room, which has a deep blue small pile carpet, and was just vaccumed about 2 hours before. There were 2 stains from dogs urinating on the carpet, where the previous cleaning attempts didn't work too well. We followed the directions to the letter, and about 15 minutes later the entire room (15x24) was completely clean. The carpet was back to it's original deep blue, the week-old urine stains were totally gone, and the water in the waste chanber was utterly disgusting (almost black). I was totally surprised that it cleaned as deeply as it did. The carpet was a little wet, but with a few extra passes, it got dry enough to walk on. About 4 hours later, it was completely dry to the touch. After the family room, we went to our bedroom, which has a very plush, thick pile khaki-colored carpet. It had multiple doggy vomit stains as well as one very nasty doggy diarrhea stain that just would not come out. Neither myself or my wife figured it would work all that well, but we gave it a shot. The 5 vomit stains, some about 4 weeks old and repeatedly worked over with a sponge, came out in 7-10 slow passes. The diarrhea stain came out after about 15-20 slow passes. Now, this used a ton of water, but all the stains came out completely. I was shocked. This product really works, if you give it time for deep stains. We have paid $150 for Stanley Steemer to do our carpets a few times, and I have to admit, I think the Hoover did a better job. We have only had it for a few weeks, but we have been totally satisfied. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 for two reasons. The first is that you have to change the clean water, dirty water, and detergent tanks alot. When we were cleaning the family room, I think we had to change both the clean water and dirty water tanks 3 times, for a 15x24 room. The detergent tank (16 oz.) was empty at the end of cleaning the room. The second reason is that the Hoover does no better than a $5 mop for hard floors. We have both tile and hardwood floors, and we tried it on both. I was very unimpressed. DO NOT buy this product if want to clean your hard floors. ABSOLUTELY BUY THIS PRODUCT if you want extremely clean carpets, and total ease of use. It is fantastic.

I have beige berber carpet throughout the house and I have 2 dogs. Thanks to Hoover SteamVac V2! All the stains and that foul persistent odor are completely gone. Easy to use, clean and store. Even my 11 year old son knows how to use it effectively!

We love the Hoover SteamVac V2 carpet cleaner. Works as advertised. We couldn't believe how dirty the return water became (only two people in our house, no pets, and we take our shoes off upon entering the house). Very well-engineered product. Made the carpeting look like it was brand new. Left the carpeting smelling clean and fresh. Easy to use. Doesn't leak and drip like some cleaners. Better carpet cleaning than commercial services.

Bought the machine approximately two years ago. Used it to clean five rental houses. Machine cleaned carpet very well.
However, the motor failed recently. Machine is not as rugged as it needs to me. I am surprised that Maytag, which owns Hoover, is not living up to their reputation.

I've had this about 6 months and have probably logged 5 hours total on it. The cleaner works great, but if the waste water container gets too foamy (no way to control amout of detergent dispensed), it starts spitting the dirty water back onto the rug. The dirt doesn't show up again until it dries, so its very important to empty the waste water before it indicates.
Another problem that has surfaced is that the clean water tank has developed a leak at the bottom valve and becomes a steady stream when the system is running...the net result is water everywhere...making for a slippery mess. I think the system is great, but it takes a while to learn the quirks of this machine.

I'm a cleaner and I also have allergies to dust, mold, pollen and also have two cats so I love when my place is fresh, clean and sparkling. I own this thing and I love it.

I originally borrowed my mother's and after using it was surprised at how clean everything was. I've had a number of comments from friends that the rugs look brand new. Better yet, I was dating someone who had severe asthma and when he walked in, he took a deep breath and said: "You cleaned your carpets, right?" He didn't wheeze one bit the entire time he was there.

I also own a Dyson vacuum. Love that, too. When I power clean, I'll vacuum over everything slowly and thoroughly first. All the cat hair picks up plus dust, dirt and my own hair. Then I'll start working with the Hoover. Despite the power behind the Dyson, the water in the Hoover is always dark when I'm washing. Within a short amount of time, the rugs feel great! There is a rinsing option as well if you want to make sure all of the cleaner is out of the rug and you can pretty much go over everything without depressing the clean button to suck up excess water.

This also has a squeegee attachment to do the linoleum floors. Good idea. Scrubs then scoops up the water and sucks it up. There is a a different detergent for linoleum so take a look around. However, it is very LOUD when doing bare floors. Not recommended at night. :)

Also, there are two Hoover SteamVacs, one with more brushes. My mother's had the fewer amount and I haven't noticed any difference between the two. I just ended up with the bigger one because when I ordered the smaller from Sears, they sent the larger by mistake and said: "Oh, well, you get it for the other price." Good deal!

Good tip: If you want to clean in the winter -- don't hesitate! Especially when it's really cold outside. Not only does it get the dirt that's been laying around while your windows are all shut but when it's so cold that the humidity is at 0 you'll be surprised how fast the rugs dry. I did mine just now an hour ago and they're all dry.

The only thing I'd recommend is to buy a allergenic detergent. The best one I've used is Bissell 720 Multi-Allergen Removal Formula, which you can find on Amazon.com. This really seems to do the trick when it comes to getting out the junk in the rugs.

Things do snap apart for cleaning and can take a little time, but if you vacuum thoroughly enough before hand you shouldn't have this excess of junk to pull out. There are some crevices where things can get up into, but snap it off, turn on the garbage disposal and get the faucet hose and you should be good.

With all vacuums and rug machines, I have this advice: You have to go slowly with ANY machine. Not snail-slow, but don't go so fast! Give both time to really pick up. If you sweep too fast, it misses the dirt. Quick swiping is alright for last minute company cleaning, but once a week I really take my time with my vacuum. A good rule of thumb for cleaning (if you really want that fresh look without overloading the machine with dirt) would be vacuum once a week -- wash once a month.

The combo of both these machines has well been worth it. I recommend this machine for any household and if you want super clean, get the Dyson vacuum as well.

I'm now on my second RoombaPro. The first died just under warranty even though I was assiduous about cleaning it between uses. It was cheerfully replaced via mail by IRobot--no questions asked.

That said, I'm a Roomba fan. Since the machine cycles over the floor again and again, it gets things a lot cleaner than I do while vacuuming by hand. It's especially impressive at picking up Golden Retriever fur and dust from our bare floors and berber carpeting. I can vacuum by hand and then immediately get better results with Roomba.

If you have pile carpeting, avoid it, since battery power gives it limited abilities to deal with the greater resistance of deeper piles.

Consumer Reports recently ran a largely negative review that failed to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the product. (Typical CR: trash whatever is unusual.) If you're an "early adopter" willing to do the upkeep on the machine, if you're interested in watching the Roomba at work and figuring out its cleaning algorithm, if you'd rather not spend time vacuuming--get a Roomba. If you're not a little "handy," if you have deeper pile rugs, don't bother.

I recommend that any prospective purchaser read all the Amazon reviews before purchasing.

By the way, the Roomba is perfect for cleaning pool tables!

I love this thing! I bought one of these for my husband to give me for my birthday (yep..he's that kind of guy:-) I was a bit concerned as we have an open floor plan with lots of furniture about. I didn't need to worry. This thing goes (and goes, and goes). It has no trouble navigating around any of my furniture, heck it even circles my end table legs to clean under the table. It's also great for getting the kids to pick up their toys (okay guys, I'm setting out the roomba, toys up). If it helps, I've got 5 kids, 2 cats, and 1 dog. We have all laminate and tile flooring. I am NOT a neat freak, so there's definitely stuff for the roomba to pick up. Even the hubby was surprised at how well the roomba picks up.

Two points. It's definitely louder than I thought it would be (maybe a little quieter than a regular vacuum). No talking on the phone or watching TV while the Roomba goes about it's job. We use it at night downstairs, this way everyone's upstairs in bed and the noise is not a factor. It would also be fine if you are using it during the daytime - simply in another area of the house. Shop around for the best price. I was able to get the Roomba Pro with a remote (which makes it operate the same as the Elite model it just doesn't have the pretty useless wall hanger thing), from HSN.com for 149.50 including tax and shipping. The price was $199 - the entertainment coupon book (available nationwide) has a 25% off HSN.com coupon in it, which brought the price down to 149, and there was no tax or shipping. I would also suggest investing in either an additional battery or the rapid charger (an extra battery will be cheaper). I have been able to cover approximately 1000 sq ft on a single battery charge, but the 12 hour wait for charge time with one battery gets real old real fast. Also, don't expect this to take the place of your regular vacuum cleaner (or broom and dustpan). It's great for maintenance cleaning, and you won't have to vacuum nearly as often, but you will still have to vacuum really well every once in a while. I highly recommend the Roomba!

I have two kids, two indoor cats and a dog. "Roombie" is a life saver for me. I run him almost every day. He keeps the fur/hair/crumbs from getting out of control. The house is cleaned every other week with a real vacuum, but Roombie keeps it neat and tidy in between. I will admit that I spent about two weeks "Roomba proofing" my house and figuring out areas that he could clean in one run. I have a lot of Pergo and tile, but my bedrooms and family room are carpet. I did tape under the fringe on two rugs and replace two others with non-fringe rugs. I have three or four items per area that I pick-up before he runs (fragile statues, fringed throw rugs, a very long shag rug, etc,). Once I figured out what caused him problems it was easy. I am constantly amazed at the amount of hair and debris my Roomba picks up. He fits under several sections of the sectional and under beds(where one cat likes to sleep). He gets the corners amazing well. I have been VERY impressed. I start him before I leave for work, then plug him in when I get home. I think one of my cats thinks he's a playmate! We empty him after every cleaning and I clean his large brushes once a week. My only wishes are that 1) on large room setting he run until his battery dies and 2) the little rotating side brushes were replacable (mine are pretty beat up already). I LOVE my Roomba!

I was foolish enough to beleive that the problems experienced by other Hoover owners were special to them. After a few carpet cleanings, our Hoover Steam Vac V - clean water tank cracked on the bottom where the connection is made for water supply. After so many complaints from unsatisfied customers, why would Hoover continue to sell a product with a faulty part? Answer: They don't care. They assume (probably quite accurately) that most consumers will experience the problems after the warranty period, thus creating new business for themselves. SHAME ON YOU HOOVER!

I'd give this steamVac a higher rating if it didn't leak. I'm going to return mine for another unit, maybe I just received a lemon the first time.

things i like:
1. pretty easy to assemble
2. did an excellent job cleaning up after pets and heavy traffic on an off-white carpet
3. water and soap containers are easy to fill/empty, handles on the water containers make them easy to transport
4. size of water containers is enough to do about 250 square feet of moderately soiled carpet
5. clear intake and tanks makes it easy to see how much water is being sucked up
6. two modes: wash and rinse

things i don't like:
1. cheap feel to the parts, although in some respects this probably keeps the unit relatively light
2. short attachment hose made cleaning the stairs really cumbersome
3. suction on the attachment for cleaning stairs wasn't great, it took a long time for them to dry as a result
4. leaking:
- the unit leaked some when it was in a reclined position as i was using it on the carpets (enough to be annoying but not enough that this was a huge problem)
- the unit also leaked when i was using the attachment hose, primarily from the clean water source tank but i also noticed some of the dirty water spraying out (this was a quite a bit of leaking, i had a puddle under the unit when i was finished)
- i filled the unit with clean water and left it alone, when i came back about 45 minutes later the entire tank of clean water had leaked out, fortunately it was in my garage

I will be very happy if the new unit doesn't leak, because overall this steamVac did a great job in its first run.

I got this unit to replace my big green clean machine, which is a back breaker everytime i use it, not to mention a real workout.
so i decided to give my back a rest, and what a difference!
Although it isn't self propelled, this unit isnt nearly as heavy as the Hoover Windtunnel vacuum. With the self propel option off, that's heavy!
I was a little hesitant with the 5 spinheads, afterall, the bristles are not that stiff, that made my wonder just how effective is it a cleaning carpets? Well, it did the job just fine, and i think it reached the base of the carpet, unlike other cleaners that just wet and work on the top part of the carpet, pushing dirt down.
The rinse option works great. I recommend that if you are a little heavy with the soap, just fill the clean water tank up with hot water, and no soap, to ensure you get all soap up and go over all areas until the carpet is almost dry.
Also another tip, after having my motor in the big green replaced for the second time, a repairman told me after each time i use the machine, to rinse out all compartments, fill with hot water and then fill the bath tub up with hot water.
run the clean water out of the sprayer section until there is no evidence of soap and then put the wand into the tub, sucking in all the hot water. This cleans both motors, the spray motor that has soap residue in it after every use, amd also the suction, to ensure there isn't any soapy dirt left in the motor. Cleaning both motors/compartments will reduce breakage.
motor replacement is the most common maintenance, because of a build up of soap in the motors.
So FYI.
also read the other reviews about the hose storage.
I recommend you hang the hose up after using the machine to allow it to air dry, to prevent a mildew buildup inside the hose. Also, rinse all used parts out/off with hot water to also make sure there is no soap biuldup/residue.

The machine is a little pricey, but if you consider the cost to have your carpets professionally done, it isn't so bad.
Also, you don't know where the carpet cleaner was last.
My friend with 50 cats in her house uses a carpet cleaning service, think about that next time you call to have your carpets cleaned. Leaving the carpet so wet cannot be good, the pad, under the carpet holds onto the moisture alot longer than the carpet, and in time, will develop a musty odor, if not mildew and mold.
So there are alot of advantages to owning your own machine.
Lastly, be stingy with the soap. it doesnt take a lot of soap to clean the carpet, Be sure to rinse the carpet and furniture thoroughly, a build of soap will cause discoloration to the furniture and carpet, not to mention a sticky residue and feeling.

consumer reports rated this carpet cleaner it's Best Buy, citing the features, the dual bucket design, long cord and hose, and of course the 12 Amps of power provides ample suction.
Consumer reports recommends a professional service over personal carpet cleaners, but i disagree.
Why spend hundreds of dollars every yr to have somebody bring in a machine, when you can do it yourself, and also they leave the carpet too wet, and you don't know where they were last, or how clean and how well their equipment is maintained.

Hopefully the next model of V2 will be self propelled, but if not, its no big deal.
I didn't buy the Bissell model because i was not keen on the dual bag in a bucket design, this hoover unit holds twice the amount of water, allow for easy cleanup and storage, and backs this machine with a one-yr warranty.
the price is a little steep but think of the savings after you use it 2-3 times.

Bought based on online reviews. Previously owned a Eureka Boss. it worked great, but my son moved and needed a vacuum so I gave him our Eureka. This Hoover was great disappointment! It's noisier than a motorcycle rally. It's hard to push on any but the deepest pile setting, and the attachment caddy makes the cleaner heavy, awkward and hard to move around. I am returning it as I write this review and will reorder the Eureka Boss 4463AV.

I absolutely HATED my old Eureka (which I paid a lot more for). I decided that this time I'd pay less and if it fell apart - oh, well. I was pleasantly surprised with this vacuum. Assembly wasn't difficult and it's fairly light, especially without the tool rack on. It works great for cleaning stairs and because it doesn't have a wide path it's easy to get into tighter places. The best part about this vacuum is it DOES have good suction. Not a lot of bells & whistles, but adequate tools to do most types of cleaning. The one serious "con" is that the hose is pretty short. I've had this vacuum for about 5 months and so far I think it's an excellent value for the low price.

This would be my 3rd hoover of this type of model and price range.I just bought this one to replace my "roundabout" model that I have been using for 3 years. When I only pay 50-80 dollars for a vacuum, if I get 2-3 years out of it I'm very happy, it's what I expect to get. I use this daily and it gets a workout cleaning in the house and doing the cars. I have been satisfied with the performance. Suction is great, lightweight (important since I have stairs) not an overabundance of attachments that I don't use, and the fact that they are onboard, so I will use them more readily. I use to own a Kirby, anyone who had/has one knows that you don't always feel like taking the head off to clean with the attachments (most I have never used) on a daily basis, not to mention the weight of it alone. I never bought another Kirby again, in fact my Kirby was still working when I decided I had enough of it and decided to get a lighter and more practical vacuum. I went with the Hoover "Roundabout" models. I have never been dissapointed since. I felt that they cleaned better than my Kirby ever did.
What also makes my decision is the compact "feel of it" ,some vacuums are very bulky and ackward, can hardly see the floor in front of you, this Hoover is very easy to use!!