Vacuum Cleaner Reviews

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.

Great product...works really well for being such a small vacum.

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For starters, I'm an ordinary Dad just trying to help my wife keep up after our 3 kids. I use it primarily on flat surfaces like hardwood and vinyl floors, but tile works out OK too.

If you are expecting a combination of high pressure deck washer, floor sander and shop vac, you will be disappointed.

And I'll admit, its not cheap, the on/off switch is out of place, and it is a pretty wimpy device, but the bottom line is: It works just good enough to be worth it.

The concept here is it has "just enough" of what it takes. Its compact, liquid tanks hold enough for one average floor cleaning, just enough scrub power to remove light dirt. With some care you can use it with your socks on, and they don't get wet. That's pretty good if you ask me.

Consider the alternatives: Filling a bucket for 5 minutes, screwing around with a tiny sponge or piece of baby wipe on those wimpy stick things.

My "trick" is to leave the device turned off and presoak the floor a section at a time. It still dispenses fluid if the power is off. So a presoak of about 20-30 seconds before cleaning it really helps with dried on stuffs. I think because it puts the fluid on the floor and "BAM" sucks it off moments later. So you need a few seconds to dissolve the dried up things that landed on the floor at lunch time etc. For normal areas, just use as directed.

Finally the concentrated cleaners are in full supply and economical at my local Dept. store. Its not a scam to buy the device and then pay an excessive price for the cleaning fluids. They smell great and work well.
4 start - room for improvements:
More dry suction power, longer bristles, larger tanks, and move on/off switch to better location.

No, it's not the perfect solution (as several other reviewers have already indicated) but it does a pretty good job just the same. My standards perhaps aren't as high as yours may be... I simply wanted something that would get my floors reasonably clean, and most importantly, something I would actually USE.

I have about 1,500 square feet of hard flooring (a mix of hardwood and ceramic tile) and two big labradors. Keeping the floors clean is nearly impossible, especially since I hate to wet mop. Hate the whole routine - filling buckets and/or the sink, wringing the darn mops, refilling over and over to avoid mopping with 'dirty' water. The Floor Mate isn't a whole lot faster than mopping, but it is soooo much easier on my back... and no chapped hands.

Drawbacks: It IS noisy.

It needs a switch to turn off suction so the cleaning solution/brushes can work a little longer on a particularly dirty area. You can work around this, but a simple switch would be a nice improvement in the next version.

The wet pickup 'dried' the floor well but the squeegee was designed with a number of parallel lines (to add stiffness and strength, I suppose?) which left corresponding parallel lines on the solid-color, smooth surfaced ceramic tile. The lines weren't visible on the hardwood, but showed up distinctly on the tile. I ended up dampening an old towel and quickly wiping over lines left in more visible areas. Perhaps with time the lines on the squeegee will wear down and not leave visible marks.

It's not fast. You must move the unit relatively slowly to give the brushes and cleaning solution time to work. It 'feels' kind of like a vacuum cleaner, and I found myself occasionally getting impatient and reverting back to 'vacuum cleaner' speed. I'm sure I'll get used to the slower speed, but it'll take some practice.

It is not a vacuum cleaner. I tried that option briefly, then decided to go with my 'real' vacuum cleaner for initially clearing the floors of loose dog hair. My vacuum works much better, and I needed the hose attachment to get into the corners and crevices anyway.

Bottom line is... I DO like the product, and I AM happy with the purchase. It is not perfect, but it meets my two basic requirements: it gets the floor reasonably clean, and I believe it is something I will continue to use (it DEFINATELY beats wet-mopping!)

After using this product for the past three months, I have decided that I could not live without it. I have tile floors in my kitchen and hallway - and the grout had become so dirty and I never felt that mopping was doing much more than redistributing the dirt. It is a pleasure to clean the floor with this machine! I use HOT water which really helps to kill the germs and by taking the dirty water up off the floor after it is scrubbed, it truly gets the dirt up and off the floor. Thirty years of dirt embedded into the grout is coming out - and my once blackened grout is now white again.

The other benefit of this is that the floor is dried almost instantly - which prevents my small children from slipping on a wet floor.

If this machine ever broke - I would replace it immediately. I put it in the same indispensible categories as my dishwasher, vacuum, and washer/dryer.

I recommend this machine - which is especially nice to be able to clean floors such as basement, garage, and other areas where a sink is not available to aid in mopping - besides, this gets it much cleaner.

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.

This vac worked fine for about a year and then the battery went dead. Now it will only work for a max of 5 seconds. Not a good investment.

Since we have a dog, and got her as a pup, this product has saved the carpet sooooooo many times. I would not be with out it. One of my better purchases

I have had one of these for six years now. The batteries lasted fine until last year. I changed the batteries by soldering in ones I purchased at Radio Shack. They are type Sub C. Anyway my dog chewed the filter and the gasket so I am going to buy another one.

With new low pile carpeting (berber) and tile floors elsewhere in my home, this seemed to be the perfect solution and alternative to my trusty Kenmore. The Hoover was easy to handle, descent suction, fairly easy to empty the canister (albeit slightly messy as the dust/dirt tended to "fly" a bit), long electrical cord and an overall lightweight appliance easy enough to manage under tables and chairs and such. However, the third use resulted in a crack in the foot that attaches to the body - this resulted merely from preparing to turn off the machine - too much pressure when placed upright? One crack lead to another, then chunks flew off to the point that the bottom no longer stayed attached to the unit, no way to replace the part without replacing the entire base/foot - not cost effective and of course, past the 30 day return. If the hard plastic connection from foot to base were reinforced or if a preventive measure of duct tape or such around the connection were made I believe this minor adjustment would resolve this unfortunate complication. A call to Hoover netted "ah, sorry to hear of that, never heard of a problem like that before". I didn't know the one I bought for my sister had done the same thing until after I shared the details of my call to Hoover with her. She agrees it's a good concept, but plagued by an otherwise minor flaw.

Got the S2200 Flair Bagless Stick Vac for Christmas. Have been using it for a month and am very satisfied. Have a small apartment with wood floors but I do have a cat. It really does a good job of picking up dirt and cat hair and it does pick up kitty litter! Emptying the removable cup and filter can be messy. It also does not stand upright on its own but overall I am happy with it.

Fairly good stick vac. We use it mostly for cleaning our tiled kitchen area. Has adjustment for bare floor vs carpet. Good suction and light weight for easy handling. Only critiques are the base floor piece does not have a locking attachment to the body, though its unlikely to come off easily. Also the flaired, oblong shape can make maneuvering a bit funny at times.

I'm very unhappy with this vacuum, for the following reasons:

1. Poor suction. I have cat hair on my rugs, and all it does is clump the cat hair up, so I have to pick it up by hand or by taking off the brush and putting the tube right over it. Also, it doesn't begin to get all the hair out of the rug.

2. It scratches my bare floors, even on the floor setting, plus it makes a loud scratching noise on those floors.

3. It is awkward and timeconsuming to take the brush off for areas where you want just the tube, like corners.

4. Seems very cheesy. Why do they use plastic in these things.

It is a complete waste of money. One use, and it is headed into the rubbish. I would return it, except I bought it quite awhile ago and just used it for the first time.

The vacuum works but I can't find Type R bags for it at any stores where bags are sold, must have to be ordered special, which is not good.

What you'll like best about this Hoover vacuum is that it's light weight (approximately 8 pounds) gives it a tremendous advantage over traditional cannister vacuum cleaners. This is most noticed if you're using it on stairs or carrying it out to the garage to vacuum the car.

Other great features are the extra-long vacuum hose (6-feet), and the 18-foot electrical cord. Both of these add to the item's ease of use.

Changing the bag is very easy, and this unit uses the Type R Hoover bag, so you can do quite a bit of vacuuming between changes.

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.