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Be Prepared to be Disgusted
Pros
Powerful motor with a host of options
Cons
It is heavy and noisy
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
If you need to clean a relatively small house periodically, this is a good choice.
When I got married, my wife had 1 cat and I had none. Over the years I discovered that she REALLY likes animals and a host of them have joined us from time to time. Over the years, they have deposited all sorts of biological matter from every conceivable orifice onto the carpets. I kept meaning to either get a carpet cleaning service in, or maybe one day rent one of those rather large cleaners that seem to be in grocery and hardware stores everywhere. I never did either.
Well, after doing some research on, where else but Epinions, I decided to take the plunge based on the number of positive reviews of this particular unit. That and it was on sale at Best Buy.
What's In The Box?
As expected, there is some assembly required, but it is nothing more than fitting pieces together, tightening 1 screw, and putting two bolts into place on the handle. The instructions are very simple and the illustrations complete enough that even someone not used to assembling things should have no problem. Take the advice printed on the inside flap and lay the box on its side, then slide the pieces out.
Pay attention to what is wrapped, and what is taped. You will need to make sure you remove the plastic bags from the upholstery cleaner and the return tank. Also, there is a small screw taped to the hose that you will need to attach the holder to the back of the unit. There is also an orange plastic bag containing the bolts and nuts you will need to attach the handle to the base unit.
The whole assembly process took less than 10 minutes.
How Does It Work?
The concept is simple. Open the upper tank, use the cap as a measuring cup and fill with the cleaning solution to the proper line. Take the tank to the sink and fill it to the fill line with hot water. Snap the tank back into place and you are ready to go. Almost.
Really the first thing you will need to do is vacuum the carpet to be cleaned thoroughly. Get up any stray animal hair if you have pets, and any dust bunnies. You do not want anything left on the carpet that can clog the spinning brushes of the SteamVac
Once the vacuuming is done, you are ready to start the cleaning process. It couldn't be simpler: press the fluid release button on the handle and push forward. Push the button again and pull back. Next, without pushing the button, repeat the forward and back motion until you no longer see liquid moving into the return tank.
When you get near the end of the return tank's capacity, the suction will stop and the sound of the motor will increase to a whine. That is a signal that it is time to dump the tank.
Here is where the title of this review comes into play. If you haven't had the carpets cleaned in a while, you may be shocked to see what you may have been letting your baby crawl around on. You will dump a vile looking brown liquid containing all sorts of foreign matter. At that point, you will vow to clean your carpets more often.
What Is The Down Side?
This is not a quick process. To do it right, you will have to plan a day when kids and pets are going to be somewhere else. Even if you carefully follow the directions and aren't heavy handed with the cleaning solution, it is still going to take a few hours for the carpets to fully dry.
Once you see what has been lurking in the carpets, you will probably also feel compelled to start moving furniture.
The machine is as heavy as it is noisy. Cleaning stairs and upholstery isn't all that complicated, but it will require you to attach the hose to the base unit and connect the cleaning tools. Not really a big deal.
After several uses, you will need to inspect the brushes for tangles of hair, carpet fiber, or whatever. The same will go for the hoses, since they will need to be checked for clogs. The instruction manual is very good in pointing out the troubleshooting steps and the maintenance steps.
The manual also makes several references to only use the special Hoover branded detergents specially made for the SteamVac otherwise dire, unspecified consequences will happen. To be fair, you are only using 5 ounces at a time and the containers are sold in 48 ounce quantities for around $15.
In a move that I hope never to repeat, I discovered that by tipping the unit just right (or in this case wrong), it is possible to dump a fairly large quantity of the return liquid onto the floor. I will say this though. After the required curses, I was able to suck the liquid back into the container rather quickly.
Build Quality
So far, the unit has performed as advertised. There are no belts to wear out so that may help in its reliability. It is mostly constructed of heavy duty plastic. I am a little concerned about the durability of the tank that holds the cleaning fluid, however. The release handle seems really flimsy, but I'll just have to see how it holds up over time.
Well, after doing some research on, where else but Epinions, I decided to take the plunge based on the number of positive reviews of this particular unit. That and it was on sale at Best Buy.
What's In The Box?
As expected, there is some assembly required, but it is nothing more than fitting pieces together, tightening 1 screw, and putting two bolts into place on the handle. The instructions are very simple and the illustrations complete enough that even someone not used to assembling things should have no problem. Take the advice printed on the inside flap and lay the box on its side, then slide the pieces out.
Pay attention to what is wrapped, and what is taped. You will need to make sure you remove the plastic bags from the upholstery cleaner and the return tank. Also, there is a small screw taped to the hose that you will need to attach the holder to the back of the unit. There is also an orange plastic bag containing the bolts and nuts you will need to attach the handle to the base unit.
The whole assembly process took less than 10 minutes.
How Does It Work?
The concept is simple. Open the upper tank, use the cap as a measuring cup and fill with the cleaning solution to the proper line. Take the tank to the sink and fill it to the fill line with hot water. Snap the tank back into place and you are ready to go. Almost.
Really the first thing you will need to do is vacuum the carpet to be cleaned thoroughly. Get up any stray animal hair if you have pets, and any dust bunnies. You do not want anything left on the carpet that can clog the spinning brushes of the SteamVac
Once the vacuuming is done, you are ready to start the cleaning process. It couldn't be simpler: press the fluid release button on the handle and push forward. Push the button again and pull back. Next, without pushing the button, repeat the forward and back motion until you no longer see liquid moving into the return tank.
When you get near the end of the return tank's capacity, the suction will stop and the sound of the motor will increase to a whine. That is a signal that it is time to dump the tank.
Here is where the title of this review comes into play. If you haven't had the carpets cleaned in a while, you may be shocked to see what you may have been letting your baby crawl around on. You will dump a vile looking brown liquid containing all sorts of foreign matter. At that point, you will vow to clean your carpets more often.
What Is The Down Side?
This is not a quick process. To do it right, you will have to plan a day when kids and pets are going to be somewhere else. Even if you carefully follow the directions and aren't heavy handed with the cleaning solution, it is still going to take a few hours for the carpets to fully dry.
Once you see what has been lurking in the carpets, you will probably also feel compelled to start moving furniture.
The machine is as heavy as it is noisy. Cleaning stairs and upholstery isn't all that complicated, but it will require you to attach the hose to the base unit and connect the cleaning tools. Not really a big deal.
After several uses, you will need to inspect the brushes for tangles of hair, carpet fiber, or whatever. The same will go for the hoses, since they will need to be checked for clogs. The instruction manual is very good in pointing out the troubleshooting steps and the maintenance steps.
The manual also makes several references to only use the special Hoover branded detergents specially made for the SteamVac otherwise dire, unspecified consequences will happen. To be fair, you are only using 5 ounces at a time and the containers are sold in 48 ounce quantities for around $15.
In a move that I hope never to repeat, I discovered that by tipping the unit just right (or in this case wrong), it is possible to dump a fairly large quantity of the return liquid onto the floor. I will say this though. After the required curses, I was able to suck the liquid back into the container rather quickly.
Build Quality
So far, the unit has performed as advertised. There are no belts to wear out so that may help in its reliability. It is mostly constructed of heavy duty plastic. I am a little concerned about the durability of the tank that holds the cleaning fluid, however. The release handle seems really flimsy, but I'll just have to see how it holds up over time.
