Product Review: Hoover SteamVac Carpet Cleaner

The Hoover SteamVac carpet cleaner is an excellent shampooing system for do-it-yourself carpet cleaning. This unit is easy to use and extremely portable. It has a number of features that make it easy to use. They also assist in helping even the beginner to do a good job on cleaning all types of carpet in moderate to heavy usage areas.

The tank that holds the cleaning solution is simple to remove with just a push of handle. It snaps out for filling. The wide mouth allows for easy filling both from the detergent bottle and from the faucet. The latch becomes a handle so that the tank after being filled with extremely hot water can be readily carried and snapped back into the machine.

Both the handle release to allow the upright handle to be moved to a position for easy use and the peddle to start the machine are operated by stepping on them. The handle has a trigger to release detergent as the carpet cleaner is moved forward over the floor. By slowly dragging the SteamVac back over the soiled area, 5 scrubbing brushes rotate over the carpet for deep cleaning.

After the scrubbers have done their work, the vacuum slot sucks the water up into the holding tank. The 12 amp electric motor has more than enough power to drive the scrubbing brushes and still vacuum enough moisture from the carpet to leave it dry and ready for use within about 2 hours under normal conditions.

Most moderately soiled carpets can be shampooed adequately with one pass. Although it is a good idea to pre-spot any exceptionally soiled areas, the SteamVac can often handle both the spot cleaning and the general use at the same time. By taking an extra pass over the spotted areas, these can usually be cleaned without a pre-spot application.

One of the best features of this unit is that it does not have to be attached to a water source. Once the detergent tank is filled and re-attached, the cleaner can be used anywhere that electricity is available. The dirty water holding tank is large enough to hold the water from about 1 �½ fills of the detergent tank. The holding tank should be cleaned each time it is emptied.

Don’t use the SteamVac without first vacuuming the carpet. The slot that draws the water from the carpet is not designed to pick up debris because it is thin to increase the water pick up ability. The scrubbers should be cleaned after each use to remove hair and fuzz from them. This will keep them scrubbing your floors efficiently.