 "Great Product" | 2009-10-29 |
| - Reviewed By jsmews |
First let me say that I have owned a Dirt Devil Carpet cleaner and this product is 100 times better. I have not used a commercial version so I cannot compare it to that. I haven't used this on a bare floor yet but have used it on some large area rugs and my light colored berber carpet which is in two rooms in a den area. All of these are short pile so I can't speak to use on a longer pile carpet. Some of my thoughts are in comparison to how the Dirt Devil performed. I will say that all of these types of machines generally work on the same basis, so the differences are in the product quality more than the way they function. As someone noted these are not really steam vacs but hot water shampooers. I would have given this machine 5 stars but, as most things, it is not perfect but I really like it. I have not shampooed my carpets for ages and if filthy water is the first indicator this works great! Below is some input on specific areas. Hope this helps as the other reviews helped me.
General - If you haven't used these types of cleaners before I would suggest that if you have a house with several rooms of wall-to-wall carpeting you think twice about getting a 'home' cleaner. This product is very good but takes some patience as you do have to change the water fairly often. Of course if you start when your carpets aren't too dirty then it may work for you. I could have rented a commercial type machine (Rug Doctor) for 24 hours for $50 but I knew I would not want to tackle the jobs for more than 2 to 4 hours at a time so I opted for the flexibility of owning. I have read great reviews about Rug Doctor but for $500 - $700 for a new machine it was not worth it for the areas I need to clean. You can buy them for $300 to $400 used. They may be a good option for some.
Water Containers, etc. - I actually like the containers on this Hoover very much. I found the dirty water container very easy to handle and like the lock in feature. The clean water container fit well in my sinks and was easy to manuver. It is nice to have sinks very handy. I know there were comments on having larger containers but although it would shorten the amount of times you need to change water it could be more unwieldy and make the machine even heavier when in use.
Weight - The machine is much sturdier than the Dirt Devil I had. Although this makes it a bit heavier I like the trade-off. Depending on your strength it gets tiring after a few hours. This is why I wanted to own one so I can have flexibility. I haven't used it yet for stairs or upholstery so I don't know how awkward that may be.
Cleaning - The brush system on this is MUCH better than a rotating bar brush. The brushes are soft enough that they aren't damaging but they create more action. I also like the design of the machine for going along the baseboard as it gets close but doesn't hit the wall. The surge cleaning seemed to help on some areas. My carpet really needed cleaning and I am going over it twice but it looked terrific after one pass. I find the suction and the dampness left very acceptable for the applications I had. Be sure to vaccuum really well before you use a steam-vac.
Other Miscellaneous - Some were annoyed with all the plastic parts. I can understand that but I do think it helps keep the weight down and if you are patient and take care to learn how the various pieces work, without forcing anything, I think you will be just fine. As others commented I find the cord getting in the way quite annoying. You need to position yourself to assure you can keep it out of the way. I also find the set up of storing the hose and some accessories a bit annoying. It is a good idea so you don't misplace anything but they 'attach' rather clumsily in some instances and seem in the way sometimes.
Putting the machine together was fairly straight forward. I would recommend taking the time to look things over and assure you are doing it correctly and understand the components and operation before starting. Not that it is complicated but doing one thing a bit wrong could cause problems.
I think those are the major points. I find this machine very good for the price and although I cannot speak for longevity, so far it is well worth the investment. |
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 "The Best Of The Best!" | 2009-09-17 |
| - Reviewed By User: A22Y895SWYMU0A |
| I have 3 Wiener dogs and I have bought several of the Bissell's over the last few years, and never have I ever been so thrilled about trying a different brand of machine. I can't say enough about this machine. It has such incredible power, that it cleaned all the way down to my carpet padding, and I am in a 100 year old building. My carpet just shines and smells so good. The other's cleaned my carpet, but you would always have that lingering smell of Dog urine that just couldn't seem to come up. In using a few of the Enzyme cleaners and this machine, it's like amazing in that that lingering smell is gone. The only trick I have encountered is to make sure that little orange cup in the dirty water container, that it has to be all the way down when you start cleaning again or it won't suction. Other than that, no leaking at all, no problems. It is very comparable to the ones you rent, which really surprised me. I paid $138.00 for mine and it is worth every single penny. I suggest anyone who needs a fantastic steam cleaner to buy this model. It Rocks! |
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| "Great results, much more convenient than renting" | 2009-07-22 |
| - Reviewed By rudinoffv |
This is the first carpet cleaner I've owned, so I can't compare it to any other than the red rentals. I thought a cleaner that costs under $200 would not give as good results, but it does! I have no complaints at all with the cleanliness of the carpet. I've had the cleaner a few weeks and have used it twice, on different areas. I have not used the upholstery tools yet. Reading the manual, they seem to be a bit complicated to use. For cleaning carpet, this cleaner is much easier to push and pull than the rentals and gives better results. I wish I'd bought one sooner.
I've had no problems with it leaking, even though when assembling it and pressing both trigger buttons, I did not hear a snap. (See other reviews.) Maybe that issue has been fixed. The assembly directions were easy to understand. The machine and brushes clean up easily after use. It's relatively lightweight and about the size of a large vacuum cleaner and cleans a good sized path.
My main concern, and the reason for giving 4 stars instead of 5, is that the suction is too hit or miss after emptying the tank. I'd read the reviews that emphasize the importance of getting a good seal on the lid of the dirty water tank, but even taking care when replacing the lid, it usually takes three or more attempts to get any suction again. I don't know if perhaps the rubber gasket on my machine is defective, because I rinse and check the gasket and rim carefully to be sure there is no debris, and the lid seems to snap down tightly each time. Having to stop, remove the tank, and do this over and over is very inconvenient, and I have not been able to discern what I do any differently to finally get it to work. Had I not read the reviews here, I would have certainly thought the machine was broken. Much too iffy and inconvenient along with the concern that sooner or later it won't work at all.
Compounding that problem is that the dirty water tank fills before the clean water tank is empty, requiring fairly frequent emptying with the hit or miss sealing/suction issue. The dirty water tank looks large, but much of the bottom is raised so it doesn't hold that much. If the two tanks were more in sync, their size would be a good trade off between capacity and weight to push.
However, once I finally get the suction working again, it does a great job on our berber carpet. Even some bad spots came out with an extra pass or two, without pretreating. The carpet dried completely in less than half a day and looked new. Because it had been a long time since the carpet had been cleaned, I went a little heavy on the cleaning solution. I used very hot water and Resolve solution, saving the Hoover solution that was included because it can be used on upholstery, and also because there was not enough of it to clean the area I needed to clean.
I bought this cleaner after reading many reviews here and elsewhere and am pleased with the purchase. I used the free shipping and received the order in only a few days. I chose this model over the similar one that was lower priced because this one has a full 2 year warranty. I'm hoping`the lid sealing/suction problem improves with use. If anyone has a trick for getting the lid back on "correctly" in one try, I'd appreciate it. |
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| "Better Than J. Edgar!" | 2009-07-15 |
| - Reviewed By oldupa2 |
| Hoover F5912900 TurboPower 5200 SteamVac Carpet Cleaner with Clean Surge This is the best rug cleaner I have ever used. easy to setup and easy to operate. Great extraction of cleaning solution leaves rug fairly dry after use, a big plus! |
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 "So close, and yet so far" | 2009-07-12 |
| - Reviewed By susanpost2 |
Overall I am happy I bought this carpet shampooer. I have three kids and a dog and light carpet, and I don't know how I ever did without it. When I am done with a room, I am always amazed at the difference.
However, I have had this machine for 10 months now, and the honeymoon is definitely over. The little annoyances just add up. The tools are - to me- so counter-intuitive that I have to focus the entire time I am using it. The pedal to turn it off and on (lower usage) is right next to your foot, and the pedal to lower the handle (for me, much higher usage) is awkwardly on the opposite side of the big old upright tank. So you have to straddle a tank full of hot water every time you want to lower the handle. I don't have to "think" the whole time I use my dyson vacuum, that's for sure.
Like other reviewers, the uneven tank changing thing strikes me as very ill-planned. Why not give a little extra room in the collection tank, so that when you run out of cleaning solution, you just stop and refill and empty at the same time, rather than having the collection tank so small you almost always have a quarter tank of hot solution ready to go and so you have to stop twice as much.
The attachment thing is so difficult and cumbersome to be nearly worthless to me. As a result, I rarely do the upholstery, and HATE when I have to do the stairs. So difficult to set up, and constant problems with the suction and solution feed. I have tried all the suggestions on "priming" the solution, etc. and finally I have given up and just get an empty spray bottle and fill it with hot water and dump it on the stairs.
Dumping the dirty water tank is not much fun either (although I do enjoy seeing the filth I have collected!). A handle would be nice, and so would some kind of pouring spout on the thing. I can't tell you how many time I have dumped icky water all over my counters or bathroom floor while I was trying to empty it. Even full it is not that heavy - but it hurts my back anyway because I have to carry it awkwardly away from my body.
I agree with everyone - the carpets come way cleaner if you use hot water. Most of the time that's all I use.
I know I have whined a lot about a product that I actually think is an excellent buy. Amazon delivered it like lightning to my house, and it has transformed the bulk of my carpets. I love it for the wide open spaces. For stairs and upholstery, not so much. I hope Hoover is paying attention to the reviews of this carpet cleaner, because they could hit one out of the park in the next generation with very few changes if they are listening!
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| "Pleased With My Purchase" | 2009-07-08 |
| - Reviewed By User: A31X059C3WTOLT |
Did alot of research before I bought this product. I have never owned a carpet steam cleaner. What I was looking for was an extremely good product for as little cash as I could spend. I chose this one and kept my fingers crossed. The reviews on amazon were very helpful. Delivered to my door quickly for free was a great plus.
I have owned this machine for 5 months and I have to say that it has performed flawlessly. Was amazed that it found so much dirt in my home carpets. The return water was absolutely black at first. There was an absolute difference walking across the carpet with bare feet afterwards. The carpet felt brand new! Good sucking power--The carpet dried very quickly..usually within an hour. I recommend using the Hoover carpet cleaning solutions. Left the clean carpet with a vague, clean pleasant scent. The scent was not overpowering and vanished quickly.
The machine was of good quality and great for my purposes, which is normal use home cleaning. The price was right and I love the way it makes my carpets feel. Continuously amazed at the amount of dirt it finds.
Hope this helps with your selection of steam vacs. |
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