Hoover SteamVac Carpet Cleaner with Clean Surge, F5914-900
by Hoover
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List Price: Our Price: $139.83 You Save: $40.16 (22%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Category: Home See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Hoover SteamVac Carpet Cleaner with Clean Surge, F5914-900
Customer Review: A MUST if you have carpet
Summary: 5 Stars
Living in a one-bedroom apartment, I had real qualms about having purchased this. However, after several cleanings, I can say it's absolutely been worth it.
I have a short-haired cat who was home one time during a professional cleaning. The cleaner had let himself in when I wasn't home. I came home later to beautiful carpet, but I couldn't find the cat. No, he hadn't been sucked up by the steamer, but he was a terrified lump under the covers of the bed. He stayed there for a long time, huddled and shivering as I petted him through the covers.
With time, my carpets started getting grungy again. Like most felines, mine goes through his shed-and-barf episodes a few times a year. I used to spot clean, but it always grossed me out, and I was never convinced I was getting deep enough. Considering I now had several spots and didn't want to put the beast through another traumatic professional cleaning, I sprung for the Hoover SteamVac.
It's a hefty, heavy thing with minimal prep required to set it up for the first time. After shutting the cat in the bedroom, I was ready to go. I steamed the living room using the recommended amount of Hoover cleaner, adding my own boiling water from an electric kettle (the directions just say hot, but I had read other reviews here!). The stuff that came out of the carpet was amazing and disgusting. I had swept already, and still the water turned a filthy brown. It lifted the spots from the carpet like a pro. The Clean Surge feature is great for particularly difficult, set-in stains. One stain that had been there for a long time lightened, but could not be completely removed. Still, I was satisfied. The vacuum of the water worked great and left the carpet just slightly damp. It dried quite fast.
After this, I was bitten by the cleaning bug and wanted to steam EVERYTHING. My car was several years old, having been purchased as a used vehicle. The seats had always bothered me because the driver's looked dingy and darker than the passenger side, and the passenger side was darker than the back seats. Even though the Hoover cord is quite long, I attached a couple extension cords together in order to reach from my apartment to the car outside.
Setting the steamer up for cleaning upholstery is a more complicated process than steaming your carpets. I read the directions and remembered thinking I'd better not lose them because there's no way I'd remember what went where later. I went to work and steamed those seats. The results were nothing short of amazing. I could see muddy-colored water being sucked back into the Hoover. The cleaning using the upholstery attachments, including rotating, scrubbing brushes, worked wonders in cleaning out years of dirt and turning the seats much lighter.
Months later, I've cleaned my carpets repeatedly. Each time I'm thrilled with the results. I don't always use as much cleaner as Hoover recommends because I've read the other reviews about cleaner possibly attracting dirt. I haven't noticed any difference in using half the amount of cleaner after the initial cleaning with full strength.
After a cleaning, the cat barf spots are gone. Despite having vacuumed before cleaning, the cleaner still picks up cat hair and spits it out as wet little clumps that need to be picked up later when the floor has dried. It's just confirmation to me that the steamer is really getting in deep and pulling up ground-in dirt and hair.
And you know what? This even works on linoleum! Granted, you may not want to pull it out as your primary method for washing floors, but it's great for a periodic steam cleaning. You have the option to turn the rotation of the brushes off if you're concerned about them on your floors. The cleaning solution also does a fantastic job and leaves the linoleum gleaming and shiny.
My carpets always look great. They always have that "just cleaned" look about them. I've had people comment on them as they enter my home and insist on removing their shoes. I'm very satisfied with the performance of the Hoover. If you have carpet, and especially if you have an indoor pet, you'll get lots of use out of the SteamVac.
Customer Review: Say goodbye to your mop!
Summary: 5 Stars
Now I'm not the type of person to typically write a review of any product. But this time, I just felt the need. So, I bought this back in November and finally opened the box yesterday. I was able to put it together in a matter of minutes - although I would suggest that you actually refer to the written pages when it comes to connecting the hose because the pictures didn't explain it well enough.
Also - while I searched and searched the box for the bare floor tool, there was none. My issue - I didn't read well and thought there was one in there. No biggie - you won't really need it.
So, I immediately got the hot water flowing from the sink (and I have REALLY hot water because it heats the house in the winter). It's about 200 degrees - well above the typical setting on a thermostat. Not even controllable since the knob is inside the hot water heater, but I've digressed. OK - so I don't typically clean with cleaning solutions and maybe if I did - I'd get different results but the result I got was just amazing even without chemicals. I used plain old vinegar and a touch of shampoo for the smell and hot water - and I would never have imagined the carpet was as dirty as the water clearly was when I was done.
So I finished my daughter's room and moved on her bathroom. She has a large bathroom and one of those bathroom rugs you get from JC Penney. Oh my. The water was darker than her bedroom was! GROSS. Went back to check her bedroom and the carpet was feeling shockingly dry already. Yet again, was CLEARLY impressed.
So I went to bed thinking wow, I should have done this sooner! Well, this morning I got up and thought - it's got more scrubbing power than me so why not use it on the foyer hall (which is tile). It's an 8x20 area and used to take a while to mop. We have 3 dogs and a cat, so it's an area that needs cleaned often. I mixed up my mixture again, this time leaving out the shampoo, and off I went. Within about 20 minutes I was done... never knowing the tile was actually as light as it was and without any effort compared to mopping. At this point, the Swiffer Wet commercial with the mop begging to come back comes to my mind and I laughed.
On I went to the kitchen which is about 800 sq. feet. Did my vacuuming to get up all the loose stuff and again mixed the vinegar in with my hot tap water.... and I was amazed that my kitchen floor was as dirty as it was. Not nearly as dirty as the other rooms - but it did a great job on cleaning not only the tile, but the grout.
Now, all in all this is a GREAT product. It will clean any floor I have in my house, from carpet, to tile, to laminate and do it better than I can with a mop.
Some things to remember are....
Make sure you vacuum first - I fortunately also have a Hoover vacuum and it has a hard floor setting so it's an easy task as well.
The hand tool connection is quite awkward - so I wouldn't recommend switching back in forth. You have to take the tank apart to put the hand tool suction thing - and you have to plug another piece in to a socket on the top. It was quite a task trying to do that in my daughter's room and I quickly said this is cumbersome and time consuming, so I decided I'll do the edges another time.
Remember to drain it - I noticed there was some water on the floor this morning where it was setting overnight because I didn't drain the water in the clean tank.
While I did use it on my laminate, I was very caution with the amount of water I used -- and used it more for the scrubbing power than anything else. I took my microfiber mop and went over it when I was done to make sure I didn't get any streaks. (And I didn't.)
That's really it. I know this is a long review - but again, just thought I'd share with you that for $150 -- this is an all around cleaner that isn't just for carpets. I haven't done the linoleum (sp?) in the basement yet - but that's about 1500 sq. feet -- so it will take some time. I can't imagine it would be anything less than stellar.
Hope this has helped! Now go get cleaning.
Customer Review: So Easy I Started to Question Myself
Summary: 5 Stars
I ordered this cleaner from Amazon because of the excellent reviews, because the price was excellent, and because the purchase qualified for free super saver shipping. I will be reviewing both the cleaner and the order process from Amazon, both five stars.
When I ordered the cleaner, I followed the shipping progress because I was so excited to get my order. The day I saw the message "Delivered, left at front door" on the tracking report, I rushed straight home from work only to find that there was no delivery at my door. The cleaner was either stolen or, as I suspect, was delivered to the wrong address. My street name is very similar to several others in town. I immediately called Amazon. The customer service rep was very nice and requested that I give them 10 days to see if the cleaner would show up, perhaps someone would turn it in to FedEx or FedEx would find it on a truck. I agreed. However, after about 8 days it seemed clear that no one was going to be bringing me a cleaner any time soon. I emailed customer service before our agreed upon 10 day waiting period, and instead of getting the expected argument, I was told that a replacement cleaner would be overnighted to me. The next day, my cleaner was waiting for me when I got home. Yea!
The first chance I got, I assembled the cleaner and used it to clean my living room and dining room. From beginning to end, including assembly, carpet steaming, and cleanup of the machine, the process took 2 hours. Assembly was so simple, that I truly thought I had done something wrong. When I read the instruction on how to store the hose, I thought,"Oh great, I have to store and reassemble the hose every single time I use the cleaner." But no, the hose is only needed when you are using the hand tool for upholstery or stair cleaning. Using the cleaner is really as easy as it looks.
Once the handle is attached and the hose is stored on the back of the unit, the process is as easy as this: The upper tank is removed from the cleaner and taken to the sink. Hot water is combined with the cleaning solution, which is measured easily with the lid of the tank. The tank is replaced on the unit, which is then plugged in. With your right foot, you release the handle so that it tilts back, like any vacuum. With your left foot, turn on the machine. Pulling the trigger releases the liquid. Make 2 passes over the area with the trigger pulled, then 2 passes without. Therefore, the carpet gets 2 doses of solution/water and 4 chances to suck the liquid. You will be amazed at how dry the carpet is after being cleaned.
If your carpet is dirty like mine, about halfway through the cleaning, when you still have plenty of clean solution in the upper tank, the cleaner will make a high pitched noise, indicating that something isn't right. That is when you know you need to empty and clean out the lower tank. It has picked up so much dirt, pet hair, and water that it can't pick up any more. You will empty out the nastiest water you have ever seen in your life, then you will rinse the MUD out of the bottom of the tank. After that you will pop it back in and get back to work.
Once you are done with the floor, you empty both tanks, rinse them, and let them air dry. If you have very old or cheap carpet, BE WARNED you may not want to use a cleaner this powerful. I saw quite a bit of carpet fibers in my dirty tank. If my carpet had been a lower quality, I worry that it would have created "bald spots"! :)
After the tanks are dry, pop them back in the cleaner and store it in a closet. It doesn't take up much more space than a regular vacuum cleaner. Once the carpet is completely dry, vacuum it to fluff it back up and pick up any pet hair that the steam cleaner raised to the surface. Your carpets will look like new. I had a small stain that didn't come up after several passes with the steam cleaner. However, the solution and little moisture that was left on it must have kept working because by the time I vacuumed it, the stain was completely gone.
This is the best money I have spent in a long time!
Customer Review: Best Bang For The Buck!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I can't say enough good things about this SteamVac. It is amazing!!! I ordered it on-line and it arrived just yesterday.
Now to explain my excitement. We have a toddler little boy and those with small children or know people with small children, you realize that they make messes. My son is no different. He likes to hold milk in his mouth and won't swallow it. He'll just let it drible out of his mouth slowly. Of course he is doing all this in the middle of our family room. Besides that he likes to shake his drink cups and see if he can get juice, milk, soda, or whatever to come flying out. Again, he does this all over the house, but especially in the middle of our family room. As you can imagine our family room looked like someone had taken an old oil pan and dripped it all over the carpet. Not to mention that our carpet is probably the cheapest the home builder could find and it is a lighter shade of brown. Add all these things together and you get one nasty carpet.
My wife has been bugging me for months to rent a carpet cleaner from the store so we could get the family room carpet cleaned. However, being a typical man, I procrastinated and finaly decided that with a small child in the house, we would be renting a carpet cleaner all the time. So with some intensive research I narrowed my search to the Hoover SteamVac with Clean Surge.
As I said, it arrived yesterday and as soon as I arrived home from work, I tore the box open and had it put together with 3 screws for attachments in under 5 minutes. It is a very simple machine to put together, and use for that matter. My wife had to go to work at this time, so she wasn't able to see my joy in using it.
First I vaccumed the area and then pre-treated the major spots, after all this isn't a miracle machine. After waiting 10 minutes and watching some Sponge Bob (with my son of course), I began my first Steam Cleaning Adventure!
What I Liked:
1. Automatically stops suctioning and spinning when the return tank is full.
2. The Clean Surge button helps dispense extra solution on bad spots.
3. Suction Power is the best out there!
4. The 5 Spinning Brushes rock, and you can see how fast they are spinning.
5. Attachments and Tools are easy to get to.
6. Two seperate and clear tanks.
Now I did have to re-fill my tank about 4 times to do the entire family room, which basically used up the small container of solution that comes with it, but WOW did it work. The amount of grime and dirt this machine pulled out was sickening, but at the same time made me happy to know that my carpets were getting clean. The family room is the worst room for high traffic, especially from our dog, who likes to come inside from our back door with dirty paws and run across the family room to the front door. I used the Clean Surge on this area, which takes up a lot of solution, but the benefits are worth it! I promise you, that I have absolutely no spots at all! And on top if it all, the carpets were practically dried in about 3 hours.
My wife arrived home and couldn't believe her eyes. The floor looked and even felt brand new. The scrubbing action along with the amazing suction power really fluffed up the carpet and made it feel softer and fluffier. So at 10 p.m. my wife says "Lets do the stairs, too." I was like, right on! So we did the stairs. Again, vaccumed them first, but didn't have any more pre-treater for the spots. So we cleaned them anyways starting at the top of the stairs using the hose and attachment, which also has spinning srubbers, and when we were finished the stairs also looked and felt brand new!
This machine over all is the absolute best money I've ever spent! If you have any doubts on what to buy, let those doubts subside and buy this machine, you won't regret it. Granted it is a little heavy, but it needs to be to be able to clean as well as it does.
Customer Review: I can understand why the major consumer product review magazine rates this as a best buy.
Summary: 5 Stars
Before I begin, let me compare this product with the F5915-900, which is at Walmart. The only difference between the two is that this model has a handheld scrubber feature on the hose attachment, where the F5915-900 does not. In my opinion, since they are roughly the same price, you should order this model from Amazon and have it when you need to clean up your furniture. Also, this model comes with a 16 oz bottle of carpet cleaning solution to start you off, that's 3 tanks worth.
We have 3 dogs in our house with no kids. One of our dogs, despite years of training, continues to potty in the house. She's small and we can only assume that she just can't hold it and has accidents. About a year ago I rented a unit from my local home improvement store for $40 + cleaning solution. This was a model that only sprayed cleaner onto the carpet and sucks it up. My wife and I were happy with the results and it took the smell out of the carpet. Despite our best efforts and changing how often we let the dogs outside, there were still accidents and over the course of a year the carpet looked like it did after the first year.
We decided to purchase a carpet cleaner and I checked into my favorite consumer products magazine to find out what they recommended. Looking at models that were less than $200 I found this one to be highly recommended. I checked out amazon's reviews, and the 4.5 star consistent review backs up their findings as well.
So how does this work? The model has 4 spinning scrub brushes at the front of the cleaner which really get the carpet pile so much cleaner than the simply "spray down, vacuum up" model. The brushes have 3 settings of intensity from light, medium to heavy. I set it on heavy and went to town. There are two button controls on the handle which engage the cleaning solution. The first engages the standard solution, and the thumb button engages a "heavy soil" feature which dispenses more solution if you have a bad, set in stain.
In addition to the scrub brushes, the place where this model really shines is its suction. This model is incredible at getting the moisture out of the carpet. It's very easy to see the solution coming out of the carpet as the collection "channel" goes over the top of the motor and since it is clear you can watch it flow out of the carpet into the collection chamber. Because of this, you can ensure you've pulled as much solution out of the carpet as you can, which reduces the dry time to only a few hours vs 8-10 hours of the rented model I used. I equate the feel of the carpet after suction to when you spray down a frebreeze-like spray and let it mist. You can walk over it with socks, but they'll feel a little damp after wards, but not wet.
As many have said, the name of this brand is deceiving because there is no true "steam" anywhere. The cord length is adequate and has the same reach as my vacuum.
I did not have the issues that some described. Once put together (some minor screwdriver assembly required) pull the trigger until you hear a click. That connects the trigger mechanism to the solution release. You can see the connection if you don't have the tanks in place at that point. Although it's awkward facing the front of the machine and reaching up to press the trigger, it allows you to see it engaged.
I will say that this cleaner as changed my impression of clean. I used it on the bad areas of the carpet and they looked great. Then, two weeks later I notice that there are new "bad" areas. They weren't truly new, but rather overshadowed by the worst areas, but now a little blemish in the carpet stands out like a sore thumb to me. For the best results for smell, put down a pet spray carpet cleaner and let it sit for 5-10 minutes.
I highly recommend this cleaner. I'm so glad I bought it.