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: 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.
Customer Review: Love it!
Summary: 5 Stars
I just picked up this steamvac after reading all the great reviews here and anywhere that they let people review!
I can see why it is highly rated. It works great!
I'll be honest and admit that I did not have high expectations. This Hoover is one of the lower cost units out there, or at least, middle of the road, so I expected middle of the road performance. I also have a hoover steam cleaner that does NOT have the spinscrub or any active scrubber on the front. It actually looks very similar to this unit, but without the active scrubber, and as a result, it was terrible. It took ALOT of effort of me pushing down on the front and trying to scrub with it. Because I had such bad luck with that unit, I was very weary to try any other hoover, but the reviews online were just so good about this unit that I had to try it!
And I'm so glad I did! I was very pleased to find that the unit cleans carpets VERY well. I was continually smiling and showing my girlfriend the comparative steps where I would clean half a stain or dirty area and you could clearly see the difference - like a commercial or something! The beauty is that the machine does all the work. 95% of my stains and dirty areas came clean with just the suggested use of two wet passes and two dry passes. A few I had to use the clean surge and go over an extra time or two, but that was it. I didn't have to hold down the front and scrub or do anything by hand - the machine did everything for me - which was a big plus.
About 9 months ago we had the carpets in our condo professionally cleaned. It cost just under $200 and the guy had some fancy machinery. My girlfriend and I both agreed that this hoover achieved the same, if not better results. Granted, the professional machine was much faster, but the results were the same, with the edge actual going to the hoover. So, basically, the machine paid for itself it's first use.
The only complaint I have, if you could even call it a complaint, is that the clean water runs out fast and the dirty water fills up faster. It would be nice to have bigger tanks on both, but it's understandable for this size model that they are smaller. To combat this point, though, emptying the dirty water, and refilling the cleaning solution couldn't be easier. The dirty water tub comes off SO easy, and goes back in just as easy, and it is easy to dump right into the bath tub (or outside, etc). The cleaning solution tank is also very easy to remove, fill, and install.
I think for our ~1100sqft condo I went through ~13 gallons of cleaning solution. I did mix 10oz of soap per gallon, though, because the carpets were pretty dirty, and I didn't have anything to pre-treat with. Also, I picked up the Zep Carpet Extractor Shampoo, which worked, IMO, just as well as the Hoover soap that came with it, and it was very cheap too. Plus, it smelled better. Like a "professional" smell, if that makes sense.
Just to note, I have not tried any of the tools yet, but I intend to try them soon. I can note that they appear to be pretty solidly made and I like the way they connect. They look like they'll do a nice job.
I'm a VERY picky consumer, especially since I've been burned in the vacuum and steam cleaner department in the past. I'd gladly speak my mind and bash any deserving vacuum or steam cleaner product by giving it a bad review and less than 5 stars, but this Hoover does not deserve this in any way shape or form. I would highly recommend it to a friend, and I can't imagine finding a better unit for the price (or even anything outside of a professional model).
Customer Review: Cleans carpets well
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased this at amazon.com using an accumulation of amazon.com visa card certificates and an online promotion. My purchase price was a deal I couldn't refuse.
I've rented carpet cleaners in the past, and I wasn't expecting the carpets to come out brand new, just cleaner. I wasn't disappointed. The manual for assembly is simple and straight forward. With a couple basic tools it was assembled in a matter of less than a half hour. The machine comes with a hand tool for upholstery (more on this later) and a sample of carpet cleaner, which was enough to get me started my cleaning job the next morning. While the machine can clean hard floors, it doesn't come with the hard floor cleaning attachment.
I followed the suggestion of another helpful reviewer and boiled water in a tea kettle to add to hot tap water which I used to fill the reservoir. I used the supplied Hoover cleaner. There were a couple stain spots on the carpet that I pre-treated. Those were the spots I tried first and was amazed at how clean the carpets became. One of my family members uses an electric wheel chair. The wheels bring dirt onto the carpet at the entry door. I found the hand attachment especially helpful at cleaning the area next to the door threshold. It's a down on the knees job, but not hard considering the positive results.
Others have pointed out that it's helpful to use a second cleaning with clear hot water. I gave this a try after going over the carpet with solution and removing as much moisture as possible. This second treatment I also used boiling water mixed with hot tap water. I couldn't tell much of a difference in the carpet after the second go around, but the water sure was dirty. The carpets were so much better after using the cleaner, that a favorite relative came over and asked if I could do their place as well. I used the same procedure at their house as I used in mine. I had excellent results.
A couple tips to remember:
1. This will not make your carpets brand new, but it does clean them.
2. Use a few extra passes on vacuum to remove excess water from the carpet to reduce drying time considerably. Look at the clear plastic vacuum passage at the front of the machine to give an indication when the water is no longer being removed from the carpet. It helps to continue water removal until you don't see any more water coming up through the clear vacuum passage.
3. I found that the canisters are pretty well matched in size. I filled up the vacuum chamber about the same time I ran out of fluid in the cleaning solution/hot water reserve tank. Don't expect to finish your house on one filling. You might do a small to medium size room per filling, but not the whole house.
4. It really does help to use HOT water. Most hot water heaters heat to 125 F degrees. This machine is intended to use water at 140 degrees F. Heat up some water on the stove, or in the microwave to make your water hot enough to use in this unit.
5. Pre-treat the bad spots. It will help remove the heavily soiled areas.
6. Don't tell too many relatives you have the Hoover SteamVac, or you will be recruited to help clean their carpets too.
A new model of Hoover SteamVac is now available in stores and online. At the time of this writing, it might be possible to obtain a discounted price on this model.
My opinion is a recommendation in favor of this item.