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: F5914 comparison to the Agility
Summary: 5 Stars
I recently had both the F5914 and the F6205 (Agility) to try in my home. The Agility is fully assembled out of the box with a folding handle. The F5914 takes a few minutes to assemble. I pre-vacuumed a section of carpet that gets a lot of traffic and used the Agility first. The solution and dirty water tanks are a bit awkward to open, fill and empty. The foot pedals are curved and your foot tends to slide off rather than activating either the power or handle-lowering function. It's fairly easy to maneuver and seemed to do a good job. The carpet was left quite wet, however and I made sure the tanks were seated and sealed properly as was the door for the tool hose. When I was finished I stopped the unit on a tile floor and it proceeded to leak a good amount of water underneath. I emptied and rinsed the tanks and then cleaned the rotating brushes which pop off easily. The design of the housing around the brushes is such that it collected a lot of debris that needed to be wiped out. The top of the nozzle is removable making it easy to wipe out that area as well. When I was all done, there was still a small amount of water leaking at the bottom.
I then used the F5914 over the same area, carefully using the solution trigger and going over each area several times without solution as I did with the Agility. You can actually see the brownish water getting sucked into the tank, whereas on the Agilty the design of the nozzle doesn't allow as clear a view of the dirty water coming up. The result was a dirty water tank that was dirtier than the Agility's and the carpet was much drier as well. I stopped on the tile again and there was no leak underneath, just a couple of drips from the wet brushes. The solution and dirty water tanks are easier to work with on the F5914, and the area around the brushes doesn't have the same tendency to collect debris so clean up is quicker (the brushes pop off of this unit as well). The nozzle does not come off without having to remove 4 screws (which the instructions advise against), but it's easy to clean out the debris in the nozzle by simply placing a small amount of water on an old cookie sheet with a rim, turn off the brushes then turn on the vacuum and dip the nozzle in the water. This will clean out anything in the nozzle in a couple of seconds. Just do this before you empty the dirty water tank. The tools are much more secure on the F5914 than on the Agility, although you have the option of removing them as a unit off the Agility but cannot do so on the F5914.
In the end for me, the F5914 won out over the Agility.
Customer Review: Better than Rug Doctor
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had this shampooer for a few days now, and I'm still kicking myself for not buying it sooner. I had to rent a Rug Doctor twice since moving into my new apartment. The carpet here is really old (as in taupe-brown and orange shag carpet) and I don't think it was ever shampooed. My allergies had been really bothering me since I moved in, so I rented the Big Red to try and help with that. Then I found out my dog had been peeing in the corner of one room for a while without my knowing, so I rented the Rug Doctor again. Thus, my carpets had been steam cleaned twice in about a 3 month time period (and yet they still smelled bad).
Finally, I decided to pick the SteamVac up after reading all the good reviews. For about $160 (at Best Buy where I had a gift card), I now own a shampooer I can use whenever the carpet is looking a bit dingy (or smelling a bit dog pee-ish). And it works a lot better than the Rug Doctor. I've used a few carpet shampooers in my day and this one is truly impressive. You will find yourself absolutely gaping at the nasty, brownish-black water coming up into the machine from your carpets. If you go slowly and make several passes to get out as much water as possible, your carpets will be dry in an hour or less. And they will smell, well, kind of like nothing at all--which is really what they should smell like, right?
It's pretty lightweight for a shampooer. For those saying it's too heavy, the suction power would be lessened if it were any lighter. And let me tell you, the suction power is better than that of any other machine I've ever used.
The SteamVac is also great on bare floors. My kitchen floors are old linoleum, so I just go straight from the carpet to the floor and it does a fantastic job, far better than a swiffer mop. I've found no need for the bare floor attachment. If you have nice wood or tile floors, I would be careful to use only the recommended solution and turn the brushes to low.
If you are in the market for a carpet shampooer, look no further than this powerhouse. And don't waste your money on a Floormate. This does a better job, is the same price, and does your carpets too. Even if I were monetarily endowed and could afford one of the really expensive shampooers, I would still choose this one for it's remarkable cleaning and suction power. My mom just visited me and I showed her how well it worked and she's on her way to buy one right now. Just wait until you see how clean and fluffy your carpets are after you use it!
Customer Review: You Gotta Have This!!
Summary: 5 Stars
This 'steam vac' is amazing. Even though it does not utilize or create true 'steam heat', the machine is incredibly effective.
While the F5819-900 does a great job of delivering the cleaning solution to the carpet, the true secret is its suction/extraction power.
This evening was my first attempt at using this machine to clean my entire 20x15 living room and the results are amazing. The F5914 is much more sophisticated than it looks. The controls that deliver the cleaning solution to the carpet function very well... and are incredibly easy to control.
Delivery of the cleaning solution is controlled by two separate triggers at the head of the handle. The index finger trigger delivers moderate cleaning solution. The addition of the thumb-activated "Clean Surge" button delivers twice the cleaning fluid. The "Clean Surge" feature is awesome for combating difficult stains.
The suction this SteamVac generates is amazing! My carpet was COMPLETELY dry two hours after I finished the job!
One of my dogs managed to get hold of a small Halloween-sized chunk of chocolate while I was at work one day. I returned from the office to find an empty wrapper and a stain that wouldn't completely go away regardless the generaly available 'spray cleaners' available at the grocery store. Tonight, using the SteamVac and patience... that 6-month-old stain is GONE!
I've read negative reviews and there are a few common, easy to overcome themes:
- Take your time. Cleaning a carpet is more involved than vacuuming a carpet. Make sure you are delivering enough cleaning solution to the carpet, using enough passes over the area for the Spin-Scrub brushes to agitate the carpet fibers, and using enough passes to allow suction to draw the liquid back to the collection tank.
- This machine uses water as part of its primary function. When your are finished cleaning your carpet, you will want to store the machine somewhere other than a carpeted surface. Carpet saturated in water= mold (Who knew?!)
- Thoroughly clean the collection tank, including removing and cleaning the filter, every time you empty the tank. This will ensure you do not suffer an accumulation of crud that will become difficult to remove later.
- Invest in the hard floor tool. It's a piece that snaps onto the front snub of the machine. Your tile floors need love, too!
- Invest in ear plugs. The powerful motor that makes this machine work so very well is also so very loud.
Customer Review: All I can say is 'WOW'!
Summary: 5 Stars
The carpet cleaner arrived yesterday, and I assembled it last night. Assembly was a bit complicated, and the instructions in the actual manual were not all that clear. Unfortunately, it wasn't until after I had finished that I discovered a larger pamphlet with clearer and more complete assembly instructions -- so look for and use that rather than the instruction booklet! (By the way, I never heard that infamous 'click' when depressing the handle buttons and had no leaks later, so I wouldn't worry about it if you don't hear it either.)
Today I did my living room. Vacuumed it well and then took a deep breath and started with the carpet cleaner. Used half boiling water and half hot tap water and two capfuls of the provided solution. Let me say that my carpet was beyond filthy -- I live in an apartment and the carpet wasn't even close to new when I moved in four years ago. Several large and very obvious stains (one from red wine.) I spot treated those with a generic carpet spot cleaner and then hoped for the best. I wasn't really expecting too much since other reviewers had noted that the machine won't work miracles. But it did!
I carefully followed the instructions in the book as well as those of the carpet-cleaning guru whose review leads the pack. Went over each area slowly for both soaping and drying. It worked beautifully! No leaks, no spills, no mess. And I must say that I think I have the dubious honor of having had the blackest water come out of my carpet, judging from the pictures posted here. But now the carpet looks better than it did when I moved in. I keep sidling over just to look at it! :-)
One thing I will say is that while the carpet cleaner is easy to use, it's not an easy job cleaning carpets. The machine is a bit heavy with the water tanks full, and my arm was sore from all the passes after just doing the living room. So tomorrow comes the dining room. The next day the bedroom. I haven't used the attachment yet, but I'll have to think of something to use that on. Maybe my car. My arm may fall off by the end of this adventure, but boy am I having fun! (And trust me, I am no 'clean freak'! I used to have a magnet on my fridge that read "Boring women have clean homes.")
If you're hesitating about making the purchase, don't! I think the negative reviews either came from people who aren't using the machine properly or who received defective machines. Seriously, who knew that cleaning a carpet could bring someone such joy! :-)
Customer Review: Better than hiring a service - and cheaper too!
Summary: 5 Stars
So my wife and I have three kids and a cat. The smallest child is 3, and the older two are teenagers. The cat's almost a teenager, too, and had a long bout with throwing up several times a day (always on the carpet, never the cement. Damn cat). Anyway, the 3 year old carpets in our three year old house were looking awful. We'd had a service come in last year, and they did a great job, but some of the worst areas weren't quite clean, and this was before the cat got so sick.
My wife started bugging me to hire the service again, and it was hard to argue with her, until I realized that buying your own steam/water cleaner was cheaper than hiring one (at about $250-350 a pop). I did some reasonable searching and reviewing on the internet, and settled on this Hoover model. Too many Bissel reviews claimed that the company wasn't producing quality wares anymore, and that made me nervous. Saw good things about the Hoover, so I ordered it.
Now, I have to interject quickly on behalf of Amazon. I ordered the product quickly, and inadvertently had it sent to my parents' house on the other side of the country. I called Amazon, and they suggested that my parents should refuse delivery, and then I should re-order and have it sent to the correct address. All this for no extra charge, and they even offered to expedite shipping for no charge. I didn't opt for that, as it was MY mistake, and I didn't feel Amazon should have to absorb charges for that. So, a big Kudos to Amazon for continuing to always put the customer first. It's why so many of us keep coming back again and again.
Back to the vacuum. It's heavy. Damn heavy. Really. My wife can't use it, so I did all the cleaning myself after work. You need to be patient with it - it's not like a regular vacuum. Unlike a service, however, if you have a particulary bad area, you can come back next day after it's dried and hit it again. As a result, our carpets look amazing, and all our neighbors are wondering how we got them so clean.
It is really a remarkable appliance, and I can't support it any more thoroughly. I am 100% pleased with this purchase, and even if it were to break tomorrow, it was still worth the money and cheaper and better than a service. As such, I don't think it will break tomorrow, and every time it works will just increase its value to me that much more. Thank you, Hoover, for making a quality product that does what it says (really well) and for a good, reasonable price. We love it.