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: Old Carpet, New Hoover F5914
Summary: 5 Stars
Overall: *Excellent* results with the Hoover F5914-900. House came with 30 year old carpet. Looked like it had never been cleaned. Horribly stained and matted. After reading reviews here, decided to try this machine (rather than rent or hire commercial) before carpet replacement. Very pleased with all aspects. I strongly recommend it.
Assembly: Easy. Requires a Phillips screw driver. There was no obvious 'snap' when attaching handle and engaging Clean Surge and trigger assembly. Machine has not leaked at all.
Carpet Cleaning: Amazing results. Carpet was stained beyond belief. Even had been used as a drop cloth for painting. I spot treated beforehand. Didn't worry about extra hot water. About 90% of stains are gone. Those that haven't come up completely are now hard to find. Incredible amount of dirt picked up. Of course, no machine could remove the paint. Carpet looks and feels like carpet again (except paint).
Upholstery Attachments: Not tried yet.
Ease of Use: No more difficult than an upright vacuum cleaner. Took care to ensure water pick up was complete, going extra slowly during dry-strokes, watching nozzle for water to stop. Very good vacuum power. As others have said, carpet was nearly dry to the touch after about an hour. Design allows it to get very close to walls. Inside corners, not as good.
Tank Sizes: Unlike others, I found the recovery/waste tank to be well sized. On average, less than a pint remained in cleaning-solution tank when waste tank was full. Simply filled one when I emptied the other. Larger sizes on both tanks would be a plus; but, not essential.
Clean Up After Use: Easy and necessary. Takes a couple of minutes plus time to air dry.
Durability: Have only used it a few times; so, can only say it seems well built and it has worked flawlessly so far. Even so, it has paid for itself (or nearly so) after the first week of use.
Cleaner Concentrate: Used both Hoover's and a cheaper knock-off. Could not tell any difference.
Storage: Takes about the same amount of space as an upright vacuum cleaner. Store after drying.
Especially Pleased: With results; and, can clean carpet in stages rather than moving all furniture at once. Can repeat when/where needed at no additional cost, no extra trips, no appointments. Important for me since dirt accumulates quickly. Excellent machine.
Customer Review: 2008 Update on This Model
Summary: 5 Stars
I read the reviews, and bought this model two weeks ago (August 2008). I've run 20 tanks of detergent through this machine cleaning rugs and carpets. Rather than repeat what you've read already, here's an update:
The "Snap": Forget it. Possibly true three years ago, but there is no "snap" today.
Boiling Water: Works great. I initially filled half the tank with boiling water. That worked well, so I dragged out the stew pot to fill the whole tank with boiling water. This worked even better: the waste water is even darker brown as a result. It also seems that the waste water comes out of the carpet faster when you do this (fewer sucking laps). Boiling water is a winner.
Leaks: Can't get this thing to leak. The tanks must have been redesigned.
Extra laps to dry the carpet: This works. I noticed that a third drying lap sucked out more water (one lap with trigger depressed, then two laps just sucking). However, when using boiling water (see above), you want to keep the water as hot as possible. So go 1 lap with the trigger depressed, then 1 lap without, then move on. Come back later to suck out more water.
Detergent and Pre-Treatment: The Hoover Deep Cleansing detergent that came with this machine worked well in conjunction with an enzyme-based pet spot remover. I ordered a gallon of the Hoover Premium Pet Formula, which did not work as well on pet stains without the separate spot remover. Best results for pets require separate pre-treatment with an enzyme based pet stain remover.
Tank Sizes: If you follow the instructions (one lap with trigger down, one lap without), the detergent tank will empty about when the waste tank is full. If you do extra laps to dry the carpet further, the waste tank will fill before the detergent tank is empty. Spraying a lot of pretreatment on your carpet will also result in the waste tank filling faster. This is a minor design flaw-the waste tank should have been bigger.
Cleaning the Waste Tank: I didn't understand why so many people complained about the difficulty of cleaning the waste tank. Hold it in your left hand. Spray water into it from your kitchen sink sprayer with your right hand. Twist your hands a little to get into the nooks and crannies. You'll be done in 20 seconds.
Since this review will probably be buried under the other 500+, I will also paste it into a discussion. Sorry for the repetition.
Customer Review: Dont question it because of the price - buy and save
Summary: 5 Stars
First I would like to point out that i have used steam cleaners in the past and I have paid professionals to clean my carpets. The steam cleaners I used in the past were Bissell both large and small. These did so - so depending on the mess. I just got a new puppy and lets just say my house smelled like a convalescent home. So I asked a well known carpet cleaning company in my area that I used regularly in my last home to come out and quote me on 2 area rugs, and just the traffic areas in two wall-wall carpet rooms and 1 chair cushion. The price tag with no guarantee of removing the smell - $469! So my MIL said to look again at steam cleaners. I started with searching online for reviews and one site showed this one with the most positive reviews online and a link to amazon. I saw the price and balked - one this cheap cant do a good job not when a professional with a 469 bill cant guarantee removing the smell. So I continued on reviewing other larger more expensive ($400+) cleaners with all the bells and whistles. But I kept coming back to 800+ positive reviews for this unit only costing $145. I searched the reviews specifically for pet stains and smells and all the reviews were positive so I ordered and waited. I got the machine well before promised delivery date. I put it together quickly without any problems - dont get daunted the parts. People online complain about plastic pieces that might break - last time i checked my near 10 year old Eureka is made of plastic and is still standing strong - and that thing has taken a beating. So dont pass on this because of that worry. Now on to the reason I got it - remember $469 bill without guarantee. Over two days and 6 carpets later - NO MORE STAINS AND NO MORE SMELL!!! And let me tell you the smell was bad I cared more about that than the stains but the stains came out no problem. Also people in the reviews talk about using the clean surge option on tough stains - I didnt use it once. They came out without it. One more concern people raise is loss of suction - read those wonderful reviews - its a seal problem in the recovery tank - trust them they know it happened to me and I corrected it by checking the seal. So for $145 I got rid of stains and smells and I can keep using the machine over and over again as opposed to a one time $469 with no guarantee of end result. This is a no brainer people - dont let the cheap price scare you away embrace it and safe.Customer Review: LOVE IT! I picked up dirty black (tar-colored) water for WEEKS!
Summary: 5 Stars
***Important: I've noticed a couple of reviews talking about the suctioning not working! I had this SAME problem and I fixed it myself!!!
On the dirty water receptacle tank, make sure that the middle square thing (Words engraved read "To use optional cleaning tool") that moves up and down is IN PLACE. I had the same problem, no suctioning until I adjusted it back in the correct place!!!
This happened "after" I used the "optional cleaning tool," because when doing so the middle square thing stays in place but bends down for the optional cleaning tool to connect to the tank....so it's "easy" for it to get "out of place."
If it's not in place correctly, it throws off the suction completely because the suction air comes UP through there (middle square plastic thing) and then it goes through plastic ridges in the top of dirty water tank and then back out to the side.
NOW ON TO THE REVIEW>>>
WOW! I purchased this Hoover Steamvac in November 2008.
Immediately I started using it and was very pleased with how well it worked! The FIRST MONTH alone I had to steam vac my carpet five to seven times and each time I used it, I picked up dirty black (tar-colored) water from my carpet!
I remember this 7 to 10 inch long "set on" stain that was on my carpet WHEN I FIRST MOVED IN and I thought that I was stuck with that ugly stain forever and being that it had been SO LONG that it had been there, I seriously didn't think this Steamvac could take it out! Well it did!!
Of course, I did have to press down for more Cleansurge for that spot in order to saturate it more with the solution and when I did that, it got it out!
Initially, I HAD TO use the steamvac 5 to 7 times in the first month because the carpet was so DIRTY!
However, I now regularly steamvac once a month as now it's just a "carpet maintenance" thing.
I liked it so much I recommended it to my sister and she purchased it. She's pregnant and is going to have her baby soon so she wants to use it to clean her carpets to ensure the baby will be in a healthy and clean environment.
If you are unsure about getting this product, then ask yourself how much you would pay a professional to do it for YOU. It would be around the COST of this PRODUCT!
Do it yourself and save money over time!
Customer Review: Worth every penny...
Summary: 5 Stars
This product beats a commercial company and the rentable rug doctor in terms of ease of use, price, and effectiveness. A web search on comparing home steam vacs shows the Hoover F914-900 compares more than favorably to other steam vacs on the market in price, ease of use, and results. That it works for carpets, upholstery, and tile floors is a plus. In its price range it has excellent user reviews. The best price I found, delivered, is Amazon.
Personally, I found the Amazon user reviews most helpful. They not only cemented my decision, they let me know what to expect when I used the machine. It arrived promptly, in perfect shape, and putting it together was as simple as building a lego model. The Amazon reviews helped here, too.
Using it was as easy as the Amazon reviews said. I moved what furniture I could out of the rooms, vacuumed the rug throughly, wrapped the bottom of the furintiure in plastic as per the insturctions, used half the directed amount of liquid cleaner, and went to work. The muddy water I poured down the toilet was most satisifying. I then went back over the wet, but not too wet, carpet with just water - no liquid cleaner. The result was more muddy water. Since we live in the desert, the rug was bone dry in a matter of hours. I vacuumed the dry rug before replacing the furniture.
The end result was a carpet that I suddenly realized was no longer packed down. (Hmmm, all that dirt.) It feels cushy underfoot. It is the lighter color I originally purchased. (Yes, I dithered for a long time between renting a rug doctor, hiring a professional company, or buying my own.) The machine was easy to use, the brushes came off for cleaning with ease, and my clean carpet makes my entire house look brighter and cleaner. I am ordering the bare floor attachment, and then will attack my tile floors.
The instructions say to cover the base of any furniture left in the room with plastic. I did this the first time, but found the machine doesn't spray. It basically isn't necessay, although doing so the first time is probably wise until you get to know the machine.
This is one of the better purchases I have made in terms of household cleaning. In a house with two indoor cats and an indoor dog, I am more than satisfied. My thanks to all of you who wrote an Amazon review. This machine is worth every penny it cost.