Hoover Steam Vac Carpet Cleaner with Clean Surge

Hoover Steam Vac Carpet Cleaner with Clean Surge Review 

The Hoover Steam Vac Carpet Cleaner with Clean Surge is one of the best selling home carpet cleaning machine below the $200 price range. The Hoover has become synonymous with carpet steam cleaning and has received rave reviews worldwide. We are really big fans of hoover carpet cleaners and we expect the Hoover Steam Vac Carpet Cleaner with Clean Surge to be a solid and reliable carpet cleaning machine.

Features

• 12-amp Motor
• Dual Tanks
• 1 year warranty
• Weight :20 Pounds
• Spin Scrub brushes
• Clean Surge feature
• Easily Removable Brushes
• Cleaning Solution Included
• Product Dimensions: 29.5 x 14.2 x 19.5 inches
• 8 foot hose with stairs/upholstery attachments

Setting Up the Hoover Steam Vac

The Hoover Steam Vac Carpet Cleaner comes with a 2-page “Quick Assembly Guide” and a 40-page manual. If you want your assembly manual with pictures and few words then you will love the “Quick Assembly Guide”. If you prefer verbal instructions, turn to pages 4-6 of the manual. We recommend reading through both manuals as the carpet cleaner is not like a vacuum cleaner where you just plug it in and go. There are some important steps than you need to follow before using the steam carpet cleaner effectively.

Firstly, the name may be misleading to some. This Hoover Steam Vac isn’t really a “steam vac”. Most carpet machine manufacturers do this nowadays. There is no heater or steam involved in the Hoover Steam Vac ( read our carpet steam cleaner vs carpet shampooer post here ) , so what you need to do is put a gallon of warm water into the tank for the best cleaning results. Next step is to prepare your carpet for cleaning; per-treat or hand-washed heavily soiled or grease-stained areas as well as dry vacuum your carpet with a regular vacuum cleaner before using the Steam Vac.

How To Use The Hoover Carpet Cleaner

Filling up the tanks is a pretty simple procedure. Follow the instruction manual and you are good to go. For carpet cleaning with the Hoover Steam Vac,

First you need to adjust the speed selector to LO for gentle cleaning or Hl for normal cleaning.

One of the best ways to avoid walking on wet carpet is by starting your cleaning at the end of the room farthest from the door or path to sink where tanks will be emptied and filled.

To operate the carpet cleaner, simply switch on the machine and step on the handle release pedal and lower the handle to begin cleaning your carpet.

To release cleaning solution, simply press the squeeze trigger and gently push the Hoover Steam Vac forward. This process is equal to one wet stroke.

Next, continue to squeeze trigger and slowly pull the carpet cleaning machine back towards you. This is the second wet stroke.

Release trigger and slowly push the Hoover forward over the wet area just sprayed with solution (dry stroke). Lastly, slowly pull the carpet cleaner back towards you without squeezing trigger (dry stroke). Overlap strokes by 1 inch to help prevent streaking. Also ensure that the nozzle are kept flat on floor for both forward and reverse strokes.

For heavily soiled areas and tough stains on your carpet, repeat back and forth cleaning motion multiple times. For particularly soiled carpet or spots, we highly recommend using the Clean Surge feature for effective cleaning. The Clean Surge dispenses extra solution onto the carpet making it easier to remove tough stains.

The Cleaning Test

Just Take A Look At The Difference The Hoover SteamVac Made!

Since the Hoover Steam Vac is made of mostly plastic, the unit glides along, easily maneuverable with one hand. We felt that the the dirty water container fills up too quickly and should be a little bigger. However, the trade off is that it would increase the weight of the carpet cleaner considerably.

When cleaning you’ll need a lot of patience to go over the carpet quite slowly to clean it thoroughly. Make two passes forward and back, holding the trigger down; this is what squirts your hot detergent mix into the carpet. Then make two passes without using the trigger to suck up the bulk of the water. The Clean Surge feature actually squirts the hot detergent mix more vigorously as compared to the trigger. Hold down this thumb button while making repeated passes over the really dirty and stubborn  parts of your carpet, then do your dry passes as per normal.

There were a few complaints from users who found that their Hoover Steam Vac units were leaking. To prevent this leaking problem there is a one-time only setup procedure where you squeeze the trigger and push the Clean-Surge button to lock a rod into place. Push the Clean-Surge button firmly until you hear a loud SNAP. Until you get that snap, the Clean-Surge (which releases extra water-cleaner solution) is actually switched on all the time, hence the leaking.

And it’s possible that Hoover has changed the design and made a few revisions to the newer models after getting so many returns from people who didn’t read the instructions in the manual in the first place. We followed the instructions on the manual and we encountered no problems with our unit.

The Drying Test

One of the best feature of this Hoover carpet cleaner is that the front of the machine is made of clear plastic so you can see when you’re vacuuming up the water. Hence this allows the carpet to dry faster. It is important to remove and clean the brushes when you are done using the carpet cleaner. Otherwise balled up carpet fibers,hair and thread will dry and stick in between which would prevent the brushes from turning.

Pros

• Affordable price
• Reasonably light
• Very fast drying time
• Durable plastic material
• Easy to maneuver
• Easy to assemble
• Separate clean and dirty water containers (easier to gauge need to refill/empty)

Cons

• Small dirty water container
• No way to stop the suction and have scrubbers do the work
• No additional heat added to the solution

Overall Impression

The Hoover Steam Vac Carpet Cleaner with Clean Surge is a popular choice with home owners looking to clean their carpets at an affordable price. The Clean Surge feature that sprays extra cleaning solution when needed with just a push of a button is really handy and worth the investment alone. The minor downside is that it requires some patience and time to clean the carpets but the drying time is pretty impressive. Remember to seat the dirty water lid properly and clean the machine after use to prevent any problems with the carpet cleaner.  The Hoover Steam Vac gets a two thumbs up from us.

Other Models From Hoover You May Like

Hoover Steam Vac Pet Complete Carpet Cleaner with Clean Surge – F5918900

This Hoover Steam Vac is perfect for home owners with pets. SpinScrub technology allows the brushes to clean carpet fibers from all sides, which makes cleaning pet hair & messes a breeze. For more reviews and discount, click here

Hoover Steam Vac Spin Scrub TurboPower Carpet Cleaner with Clean Surge, F5912900

The Hoover Turbo Powered Steam Vac comes with powerful Spin Scrub Rotating Brush System to clean and groom your carpet. These brushes are also removable for easy cleaning. It is also equipped with a Fingertip Clean Surge function for spot and heavy traffic areas. For more reviews and discount, click here

Hoover Steam Vac Spinscrub 50 Carpet Cleaner – FH50027

The Hoover Steam Vac Carpet Cleaner features Hoover Spinscrub 50 is a new model from Hover that comes with mulch-directional brushes that surround carpet fibers and remove dirt at every angle. For more reviews and discount, click here