Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

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.