Hoover F7425-900 SteamVac Widepath Upright Vacuum Review

Bottom-Line: All things considered I think the SteamVac Widepath Upright Vacuum does an adequate job of shampooing/cleaning, and defiantly beats paying someone else to do the work.

When we bought the house some seven years ago(wow, has it been that long?), we purchased a Hoover Wind Tunnel vacuum cleaner that has served us well, but as the carpet has gotten older, certain wear paths-composed mostly of dirt and various other materials-were starting to make themselves known.  So we started looking for an inexpensive alternative to a full out carpet cleaning company we would have to invite back yearly.  We needed a carpet cleaner, a shampoo machine; a steam cleaner.  I like Hoover and so I confined my research to that brand and came up with Hoover F7425-900 SteamVac Widepath Upright Vacuum for just under $250.00.

Similar is form to the venerable Wind Tunnel, the SteamVac Widepath Upright Vacuum is designed to replace or perhaps just supplement the tried-and-true carpet cleaners by offering up a device that deep cleans the carpet with a combination of hot water and cleaning solution.  The unit is designed with three main transparent chambers, or reservoirs; one for the aforementioned hot water, another for the cleaning solution, and yet another for the dirty waste water.

But perhaps the moniker "SteamVac" is misleading because the unit does not actually produce any steam to clean the carpets; it uses whatever temperature (hot) water you put in the clean water reservoir. We've had the SteamVac for almost two years now and have used it to clean the main floor carpets and stairs 5 times.      

Use

Filling up the various reservoirs with hot water and shampoo, then emptying the waste reservoir is probably the most tedious task one will undertake while using the SteamVac Widepath Upright Vacuum. In cleaning a 20x12 room I typically have to fill-dump-fill three times. However, since the unit is self propelled cleaning/shampooing the carpet is fairly easy-just pull the trigger while pushing the unit forward to lay down the shampoo/hot water mixture and then pull back to rinse the carpet and vacuum up the liquids.  The forward/back motion also activates a series of brushes on the head of the unit, which both help clean the carpet and draw out the solution.  

Be forewarned however, even after multiple passes, the carpet will remain damp, so plan accordingly.  I usually shampoo the carpet later in the evening before the family goes to bed.  By the time we get up in the morning, the carpet is dry. 

My Viewpoint

Because it is not really a "Steam" vacuum the Hoover SteamVac will not remove all stains, but it does a great job taking up dirt, grease, food and drink stains. But I always vacuum with a regular vacuum after the carpet dries in order to remove the indentations let both the brushes and SteamVac wheels.

The SteamVac Widepath Upright Vacuum is thankfully carefree; so far there have been no leaks, no, cracks, and no broken parts.  All things considered I think the SteamVac Widepath Upright Vacuum does an adequate job of shampooing/cleaning, and defiantly beats paying someone else to do the work.