Hoover SteamVac V2 Widepath Upright Vacuum Review

Overall 1.00 of 5 (by 1 user)

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hudson2001
Jacksonville, NC

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Avoid this machine at all costs!

willing to pay for quality, married, practical, a homeowner, a dog owner, a cat owner

Pros

Works pretty well until it breaks

Cons

Breaks in less than two months

NOV

2007

So, during a time span of five months last year, we tested THREE of these (yes, three of the exact same model)--and each one went back to Bed Bath & Beyond. And I say we "tested" them because each time, after only a few uses, the same plastic piece cracks and water just pours out, rendering the machine completely useless.

The plastic piece I'm referring to is the clear plastic bin you put the clean water in to start. Where the two holes are in the bottom of that piece, where it latches on to the vacuum, always cracks. You can actually feel how flimsy the jug is just by pressing on it with your finger at the junction point. So, it's no surprise that this is the part that breaks--as it's the part of the machine that is constantly being moved and juggled and messed with. Also, if you don't get the clear water/rinse jug seated correctly, it will also leak water like mad - and it's not that easy to get it seated correctly (I never trusted myself). Sometimes, it felt like I really had to push it/force it to get it to click into place, and in doing so was afraid I would crack the jug.

Anyway, each time the unit failed, we gave it the benefit of the doubt and thought maybe we were mistreating it (like maybe we weren't being completely careful) or the person we let borrow it somehow broke it--but after this last time (machine #3), when we were being EXTREMELY CAREFUL the whole time and it still broke, we knew it was the machine itself. Granted, all the original reviews we read weren't glowing and the cheap plastic parts were mentioned, so we knew going into it that the machine wasn't perfect...but after the third broken Hoover, we were done. I mean, we just could not keep exchanging these every two months! And with five animals (four cats and a dog), we needed something that worked well and worked all the time. So, we took it back to BB&B and explained that we've had three and honestly, it's just a vastly inferior product.

The really unfortunate part is that when the machine was working, it actually worked pretty well--in the beginning. We were impressed with how much crap it got out of the carpet (the dirty water that empties out is disgusting), especially in a brand new house. It was also great at cleaning up cat pee (for this, we actually mixed some Nature's Miracle in with the rinse water), cat vomit stains, and dog pee. And it was light enough for me to carry upstairs. We didn't have the opportunity to use the upholstery attachment, but we did get to try it on hard floors--and I'd have to say it wasn't nearly as good at that...we tried it on ceramic tile and hardwood and on both surfaces it left SO much water we had to wipe the floor down with towels. And it didn't seem to clean very well.

So, we hadn't wanted to spend a ton of money on a carpet cleaner, but there really aren't any GOOD ones in the $300 price range. The only high-rated carpet cleaner we've read about is a Rug Doctor. But they're expensive. EXPENSIVE. I know we can rent one (which we did today, to make sure we liked it) but running to town and renting one each time the cats puke or we spill something is a major pain. I realize we could do a lot of renting (at $20 a pop) for the cost of a new Rug Doctor ($600) but the convenience much outweighs the cost. So we're getting a Rug Doctor.
So, the bottom line? I would avoid this machine at all costs.