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** Detailed Review**I don't have a prior photo to show the comparison. My husband surprised me and cleaned the floor while I was working :) Let me tell you a little about the before...This is our family room. It is a busy, high traffic area and combined w/a small dining area. Our back door is directly off of that. We have 2 dogs, 3 boys and use our back entrance as our main one. So naturally that area gets quite gross. Haven't rented a carpet cleaner for 12 to 18 months and have only recently used a Bissell spot cleaner (not full size) to clean up pet spots - until the hose finally broke. Our older dog has recently been peeing in that room before the family wakes, for the past 3 months or so. It's new. She never does it during the day, only in the AM. On average there would be 1-2 accidents to clean daily. Attempted Resolve/scrubbing by hand in between cleaners. It appeared to lighten but spead the color/stain. I'd always loved the Rug Doctors - that is until they changed to a new machine. It is NOT as good and left me frustrated. It felt like I just wasted my time & money. So we started looking at new cleaners because it would be more cost effective long term. Which we need! I looked at several, compared reviews, etc. - I do my research. Doing thorough research and knowing issues others have had is helpful so you can be proactive in trying to prevent it. We weren't ever thrilled w/any Bissell products we had in the past and Henry my Hoover has been so good to me. He's our vacuum. This was on sell and it being purchased off Amazon we knew returning it and getting something else wouldn't be an issue if necessary. That being said, it's absolutely worth full price!!!About the product... We did have one minor hiccup initially. When I went to put the top cannister back on after refilling it - there was a drip/leak from the connector at the bottom that fits into the cleaner. Husband looked at it and our guess was that it may have been a seal. Tinkered w/it and have not had an issue since. Have had it around a week or maybe a little more. It's been used several times for spot cleaning/once completely for the room pictured. No issues. In many reviews I'd read that others had issues w/rusting or similar type problems. My opinion on that is take a chance. You don't know the care another puts into their belongings. To make sure this isn't an issue on my end the cleaner is emptied/rinsed (clean & dirty water - only leave solution) w/each use. Now, onto my FAV part. The dirty cannister is 2 parts. Once removing it from the cleaner it opens again. Top w/filter, bottom dirty water w/o a covering. It leaves both areas so easy to rinse out!!! Yay! I'm thinking this will avoid an odor issues. Clean water/solution is also separated but in one cannister. If I'm spot cleaning I only use minimal water in an attempt to use it all. I just add a little more if needed. That way the water portion can't leak into the bottom or get yucky. It has a wash/rinse feature on the front that you simply turn to switch. Looks nice, isn't too big & is efficient. The noise isn't annoying but I'd say it's pretty standard. Attachments appear to be easy to set up and clean out. But haven't used them yet. I did appreciate that it came in a bag for storing them. I hang mine on the handle so it's all together/organized. You can visibly see your results your sucking up as you go. When my husband did the carpet above he did shampoo forward, switched to rinse for pulling back & completed w/a dry pass forward/back to remove excess water. I believe the instructions that came w/it suggested differently. So find what you prefer. I did order the combo solution/pet cleaner as well. Typically, we use generic ones. I personally think it was worth the money. Our home didn't have that odor you get when cleaning the carpets. At times there was a slight one but it didn't last long or even until the area dried & is rare. When I came home I wouldn't have known he'd done the carpet until I looked at it. Other cleaners tend to leave a musty odor for quite a while. IDK if it's due to how much traffic we have or what, but it's always seemed to be that way. I wonder if the solution was helpful in that regard.You can still see a few light spots in this photo. I made sure to use the flash for a more accurate idea of the results. I can still see them but only because I know they're there. I don't know that they'd be noticeable to someone else. There were also several very deep stains that had barely been lifted w/other cleaners (gotta love kids). They are not 100% gone but have lightened by at least 70%. We are considering going over the room in the opposite direction to see if more is removed.FYI: if I review a product early on I do go back and review again if I come across any issues/concerns that may be helpful for others.About 25 or so years ago, I decided I was going to make some quick money by getting into the carpet cleaning business so I bought some heavy duty equipment; an Electrolux Epic Pro scrubber, Riccar upright vacuum and a Bissell Mean Green machine to use an an extractor. I never made any money, much less quick money, but I have had that equipment with me ever since and it still works as well today as when it was bought. It has been used, borrowed, abused and used some more. I decided I needed a new machine, an all-in-one, because I got tired of lugging everything out, dragging hoses, cords, spot cleaners and so on to clean a small area. So I researched, and researched, and researched some more and decided to buy a Bissell Big Green Commercial unit. As I began to order it, the thought of spending $400 on a giant 50 lb machine I have to drag out every time I need to clean a spot seemed to go against what I was trying to do. Then it dawned on me, "Oh yeah, I have an upstairs.". Nope. I'm not dragging that thing around. Then there are the times when it will be borrowed and I will have to lift it, load it, unload it, etc. So I backed out. I decided on the Hoover Scrub Deluxe based on reviews and ordered it through Amazon. Amazingly it arrived one day early on the two day shipping. Thanks Amazon or UPS or whomever is responsible.Anyway, here are my thoughts on it. Just so you know, I have high pile carpets so this machine is already at a bit of a disadvantage. I'm going to start with cons:*The handle is not that robust and cheaply attached. Use caution not to put undue lateral pressure on it to force the machine around. It works fine for back-and-forth motion.*The gasket on the bottom of the fresh water tank is cheap. It leaks. It will wear out rapidly. Go ahead and order a couple and keep them on hand.*The solution and fresh water fill ports are identical. The identifiers are molded into the plastic and easy to overlook. Grab some markers and label them.*The tanks are small and go through water quickly. Just cleaning the main walkways in a small room necessitated about three fill-ups and dumps. BTW, remember the cheap gasket? Since you have to remove the water tank to fill it up so many times, it leaks momentarily every time you reinstall it but mine sealed off eventually after each tank install. It might be better to set the water tank on the machine so the fill tank doesn't leak and then just fill it in place with a gallon jug or something.* The cord is short. I'm assuming the big companies must T&E folks with tiny houses because cords on home appliances are always too short. Just grab a 6' extension cord as that's about how much more you need. One other thing, and if it wasn't for the fact I have to box and ship the machine this *might* be deal breaker as it bothers me that much, the cord is routed through the bottom of the machine so you will run over it constantly. Yeah, there is a holding clip on the handle but now the cord is about 2' shorter so I'm having to whip the cord like a cowboy lassoing a calf to keep it out from under the wheels. Come on Hoover, or China or whatever. Stop that crap.*The scrub brush. I'm pretty sure they just stuck that thing on there to say it has one. It freely floats about 2" with very little down pressure and the bristles are fine and soft. What the heck is that thing for anyway? It's darn sure not scrubbing anything. It's probably better to just take it off as it's just in the way.Okay, so now the pros:Now, you might think from what I listed above that I hate this machine. Actually I was somewhat impressed with it. I'm not sure how it cleans with that crappy little "scrub brush" but it looked like I was pulling chocolate milk out of my carpets. I regularly vacuum and just did some carpet cleaning about a week ago so I was a little disgusted. This little machine is phenomenal when it comes to spraying and suction and this is where it shines. It's not a carpet scrubber. You would need to buy a dedicated unit for that job. This is an extractor and a darn good one. I used the Hoover soap solution that was included but as soon as I opened the container, I wasn't a fan of the soapy smell. I went ahead and mixed up a 1/2 soap 1/2 water mix on the solution side (and eventually went to 1/3 soap 2/3 water) but started cleaning the carpet with straight ol' hot tap water. In case you're wondering, the tank is split with a 'rinse' side for straight water and a 'wash' side for water soap mix. I did a standard 'rinse' pushing forward, 'extract' pulling back and was amazed at how well it worked. Just using hot tap water worked as well as the solution but I went ahead and injected a little Hoover soap into the carpet. It's not so bad when greatly diluted so no headaches. Most of the carpets were okay enough to walk on with bare feet within about 30 minutes, although not dry. I'm writing this within an hour of finishing the cleaning so they are still damp. I figure a few hours and we will be good to go.So, what do you get for $140? Well, you get a China-plastic machine with upholstery attachments that has small tanks, leaks a little right out of the box and has a useless scrub brush but somehow still cleans carpets pretty well. I think it's a little overpriced for what it is but for small rooms and spot cleaning it should be worth it if the longevity is there.If you really want to make your carpets clean, in this price range I think you would be hard pressed to find a unit with better spraying and suction short of buying a heavy-duty commercial unit. Just buy an actual carpet scrubber with real nap lifters in conjunction with the Hoover. Vacuum really well, then scrub your carpet, extract using hot water with the Hoover then, if you have high pile or plush carpets, go back over your carpet with the nap lifters. It will look brand new again.Structure is a bit flimsy and cheap, a bit awkward in its shape, but does what it's called on to do, and the handheld hose is nice with several attachments. They seem to fit nice and snug and secure on the hose and handle, just wish they were onboard attachments rather than the separate bag for the hose/attachments. Clean and dirty water buckets seem sturdy enough, though a bit awkward taking out and putting in the frame, could just be me though. Nice capacity for clean waterand dirty water, cleaner is added separate and it's integrated in the clean water tank, but no water heater on this one, bummer. For the occasional use, sure, but I wouldn't think about cleaning rugs for a living. Did the car seats and floors well. 16 year old was able to operate easily after being demonstrated once, wish it was that easy to get her to clean her room and the cat box. Cord could be longer.I paid $150 cdn for this on sale. What a great deal!I did my research and compared product reviews/specifications in a similar price range and I'm very happy that I chose to purchase this cleaner!There are so many pros to this cleaner, so I'll just list a few, then I'll address some of the problems in the negative reviews.First off all, the engineering of this is very well thought out! I previously had a $150 carpet cleaner, which I actually had to strap lifting weights to, in order to get it to press hard enough down on my carpet, to suck up the water (no joke). This machine however, is designed so that the dirty water collection tank always sits on top of the vacuum suction head... think about that. What that means is, as you recover more dirty water, the head presses down harder on the carpet (due to the increasing water weight), recovering almost all of the water that you've sprayed out.... but wait, there's more! The heat exhaust of this machine, is vented down at the carpet, this helps to evaporate what little water remains, ingenious! This, combined with the separate water and detergent tanks, removable spinning brush heads and filters, plus the detachable stair/upholstery nozzles and many handles, really make this a no brainer purchase.Now, to address some of the nay sayers:To the person/people who complained about the brush heads hardly/not spinning when the machine was tilted on its back: I noticed the same thing, and it had me worried that it was broken, however I soon realized that this is most likely an intended safety feature. When tilted, the plastic cog wheel disconnects, to stop the brush heads spinning, but if you tilt it back upright, it puts pressure on the heads, engaging the shaft to cause them to spin (I verified this by reaching my hand slightly underneath, although I strongly discourage anyone from doing this)As for the handle breaking: that person/people must have been very forceful, as I wasn't exactly "friendly" using mine, and encountered no problems at all, everything was rigid.For the people complaining about water leakage: this happened to me as well, but it was my own fault. It happened by placing the clean water tank on incorrectly, easily fixed. The manual also warns about not tilting the machine on its back with water in the tanks.For the people complaining about the tank sizes: this tank is actually very large! It holds twice the water of my old, similarly priced machine.You have to consider that:Any greater tank size would mean, thicker plastics to handle the stresses, increasing cost.More pressure on the brush heads meeting the carpet, which means the shaft/cog wheel might need to be made of metal to handle that stress, increasing cost.Finally, water is heavy and if the tanks were larger, less able people would find it very heavy to lift or handle.The bottom line is most of the negative reviews were due (like many things) to human error or not following instructions correctly.In conclusion, I honestly don't believe that you can beat the value this machine provides. I highly recommend this product! I would have happily paid well above what I did for this machine based upon its design and performance.This thing is amazing!! After my tenants moved out, we were putting the house up for sale. I used it once, let it dry then again and the results were incredible! We were worried we had to replace the carpets (2 dogs). It’s fairly easy to assemble and clean. I like the small upholstery cleaner too. I use it on the carpet as well in areas harder to reach with the machine. It worked just as good. It does use a lot of water but so worth it!! Don’t waste your money on fancy detergent cleaners. Go to Home Depot and get the large $10 jug, works better than the expensive ones and you get 3x as much. I did my research and this one had the best reviews for the cost. If you have pets or kids this is so worth the money!Not as good as my Bissell Green Machine, but a whole lot cheaper (especially on sale) and does a good job. Water extraction is very good for this level of carpet cleaner. Water capacity is good. Noise level is tolerable. Light weight and easy to handle/maneuver. Good cord length. You need to go slow to get the best results on soiled areas - i.e., the scrub brushes and solution need time to work. Pre-treatment and extra passes may be needed for heavy soiling, which is (likely) true with all residential carpet cleaners...including Big Green. I prefer to use the hand-held unit for stubborn stains on pile carpet so I can scrub deep into the fibers. I sometimes spray really bad areas with other (stronger) household all-purpose cleaners...after trying them on a small hidden area first for color-fastness (and be sure to rinse thoroughly). Definitely satisfied!I should have bought this year's ago!Easy to assemble, easy to use, easy to clean and refill! Not too heavy and has excellent suction!!Note: You will need to buy more cleaning solution as the bottle that came with it didn't go far! Canadian Tire or Home Depot have large jugs of carpet cleaners for reasonable prices. Delivery was also one day earlier which was great!!If you're thinking of purchasing a carpet cleaner this is the one!! Go for it! You won't be sorry!
