Hoover SteamVac Dual V Plum

[17 of 19 customers found this review helpful]

Hoover SteamVac Dual V Plum Review

Hoover Steam Vac

"I purchased the Hoover Steamvac Dual V Model F7412900 about a month ago and have used it four times, including doing carpeted stairs with the "spin scrub" attachment. This cleaner works great on carpeted floors, producing clean carpet and lots of dirty water in the bottom tank. The "spin scrub" attachment worked OK on the stairs, but did not pick up very much dirty water. I hand-rubbed the stairs with an old bathroom towel to help them dry out. Also, I had to take the "spin scrub" attachment apart to remove a dust bunny from the air turbine drive that had stopped the scrubbers from spinning. Not hard, just a nuisance. The Steam Vac cleaner works wonders on dirty carpeted floors, but the "spin scrub" attachment is finicky and does not remove enough dirty water."

[8 of 8 customers found this review helpful]

Hoover SteamVac Dual V Plum Review

Good Carpet Cleaner for the Price

"I bought mine over a year ago, and it works great. Like all other makes and models it is mostly plastic, so you can't man handle the cleaner. I have dogs and teenagers, and almond colored carpet that shows everything. The cleaner is not a vacuum, so you must vacuum first. I am pleased with mine, it gets the yuck out of the carpet. Stains will come out as long as you treat them immediately. No carpet cleaner will get out old stains without pretreating. It's a good value for the money."

Hoover SteamVac Dual V Plum Review

Very satisfied with this product

"Ive been looking to purchase a carpet/steam cleaner for about a year now and of all the brands and models available, I spent a lot of time reading reviews trying to sort through stated facts and issues vs. what somebody didnt like about their machine. I find in many cases reviews were written negatively when a product did not perform a task that it was not designed for basically, the owner didnt do their research and had expectations that could never have been met with the product they purchased. After many cumulative hours researching, I decided on a Hoover product.



My original intent was to buy the Hoover SteamVac with Clean Surge (Model: F5914-900) but ended up with Hoover - SteamVac Dual-V (Model: F7412-900) for $15 more. There was a Hoover representative onsite at the time I went to the store but they were speaking double talk and were not very knowledgeable about the machines, I actually caught two conflicting statements about the use and a false statement about the operation. My solution? Read the manual and touch the machine. Between the two models I named above I spent about an hour reviewing the manuals and taking the pieces apart to get a better feel for using the machines. I ended up choosing the Dual V model because it seemed to be a more sturdy machine, as my biggest fear was breakage.



I put it to use immediately, starting with a 8 x 6 throw rug that I use in my linoleum kitchen. This rug has never been steam cleaned, only vacuumed, over its 18 year life. The machine was very easy to put together and only required me to have a Phillips head a screwdriver (not included). The instructions on use were fairly clear and I read through them prior to filling the tanks and starting my test. Once I filled the clean water and detergent compartments, which is probably about a gallon of clean water or so, and maybe a pint of detergent, contained within one unit I did my first pass over the carpet. Wow, amazing, cool, awesome. I spent about an hour working on this carpet and getting a good feel for the machine before using it on the wall to wall carpet in the rest of the apartment. The row of cleaning brushes spin in opposite directions which I prefer over other brands/models that have a vacuum like brush, spinning only in one rotational direction I feel like the Dual V agitates the carpet fibers more and in all directions, thereby cleaning more effectively. So pass one was the wash with soap, pass two was the suction only, pass three and four were rinse which was only water, and the following 3 passes were suction only to get the carpet a dry as possible. I played with the number of passes until I felt comfortable that I wasnt saturating the carpet, but still enough to grab all the dirt. The carpet now smells clean, looks cleaner and has made me feel good about this purchase.



The next day I moved on to the wall to wall carpet in a hallway measuring about 20 x 4. This took about an hour also and it now looks like new. There was one area at the entry door that was heavily soiled which I went over about three times (the whole wash, rinse, suction cycle) before I saw all the dirt come out - this machine is great. The suction power is really good and I think thats key in ensuring your cleaning process is complete nobody wants a wet carpet. I was able to walk on the carpet in socks right after finishing and my socks did not get wet. The carpet is obviously lightly damp, but its as if its more dry than wetlittle hard to explain, but with less suction you might be waiting a long time for it to dry or potentially damage whatever is under your carpet. I set up a fan in the hallway to assist in drying. I consider my testing complete and over the next couple of weeks will finish the rest of the carpeted areas of my place. I live in a 450 square foot apartment in San Francisco, and about 300 sq ft of it is carpeted. Ive been here for 4.5 years and this is the first time the carpets have been steam cleaned (it was new when I moved in), and the carpet looks new again.



I think anyone looking to purchase should be ready for the task at hand, it is a good amount of effort to finish a section of carpet but it is so worth it. Edges (like walls and doorways) are a bit of a challenge so youll have to use the attachment or a separate handheld brush to scrub those areas without the machine and then use the machine to suction up the fluids. The Dual V containers hold enough to make the machine not too heavy but still enough to complete a good amount of space before refilling and emptying. I noticed many reviews complaining about dripping of the waste fluid upon removal of the tank I found that if you dont let the tank fill up to its maximum shut off point, its more manageable to remove and empty and tends to not spill over. As for the clean water/detergent tank, its so simple and clean, no spillage whatsoever if youre careful about filling it.



Another cool thing is that you can leave the clean water/detergent tank filled for those times that you need to do a quick run over, which I did 1 day after the kitchen throw rug cleaning. I had a spill and just grabbed the unit, plugged it in, did a quick wash and rinse, empty the dirty tank and put it away done. Easy, and very satisfying. Our cat spits up sometimes so if you have pets making accidents I think youd like this machine. I purchased the 4 year geek squad coverage since I did read a lot of reviews about breakage, and for a $200 product I think its worth it. One other important thing to note, which may seem obvious but... be sure to do a complete and thorough vacuum prior to steam cleaning your carpets, remember, dirt and water = mud. Not much else to tell it works as advertised, just know what you want and know what youre buying so false expectations do not exist and disappointment doesnt surface."

Hoover SteamVac Dual V Plum Review

Pros and Cons

"I purchased this steam cleaner about five months ago. At first I was amazed at how well it worked. I live in a carpeted apartment and I can't stand to have stains on it. This steam cleaner is very easy to clean, and you do not have to measure out the amount of detergent that goes into it. There is a secondary container built into the water compartment. All you have to do it fill it with carpet cleaner and the machine does the rest. The difference it made on the floor was very noticeable. That may seem like an obvious observation, but I did use regular powder carpet cleaners on the floor before and I thought those cleaners worked well enough.

Unfortunetly now that I have had the cleaner for a few months now, I noticed it wasn't working as well as when I originally got it. First of all, before I go to far without mentioning it. The cleaner requires hoover brand cleaner. Not that it does a better job, but because it doesn't foam up as much as other cleaners. Other brands foam up and cause the bottom tank to stop taking in more dirty water. There is a float that rises and blocks the vent so no more dirty water can enter the tank. This means, for every full tank of clean water, you will have to empty the bottom tank two or even three times. Back to the main problem. The steam cleaner wasn't cleaning nearly as well. I checked the brushes and found out they weren't spinning. The brushes are run by a cheap green plastic piece that is attached to the motor of the cleaner. It's a simple gear style turning setup. I found out it had stripped off and a replacement is going to cost 30 bucks. That's the cheapest I have found it for online. When I called Hoover, they wanted me to take it to a repair shop in Syracuse. I can only imagine what that would have run me to fix."

[4 of 4 customers found this review helpful]

Hoover SteamVac Dual V Plum Review

Works great, lasts long time

"I got this steam cleaner for Christmas in 2007. I have used it multiple times on my carpet, my daughter's carpet, my mother-in-law has used it a few times in her house, and it is still going strong and cleaning well. The only problem we have had at all is a piece of the plastic broke around the handle on the dirty water tank. But, it has not affected any of the works of the steamer overall. We are getting one for my mother-in-law for mother's day. We have had no motor problems, or suction problems, or anything at all and we have used it at least once a month for the last 18 months. Our house is 2600 sq ft, so that is alot of carpet cleaning and it looks really good when we clean the carpet with it."