Hoover Platinum Collection Carpet Cleaner with MaxExtract Technology, F8100900

So that's what color my carpets actually were...
We should really be hired to test vacuum and carpet cleaners, but even so the price of this dream clean machine gave me some pause (okay, a lot). With 2 kids, 3 dogs, and 2 cats and fairly light carpets, we put our cleaners to the test. I have gone through SEVERAL carpet cleaners (roughly 1 every 2 years) and have also had the carpets professionally cleaned. Honestly, this carpet cleaner cleaned as well if not better than the pros, and worlds better than our current Hoover F6207-900 SteamVac Lite Carpet Cleaner with Heated Cleaning.

Pros:
1) Handle can lay back fully with no strain on the hose - I mention this after replacing the hoses several times on previous Hoovers
2) You do NOT have to mix the detergent!!!! Wow - what a great feature, no waste!
3) 2 separate rollers actually scrub the carpet amazingly well
4) No fuss dial system - incredibly easy to go between standard clean,...

Great machine--very impressed!
I bought this cleaner yesterday after reading many reviews. My little Bissel steam cleaner stopped vacuuming up the solution after just using it 10 times, so I decided to invest in something I won't have to replace once a year. I was nervous at first because the cleaner is very expensive compared to other cleaners, and putting it together, I was terrified it would break, as it's made of plastic which doesn't feel very strong to me. It was simple to put together and get started, and once I started cleaning, I knew I'd made a good choice. I cleaned the carpet in my 17 month old son's room, and was shocked at how differently this cleaner worked compared to my Bissel. With my Bissel, an entire gallon of solution was sprayed onto my carpet, but only a few ounces of the solution was vacuumed up. I contacted Bissel and they assured me this was normal, as I have thick carpets. However, the carpets sometimes took 24 hours or more to dry, which is very frustrating. Needless to say, I hardly...

Really Impressive -- For the 2 Weeks it Worked
I have dogs so I'm always on the lookout for a better and easier way to clean my carpets. I bought this top-of-the-line Hoover Platinum Carpet Cleaner a few months ago. I used it no more than 5 times for some quick clean ups in the first couple of weeks and was very impressed. It did such a good job making "clean spots" that I took it out on the weekend to do the whole carpet.

I used the cleaner as indicated in the manual, and I used only Hoover Platinum cleaning solutions. After cleaning about 120 square feet, in mid-clean, the steamer stopped dead. There was no problem with the outlet; the machine was totally unresponsive. I cleaned it out, put it away, and tried it again the next morning thinking it might have overheated. Still dead, so I returned it. I expected a lot more from a top-of-the-line product from a reputable company.

My experience may not be typical; the cleaner might have been defective. It has a lot of good features, but it also has drawbacks...

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