Hot Spot Is Lukewarm
Written: Nov 14 '05 (Updated Mar 18 '07)
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Pros: Looks good. Not overly heavy. Not difficult to set up.
Cons: Leaves unwanted drips. Shaky handle.
The Bottom Line: I wish I had waited for Bissell's new Spot Bot but was too impatient. Only buy the Hoover Spot Vac if you want something for area rugs.
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| nagels's Full Review: Hoover F5515 Hot Spot Upright Vacuum |
THIS Vac IS YOUR Vac
parody
This vac is my vac, it should have gone back
From Target bought it, off the not-on-sale rack
With its red clear plastic, to its fold down handle
This vac was made for you not me
As I was cleaning a forest of carpet
I saw behind me some fibers too wet
Cost me one twenty. That’s more than plenty
This vac was made for you not me
Chorus
I've soaked and vacuumed and I've sopped up water
With gleaming droplets on my poor hardwood floor
And deep inside me a voice was sounding
This vac was meant for them not me
Spending idle time in a store can be dangerous and costly, sometimes leading to an impulsive purchase. Even the king of cheap succumbed to temptation while waiting in Target for an employee to find a Cosco step stool for him. As I waited for what seemed like an eternity for the employee to return, I noticed I was near my foremost addiction, second only to potatoes and Mr. Potato Head. Vacuums! I had been looking for a smallish steamvac spot cleaner to replace the on- its- last- legs Bissell Spotlifter.
My eyes fell upon a bright red, curvy machine, much larger than the Bissell yet small and portable enough to carry up and down stairs.
ON THE BOX
POWERED AGITATION – Four rows of brushes clean the deepest dirt and the most stubborn pet dander.
HEATED CLEANING – Forces hot air into the cleaning path.
MORE SUCTION POWER THAN ANY OTHER PORTABLE DEEP CLEANER*
PORTABLE AND COMPACT ( If not portable, how would I get it home?)
CONVERTIBLE DESIGN (I guessed you could put the top down on it.)
FIVE FOOT STRETCH HOSE
POWERED HAND TOOL
Seldom do I buy anything without some thought or research. Even buying a pair of socks requires a week of deliberation. Thus it was very uncharacteristic for me to plunk down $120 for a “steam” vacuum about which I’d never read, heard or researched. Hours later I read the two Epinions reviews about the Hoover Steamvac Spot. They weren’t very positive. On the Amazon site, the same machine in blue received mixed, but mostly positive comments. On the Hoover site this model was invisible or absent. Strange! What was a cheapskate to do? After a week I could resist temptation no longer. Let the chips fall where they may; like Adam I bit and opened the box.
First Impressions Out of The Box
My hands trembling with excitement, I pulled back the top flaps to find Hoover documentation on top, the Styrofoam protected machine beneath. First out of the box was the powered hand tool with rotating brushes. It looked and felt substantial. Holding it in my hands for close examination I naively expected cleaning nirvana with this magic wand. Next the Steamvac Spot itself emerged, fully assembled by Hoover. Its radiant red was radically attractive, yet it felt disappointingly flimsy in my hands. The two removable compartments for fill water and dirty water were conveniently placed and easy to remove. The flip up handle looked good, felt comfortable, but lacked the feel of sturdiness and durability one would like.
I liked that the machine was light and easy to push. After spending a few minutes reading the owner’s guide in three languages, I resolved to put it to the test the next morning.
Mrs. Spudman had spilled a can of Coke on the bedroom carpet two weeks previously and though I quickly cleaned the area with the little Bissell, I didn’t feel I’d given the spot a thorough cleaning. This would be my first test.
Filling the solution tank was easy. Unscrew the cap, fill with detergent to the detergent fill line, and then fill the tank completely with hot water. I don’t like the two-piece cap assembly and I foresee a myriad of possible problems with this configuration, among them durability and potential for leaks. Repositioning the tank onto the extractor was no problem.
To begin cleaning I step on the handle release pedal and turned on the machine. This deep cleaner needs no great strength or effort to push back and forth. Squeezing and holding the handle trigger allows cleaning solution to be sprayed onto the carpet as the extractor is slowly pushed back and forth. No more than two sets of back and forth strokes are recommended so that the carpet doesn’t become too wet. Letting go of the trigger I go back over the treated area with “dry”strokes, vacuuming up the cleaner/water solution. The user is advised to continue using dry strokes until very little liquid is seen coming up through the nozzle into the recovery tank. One has to be a limber contortionist or use a mirror to actually see this upsuck of water.
”When water has reached the maximum capacity in the recovery tank, the float will rise to the top of the tank and the extractor will NOT pick up dirty solution. Yep, that’s what happens.
A lid is attached to the recovery tank with two latches. I disengaged the two latches, removed the lid, and emptied the dirty water into the sink. It was somewhat disappointing that the water wasn’t dirtier. True, I had cleaned the area recently, but water emptied from the small Bissell Hot Shot and my full size Hoover seemed dirtier than this gray water. Still the carpet did appear a tad cleaner, and the water was not clear.
I decided to try the two accessory brushes on the sofa and the stairs. One attachment has spinning brushes and the other has a stationary brush. Anxious to try out the spinning brush tool that had initially impressed me, I connected it to the flexible hose. It was a snap. Cleaning with the attachments entails the same principle as using the extractor, wet strokes holding the trigger, dry strokes with the trigger released. Make sure the brush tool is flush against the upholstery before squeezing the trigger. I held it an inch or so above so I could see the water spray out. I definitely saw it. The water shot out in two directions and doused the nearby coffee table and hardwood floor. The spinning brushes seemed inefficient and the narrow opening for taking up water was is too small. After some experimentation I decided I would use the stationary brush attachment and put the other one in dry dock for now.
The one cushion I had cleaned was slightly cleaner than the other cushion, but the difference was negligible. Cleaning the stairs with the hand tools soon became tedious. Since the Spot is small enough to clean stairs itself, I ditched both the hand tools and finished the stairs with it. I tired of using the hand tools after three steps. The Steam Vac Spot did a passable job cleaning the stairs. They were noticeably cleaner, but not dramatically.
Final Thoughts
This is a good middle of the road cleaner as long as one has modest expectations.
One seeking a machine to clean large expanses of wall-to-wall carpet should look elsewhere.
The Spot is light and easy to push.
The brushes under the machine are not removable so thorough cleaning of the machine can be a chore.
I don’t like leaving soap residue on the carpet to attract dirt later. Consequently I go over the same area again with plain water.
For a particularly difficult spot I rested the machine directly on the stubborn stain. Eventually with the agitation of the brushes, time and multiple strokes, the spot did come up.
I noticed that the Vac Spot dribbles as I moved it from room to room. It also leaves a wet spot when left in one place for too long. This is a very annoying attribute.
This machine is easy to set up, easy to clean after using, and compact enough to store unobtrusively. Only time will tell how durable it will prove to be.
The Vac Spot is overkill for cleaning up small spots. Setting up the Vac spot to clean the softball sized area today when Evie spit up on the living room carpet seemed as silly as shooting a cockroach with a shotgun. On the other hand, this machine is too small for cleaning large expanses of wall-to-wall carpet. Probably its best application is for cleaning area rugs. Luckily we have those in the living room, dining room, and kitchen. If looking for a medium sized cleaner, this might be the one because there aren't many alternatives.
THANKS FOR READING THIS REVIEW.
More Floor Care Reviews
Eureka SmartVac
Bissell Spotlifter
Capture
Shopvac
Hoover SteamVac
Dirt Devil Sweeper Vac
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 120
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