My Wife and I purchased a new home recently and the home was not cleaned as we would have liked it. So prior to moving in, I ran out to Wal Mart and picked up the Hoover Steam Vac V2 (referred to as V2 the rest of the way). This amazing little machine worked wonders on the less-than-stellar carpets left in the house by the previous owners. It turns out the carpets are in much better shape than we had thought, all they needed was a good scrubbing.

Our Experience
We had some good advice from a friend who installs and cares for carpets that any detergent used when cleaning your carpets is not a good idea. Apparently you never really get all the detergent back out, and the residue actually attracts dirt!

This is the main reason I went with the V2; it has a great "Rinse Only" cycle that will power through the carpet with only hot water. We decided to give the water-only method a try before using the included detergent. We were amazed at the results. The water in the collection chamber was thick and black with filth, and we had not used anything more than water! The carpets were clean to the point I felt perfectly at ease with our 11-month-old son playing on them.

Ease of Use
Let me say this machine is a breeze. We loaded piping hot tap water in the staging chamber, left the detergent empty and went to town. The arm has a nice hinge in it which allows the V2 to feel and react more like a vacuum than a bulky steam cleaner. We steamed two rooms measuring about 15 ft x 12 ft in less than an hour.

Conclusion
As my review reveals, I love this machine. While it is pricey, I think it is well worth the investment for anyone with lighter colored carpets and/or children. We are so pleased with the machine, we cannot say enough good things about it.

The only thing I will mention in the negative column is the lack of actual steam. As far as I can tell from reading the manual and watching the unit in action, it does not actually "Steam" Clean. Instead, it appears to blow very hot air thorough the stream of hot tap water, thereby mimicking steam, and heating up the area to be cleaned.

Steam or no steam, the unit did a wonderful job, and I recommend one highly.


Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 228.00