jo.com's Full Review: Hoover F7411-900 SteamVac Upright Vacuum
Over 2 1/2 years ago I reviewed this Hoover Steam Vac. I loved it and you may think that it hasn’t lasted very long. It was less than 4 years old when it went, but I would assume an ordinary household cleans their rugs no more than 1 time a month or even less. We clean ours about 3 times a day (It isn’t a compulsion, it is a dog!) making the use in 4 years about 4400 times. Given the average household would use the SteamVac about 200 times in 4 years, I would give my worn out Hoover about 10 stars. I would consider my old one extremely durable as I am sure this one will be as well. I am reviewing my Hoover SteamVac V2 Widepath with Auto Rinse F7425-900
About the SteamVac and its features:
First, we got an incredible price for this. We saw Hoover SteamVacs on sale at our local department store. (Not normally where you would think of buying one – It was Filene’s which is like Macy's versus Sears.) It usually sells in this store for $299 and we paid $179.00.
It needs to be assembled and that took about 5 minutes. There are easy to follow directions but it is really easy to put together so don’t worry about that.
I’ll let you know what it has and then get into a bit of detail, hopefully without boring you to tears about this fantastic Hoover. I think the SteamVac is attractive. It is nicer looking then my old one, but a bit larger. For most people this is a non-issue but since it is part of my living room décor (as in it never gets put away) looking at something attractive is nice.
~It has a 7 by 3" hand grip at the top making the Vac very easy to hold and move around.
~It has a solution trigger. When you have the easy to slide extra large on/off switch in the on position you just press a trigger and the cleaning solution comes out. This is an interesting machine. The way it works is this: In the on position you hold down the trigger and move the Vac over the stain and keep holding the trigger as you move it back toward you. You then release the trigger and move the machine over the stain in what is called a dry stroke, which soaks up the detergent. Presto, the stain is gone.
What was confusing at first was the switch next to the on/off switch that says rinse on one side and wash- auto rinse on the other. This is used if you want to rinse the carpet with water only. It isn’t necessary but it does help get all the detergent out of your carpet.
~It has a handle release pedal at the bottom of the machine. Just press it and the handle is lowered. It doesn’t lock into place but “floats” which I find really nice. It makes cleaning easy. To move the Vac the handle should be in the upright position and locked. I just tilt it back and it moves easily on its wheels.
~An interesting feature is the hook the cord gets wound on. It rotates to make it easier to get the cord off.
~Another great feature that I didn’t really know I was getting, though it says it on the box, is a heated cleaning feature that works when water, hot air and detergent are applied. This helps dry the carpet.
~The tools come on and off really easily. I have in the past shied away from using cleaner tools, but not with this Hoover. All I do is attach the 8-foot hose into a hole on the top of the base of the machine and I can easily attach the various tools.
I especially like the Spin Scrub brushes and use this attachment all the time. In fact I just keep them on for the most part! The intent of these little round green brushes might be for stairs and upholstery but I find that they are great for the hard to get at spots. If there is a little spot that I don’t really need the whole Vac for I just turn the Vac on and get out the stain with these brushes. There is a trigger on the base of the hose that will allow me to squirt solution onto the spot. If I want to take the hose out of the hole, there is a pretty blue cover that is on a hinge and closes shut to cover the hole.
~It also has a regular straight edge attachment that has a row of bristles. That is excellent as well for slightly larger spots.
~The Vac has what they call Six SpinScrub brushes under the machine that adjust automatically to various carpet heights by "floating" over the carpet. That is a claim Hoover makes and it is true. The six brushes on the Vac create a 14-inch wide cleaning path, (Thus the Widepath in the name.) which Hoover claims is 20% wider than standard cleaners are. The fact is this Widepath work wonders. You can clean floors with this as well. I haven’t used it on my kitchen floor since my floor is so small but you get a polyethylene-covered sponge designed to help remove dirt on hard floor surfaces. NOTE: There is a separate floor cleaner. You do not use the carpet detergent if you are cleaning your floor.
~This SteamVac has a removable caddy where the tools fit in really nicely. If you don’t ever use them or don’t want the added weight or bulkiness of them you can take off the caddy and hang it up.
~It has two tanks. The upper one holds the water. That comes on and off easily and you carry it with a carry handle to add water. On the side of that is a permanently attached detergent container and there is a lower tank called a recovery tank that holds the dirty solution. When this is full, the machine will automatically shut off. This is an automatic detergent mixing system that provides the correct mix of detergent and water.
~It has a 12-amp motor and a 1-year warranty.
~My one complaint, which is both a positive and negative, is the cord. On the one hand it is super long – 27 feet so I don’t have to plug it and unplug it from room to room and that is positive. I know it winds easily with the rotating hook but if I were to design this myself I would have made a button that I would push and the cord would disappear into a holding cell. The negative is that if I don't wind the cord really well I have a long cord lying in my living room.
My final thoughts:
I feel like a vacuum sales person after this review. I love my machine. I like what is called the Dual V air path technology that provides edge-to-edge cleaning and removes more dirty water. I like the heated cleaning, the SpinScrub with 6 removable rotating brushes and the SpinScrub hand tool. Everything can be easily washed. I like the fact that I can easily use the wash/rinse feature and that it automatically mixes the detergent. It comes with one 16 oz. Carpet/Upholstery Detergent and one 16 oz. Bare Floor Cleaning Solution.
Features: Equipped with a powerful 12 amp motor this easy-to-use machine cleans carpets by applying scrubbing and removing hot tap water and cleani...More at Newegg.com
Measures approximately 20 by 12 by 44-inch; 1-year limited warranty. 8-Feet hose; removable tool caddy; powered handheld tool for upholstery and stair...More at Amazon
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