Our house is on a dirt road, in a windy area and designed around our dogs -- they come and go thru their dog door, bringing in dirt, gravel, mud (when it rains--an infrequent occurrence) and some of the most appalling items you don't want to know about.  So we have carpet issues.

Unfortunately, I like clean carpets.  Over the years, I've paid lots of money to a well-known national company to steam clean my carpets twice a year (and bang the devil out of my walls).  I finally got tired of fixing and repainting the damaged walls and decided to buy my own steam cleaner about 4 years ago. 

At the time, the Hoover F7452-900 SteamVac received very high marks from reviewers (particularly those with dogs and cats) on the web so I tracked it down at Best Buy.

I'm really happy with it.  I use it at least 4 times a year.  It does an amazing job getting my inexpensive off-white 6-year old carpeting looking new after a cleaning.  I make sure to clean periodically with only water so the detergent doesn't build up in the fibers and attract more dirt.  While cleaning out the pellet stove last year, soot got on the carpet but this steamer was able to remove it.

My model is sturdy, with well-designed plastic parts that haven't broken or needed replacement.  Perhaps over the years, Hoover decided to use cheaper parts -- if so, they've managed to ruin a very good machine, which is a shame. 

It is a heavy machine and gives your arms a workout.  But the only problems I've encountered is cleaning the dog hair out of the removable front plastic (where the water is suctioned up from the carpet) and cleaning out the brushes. 

Other than that, it works very well for me, is reliable and was worth the money I paid.  I'm quite sure it will be cleaning my carpets for many years to come.

Recommended: Yes