Pros: Leaves carpet smelling nice! Includes long cord, and comes pre-assembled.
Cons: Leaves carpet too wet. Too heavy, clogs easily, and cheap plastic parts break off.
My family purchased the Hoover SteamVac F5914-900 with clean surge about a year ago. I had just given my old Bissell away, and I regret doing that to this day.
Update: My sister borrowed the Bissell. She wanted to shampoo her home, and car. She had finished vacuuming her home, then started on her car. She was inside, refilling the water tank, when her husband came home, and drove over it with his car! Long story short, I never got it back, and my sister has a car that smells (to this day), like wet dog.
So, I purchased this Hoover Steamvac F5914-900. This one was a bit pricier than my old Bissell Proheat 9400, so I though it was better. I was wrong! This hoover just doesn't have the value I expected. I still have this Hoover, but I haven't used it in 8 months.
WARNING: Make sure you vacuum your carpet first. You can, and will; clog this machine if you don't. Pet hair, human hair, etc., does not help this machine. This vacuum is in my top 10, but next time I'm buying something else!
This product works about like you would expect to.
1) Put water in the machine's water tank. Put cleaning formula in water tank, and shake briefly.
2) Using machine now, run over carpet with vacuum, spraying water and cleaning solution as you go. Easy to use just press the trigger.
3) Scrub with brushes. Push forward while pressing trigger, then pull backwards while trigger released.
4) Suck up water and dirty solution.
5) Rinse again by throwing water.
6) Suck up cleaning solution again, if you did this right it should be cleaner than before.
If 5 is not as clean as you prefer, repeat. The first time I steam cleaned my carpets, the water was nasty looking. I kid you not, it looked like hot chocolate.
HINT:
7) Run over it once more with fabric softener, (the same kind you use in the washer). This will give your home a nice clean, smell that will last months. Also, when you walk on your carpet, or dry vacuum you kick up some of that scent again! Plus, I think it actually makes your carpet softer.
THE GOOD:
1) After the carpet dries you have a nice looking, and nice smelling carpet.
2) Fairly long cord allows you to go corner to corner, without unplugging.
3) Easy to fill water bucket, and easy to empty >dirty water bucket.<.
4) This product came pre-assembled only need a screwdriver, and about 5 minutes before I started this vacuum.
THE BAD:
1) Leaves my carpet wetter than my old Bissell. Make sure no one walks on your carpet for a 12-24 hours after cleaning! I just don't think this hoover has as strong of a sucker as it should.
2) A bit to heavy for a person in his 50's. Don't even try to use this on your stairs, or try to lug this thing upstairs.
3) Hair gets stuck in the brushes. Don't ever loan this to a person that has pets, or you might as well let them keep it. It will come back looking really gross.
4) WARNING: The plastic mouth on the sucker has broken off twice. It's not a really, really, bad thing. When it does happen, you have to stop. Put crazy glue on it, and then wait for it to dry, (before you can continue). The first time, it broke was when I was just moving it from the closet, and the second time I push it into the baseboard harder than I should. It's just really a pain to have half of you carpet soaked, and this 10 cent piece, stops you from finishing the job.