Carpet Steam Cleaner

Had the bissel, didn't like it as the water trigger would get stuck and wouldn't relaese until I banged it as it was putting water in my carpet. Have had the Hoover for 4 years and going strong. LOVE that machine. Especially when my son threw up in the night last week and we just pulled it out and it cleaned the carpet perfectly!!! So worth the $200 we spent and it dries so fast.

Try using a different cleaning product. I use Genesis 950 in a steam cleaner and it does a better job then whatever the professionals use.

I actually choose to get rid of my Hoover and depend on the professionals to do this job. I now always use dry steam people as carpets are dry within a couple or so hours. The home machines really seemed to overwet my carpets, ever the Rug Doctor ones, and if you are not careful, the wetness can get into the pad and sometimes cause mold. Again, this is my preference.

I had the same problem and figured at $500/year for professional carpet cleaning, I could 'pay for' a home steamer in less than a year. I have used my Hoover Steam Vac Dual V twice now, including last night. The first time I did a small room, and it worked OK . . . as long as you used the hand scrubber with the hose attachment. So I spent 40-60 minutes on the floor. Last night I just wanted to clean a small area after my son threw up. There was still a small amount of soap in the dispenser, but apparently it was too low to really drain through. So I put it on by hand and rubbed it in. After that it seemed to do OK, not great, and it thought is was slower and more cumbersome than just doing the spot by hand. I will only use it for big areas from now on. It's pretty heavy (and I do weightlifting) . . I haven't tried to do the stairs yet, but I would say that's a job I'd do with the hand attachment. On the plus side, I don't think it leaves the carpet wet, not as wet as the Rug Doctor for sure. I'm still on the fence on this one.

I love my little hoover steamvac.
I just used it on my mom's very filthy carpet to clean some stains. Now I have to do the whole thing. The carpet now has clean spots.
S.

I can tell you NOT to get a Bissel. We bought one used, and it's been nothing but trouble. We've spent more on repairs than we paid for it, and it still doesn't work right or stay fixed for long. It seemed to do a good job before, but now it's such a pain and doesn't clean very well, so we don't get it out much, which makes the carpet situation worse instead of better. We haven't been able to use the upholstery tools for years.

On the other hand, my in-laws have had a Hoover for ages and it still works great. When we lived near them, we had to borrow it all the time when our Bissel was on the fritz. I've been wanting to buy one for ourselves, especially since we moved far away from them.

On a side note, our first vacuum was also a Bissel, and I loved it. That was until its motor burned up just a month or two after its warranty expired. I called up a repair shop and he knew exactly what had happened, because he said they all burn up because of how they're made. He said I must have taken really good care of it to keep it alive as long as I did. Most of then burn up before their warranty expires, so they get replaced. What a great reward I got for taking good care of it! So after a year or so, we just had to toss it.

We replaced it with a Hoover, and have been using it for 5 years. We also have a Hoover FloorMate which has been going strong for years. I'm never buying a Bissel again!

We have the Hoover Steam Vac Cleaner and have been SUPER happy with it. We love the separate rinse feature because then I don't have to worry about using too much soap because I can rinse it out. It dries within an hour or two of doing it, which is nice.
I would highly recommend the Hoover.

I have the Bissell Pro Heat and LOVE IT! It gets the water nice and hot, I use the Pet Solution to help with the pet hair and odors. It works great! Just be careful not to over saturate the carpet, a little solution goes a long way. The results are amazing and they are dry in about an hour sometimes two hours depending on how bad the carpet was. The only thing is because it loosens so much pet hair and dirt in the carpet I have to make sure to vacuum really well afterwards.
I also use the Bissell Little Green Pro Heat Pet for in between shampoos it works wonders for spills and pet accidents! Both machines have been well worth the amount paid!!

Our first cleaner was a Hoover and it was good....no compaints.

However, we choose to steam clean our carpets ourselves and we are on our 3rd Bissell right now. The 3rd, because we love this machine.

Right now we use the Bissell Pro Heat which helps keep the water HOT while you use it. I paid about $270 for it. I use the Hoover Pet solution cleaner from Home Depot.