Our In-Depth Review
Hoover SteamVac With Clean Surge F5914-900 Carpet Cleaner Review
There are a variety of different ways you can use the Hoover SteamVac with Clean Surge F5914-900. The first feature is the key selling point for this carpet cleaner.
The “Clean Surge” title has been given to this SteamVac by Hoover because the Clean Surge setting is designed for high traffic areas. The brushes spin faster, and more detergent is released when you push the clean surge button at the top of this machine.
Hoover F5914-900 Brush Speeds
There are three different settings when you use this carpet cleaner. First is spill pick-up. The Spin Scrub brushes do not rotate on this setting.
You should just go over the spilled liquid and suck it up. You can pull the trigger by the handle to release cleaner onto this spill to ensure it dilutes the liquid stain and completely comes out of the carpet.
The second setting is gentle scrub. This is more for carpeting that doesn’t look dirty, but you want to clean it up a little to make it nice and fresh.
Finally, the setting we almost used exclusively is power scrub. The Spin Scrub brushes rotate quickly on this setting, which helps the Hoover SteamVac really get the carpet spotless.
You can also use the nice Spin Scrub powered hand tool. This is for really tough areas that you want to add a little elbow grease into when cleaning one spot on the carpet. This tool attaches to the eight-foot stretch hose.
You can also use the Spin Scrub powered hand tool on couches, chairs or any fabric that needs some extra attention in your home.
Design
The Hoover SteamVac with Clean Surge acts just like an upright vacuum. You stand behind the machine and push it back and forth over carpeting.
There is a trigger at the handle that you hold down to release the cleaning detergent. After the Spin Scrub brushes wash the carpeting with the detergent, the front of the machine is where the liquid is sucked up.
On the front of the Clean Surge carpet cleaner is where the liquid is stored. There are two tanks. The upper tank is where the detergent and warm water gets added. The lower tank is where all the sucked up liquid is stored.
Both of these tanks are easily accessible. We were surprised, even with the liquid stored on the unit; the Hoover SteamVac Clean Surge was still light and easy to maneuver.
The Hoover SteamVac Clean Surge carpet cleaner is very nice because it cleans effectively and is affordably priced. Typically, a professional carpet cleaning costs around $100.
This Hoover SteamVac is typically priced around $150, so for the price of less than two carpet cleanings, you can have a tool that does just as good of a job as the professionals. Plus, you will be able to clean the stains right away instead of waiting for the yearly professional cleaning.
The other nice aspect of this carpet cleaner is it simply does a wonderful job. It cleans carpeting, and it also can clean stains on upholstery. Not only will your carpets look new, but your couches and chairs will be fresh and clean as well.
Performance: Using the Hoover SteamVac with Clean Surge
We looked at this unit in three different categories. How does it do cleaning up old stains and heavy traffic areas? How well does this Hoover suck up new spills?
Finally, how well did the on board tools, especially the Spin Scrub Powered Hand tool do with cleaning. For all three of these questions, the Hoover Clean Surge did a tremendous job. The carpets and upholstery were cleaned up very nicely.
Washing Carpeting
The most important thing that a SteamVac should do is clean up generally dirty and dingy carpeting. The Hoover F5914-900 SteamVac did just that. We tested it on some high traffic areas, and the carpeting looked much cleaner.
We also found some older stains and the Spin Scrub brushes along with the Hoover cleaning detergent helped remove these stains. A word of warning though: with darker carpeting sometimes an old stain will remove some of the coloring of the carpet. No carpet cleaner can restore the color of the carpet then.
For newer stains, the Hoover Spin Scrub did an impressive job. That is one of the nicest things about having a SteamVac. You can clean up a carpet spill right away, so it doesn’t turn into a big mess.
The final element of this carpet cleaner is spill pick up. We poured milk and yogurt on the floor. In both cases the spill was eliminated immediately. We recommend that you set your Hoover SteamVac to spill pick up in this situation. This turns off the Spin Scrub Brushes.
Don’t forget to pull the trigger on the handle to release cleaning solution though. This will dilute the spill making it easier for the vacuum to suck it up, and it will ensure your carpet is real nice and clean.
If you don’t use the detergent, the floor still is a bit damp with a SteamVac. So that means if you spilt milk, and you suck it up with no detergent, that damp carpet is really damp milk that will harden and start to smell eventually.
Always use the cleaning solution, even for small spill pick-ups.
The carpet is a little damp, as we mentioned before, when you are done with the SteamVac. In a matter of hours, the carpeting will be dry. You don’t have to stay out of the room for an entire day after a cleaning.
Another nice thing is the Hoover cleaning detergent doesn’t have a strong scent. Your carpets will be clean, but they won’t smell too much like a cleaning agent.
Edge Cleaning
You can’t get right up against the edge with the Spin Scrub brushes. These are set back an inch from the front of the unit. If there is a spill right up against the edge, it can suck up the liquid, but not scrub the carpeting. You will have to use the hose and attachments for the edge.
Attachments
Two attachments come with this Hoover SteamVac. The stair brush attachment is only for sucking up liquid. You can manually scrub with the brush on this tool.
We recommend always using the Spin Scrub Power Hand Tool. Two brushes spin in opposite directions right below the suction nozzle. Scrub the stains and suck up the dirty liquid right away afterward.
Stairs
You can’t use the upright unit on stairs. You will have to attach the Spin Scrub Power Hand tool to scrub carpeted stairs.
This process will take you a long time, but this tool does a nice job cleaning up dirty, carpeted stairs. The set up is the most difficult part about using the Power Hand Tool.
You have to take the bottom tank off of the Hoover SteamVac. Then, take the lid off of the lower tank. When the lid is off, you have to slide the front of the unit’s suction piece up and outward.
When this front piece is snapped down, you can slide in the flat piece at the end of the hose into place. Snap the lid of the lower tank back into place. The final step is to attach the small grey hose. You have to lift up the small flap at the front of the SteamVac, and then snap the circular clip into the hole under this flap
When you are done using the hose, make sure you are in a bathroom or laundry room to take it off. This hose will leak a lot of detergent after it is done. It’s a pretty messy process to disassemble.
Upholstery
For a water spill, you can use the flat brush to suck up the liquid. For all other spills, you should use the Power Hand Tool with Spin Scrub brush.
The two brushes rotate opposite of each other and really can get in and scrub dirt and stains away.
The trigger on the handle sprays out the detergent. It sprays a pretty wide area, so be ready when you pull the trigger.
Also, the handheld tools it leaks and drips a bit after you have used it for a little while.
Ease of Use
The set up and the use of the Hoover SteamVac Clean Surge are pretty easy. When you take it out of the box, it is basically ready to go. The most difficult part is trying to wrap the hose around the back of the machine.
Getting Started
Use the “quick assembly guide” to get the Hoover F5915-900 carpet cleaner up in running in no time. Attach the tool caddy to the base of the vacuum by inserting two bolts and tightening with a screwdriver. Wrap the eight-foot hose around the back of this tool caddy.
Fill up the top tank with detergent and water before operating. Take off the cap and fill the tank with warm water. Make sure to fill this up with water first. If you put in the cleaning detergent first, the water will get full of bubbles and foam out of the top of the tank.
The cap on the upper tank doubles as a measuring cup. Fill it up between three and five ounces with detergent and then pour the cleaning solution in. Put the cap back on, and then snap the upper tank into place on the SteamVac.
Maneuverability
You would think a SteamVac would be bulky and difficult to operate, but this Hoover model is extremely easy to push around. Two large wheels are at the back of the machine. The SteamVac is only 11.5 inches wide, so it can fit into relatively small spaces nicely.
Cord Management and Length
With a 27 foot cord, this SteamVac can clean an entire room without having to unplug and find another outlet. When the cord is not in use, it wraps around neatly at the back of the unit.
Noise
We used our Decibel Meter to measure how much noise this machine makes. When it is on the highest setting, the Hoover SteamVac Clean Surge registered 85 decibels on our meter. A typical vacuum is around 80 decibels, so this is a pretty loud cleaning machine.
Maintenance
The biggest knock that we had with this machine was how much water it leaked after we finished using it. When you put it into storage, make sure it is on a hard tile or linoleum floor. A small puddle will form after it sits for a while. You’ll have to move the SteamVac and wipe up this puddle eventually.
There is limited maintenance on this Hoover SteamVac. It doesn’t use belts, so it is less likely to break down. The only maintenance you really have to worry about is emptying the dirty water tank when it has sucked up enough stains and spills.
Emptying the Dirty Water Tank
Make sure you are right by a sink for this job to limit the amount of leaking it does. First lower the entire unit down like you are about to vacuum. This exposes the bottom tank.
Next locate two grey clips on each side of the lower tank and pull these clips all the way out. Now you can lift the tank up to the sink.
There is a tab right at the front of the tank. Pull up on this tab to take the entire top off. ON the top of the tank is mesh filter that can get some hair and fuzz on it. Just wash it off with water to get it clean. Finally, dump out the dirty liquid in the tank.
Value For Money
This is a relatively inexpensive steam vacuum. It also does a very good job. We weren’t sure if we should believe all the great ratings that other users have given this Hoover machine.
After our extensive review, we definitely agree. For the price, this is a wonderful cleaning machine.
Final Vacuum Verdict
The Hoover SteamVac with Clean Surge does a great job on new carpets while the older carpeting can be renewed with the Clean Surge and Spin Scrub brushes.
It really is a great tool to have to keep your home extra clean.
The only major negative was how much water leaked after the cleaning was done.
