Hoover F5914-900 SteamVac Upright Vacuum

Before putting my husbands hard earned money into yet another steam cleaner,that says it will do the job and does for a month or two and then something happens, I decided to do some research. I read a lot about the different hoover steam cleaners as well as the Bissell ones. I owned a Bissell previously that worked for 6 months before the pump went out and I was going to have to pay $100 to get it fixed. I said forget it and gave it to a friend that knows how to fix things fairly cheap and told him he could keep it. Well it just so happens that the manager at the store I work brought in this steam vac to use to clean up the floors at the store. I used it at the store then brought it home to try out.

-What the unit consists of-
A 12 amp Motor- Which is plenty powerful enough to run the machine and suck up the water. I have found with just a couple of passes after cleaning an area that most of the
water is up and out of the carpet.

It says that there is a heated system for the water,but my old steam cleaner said that as well and if I did not put preheated water into the unit it came out cool. Now I will say I did put preheated water in this and it stayed warm the entire time I was using it. I never noticed it getting any cooler.

Scrub brush system that has a row of four scrubbers that get down into the carpet and really scrub to get the dirt out and bring carpets back to life. Now you are able to keep the spinners from rotating since the manufacturer placed a three position switch on the head of the steam cleaner. Consumers are given the choice to allow the brushes to turn either on high or low speeds as well as turning them off all together.

There is even a small head that you can use to clean upholstery and stairs. I did not personally use this at my home, but have used it in the store to clean off couches and chairs that did not look the best. It is easy to attach and use. It has brought furniture that was only so so back to life and wow status.

There are two separate clear tanks for water/solution and for dirty water. The top tank is for water/solution. All you have to do is push down the gray plastic lever and pull it out of the unit. Take off the gray plastic lid and fill it to the top with solution (5oz.) and fill to the top with warm water. The top easily snaps back into place. The bottom tank is also easy to remove and clean out. All you do is push the lever at the bottom right in the back of the unit to put the handle down and unsnap the handle so you can pick it up and go dump it out. When cleaned out just place the handle back to the front to lock it in place and set it down on the unit. It is that simple.

-My Experience With This Unit-
Though I myself have never put one of these together so I am not sure of how easy it is I do know very well how it works. I have used this numerous times at the store to clean up spills and traffic areas throughout the store. I have also used this to clean couches and chairs that though they had life left in them were not looking all that great. I have yet to be let down by this unit. The carpets have all come clean with little effort out of my. The unit can be a bit on the hard side to move around though on thicker carpeting such as my house. At the store I have no problem because it is short carpeting,but at my house the carpeting is thicker and more plush which takes a little extra effort to push over. It does take an hour to two hours for carpets to dry completely,but compared to the ones you rent at the store two hours is nothing. Last time I rented one it took almost five hours for my carpets to get completely dry.

At the store we have had furniture smell on the musty or old side that has been in storage a while. We have used this steam cleaner on it and not only has it done an excellent job of cleaning any dirt off of it it has taken care of the smell as well. Furniture has taken anywhere from a half an hour to an hour and a half to dry depending on what size of piece we have done and how dirty it was.

Now for the down side of this unit it is heavy. Now at the store we do not have steps that we have to go up and down with this unit so for there it is great. If you have a one level home or apartment with no steps to go up and down this is truly a winner all around, but if you are like me and have to go up and down the stairs with it it can be a pain. This weights I do believe around 40 lbs. That may not sound like much,but dragging it up the stairs is no easy situation.

I have been happy overall with the use of this steam cleaner. Will I myself buy this unit? Well to be honest I do not know if I am getting this one or the Hoover Agility. The Agility folds up and is not so bulky for storage. This unit is not big,but takes up more room than the agility and I just do not have much room as it is. If I had more room the answer would be a resounding YES! because it does do what it says it will and is very reasonably priced. I have seen them priced anywhere from $149 to $189.