Hoover - SmartWash PET Corded Handheld Deep Cleaner - White

*Disclaimer: graphic details included in this review so squeamish folks beware. The carpet cleaner arrived in a large box with Styrofoam dividers to protect the different components. Included in the box were 2 smaller bottles of solution: Paws & Claws Deep Clean and Neutralize and a Spot chaser. A larger bottle of Paws & Claws Neutralize and Defend solution was also part of the package. The cleaner itself was incredibly easy to put together without any tools. All parts snapped together easily and with a satisfying click sound to let you know parts were in place. There is also a bag with a hose and brush scrubber for furniture or hard to reach places. Once everything was assembled, the quick start guide gave a simplified overview of how the machine works. This is the graphic part since I have cats and dogs in my household> First, with so many pets, our carpet can at any time have hairballs, vomit, urine or feces. I was able to use this machine to clean all of the above successfully and with ease. I did have to pre-treat the vomit and feces stains with the Spot Chaser solution as they were noticeably darker and smelly. The machine itself is very easy to operate and it moves/turns with ease. Once you have added clean water and cleaning solution to their respective tanks, all you have to do is push it forward to start the the dispensing and brush action. Pull back to start suctioning. It's that easy. Plus there's a button for suction only that is helpful to dry the carpet even further. The suction in this machine is very powerful and after a couple of passes the carpet is virtually dry to the touch, which is much better than other brands I have tried in the past. Emptying the dirty water tank and cleaning it is easy as pop off, dump the contents, rinse and replace in the machine. My favorite part is that the brushes can be pulled out for cleaning. This is HUGE if you've ever had to cut hair that is stuck to the brush assembly while they are still in the machine. The ability to pull out the brushes makes it an almost pleasurable experience. I would definitely recommend this machine to people with pets, kids or both.

So as the title states I can certainly say that the Smartwash Pet Complete has not only improved the mood of people within the house but it has also amazingly cleaned our area rugs in our large high traffic rooms! We have two dogs (a Golden and a German shepherd mix) as well as a long haired cat. Needless to say, we are vacuuming nearly everyday to keep up with the shedding. In the past, we have rented carpet cleaners when things have gotten extremely bad on the carpets, dark stains, color fading, rough feeling to the fibers of the carpet and so on. This has not been our favorite process through renting and the actual performance of the cleaner being inconsistent. Enter the Hoover Smartwash Pet Complete! Less than ten minutes and we were up and running cleaning the first carpet. This cleaner comes mostly assembled with just the water and solution chambers as well as the handle needing to be attached. Super simple. We then filled the water chamber as directed and added the necessary amount of solution and the Smartwash was full go! Operation couldn’t be easier, it is literally just like vacuuming with the same rhythmic movements of back and forth. The Smartwash cleans on the push move and then dries on the pull move, with no triggers to pull in order to engage cleaning/drying, everything is as described: AUTOMATIC! A major bonus is the drying capability of this cleaner, it is super efficient and noticeable. When renting equipment in the past we have typically had to wait almost 24 hours after cleaning before we could put the furniture back on the carpet and begin walking on it again, not the case with the Smartwash! Once cleaning was complete we waited maybe 3 hours to walk on and replace furniture! The Paws and Claws stainguard solution also made a huge difference for us, as our carpets just feel better. The pile has returned to its near original quality and the feel of the carpet is soft and conditioned. The cleaning solution along with the super deep cleaning brushes got out dirt and hair that we would never be able to remove without the Smartwash system and I can’t stress that enough, this system works awesome! Clean-up was a breeze, the nozzle head removes easily as well as the brush system to be cleaned in a sink. Rinse out the tanks and let everything air dry! My next task is to use the included 8 foot attachment hose to clean the carpets in our vehicles, which I typically use a very manual process of a hand brush, carpet soap and a shop vac so I am excited to see the performance of the Smartwash on a vehicle carpet! I will update once complete! All in all, if you have ever considered getting a serious carpet cleaner after being fed up with borrowing or renting other units I highly recommend the Hoover Smartwash Pet Complete system, you will not regret the purchase and it will immensely lessen that burden of cleaning carpets!!

With 2 dogs, 1 cat and 1 toddler, I put this Hoover Smartwash Carpet Cleaner to the test! Pros: • Very easy to use • Relatively light to carry up the stairs • Great implementation of the pretreat solution • Does a good job on drying the carpet Cons: • Long human hair gets tangled into the roller brushes • Dirty water accumulates near the rollers that leaks out if not wiped down after every use • Missing the “rinse” only mode I’ve been a Hoover carpet cleaner fan for many years and still use their SpinScrub series. I was intrigued on the double “FlexForce” brushes and needed to see if the different way the brush agitates the carpet will yield a better clean. Just as advertised, the new Smartwash is pretty darn easy to use. Very much like a vacuum, you push forward to wash and pull back to dry. The tank is easy to fill and rubberized touchpoints throughout the machine. The water tank, solution tank and waste tank are pretty much standard but the new pretreat wand is a new innovation I haven’t seen before. Press a lever near the handle and the entire handle comes out of the machine. Aim the handle and press the battery-operated sprayer onto your spots. Very cool feature to have. The stream of pretreat is pretty tight so you might end up using a lot more pretreat solution than one would normally use compared to a spray bottle. Cleaning the carpet was a breeze and actually like it better than using the old “trigger” style carpet cleaner. One thing I do wish it had was a “rinse only” mode. Rinsing is always a good idea to get the soap out. The manual says to manually pull the soap tank to do a rinse only. There is a button for “dry only”, why can’t they add a button for “rinse only” too? Pulling the tank isn’t hard but that means you have to find a place to put it and it doesn’t stand up on its own. My suggestion for Hoover is either make a button or have the soap container dock on the machine itself if pulling the container is the only way to have rinse mode. The jury is out if SpinScrub or FlexForce does better cleaning. The SpinScrub doesn’t kick dirty water all underneath where the FlexForce flings dirty water all over underneath the clear viewing shield. I can finish carpet cleaning with the SpinScrub and leave the vacuum in its place while emptying the tanks without the worry of dirty drips. The new FlexForce will immediately start dripping dirty water where the machine sits so it’s an added step to move the cleaner to a tiled surface, empty the tanks, and then pull open the brush areas to dry. Its added work but it’s easy to do at least so there’s that. I do recommend the Hoover Smartwash to pet and human parents as accidents happen so let’s make cleaning it easy!

This design of this carpet cleaner is well thought out and it is truly easy to use. It improved the look of every floor I used it on and got out some really ugly spots, but there were a few spots I couldn't get out even after pretreating. Pros - Filling the tanks and set up was intuitive. The hose for the spot tool has easy to use latches. The clean water and solution tanks are inserted and removed with a gentle tug. The dirty tank has a big latch to release it. - The pretreat wand is great. You can easily treat spots while using the machine. It has good reach, the handle makes it easy to aim, and it sprays the solution out so there is no bending over. - The forward to clean, back to dry, with a button for dry only makes it very easy to use. It even has a indicator built in to tell you when it is in each mode. It really is like a vacuum cleaner. - The dry only mode lets you make a few extra passes and my regular carpet was dry in 3-4 hours. - I have had a few other carpet cleaners and I hated cleaning them when I was done. I found it very easy to clean this one. Emptying the tanks was straight forward, with easy access to the dirty tank's strainer to clean it. The plastic cover to access the brushes also releases with just one latch. - The spot treatment tool and hose have a mesh bag that can be hung from the handle when storing. Things to Consider - I threw some tough jobs at it. My dog has left many stains on my upstairs carpet and wet paws/shoes have taken a toll on my rug by the back door. It did a great job of cleaning up the dog's mess and removed some tough spots from the entry rug, but I had a few mystery spots that it couldn't get out. More regular cleaning may help. - This is not a vacuum. You need to get as much dirty and hair up as you can before you use it or it will clog the filter or build up in the area with the brushes. - Make sure you read the directions as this might not be ok to use on every carpet or piece of upholstery. - You need to dry it completely before storing. So make sure you have a tile floor or other hard surface (not wood or laminate) to set it on while you clean and dry it.

This is the first carpet cleaner I have owned and I am super glad to have it on hand now. Pros: - Out of the box assembly was extremely easy. No tools needed. Even folks with low skill can set this up. - Accessories include a hose and handheld scrubber that you can use on staircases and other hard to reach spots. - The "Dry Only" feature was awesome. Carpet cleaners I have borrowed from relatives in the past would clean as you push forward and suck the fluid back up as you pull backward. This one does the same, but you can turn on "Dry Only" with the push of a button. This allowed me to go over the wet carpet as long as I wanted to very easily, both forward and backward, in order to suck up remaining fluid. The results were a carpet that was nearly completely dry within a few hours instead of a day later! - As you can see in my photos the cleaning was quite effective. The first photo shows a dirty area of carpet while the 2nd photo shows the results after cleaning along with the incredibly dirty fluid that has been sucked back up into the cleaner. Some more ground in stains did not come out easily, but I will allow the spot chaser formula to soak longer to see if that helps. - The spot chaser wand is easy to use. You pull the handle out of the unit, and a battery-powered button sprays cleaning solution onto spots that need additional treatment. - The unit is easy to clean. Sections come apart nicely so that you can pick out human and pet hair that have collected on the brushes and elsewhere. Cons: - None! Buy this thing if you need a carpet cleaner. as the retail price is reasonable. I imagine it will work well whether you have pets or not.

Absolutely amazing no belts... handle comes off as a xtra tool spot treat areas... has xtra dry button really get ur rugs dry... automatically says wash n dry no button to push... except for xtra. super dry easy to clean I highly recommend

The Hoover SMARTWASH PET COMPLETE AUTOMATIC CARPET CLEANER is an excellent product. Easy to set up if you read the instructions and easier to operate. Fill the clean water tank and the solution tank and you're set. The tagline "Easy as Vacuuming" doesn't lie. You push forward and it auto mixes the solution and water to clean, pull back slowly and it dries with great suction and is heated. Even got used the Antimicrobial attachment tool on one of my three cat trees and it was easy to use. After cleaning the carpet in my room, I can say I was thoroughly impressed. The amount of cat hair (I have 3) and dirt that this machine picked up was a bit sickening, but I feel better because now me and the cats can feel a bit better in our space. Also has a Pre-treatment Wand located in the detachable handle (runs off 2 AAA batteries). Overall I can see me using this every 2-3 months to keep the insane grossness away.

It is important to understand that this Hoover is absolutely NOT a pet vacuum. Though it is named the “Smartwash Pet Complete”, it has almost no features that have anything to do with pets. The device uses a combination of water & stain remover to wash carpet, but it is not built to tackle any amount of fur, hair, or debris. As a matter of fact, the very first step in the instruction manual is to vacuum the floor (with a different vacuum) before using the Smartwash Pet Complete. The reason that the “Smartwash Pet Complete” costs 33% more than the non-pet “Hoover Smartwash” is because this pet version has: 1) Spot Chaser Pretreat Spray Wand (battery powered): The handle of the carpet cleaner can be pulled off of the main body and used to spray carpet cleaner that it housed in a small bottle that is affixed to the handle. 2) FlexForce PowerBrushes: Hoover says these are antimicrobial brush rollers that are angled in a special way to remove pet stains while being made from a material that resists odors. 3) Antimicrobial Pet Tool: This is the manual hand tool accessory that can be used on stairs and furniture. The brush is rubber spikes (as compared to the standard bristle-style brush on the normal Smartwash Cleaner). Both the pet version & standard version are able to spray cleaner from the hand tool. Here is what I do not like: - There is no way to adjust the height of the vacuum (for different lengths of carpet). - The cleaner automatically sucks up moisture when you pull back - meaning that the detergent doesn’t have a chance to sit / soak. It simply applies a quick rinse before sucking up the soap (and supposedly applying heat to help dry the carpet). - Even after pre-vacuuming, the rollers quickly get clogged with wet hair & fur. - The rollers do not clip in very well and seem to be held in place mostly by the top of the plastic cover. - The suction does not pull up enough of the liquid from within the carpet. The user is required to put the device into dry/suction only mode and roll over the carpet several times. Even then, the carpet remains wet for several hours. - Nearly the ENTIRE vacuum is made from plastic which makes it feel very cheap. - The “Spot Chaser Pre-Treat Spray Wand” requires batteries. - The “Spot Chaser Pre-Treat Spray Wand” spits out a single thin stream of carpet cleaner instead of a nice wide spray that would help to cover an entire stain. - I don’t like that the manual hose is a separate attachment that cannot be stored on the vacuum. Instead it must be stored in an accessory bag. - After each use the vacuum must be taken apart so that clumps of gross mushy gunk can be cleaned from every internal component & surface - much of it clogged in difficult to reach places. - The reservoir that captures the dirty water is not shaped in a way that would allow for easy pouring & cleaning. There is a large lip around all edges that holds in dirt. While the vacuum doesn’t feel as though it has any pet specific function, there are a few positives: + It does pull up a lot of dirt, even from carpet that appears to be clean. (My 5 year old son asked if the tank was full of chocolate milk.) + The vacuum head is clear so you can actually see the dirt being pulled from the carpet. + There are absolutely no filters that need to be replaced. + The user is not required to pre-mix water with carpet cleaner. The vacuum does this automatically. + The vacuum can be easily disassembled for cleaning. + The size of the water tank & cleaning solution tank are sufficient in size (meaning that you don’t have to re-fill them constantly). + The hose attachment has a spiky rubber brush head that helps to agitate stains and also pulls up pet hair. If your goal is to purchase a carpet cleaner and not a pet vacuum, you might be satisfied with your purchase. I personally believe that the name is misleading - as it is not well equipped to deal with fur (which is an inevitability with pets). I believe that it would be worth saving 1/3rd of the price by purchasing the standard Hoover Smartwash. You will simply need to use a spray bottle to pre-treat (instead of the Spot Chaser Wand). I would recommend the regular Hoover Smartwash instead of this Pet Version (even for those who have pets).