Sucks itself to the carpet!
586045
I like the small size and low weight of this vacuum, but it sucks so hard that it cannot be moved across low pile carpets or rugs! I literally have to pick the vacuum up off the floor to get it to break the vacuum. I guess if I only had hardwood floors, this would be great, but they went waaaaay overboard on the suction for this one. Oh, and there is no way you can adjust the suction. I called Customer Service and they told me that I would just have to "deal with it". Wow. What kind of Customer Service is that?
4827767
Okay, so you wanna buy the Hoover SteamVac Carpet Washer eh?

Pro:  Many.  Too many to list.  The Hoover SteamVac kicks some serious dirty carpet butt.  I recently moved into a forty year old house whose carpets are probably the original ones that came in the house when it was built.  The previous owner had a dog that had dehydrated itself everywhere.  It took some time, but the SteamVac cleaned the entire carpet.

Something you should be aware of:  if your carpet is deep dirty down to the core, like you've not had it cleaned in a very long time or it's in a high traffic area, it will take multiple passes with this.  The SteamVac WILL DEEP CLEAN but it just takes time.  And read the instructions!

I've found the best way to use this device is load it with the cleaning solution, slowly push it forward down a long path, and VERY VERY VERY SLOWLY pull it back.  I think it does the actual cleaning when you pull it back.  I mean like, slower than what you think I mean.  Like so slow you literally will want to rage.  But it's worth it.  For DEEP CLEANING, if you go say about three feet a minute while pulling the SteamVac back, it will DEEP CLEAN.  And it's worth it.  You'll have to change your water out a lot more frequently this way but it'll make the carpet you thought was white really become white and you'll realize all that other "white" carpet you haven't gotten to yet is really beige, and nasty!

For LIGHT CLEANING, you can go much faster.  The above is for deep cleaning.  I would highly recommend dropping $50 for Stanley Steamer to come in and deep clean a room, then use this for spot treatment simply to save yourself time and labor.

Either way, this is perfect for cleaning whether deep or light.  And it's great for cleaning up pet stain areas.  I love the hose with hand attachment so I can use on furniture.

Now, CONS:  There are two major cons to this.  Neither are the device or manufacturer's fault.  First, the water you have to dump out stinks.  Oh god it's so horrible.  I would suggest not breathing through your nose when you open it to dump it out and have some air freshener handy.  This may just be a pet carpet thing, I don't know, but oh god.  I will have nightmares about that stench.

The second is once you use this device and see how nasty a clean-looking carpet REALLY is, you won't want to go barefoot anymore.  I speak from personal experience.  My barefoot days are sadly now behind me.

I would give this device ten stars if I could.  It runs perfectly.  I love this and it's one of the best home-care purchases I've ever bought.
3693173
Eureka...yep that sums it up. Eureka what have I done?

Heavy Heavy! You gotta be a heavy weight Champ with "BIG GUNS" to make this thing move. It propels itself forward, but if it goes off course...GOOD LUCK. Pulling this machine back towards you is a "feat unto itself". The attachments are a total pain in the #**. To dial from carpet to flooring is another Task that only the the "Toughest and Strongest" should do.

I HATE THIS MACHINE. I WISH I COULD RETURN IT, but I already used it!
I am no whimp ladies and gents...but this machine is bulky, clumsy and down right burdensome.
The only star I gave, is that is sucks...really sucks. (ha, play on words)-good suction, bags the junk and keeps it from flying back into the air (HEPA filter), but SUCKS for what I paid for it. I am on a quest for a new machine. Any suggestions?
2209767
I have read the other reviews of this product, and I have to say, I am FLABBERGASTED that anyone could actually LIKE this thing. I am a generous person, and I like to give people (and products) the benefit of the doubt. So I will begin by highlighting the one good thing about this carpet cleaner -- it has excellent suction. That's right, it sprays water/solution on the carpet, and it sucks it back up with abandon -- so much so that when I was done with a room, I went back to where I'd started in that room, and the carpet was already pretty much dry. So that's good.

But that's not the only thing that "sucks" about this bucket of bolts.

After just a couple of rooms, the "spin brush" broke. Something must have snapped inside, because the brush nearly fell out -- could no longer make contact with the hole that spins, so the brushes just sit there. Well, OK, I needed to finish cleaning my carpets, I have company coming over. So I got my little&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Bissell-1716B-Spotlifter-Powerbrush-Handheld-Deep-Cleaner/dp/B00008URR8/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Bissell 1716B Spotlifter Powerbrush Handheld Deep Cleaner</a>&nbsp;(I LOVE THAT THING), and cleaned up the obvious dirty areas. Then I used the Hoover to do a basic water clean without the scrubbing.

Mounting the tank is an enormous pain (trying to line up the two spigots, and then get them planted right, and THEN try to get the top to lock in place? Are you KIDDING ME?) I actually ended up spilling/dripping out of the thing MORE cleaner than I ended up using! So if you are unfortunate enough to be cursed with this machine, don't put the solution in until AFTER you mount the tank. You'll save yourself plenty. There's no feedback, no guides, no nothing to help you put the tank in right. GAH. I got cleaning solution all over my hands, and it BURNS. So don't be stupid like me and Hoover, wear gloves.

The thing is heavy. I mean heavy. Feels like 30 pounds EMPTY, so imagine with a half gallon or more of water in it how much it weighs. The handle is uncomfortable and unpadded -- I'm typing right now with a big blister where my pinky meets my hand, because of the pushing and pulling of this cruddy thing. The weight is a bit unbalanced, too, between the top and the bottom, and it makes it feel -- I don't know if rickety is the right word, but it kind of bounces. Like it's not well put together, not well engineered.

Heaven forfend you might have to pause in the middle of cleaning -- you'll wind up with a giant blurp of cleaner and scum on the floor under the machine. So move it to a hard, easily cleaned floor, or put a towel under it, or something. And the whole "SteamVac" thing is a HUGE LIE. There is no "steam" going on here at all. To have "steam" you have to have water vapor. To get water vapor, you have to have boiling water. You aren't allowed to put water in here any hotter than 140 degrees F. And the machine doesn't heat it. As such, THERE IS NO STEAM. Sorry about, you know, PHYSICS, Hoover, but that ain't steam, it's just hot water.

All this, and it doesn't even have a cord reel. Sigh. Can someone recommend to me a GOOD carpet cleaner?
172812
Okay, so the whole "This things sucks" joke is wearing thin, but I had to get the "suck" word in the title somehow. I bought this based on the overwhelming positive feedback on Amazon and here I am adding myself to the list of Eureka Fan-boys.

I have an aging Hoover bagless upright, and although that covers a larger area, this thing gets more out of the carpet than the big boy. To be honest, this little thing might inspire me to look at the larger Eureka models to replace my Hoover. It's just a fantastic design, and all I can hope is that it holds up to the abuse I feel like throwing at it. Every time I see something dusty/dirty/hairy my thought is, "Oh, I can clean that right up!" My first order of business was to clean a cat-hair infused micro-fiber chair. It only needed one pass. Clean! Of course, I haven't used any of the current competition, but I can't see how any device this size can be more effective.

Somehow, Eureka managed to balance size/weight/performance perfectly. One thing that made me hesitate buying this is, some of the competition use rubber on the spinning beater as opposed to the brush on this one. Theoretically, rubber will be more effective on pet hair. A spinning brush, like this one has, should be more versatile and work on many more surfaces. I paused because much of my "problem" is pet hair, but pulled the trigger anyway. Worry not my fence straddling, pet-owning head scratchers, this picks up all the pet hair you can throw at it. Well, maybe not if you throw the hair literally, but you get my drift.

Lastly, let me make a point about its ergonomics. If Apple made handheld vacuums, it would be this (in aluminum of course). The clear collection bin comes off in a second and is very easy to clean. The single switch has three main positions and a spring-loaded position pulling it back to release the little bin. Positions from back to front are: Bin Release-Off-Vacuum-Vacuum with Spinning Beater-Brush. The hose comes off easily and the small hose attachment is easily stored in the back. The power cord wraps neatly around the back and clips right into place. Compact, cute, effective, and for under 40 smackers!

Still deciding? Fuggedaboutit! Buy it and get on with your new and improved life.
4107345
Need to use this on carpet or a rug, or else it will slip under your dogs legs!!
4175418
Holy suction, Batman!  This thing is fantastic.  The reviews that I read about suction were correct.  The carpet has lifted off the padding.  Cleaning is easy breezy.  Well worth the investment.
778443
Amazing for pet owners. You can actually feel it sucking the carpet, its almost hard to push.
4146908
It's a little heavy, but it is a sucking fool! We have central vac that is well tuned. We thought that it was doing a great job on our light/medium/heavy pile rugs...this shark fills the canister after having used the central vac first. We have a large house so the long cord is handy.
4022976
Works great! I was grossed out by the stuff it picked up in my carpet that my other vacuum cleaner wasnt.. Highly recommend it!
1663563
We bought our Eureka Boss SmartVac about a year ago. Using it tonight and thinking again what an awesome vacuum this was, I thought I would finally write that review I'd been meaning to ever since I bought the thing.  So here is my review after 1 year of using "The Most Impressively Amazing Vacuum Cleaner... EVER!!":

I bought it for my wife as a gift, as our old vacuum was a Wal-Mart $20 special and didn't do the best job now that we had a newborn and a 70lb Golden Retriever in the house along with a cat.  She had done the research and wanted this one... I was indifferent as its just a vacuum cleaner and all I wanted was a decent vacuum that would meet my meager expectations of halfway picking up the pet hair, dander, and regular newborn carpet crud. So I ordered the vacuum, and the day it arrived (we ordered ours from [...], great price and deal refurb but just like brand new), I thought I'd play around with it before the wife got home from work. Boy was I in shock. This thing is a BEAST.  A man's vacuum. If I set the carpet height about halfway, I have to hold the thing back.  It is heavy, but that goes to its sturdiness and durability, imo. If it were as light as some other vacuums, the thing would be uncontrollable. Some people see the weight as a con, but I like it (I'm 6'3", 250 lbs, my wife is 5'4, 115lbs and has NO trouble).  I've never been a housecleaner, actually quite the opposite, but I can tell you I always like pulling out the BOSS and letting it do its thing.  This thing SUCKS. I'm serious.  Be careful around straps, sheets, curtains, etc.  I have destroyed one curtain and today destroyed my backpack strap. But with a dog and cat shedding like madness, after I vacuum with this thing the pet hair is GONE. It has all the right attachments for any type of cleaning, and the hose piece extends to about 3' and STILL SUCKS AT THE END OF THE ATTACHMENT!  Every other vacuum I've used with extension attachments would hardly suck at all, making them worthless.  Not this power packed Eureka!  The attachments all work, to the maximum, as well as they could possibly do, and all do exactly what they were designed to do.  Even though heavy at about (I'd guess) 20 lbs, it pulls and drives itself.  The energy you spend is actually the small effort needed to HOLD IT BACK. Once you push the foot lever to engage the vacuum (you have to be holding it to engage), it slowly starts driving itself forward.  Maybe 2 passes and it gets EVERYTHING. Pet hair GONE. Dander GONE. Kid Krud GONE. It does use bags, I think it came with 3 extra bags. I understand other reviews mention needing to replace the belt every so often.  After 1 year and eating up the curtains and backpack strap (MELTED/DISINTEGRATED... there's a reason I call it a BEAST!), I have never had to replace the belt or anything else... we are on the 3rd bag and I have never had to buy bags. I can just say from my own experience, the belt is still going strong and this thing still works, if anything, better than the first day I got it.  Seems almost like a car where you get max performance after breaking in for 30k miles.  Anyway, I don't typically write reviews of this sort, but this vacuum so impresses me, every time I use it, that I just felt I had to share and I seriously brag on our SmartVac and recommend it to anyone who ever asks me how I keep down the pet hair. So thought I would recommend it to everyone else as well.  The only cons some people (not me) might find, are the weight (can see where it would be harder to use on stairs, but narrow attachment seems perfect... and show me a vac that IS easily manageable on stairs).  You could probably spend $600 on a Dyson or top-line Hoover that does as well as this one, but this vac out-competes a class of vacuums that price at four or five times higher the Eureka SmartVac.  I am a Eureka customer for life because of this vac, and I'll eat my hat if you regret purchasing this vacuum.  Wives, let your husbands read this review if you want to talk them into getting this vac!  Trust me men!
4653483
This thing sucks in the best kind of way! We use it for weekly use around the apartment on hard surfaces and shag rugs. Attachments work great. Really no complaints.
2478368
This vacuum will literally suck anything up. We used this vacuum on 40+ year old carpet (you don't want to imagine what came out of it..) needless to say we had to empty the tank and rinse the filters a few different times. I have no complaints about this vacuum, it is lightweight,  compact, powerful, easy to use, easy to detach, and really attach. I highly recommend this for ANY household.
3980463
If you have pets and heavy traffic on carpets you need to buy this vacuum. You can't imagine how much dirt it picks up!!! It scary to see what's hiding in your carpet and couches...
4603100
It sucks really well on carpet and hardwood. The handheld part does a good job sucking up bigger debris. The only drawback is the noise. It's pretty darn loud in an open house.
2249065
This vacuume sucked up an entire canister of my cats hair immediately after Id vacuumed with my Oreck. My carpets have never looked so good! Attachments work for upholstery, comforters, and cleaning out car. The lift off canister allows easy cleaning for of stairs. The only thing that Im not 100% thrilled with is its a lot heavier than my Oreck.
1564111
I bought this vacuum for my mom who was having trouble using our old vacuum because it was too heavy. Keep this in mind while reading my review.

This vacuum's performance is INSANE. I pulled so much dirt and crap out of our carpets. When we first got it, my mom had just vacuumed so we decided to see what excess dirt we could pull out of the carpets, and this thing blew our socks off. Or should I say sucked our socks off. This machine pulled so much dirt and muck out of the carpets that our old vacuum missed--it was shocking and disgusting to see how much dirt was still in the carpets after we JUST vacuumed.

The engineers also solved an issue we've had with other vacuums. The connector for the accessories swivels, so you  don't have to contort your arm or body to get to certain areas. This was another plus for my mom who was having a hard time getting under stuff.

HOWEVER!!! After a few uses on her own, my mom noticed that the vacuum was very unstable when using the hose and accessories. She even pulled it down and smacked herself on the head with it. She really likes using the hose and accessories because we have a terrier who takes stuff under the beds and leaves hair all over the couches, so this was definitely a turn off for us. Additionally the vacuum is so powerful its really hard to use the hose and accessories because it shortens the flexible hose due to the suction power. Finally, my mom had some issues figuring out all of the releases for the connectors. This could be more user error because I never had a problem, but still factors into my overall score for this machine.

In all, if you're using this just as a standard vacuum its a great buy. It'll probably get your carpets cleaner than when they were first installed. But if you were looking for a vacuum to use hoses and accessories with I'd keep looking.