Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Hoover F7452900 SteamVac All Terrain Review

Hoover All Terrain Steam Cleaner boasts a built in water warmer.I have a review of the Hoover F7452900 SteamVac All Terrain. I had my “padawan” learner Johnny help me put this vacuum together for the sales floor. Of course, after it was all set up we tested it out so I could give it a thorough review for you, the readers.

What Your Sensei Thought
The All Terrain SteamVac was built by Hoover to clean all of your floors from tile to carpet and most everything in between. I’ve seen several companies try to market an All Terrain steamvac that cleans tile and carpet with mixed results. As far as hard flooring goes, don’t expect any steamvac to restore your tile to mint condition.

The Hoover SteamVac did a fair job at scrubbing tile in our bathroom. The true test came when I had Johnny go over another strip of tile with a regular scrub brush. We definitely noticed cleaner tile with the scrub brush, but compared to the amount of time it took it didn’t seem worth it. The Hoover Steam Vac definitely made our tile look a lot cleaner, but it’s still no match for the Danny Tanners of the world willing to scrub on all fours.

As far as carpets are concerned, it performed as expected for a steamvac in this price range. (I use a large outside door mat and carpeting my dogs sleep on for vacuum testing.) This unit definitely has better cleaning power than some of the lower end Hoover steamvacs, however I expected a little more from Hoover. Hoover typically goes above and beyond and I would have liked to see better results from a unit over $260.

The All Terrain Steam Vac includes a built in water warmer to keep your water warm while you steam clean your house. It’s frustrating when my water is cold halfway through the tank and I have to refill my steamvac with warm water. Worse still are the units that have two tanks, one for water mixed with solution and the other for dirty water, and if I want to properly clean my carpet I have to dump expensive carpet cleaner down the drain!

One of my complaints with this unit is the brittle clean water container. Most units are made with soft plastic and can drop without breaking. I suspect if I dropped this water tank I would be ordering a couple extra parts with the note “clumsy sensei” on the invoice. Be careful with the tank, protect it.

All in all, the Hoover All Terrain SteamVac is a decent wet vacuum cleaner that’s great for carpets, and pretty good at cleaning tile. It’s one of Hoover’s higher end models and includes several extra convenience features such as tanks for clean water and cleaning solution so you don’t have to go through the trouble of mixing water and cleaner. It gives you a lot more control over how much detergent gets sprayed and is useful for cleaning high traffic areas and trouble spots on carpet. If this vacuum were about 15 bucks cheaper I wouldn’t hesitate to give it 4.5 stars, but the price tag and disaster prone water tank put this steam cleaning vacuum at 4 stars out of 5.

Cool Features
30’ power cord
3 tanks for clean water, dirty water, and cleaning solution
Good for cleaning tile

Included Tools
SpinScrub hand tool
Edge cleaner
Built in water warmer

Specifications
Size: 19” x 13.25” x 44”
Weight: 30 lbs.
Amps: 12
Power Cord Length: 30’
Warranty: 1 year

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