carpet washing vac/vax

rabialiones

just need some advice really,
there are a few offers on vax carpet washers - tj highes, argos , amazon
any recommendations on a carpet washer please.
thanks

andrew-b

Hi,

I asked a similar question myself the other week and didnt get much response (i never do when i ask for advice so not sure what i'm doing wrong!).
I did a search on the forums here and also read reviews on the internet and found that Bissell carpet cleaners seem to get the best reviews. Vax's seemed to get more mixed reviews and appear to be not so well designed with more faults and not so many features.

In the end i ordered a Bissell Proheat - 1698J from Bissell https://www.bissell-secure.co.uk/site/products.php?cat=1 (no.2 on that page) ..but a guaranteed factory reconditioned one for £89.90 plus i paid another £33.80 for 3 bottles of Pet Stain and Odour control carpet shampoo with Scotchgard. I ordered it last Monday and not received yet but on phoning on Thursday was told i should get it by monday.

I ordered that one as i wanted one which had an attachment so we could use it for upholstery and car seats etc too. Also i liked the idea of the smartmix bottle that means you only use the shampoo that you need rather than making up to much and then throwing it away. Plus as it heats the water up it will clean better.

Hope that helps you a little

Andy

maria340

I have an upright 'Hoover 'brush and wash' carpet washer which I can highly recommend. I normally use 'Prochem crystal green' which is a powder, I think you can get it from most cleaning suppliers. it doesn't leave a residue like most cleaners. It cost me about £15 but I have had the same container for years. I found the areas i've used the vax etc shampoos got dirty again quicker.
I find the carpet washer most useful for spot ceaning (we have an old/lazy dog), when you can scrub an area of carpet (normally with Stardrops/anti bac) and you just need something to suck up the water.

Off the subject a bit, I have found a dog brush, the sort with L-shaped metal prongs(?) brilliant for getting the carpet pile up in heavy tread areas.

jos22

Well I have a Bissell and it does a good job. It needed a repair at 13 months. Emailed Bissell Wednesday, they replied with some query, I replied on Thursday, machine collected Friday and returned working on Tuesday. No charge.

Andrew-B - 3 (3 - 1.2 litre bottles £19-99 (delivered free sometimes) from Ideal World

andrew-b

Andrew-B - 3 (1.2 litre bottles £19-99 (delivered free sometimes) from Ideal World

Yep i saw it on their website myself and felt suitably gutted! Not sure what the current delivery charge is though. When i look on their website it won't give a delivery price until you sign up and provide address details.

Still waiting for Bissell to deliver my order. Phoned again today to be told it was at the packing stage ...having been told on Thursday it had been dispatched and would arrive either friday or monday at the latest! I had waited in on Friday & Monday just to take delivery so wasn't happy! I hope the cleaner is a better standard than delivery of my order! I guess you get what you pay for!

Andy

jos22

Andrew-B ... you can go right through to the page where delivery is added & cancel the order at that stage if you don't like the P & P. I have ordered about 4 times from them and never paid P & P. The time that they did try to charge, it was about £4.60 - I cancelled the order, tried again a week later and no P & P.

Just a point - if you have pets, make sure you clean the machine thoroughly after use. Pet hairs play havock with the drive belts - not the best part of the machine.

misgrace

I saw in todays paper that 'Rosebys' are selling Vax carpet washers/shampooers, Model number VO21A, originally £99.99, then went down to £59.99, and for the next six days at £39.99.
Thier vax hoovers are also down, model Number VO44, 99.99, then 39.99, and now down to 29.99 again ends in six days.

I didnt see the paper till I came home, as I was in the town earlier and could have popped in and bought a shampooer then.:rolleyes:

softuk

andrew-b wrote: »

Hi,

I asked a similar question myself the other week and didnt get much response (i never do when i ask for advice so not sure what i'm doing wrong!).
I did a search on the forums here and also read reviews on the internet and found that Bissell carpet cleaners seem to get the best reviews. Vax's seemed to get more mixed reviews and appear to be not so well designed with more faults and not so many features.

In the end i ordered a Bissell Proheat - 1698J from Bissell https://www.bissell-secure.co.uk/site/products.php?cat=1 (no.2 on that page) ..but a guaranteed factory reconditioned one for £89.90 plus i paid another £33.80 for 3 bottles of Pet Stain and Odour control carpet shampoo with Scotchgard. I ordered it last Monday and not received yet but on phoning on Thursday was told i should get it by monday.

I ordered that one as i wanted one which had an attachment so we could use it for upholstery and car seats etc too. Also i liked the idea of the smartmix bottle that means you only use the shampoo that you need rather than making up to much and then throwing it away. Plus as it heats the water up it will clean better.

Hope that helps you a little

Andy

Hi Andy
having got two labradors with eight muddy feet, plus a household who haven't yet worked out what a door mat is for, I'm looking for a carpet washer. I too have pretty much decided on the Bissell, and am looking at the reconditioned ones from the Bissell site.
Have you been happy with your machine/Bissell in general, and what about the cleaning liquids?
Did the machine do a good job, and any recommendations?
regards
andrea

Evelynn_2

Have a bissell pro heat, quite only old. Absolutely fab. We move a lot, oh is in military. Won't comment on what some of the carpets look like when you move in despite strict march out rules.
Anyway, the latest was black and colourwise it's now as new.
I have to say the hose attachments are only ok, but the main unit is fab.
As others have mentioned I get my solution from ideal world, pref with free postage, but it's cheaper even with a fiver of postage.
I think the offer is on at the mo, but Macro put the machines on offer evefry two to three months, haven't seen anywhere to beat those prices.
Hope this helps, good luck.

barrymung

I run a carpet cleaning company, part time!

Unfortunately, domestic machines such as vax, bissell etc don't do as good a job as a pro machine. Whilst the carpet looks clean domestic cleaners onlt clean the surface. They also tend to leave residue that leads to rapid resoiling.

Probably the best domestic machine to buy is the Numatic George-it's the closest you'll get to a professional machine.

Domestic carpet cleaning detergents don't help either as they are quite weak.

(If anyone is interested I'll send them a small sachet of professional concentrated carpet cleaning powder-sufficient to make a few litres of cleaner, in return for a stamped, addressed envelope. PM me for details)

tonymax_2

I find that the best way to shop for a carpet washer is to go directly to the supplier. Granted you can always go to a shopping comparison (aggregator site) but these sites are suspected of making deals with certain suppliers so that they appear to be the best deal where in reality they may not be.

So if you're looking to buy a carpet washer from Vax for instance, I would go directly to the Vax site and straight to the carpet washer section.

Find the Vax carpet washer you want and even compare it with others within the range and then do your due diligence by comparing carpet washers on aggregator sites such as Kelkoo, Shopping.com, etc..