Hoover Carpet Cleaner Max Extract Dual V All Terrain Hardwood Floor and Carpet Cleaner Machine

I have previously used the Bissell 9400 ProHeat 2X Select Upright Deep Carpet Cleaner to clean the inevitable stains associated with cats and potty training little boys from my Berber carpet. A friend has that cleaner, so I borrowed it on several occasions before finally deciding to get one of my own. Just before I was ready to buy, Good Housekeeping ran a review on the Hoover SteamVac so I looked it up on Amazon. I read the reviews and decided to take my chances with it.I am amazed at the difference in the two machines. The Bissell used to shear off fibers from the carpet and leave a nasty trail of what looks like hairballs behind as I worked. The clean and dirty tanks are in the same unit which is clever, but almost impossible to clean.The Hoover has two tanks - one for clean hot water with a compartment for the cleaning solution, and one for the dirty water. Both water tanks hold a gallon. I had no problems loading the clean tank or removing the dirty tank. No dripping of dirty water, no puddles on the rug or the kitchen floor when changing tanks.Like I said before, I've cleaned my entire house several times with the Bissell machine, but I was amazed at the almost muddy water that came out of the carpet. It was as if I'd never cleaned the floors before. The dirty tank is easy to rinse out and reattach. The trick is to "recline" the machine so the clean tank is laying on the ground attached to the handle. Unsnap the clips and the dirty tank comes right off with no problem at all. Clean it out, snap the lid back on and clip it back into place and then you can stand the handle back up and deal with the clean tank.The suction on this machine is amazing. It used to take hours and hours for the carpet to dry when I used the Bissell. I'd have to turn the fans on high and let them go overnight to have dry carpets in the morning. Two hours after cleaning the carpet (2 cleaning/rinse passes plus a rinsing only pass) and the floors were nearly dry.I tested the Hoover on my kitchen tile. I hate ceramic tile. I will never have it in another house, but I'm stuck with it for now. I usually use the Vapor Clean II steam/pressure cleaner on the tile, but decided to give the Hoover a try since it came with the cleaning solution for the job. I wouldn't want to use it every time I clean the kitchen floor, but for a quick cleaning before company comes it'll do the trick. Again, I did not have any puddle problems. If you release the trigger just before you finish your pull stroke you won't have any puddling to speak of. The Hoover does a great job sucking up the water on the tile and even gets the water from the grout. It doesn't do a great job on grout because that's not what it's designed to do. I'll stick to my VaporClean and the special brush I have for that.I'm also happy with the amount of cleaner used. The Bissell goes through cleaning solution at a much faster rate than the Hoover does. I like that, since leaving soap on the fibers is just going to make the floor get dirty faster.The only things I'm not thrilled with:The cleaning solution dispenser is integrated with the clean water tank. I wish it came with a spout or something attached so that pouring out leftover solution wasn't so messy. I know I could leave the solution in there between uses, but I have already had to pour out leftover carpet solution to switch to the hard surface cleaner - then I had to put the hard surface cleaner back in the bottle to switch back for more carpet work. Some sort of retractable spout or a reversable plug with a spout attached would be great.The hose attachment is kind of flimsy. I've had the whole hose assembly fall off several times as I was changing tanks. It's not a huge deal, but it's annoying to the point that I'm considering taking that part off and storing it separately until I need to use the hand tools.Buy this cleaner - you won't be disappointed!UPDATE: January 2011I still love this machine. I don't consider the drips that come from laying the handle down to be a problem. It's how the unit was designed. It's certainly not a return-worthy concern. I am capable of placing a towel on the floor to wipe up the drips from that, and it's never more than a few drips. And it's clean water, so who cares?It still works great for me with no problems at all since I got it in 2007. I quit buying the detergent that goes with it and only use vinegar in the detergent tank now with no problems.As far as the performance on carpet, it's still great. I shampooed the white carpet at my grandparents' house recently and they were mortified by how much black water came out of the machine. They've had their home professionally shampooed within the last year, too. Their carpet came clean and looked fantastic when I left.I haven't used it on my carpet upstairs lately because I don't allow food up there, so there's not much need for more than regular vacuuming. I do use this machine more frequently on my kitchen tile than I thought I would, and I'm still happy with it. It gets the job done quickly, and the floor is dry when I'm done. It's loud, but not so loud that I don't want to use it.Maybe they've changed things with the model since 2007, but my unit is still going strong. There may be better tools for the job out there, but until this one breaks I'm happy with what I've got. I'm not crazy, just satisfied. I'm not sure why that's so difficult to believe.

I received my Hoover Max Extract Dual V All Terrain Carpet Washer from Amazon two days ago and I was embarrassed to learn how dirty my rugs -- the rugs I've been cleaning regularly -- really were. I have two big dogs but hate when a house (especially mine) has that "doggy smell." The key to keeping a house with dogs smelling fresh is regular cleaning of rugs and couches, so having a quality carpet shampooer is of utmost importance to me. I've had a Bissell that left WAY too much soap in the rugs, and then I had a Hoover Max Extract 77 that I thought I was happy with....until now. I shampoo my Florida Room rug weekly so my carpet shampooer gets a LOT of use, and while I was reasonably happy with my Max Extract 77, after a few years it began leaking between the water and cleaning solution tanks and was no longer dispensing much of the cleaning solution when I used it. Recently, the cleaning solution started leaking out onto the floor and I decided it was time to say goodbye to my trusty Max Extract 77. I consulted Consumer Reports and found that the Hoover Max Extract Dual V All Terrain Carpet Washer was their top rated unit, so I checked around for pricing and found that Amazon had the best price (as usual). I put it to the test this morning and I am absolutely thrilled. First, the Dual V addresses many of the design flaws of the 77. The handle of my Max Extract 77 broke and I had to replace it, and right off the bat I noticed the handle of the Dual V is much sturdier. On the 77, the cleaning solution tank is inside the water tank, while makes the cleaner level difficult to read. On the Dual V, the solution tank is attached to but separate from the water tank, and the level in it is much easier to monitor. Also, the 77 requires that 2X concentrate cleaners be diluted before use, whereas you can pour the 2X cleaner into the Dual V undiluted. This sounds like a minor issue, but it's best if your tanks are empty when you store your unit, and if the leftover solution is diluted, you cannot pour it back into the bottle. With the Dual V, this is not an issue -- you can pour the unused 2X cleaner right back into the bottle. The dirty water tank on the Dual V is much easier to clean than that of the 77, and the filter that should be cleaned each time is located on the dirty water tank, and not down in the bowels of the machine like it is on the 77. Another big plus is that the liquid being picked up by the unit sprays up and across the underside of the lid of the collection tank, which is clearly visible to the user, allowing you to see when you have gotten up all the cleaner and rinse water. As for drying time, the Dual V picks up water so much more effectively than either of my old units that carpets are dry in less than half the time. My living room rug is wool and it would take hours and hours to dry with my old units. With the Dual V, it's dry in about two hours.The design of the Dual V is much cleaner, and offers you the option of storing your attachments separately. They all fit neatly on a housing that you can hang on your wall, keeping your cleaner neater, lighter, and less awkward than if it's carrying all of its attachments. Although I didn't weigh the unit, it feels much lighter than the 77 and it maneuvers much easier. The noise level, at least in my estimation, is about the same as my previous unit.The one thing I loved about my Max Extract 77 as compared to my earlier Bissell is the "auto-rinse" feature, and this feature is present on the Dual V as well. When the trigger is pulled and the unit is pushed forward, it dispenses cleaning solution. When you pull back, it dispenses clean rinse water. You can set it to dispense clean water on the forward and backwards push, but for normal cleaning, it's great not having to manually switch from wash to rinse like I had to do on my Bissell.The most important thing is that it does an outstanding job cleaning, and it leaves my rugs drier than any other cleaner I've ever had. As an "All Terrain" unit, it is designed to clean hard floors as well. I have not used that feature, but will do so this week and update this review.Update: I used my new Hoover Max Extract Dual V All Terrain Carpet cleaner on my hard floors (tile in kitchen and bath, wood everywhere else) and it did an outstanding job. It's a minor pain to have to change the brushes and install the squeegee attachment for your hard floors, but the results are absolutely worth it I've had a Hoover FloorMate hard floor cleaner that I've used off and on for years, but the Dual V gets my floors MUCH cleaner. The Dual V picks up much more dirt and sucks up much more water than the FloorMate.To sum up this review, the Hoover Max Extract Dual V All Terrain Carpet cleaner is by far the best unit I've ever used and highly recommend it over any other Hoover or Bissell cleaners I've tried.