Polti Unico MCV50 Allergy Multifloor Vacuum with Steam Cleaner

Exspensive all though worth the extra moneyVery happy would recomend

I was really excited when this arrived, as I was really hoping that it would be good at cleaning carpets, but unfortunately it wasn't to be.This machine is very large, and needs quite a lot of storage space, especially as the hoses are quite unwieldy, unless you take them off every time it's not in use. The instruction leaflet is not the best, as there are lots of diagrams of the various parts, although it is quite intuitive when you've worked out how to put it together. One the water is in, it takes about five minutes to reach steaming temperature, and will let you know when It's ready. They do not supply a funnel or water container, and I didn't know that I was overfilling it until it came over the top, as there is no gauge or indicator.I used the larger head for my first attempt. Neither of the installed programs are suitable for carpets, but you are able to do it manually. You just press the steam trigger and then use the vacuum setting to remove the moisture, and the dirt. It didn't seem to make any difference, so I tried it again with more steam, more vacuuming. Nothing happened. I made many attempts over the next couple of days, but the carpet looked mainly the same, but perhaps more patchy, which isn't a good look. I finally tried the smaller head, and although this worked better, it left the carpet even more patchy. Obviously, the smaller head cannot give a consistent result over a fairly wide area. It would take forever to do a room, and the carpet would look terrible.As this machine is so large, I would not want to use the vacuum for an everyday cleaner. It is OK, but nothing spectacular, and the hose is not long enough to do stairs, and kinks very easily. It is very heavy, so you can't really drag it along up the stairs as you hoover them. The most useful attribute of the vacuum is that it can suck up both wet and dry spillages, which could be very useful.The steam cleaner is ok for hard floors, and comes with velcro cloths to attach to the larger head. Although it works well, it is a very expensive machine, and something that costs around £50 will clean my kitchen floor just as well. There are a couple of other smaller attachment for cleaning into smaller spaces, but they really don't do anything that a standard steam cleaner will do.I love steam cleaners, they are just great for cleaning hard floors and other surfaces. I've not had much success with carpets or rugs from any steam cleaner I've had, although carpet accessories are often included. I thought that, as this one has such a high price, it must surely be more efficient. To a certain extent it is, but it is really an eye-wateringly expensive machine, and the difference really isn't worth the cost.

Very disappointing product for the money that it costs.The concept of this product is very good but in reality, it does not work as well. As a vacuum cleaner, Unico is average (my Miele is much more efficient), as a steam cleaner, in my opinion, it is a bit awkward and lacks a steam only function. Although the power of the steamer is very good, it only stays on for about 30 seconds before the vacuum function kicks in, so it took a long time to finish one room. The same goes for upholstery cleaning. Admittedly, I have not tried it on the hard floor. Perhaps it performs better. Back to my well tested Karcher for me!

I have one of the Polti steam cleaners, and although it works well, it is heavy and the instructions are not brilliant. However, it compares favourably to this product.This combined product has a steam-cleaning facility and a vacuum cleaner. As a vacuum cleaner it is quite powerful and does extract pet hairs that my normal vacuum cleaner appears to have missed.As a combined steam-cleaner and vacuum it is supposed to release steam and then vacuum the water back up. This does have a problem, in that the amount of vacuuming it does is in proportion to the amount of steam released without any apparent way to alter it. So if it doesn't vacuum up all of the water - tough. It is possible to just active the vacuum separately, but it isn't how it is supposed to work.The instructions aren't very good either - it took quite a bit of guesswork to actually get it to work. What it doesn't tell you is that the steam pressure (and temperature) are controlled by the plus and minus signs on the vacuum, next to a sliding scale picture. These symbols are actually buttons. Similarly the Program 1 and Program 2 selections are selected by pressing the P1/P2 image/button. The combined steam/vacuum function is controlled by the button inside of the handle on the hose. If you just want it to vacuum then press the fan/propeller symbol on the body of the cylinder instead.The cleaning head has a lever that when pressed changes a dial on it between A/B/C, merely changing whether the head uses a brush, a squeegee or nothing when it is used.It doesn't use much water when steaming, but it isn't possible to tell how much you have poured into it - until it runs out and onto the floor.It is also very heavy - looking like a rather chunky cylinder cleaner and quite heavy to drag around.This model has various attachments for cleaning furniture, tiles and hardwood floors. However it isn't suitable for steam-cleaning carpets - the MVC70 is the model for carpet cleaning.Although it does vacuum and steam-clean I don't think it is as easy to use as the separate steamer and vacuum that I already have. In addition, the price tag is rather large for what it provides.