Keeping our homes clean is a daily chore that most of us do. But after the winter months it can be more involved as the floors and carpets in our homes take an extra hammering due to the wet weather and this can leave them looking dirty and tired. Whilst vacuuming will take up a lot of the dirt, every now and then the carpets need a good clean to get them nice and clean, free from germs and bacteria, smelling better and just giving them a good refresh. In the past, as part of my Spring Cleaning routine, I have hired a well-known brand of carpet washer to keep my carpets clean and have even used a professional carpet cleaning service to come in and do it for me. This year, I am going to do it myself using the Vax Platinum Power Max Carpet Cleaner, which claims to be proven to clean better than the leading rental, removing up to 93% of bacteria and leaving carpets dry in as little as 1 hour.
The Vax Platinum Power Max Carpet Cleaner cleans your carpets 5 times better than a high performance vacuum cleaner. Together with the Vax Platinum solution, clean deep down and remove up to 93% of bacteria, leaving carpets looking clean and smelling fresh.
In the box:
- Carpet Washer (including handle and water/solution tank)
- 2.5m Hose
- SpinScrub Tool
- Pre-treatment Wand
- Upholstery Wash Tool
- Accessory Bag
- Hard Floor Squeegee Adapter
- 1x 250ml Pre-treatment Solution
- 2x 250ml Platinum Solution
- User Guide
The Vax Platinum Power Max Carpet Cleaner is not ready to use straight out of the box, there is some simple assembly to complete. Assembly is easy, hassle-free and takes mere minutes. The first thing that you are going to notice is the heavy weight, it weighs in around the 10kg mark (about 22lbs). Once you get it out of the box you will need to push the handle into the washer and turn the dial to lock it into place. The water / solution tank then slots onto the front of the handle. It literally takes a minute to put it together.
Apart from the weight, the next thing that you will notice is the large floor-head, equipped with Vax’s XL brush bar and seven SpinScrub brushes. It looks impressive.
The Vax Platinum Power Max Carpet Cleaner has two cleaning modes; Deep Clean and Quick Wash. You just turn the dial to what option you want to use. The quick wash, depending on you carpet, can be dry in as little as an hour. For a deep clean, you are best to leave it to dry overnight.
Using the carpet washer is easy, but hard work. It is recommend that you vacuum the carpet as normal before using the carpet washer. To use, remove the water / solution tank and fill the water side with warm water (there are fill lines depending on if you want a quick wash or deep clean) and pour cleaning solution into the other side. Make sure the caps and closed before putting the tank back onto the washer. With water and cleaning solution added, turn the dial on the front of the washer to wash. Plug it into the mains and press the ON button with your foot. When on, it is quite a noisy machine. Press the recline pedal (again foot controlled) and pull the handle back. Pull the trigger on the handle when pushing the carpet washer forward and releasing it when pulling the washer back (this sounds extremely easy but takes a bit of getting used to, it took me a little while to remember to release the trigger and on the correct movement). It is easy to use, just like a vacuum cleaner and you can press the boost trigger to release more water/solution mix of really tough stains. Whilst simple to use, it is hard work because of the weight of the carpet washer. I have a problem with my wrist at the minute and after a few minutes I was in a bit of discomfort but it doesn’t take too long to get through the room (obviously depending on the size of your room) and the water seems to go quite fast from the tank.
The forward movement of the carpet washer and pulling the trigger releases a mix of water and cleaning solution and the brushes and spinners in the floor-head spin and clean the carpet. The reverse movement sucks up the dirty water and solution. Once you have finished cleaning (you might need to add more water to the tank), turn the dial to rinse to rinse any solution residue.
There is another tank below the water / solution tank that collects dirt, debris as well as water and cleaning solution. In this tank you can clearly see how much dirty water has been removed from the carpet. Whilst no one likes to see that kind of dirt, especially after regular vacuuming, it is also fascinating how much extra the carpet cleaner removes from the carpet even after vacuuming before using it.
I started with the quick wash, and to be honest wasn’t expecting much. I don’t wear shoes in the house, especially as one of the carpets is a light cream colour, and I vacuum the carpets regularly. After I was finished with the quick wash, I was amazed at how dirty the water in the water tank was. I will be washing my carpets much more regularly now with quick washes and deep cleans. From a carpet that looked clean, I was amazed and disgusted at the same time, at how much unseen dirt actually gets trapped within the carpet fibres. I have since removed the furniture from the room and did a full deep clean and have been very impressed with both cleaning functions and drying times.
The Vax Platinum Power Max Carpet Cleaner also comes with extra tools so that you can get right up to furniture and skiting boards using the SpinScrub tool and you can even clean upholstery. The tools are simple to use by pulling down the hose cover on the front, adding the hose and the relevant tool. You can even add a hard floor adapter to clean hard floor surfaces such as vinyl or laminate.
After every use, empty the tanks and clean the dirty water tank (including the filter screen at the back of the tank). You can also remove and clean the nozzles, brushes and SpinScrub brushes. Cleaning everything after each use will keep the machine in proper working condition with no excessive build up of dirt/debris and keeps the dirty water pick up from blockages.
Overall, I am more than impressed with the Vax Platinum Power Max Carpet Cleaner. If is definitely better than that well-known carpet washer I have rented in the past and will work out a lot cheaper, especially as I can, and will be, cleaning my carpets more often with the Vax to remove that deep down dirt and bacteria.
Now that I have done a deep clean, I will be running over the carpets with a quick wash every week, as it only takes a hour to dry. It not only makes the carpets look clean (and you can see from the dirty water tank how much dirt is coming out) but it also makes them smell better as dirt and bacteria are being removed.
If you are serious about your Spring Cleaning this year, deep cleaning your carpets is a must. I have used other household carpet washers before and haven’t been that impressed. I have rented professional carpet washers which have been noticeable better, but I have to say that the Vax Platinum Power Max Carpet Cleaner is the best I have used.
My carpets are very noticeably cleaner and worth the effort of pushing such a heavy machine around. I haven’t had any real tough stains to clean but on how the dirt has come out of my cream carpets I have no doubt that more stubborn stains can be removed using the pre-treatment wand and solution included with the machine and the tools.
I am very happy that I invested in the Vax Platinum Power Max Carpet Cleaner and it will be getting lots of use during my spring cleaning deep clean and beyond.
Heavy to use, but so worth it when you see the dirt that comes out of the carpet and how clean & fresh they are afterwards. And it is so easy to clean carpets throughout the house as it comes with a 9m cord, so no need to keep unplugging it!
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £249.99
For more information or to buy online, visit www.vax.co.uk.