Between people walking over them all day and your pets playing on them, your carpets collect a fair bit of dirt deep in their fibers—which is why you might be looking for a product like the Hoover Power Scrub Deluxe Carpet Cleaner. Carpet cleaners help remove dirt that’s been ground deep into rugs, washing the fibers to get rid of odors and stains. They’re an affordable at-home cleaning alternative for those with lots of rugs, as they’ll save you from having to hire professional cleaners every year. Plus, they’re a good way to get hidden allergens out of your home. To see if the Hoover Power Scrub Deluxe Carpet Cleaner is a viable alternative to professional carpet washing, we put the tool to the test on a number of gross, dirty rugs. Here’s what we found about its design, performance, and stain-removing abilities. Don’t miss our reviews of the top must-have appliances for allergy sufferers.
Setup: Straightforward
Some carpet cleaners come all set up and ready to go out of the box, but a little assembly is required for this one. Namely, we had to attach the handle, which is a fairly quick and easy task. Once we did that, all that was left to do was fill the cleaning solution and water compartments and get to cleaning.
Design: Different in a good way
The Hoover Power Scrub Deluxe resembles an upright vacuum cleaner, and its design has a few key differences from other similar carpet cleaners. For instance, it has separate compartments for clean water and (the included Hoover CleanPlus) cleaning fluid to ensure you’re always getting the right ratio—most machines make you mix the two together yourself. An extension of this feature is a switch that lets you alternate between washing and rinsing your carpets. When you’re using the rinse setting, it doesn’t dispense any soap. This allows you to get more of the solution out of your carpets after washing, which we really liked. Another helpful feature is that the carpet cleaner automatically turns off when the dirty water tank is full, saving you from having to monitor it. It’s a small feature that’s actually quite helpful, as when we were testing other machines, we would always overfill the dirty tank. In terms of versatility, this carpet cleaner comes with three attachments: a stair tool, upholstery tool, and crevice tool. Since most carpet cleaners are pretty cumbersome, it can be tough to maneuver them into tight corners, and we loved that this model includes a crevice tool, which helped us get along the edges of walls. The upholstery tool is essentially just a smaller version of the stair tool, but the two sizes are helpful for different tasks. However, not everything about this carpet cleaner is designed well. When we first filled up and put the clean water tank in place, the connection must not have been right, because the water was leaking down the back of the machine. We removed and replaced the tank, and it stopped, but this could make a mess if you don’t notice it right away. Further, when we were using the stair tool and hose, it stopped spraying all of a sudden. After a little investigation, we discovered the water connection had popped out. These less-than-perfect details aren’t necessarily a deal breaker, but they can make the cleaning process a little more cumbersome.
Performance: No major complaints
The Hoover Power Scrub Deluxe uses 360-degree brushes to scrub carpets from every angle, and it also boasts a “DualV® Nozzle,” which helps ensure even suction to clean surfaces quickly. These features worked well on the soiled carpet in our tests—the carpet in question had a number of dirt stains from the dog, and the Hoover got them out easily without any extra pretreating or scrubbing. The rug we cleaned was fairly small, so we only had to fill the 1-gallon clean water tank once during the process. However, if you’re cleaning a larger space, be prepared to fill up the clean tank and empty the dirty tank multiple times. This model supposedly uses hot air to speed up drying time, but we didn’t think the carpet was any drier than it would be with a different carpet cleaner. If we had one complaint about this carpet cleaner, it would be that the “Wash/Rinse” switch is on the front of the machine—it would be a little more convenient if it was on the handle or back.
Stain Removal: OK, but not the best
Naturally, you want a carpet cleaner to be able to remove stains from your floor coverings, so we tested this tool on mustard, chocolate, salad dressing, coffee, wine, dirt, and permanent marker stains. The stains were ground in and dried, and the Hoover managed to remove most of the salad dressing, coffee, wine, and dirt. However, it didn’t fare so well on the mustard, chocolate, or permanent marker—all of which were still visible after two scrubbing sessions with the hand tool. If you’re battling tough stains like this, you’ll want to get to them as soon as possible and pretreat them to ensure optimal results. Want to take a look at some other options for cleaning furniture stains? See our guide to the best upholstery cleaners.
Storage: Accessory bag included
The Hoover carpet cleaner comes with a few different cleaning heads, an 8-foot hose, and a mesh bag where you can store all these various parts. We liked that the bag hooks onto the back of the unit’s handle for easy storage. However, keep in mind that this machine is fairly large and doesn’t break down in any way, so you’ll need a decently large spot in your closet where you can store it. In the market for more cleaning supplies? Here are the best floor cleaning tools to invest in right now.
Price: Get it on sale
At full price, the Hoover Power Scrub Deluxe Carpet Cleaner is around $200, which is a bit high for a basic model with no additional features. However, it frequently goes on sale, sometimes for almost $100 off. If you want to get this product, we’d recommend waiting for a good deal.
Hoover Power Scrub Deluxe Carpet Cleaner vs. Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet Pro
At first glance, the Hoover Power Scrub Deluxe and the Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet Pro have similar designs, both resembling upright vacuum cleaners. Like the Hoover, the Bissell comes with an upholstery tool that can be used to vacuum and wash your furniture. However, the Hoover is more of a no-frills model, while the Bissell has a variety of additional features and components that account for its higher price ($269.95). For instance, the Bissell has settings for Deep Clean or Express Clean, as well as a button that lets you pretreat tough stains, and its whole design caters to the needs of pet owners. However, if you don’t need these excess options, the Hoover is less expensive and will get the job done. Overall, the Hoover Power Scrub Deluxe Carpet Cleaner is fairly basic. It’s designed with convenience in mind, but it doesn’t have the “extras” more expensive models might come with. If you’re just looking for a simple carpet cleaner to tackle small jobs around the house, this product will serve you well.
