Most steam-vacs have one fatal flaw. Namely, they require a carpet cleaning fluid that is usually branded by the manufacturer. That means, if you buy a Hoover steam-vac, you will need to buy Hoover carpet cleaning fluid. The products are not cheap. In the past, when I’ve owned models that require a specific brand of fluid, I will end up skipping the steam-vac cleaning altogether or just use a home-made solution and a brush to clean up carpet messes.
It’s not any better with rented models. You have to buy expensive cleaning fluid on top of the rental charge. That makes my family not want to rent them as often.
One thing I really like about the Iris USA Spot Cleaner is that it uses a home-made solution. You can mix in some baking soda or other cleaners, but the unit is designed to mostly use water and a spray on cleaning solution if desired. Going into this review, I wondered if that would even work, and if the more powerful machines that mix the fluid as you clean work better.
I was pleasantly surprised to find out the Iris USA Spot Cleaner works quite nicely. On my main floor living area, there were some dirt stains and that came right up. The unit is easy to use and involves filling a small water tank that lasts about as long as you’d expect for small spots, bedrooms with only a light soiling problem, or carpet mats in entryways.
The bigger units that hold far more fluid work best for cleaning an entire floor of your house, but here’s what I liked about this model. As spots appeared, we cleaned them. So the entire carpet was always clean, as opposed to my normal routine of waiting until the carpets are soiled and then renting a steam-vac. We used to own one at my house, but gave up on it since we were spending so much on the cleaning fluid and donated it.
At just six pounds, the spot cleaner is portable and easy to store, even on the top shelf in a laundry room. It’s about the size of a small microwave oven with a hose, at 9.76-inches x 5.75-inches x 12.28-inches. We used it more at my house because it was small and light.
Another nice feature is that you can disengage the wastewater container with one button push, and it’s light enough to easily carry with one hand. (Those rental models I mentioned have a large canister for wastewater and they are a bit of a back-breaker.)
I did notice there are not many attachments like extra brushes for deeper cleaner. The pictures I’ve seen on the product page at Amazon show a wine glass spill, and (while I didn’t test this) I wondered if that would actually work so well. My tests involved mostly dirt on carpet, some crumbs, and a light tea spill — that all cleaned up without any problems.
There’s something to be said for a product that just works, that doesn’t cost all that much (in this case, about $100), and is portable enough to use so often. I recommend it because of the fact that you don’t need to use expansive solutions every time you want to clean up a mess.
Note: Our reviews are always 100% independent but Gearadical receives a small affiliate amount if you purchase the product on Amazon.
