Vax W90-RU-B Rapide Ultra Upright Carpet and Upholstery Washer

We didn't want to rush to clean our carpets as the weather was cold and damp and we were afraid our they would take longer to dry, so we decided to wait a little while. However our grandchildren came to visit and one thing they are both determined to do is make sure that our door mat remains clean and dry at all times as they carefully side step them to clean their shoes off on the hall carpet whenever possible. A small Christmas 'children's' buffet tea ensured that the kitchen, living room and hall way had a generous sprinkling of milk, orange juice and other less identifiable stains and so the decision to hold off on the carpet cleaning until after Christmas was taken out of our hands.
In all honesty the hardest part was in getting it out of the box. It slotted together in a perfectly obvious way and was ready for use in no time.
Our large living room rug which covers the fitted carpet in there is almost as old as I am and even though it has been cleaned on numerous occasions in one way or another came up cleaner than I can ever remember seeing it before, though the water that came out of the collection tank was a colour I couldn't believe considering that I often sit on it.
The hall carpet which is rather newer but takes considerable punishment particularly from our two dogs also came up like new. But it was the stair carpet that was the biggest surprise. This had never been effectively cleaned and not only did it come up as clean and new looking as the hall but the procedure was also thankfully easy to do due to the hose attachment, which meant that the Vax could stand in the hall or on the landing while the stairs were cleaned. Again seeing the colour of the water being removed from the carpet via the transparent cleaning tool was a revalation
All of the above was accomplished with just 4 litres of warm water and 160 mil of the supplied cleaning fluid. I can't say I noticed how much fresher it all smelt etc. but it certainly looked noticeably cleaner. More importantly the process was little more work than the normal day to day vacuuming and so one that we will do on a more regular basis or as visiting kids demand. Our fear that the carpets would remain damp were unfounded as well which was a great bonus.
If they start to sell one that mends the thread bare bits I will certainly upgrade but until then I thoroughly recommend the Ultra Rapide for carpet care and cleaning.

Finally took the plunge and purchased a carpet cleaner after hiring a machine on a few occasions as we have two dogs, opted for a Vax, as they're the market leader. Delivery was extremely quick by UPS, they even delivered the cleaner in the extreme snow!

OK, lets get onto the machine, the packing was excellent, so the cleaner arrived in one piece, instructions weren't brilliant, but managed to get it up and running in a few minutes. Was impressed with the look of the cleaner, it was modern looking and robust in design, it doesn't look like it will fall apart any time soon.

Only used it in a few rooms but its light and easy to use, the simplicity of this cleaner is great and the cleaning power is excellent. Unlike other machines, it doesn't soak the carpet but does clean the carpets quite easily. Using the Vax on a light carpet, you really do notice the difference after cleaning. The waste water tank is big enough to clean an average room, so no need to stop and empty the tank every five minutes.

We've only had the cleaner a few weeks, but we're both impressed. Overall, this is an excellent carpet cleaner that does exactly what it says on the tin.

Customer Service
The VAX comes with a label on it "Don't take me back to the shop, simply call, we love to help, 0844" tel number given (try www.saynoto0870.com for landline number) and "www.vax.co.uk" given. Offering direct customer service rather than dealing with the store. - any problems or questions should be directed to the them. As the first machine I received did not work as well as expected or as reviewed on here I contacted customer service, who very approachable and were thorough in their follow up, resulting in a replacement machine. Excellent service 10/10.

Set Up/Use
The machine arrived in a large strong and well sealed box. The contents were well packed and protected. The machine feels heavy when you first lift it out but it is not heavy to use. It was easy to unpacked and put the few bits together. Before using it, best to read the instructions all the way through, as information I thought missing, was at the end.

Included are 2 bottles of cleaning solution, 1 pre-treatment (packed in with the pre-treatment sprayer) and 1 carpet cleaning solution. Ready to go.
Mixing up the solution is easy enough, 40ml solution/1 litre water. Only 1 negative here, could do with a 40ml measure for the solution (I used an old medicine measure, which clicked nicely onto the top of the bottle afterwards).

The dirty water container is very easy to empty during use, but can be a bit fiddly to fully clean out and full drain/dry when finished. The clean and dirty water tanks are totally separate, avoiding the chances of cross pollution and also meaning toping up and emptying the tanks can be done a lot easier. We had a Vax Rapide 5100 before which has the tanks inside each other inside the machine which meant taking the whole thing apart to empty or fill the tanks.

Main Machine
To get the best results, use the main machine on tilt (foot release pedal on left) as the brushes rotate. Just push the machine forward and press the solution release on the handle to distribute the cleaner, then release and pull the machine back to suck up the dirty water out of the carpet. Once you get the hang of letting go on the return stroke it is really easy and light to use.

The dirty water can be seen being sucked up into the dirty water tank on the front. The first job I put the cleaner to was some spilt ink so this looked very impressive.

Even used the machine on a deep-pile carpet which came up shining. It cleaned deep down through my carpets bringing up the pile, leaving them looking look like new.

NB. When you stop the machine do it off the carpet as sometimes it dribbles back the dirty water out of the dirty water tank.

Hand Tool
This attaches to the main machine and is easy to use.
I used the hand tool to wash a heavy used small area, with a press of the trigger it releases the cleaning solution over the area that you need to clean and as with the main machine do this on a forward stroke and then pick up the dirt and solution on the backwards stroke. Again it is very satisfying to see (the clear hand-tool cover) the dirty water being sucked up into the hose and dirty water tank. With in a short time the carpet was as new, fluffed up, clean and almost dry. Excellent for stairs and corners.

This is also good for sucking up spills. My first machine leaked and this tool sucked it up in no time, quicker than getting the mop and bucket.

Pre-soak
The pre-soak/preclean tool is really easy to use, the wand attaches to the main machine easily and the cleaner is sprayed out to small or wider area and is activated by the trigger.

Other info
Negatives
1. Handle height not adjustable or high enough for tall persons.
2. No measure, used an old 20ml medicine measure and filled it twice and surprisingly it clicked on to the top of the bottle securely.
Positives
1. Hand tool excellent
2. Pre soak tool excellent.
3. Easy to put together, read the manual all the way through, as the information order may not be as expected, but all the info you need is there.
4. Light weight to use
5. Very easy to fill
6. Well designed
7. Dirty water container is easy to empty, yet a bit fiddly to fully clean and dry at the end.
8. Good attachment points for hand tool and pre soak.
9. Really good that easy to refill clean water and empty dirty water while you are going along and independent of each other.
10. Over all an easy to use machine, the areas I have cleaned have come up as new.