Five animals and a new carpet aren’t the best combination. Muddy footprints, hairballs, and the occasional accident are inevitable. So when I saw the Hoover SmartWash Advanced Pet Automatic Carpet Cleaner, I wondered if this could be the answer to my prayers. Would this automatic carpet cleaner allow me to have pets and nice things, or would I still have to battle stains on my hands and knees with a carpet brush and carpet spray? I couldn’t wait to find out. As I was unboxing the carpet cleaner, I could barely contain my excitement. Fortunately, I didn’t have to wait long to test it out, since it required almost no assembly at all. All I had to do was pop the handle into place and then fill the machine, and I was ready to get to cleaning. The unit comes with a small sample of the Paws and Claws carpet cleaner. I opened that up and poured it into the solution tank, which pops right out and has a screw cap that makes it easy to fill. After that, I removed the water tank, which comes right off the machine by pulling straight up, and brought it to the bathroom sink to fill. The tank is pretty large, so it was a tight squeeze under the bathroom sink faucet, but I was able to fill it about halfway without trouble. It would easily fit in a kitchen sink or under the bathtub faucet, though. The manual suggests using warm water, so I followed those recommendations and then secured the water tank back in place. Now came the exciting part: cleaning. Hoover says that this carpet cleaner makes deep cleaning your carpets as easy as vacuuming, and boy were they right. Just like many vacuums, there’s an on/off foot pedestal on the left side of the machine and a handle release pedestal on the other side. I kicked the on/off switch on, tilted the handle down, and got to work. The carpet cleaner is fairly large and heavy, so it was a little cumbersome, though not difficult, to move around. Pushing forward automatically activates the wash mode and pulling back toward you kicks on the dry function. As you’re cleaning, the machine also automatically mixes the cleaning solution with the warm water, so you don’t have to mess with dilution ratios or pre-mixing a solution to pour into the machine. It literally takes no more effort than pushing a vacuum around on your carpet. There’s also a dry-only button that you can use if you feel like your carpets aren’t getting dry enough with the automatic wash/dry function. When this button is activated, the wash cycle is shut off, even when you’re pushing the carpet cleaner forward. I definitely felt like I needed to do a pass with the dry only function turned on, as the carpets felt pretty wet right after cleaning. When I was done, it took about an hour for them to dry completely. Cleaning was quick, though. It took me about 15 minutes to clean the entire carpet in my oversized master bedroom. One downside is that the cleaning solution and water go pretty fast. I filled the water tank halfway and used the entire sample bottle to fill up the solution tank, and they were both empty by the time I was done cleaning my room. But that’s a welcome trade-off for how amazing my carpets looked when I was done. Stains that had been there for months were completely gone, and my carpet looked brand new again. Granted, it’s only about a year old, but this carpet cleaner gave it new life. I felt like my carpets were pretty clean to start, but I couldn’t believe the dirt that the Hoover SmartWash was pulling out. The carpet cleaner has dual FlexForce PowerBrushes with stiff bristles that were able to get down into my plush carpet and really scrub out the gunk. It also has a separate accessory hose and a stair tool. There’s a hose connection on the front of the machine and when you attach the hose, it automatically registers that you want to use the attachments to clean. There are no switches or nozzles that you have to toggle. The stair tool did an exceptional job on every surface I used it on—my mattress, the couch, and a few pet beds. One thing I really appreciated is that the tool has a trigger that you can use to pre-spray strains. This also lets you control wet and dry strokes in a more hands-on way. At 8 feet, the accessory hose is also really long, so you don’t have to fumble around with moving the machine when you’re working on stairs. This carpet cleaner is meant to serve as the second part of the upholstery cleaning process. First, you vacuum up pet hair and loose dirt, then you use the Hoover SmartWash Advanced Pet Automatic Carpet Cleaner to deep clean and pull any remaining dirt off the upholstery fibers. That being said, if you have pets, you know that it’s practically impossible to get all the fur off the floor, even with the best vacuums. While the suction of this carpet cleaner isn’t nearly as strong as a pet vacuum, it does pull up any remaining fur that might still be wrapped around the carpet fibers. Some of the fur goes into the dirty water basin, but a lot of it stays trapped in the brush roll and on the plastic piece that covers the brush roll. Fortunately, this carpet cleaner also gets major points for ease of cleaning. The dirty water basin pops right out with the click of a handle. The top of the basin comes off completely, so I was able to dump the dirty water out and easily wipe down the inside. There’s also a quick-release nozzle for the plastic piece that covers the brush rolls. This makes it a total cinch to pull fur or hair—the most common cause of clogs and burnt-out belts—out of the brush rolls. It also makes it easy to clean the fur out of the nozzle. Even after vacuuming, I was shocked at how much fur there was in the nozzle and on the brush rolls. It’s a good idea to get into the habit of cleaning out this area every time, so you don’t end up with a clogged machine or need to replace a belt too soon.
Does the Hoover SmartWash Advanced Pet Automatic Carpet Cleaner heat the water?
No, there’s no water heating option on the Hoover SmartWash Advanced Pet Automatic Carpet Cleaner. It’s recommended that you fill the clean water tank with warm tap water.
Can you use the Hoover SmartWash Advanced Pet Automatic Carpet Cleaner on area rugs?
It’s recommended that you use the Hoover SmartWash Advanced Pet Automatic Carpet Cleaner only on carpet and/or rugs that are marked with a “W” for wet clean or an “S/W” for solvent/dry. You shouldn’t use it on any carpet or upholstery that’s marked “S”, which means it’s dry clean only. Even if your carpet or upholstery is “W” or “S/W,” you should always test a small area with the carpet cleaner and cleaning solution before cleaning the whole area.
Can you dispense the cleaning solution manually?
No, the Hoover SmartWash Advanced Pet Automatic Carpet Cleaner only has an automatic cleaning function. You cannot dispense the cleaning solution manually to pretreat stains or concentrate it in one area unless you’re using the stair tool.
Do you have to use the Hoover branded cleaners with this machine?
No, you can use any home carpet cleaning solution. Just make sure the cleaning solution is made for use with a carpet cleaning machine. These cleaners are more concentrated since they mix with water before going onto your carpet.
Hoover SmartWash Advanced Pet Automatic Carpet Cleaner vs. The Competition:
The BISSELL ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet Pro Carpet Cleaner is similar to the Hoover SmartWash, but it comes with additional attachments, like a stain-trapping tool and a pretreatment tool, that make it easier to tackle tough stains. It also has a CleanShot pre-treater function and an express clean mode that cleans and dries in under 30 minutes. If you want a more budget-friendly option, you can snag the Hoover PowerDash Pet Compact Carpet Cleaner for around $110. You’ll lose the stair attachments and, because it’s smaller, you may have to refill the cleaning container more often if you’re cleaning larger areas. The Hoover SmartWash Advanced Pet Automatic Carpet Cleaner finally lets you have pets and nice things. Automatic solution mixing capabilities and intuitive wet/dry functions help pull deep stains out of your carpet and other upholstery (like mattresses and couches) with no more effort than it takes to vacuum.
