Hoover Smartwash FH52000 Carpet Cleaner Review

The Hoover Smartwash model FH5200 carpet cleaner is a relatively cheap carpet cleaner, though there are bundled deals that cost a little more. This Hoover brand carpet cleaner isn’t advertised to pet owners, but it is suitable for cleaning up pet messes. In fact, a number of its features make it an excellent choice for pet owners. We’ll list the reasons why this carpet cleaner is a good choice for pet owners. Then we’ll share the weaknesses of this model. We’ll also provide a few observations that aren’t straightforward pros or cons but may be relevant to some potential buyers.

Pros of the Hoover Smartwash FH52000

The minimum Hoover Smartwash carpet cleaner package does a good job of cleaning a wide range of carpets. It dispenses an even stream of water and cleaning solution in just the right level.
The unit is easy to assemble, and you can do so without a lot of tools or effort.
The head of the vacuum cleaner is lower than average, so it can get under the edge of most furniture. The carpet cleaner head is wider than average, coming in at 12 inches.
The brushes are able to remove dirt, debris and semi-solid messes from relatively deep carpet. This carpet cleaner is a good choice over other models that can only handle short carpets. The unit has very good suction for a carpet cleaner.
The nozzle can be removed for a thorough cleaning, and unlike some vacuum cleaners, it isn’t difficult to clean the nozzle. This is invaluable when you’re cleaning up nasty sticky messes like diarrhea or semi-solid vomit. It works very well even if you clean up multiple messes in one pass.
The Hoover carpet cleaner uses powerful air jets to dry the carpet. That’s useful when you’ve made several passes over an area and want it to dry out as fast as possible to prevent mildew growing in the carpet. Note that you may need to make two passes to pull up the water and cleaning solution you used on a pet mess.
This carpet cleaner has an accessory storage bag to make it easier to store the pet tool for cleaning upholstery or spot cleaning carpets and stairs. However, the vacuum weighs less than twenty pounds, so you could take it up the stairs if needed.

Cons of the Hoover Smartwash Carpet Cleaner

Do not use this on Berber carpet. It will ruin the rug. In fact, this carpet cleaner shouldn’t be used on tall, thick carpets because you cannot adjust the vacuum head height.
Be very careful leaving this carpet cleaner running while sitting in one place. It will leave a lot of water on the floor. The hand tool is even worse in terms of leakage.
If the unit stops working or all the smart technology goes awry, you’ll have trouble getting it serviced under the warranty. Common issues include the brushes suddenly no longer spinning due to a broken belt, rusted non-stainless-steel bearings or sensors that are malfunctioning. The warranty doesn’t cover belts, and replacement belts are hard to find. You can’t replace or repair sensors by yourself. You’ll have an inkling this is the problem if the lights for specific controls go out along with that function. The bearings that are not stainless steel will cause the rollers to move erratically before they finally seize up. This either requires you to disassemble the unit and reassemble with new stainless steel bearings or you have to get it serviced by Hoover. A do-it-yourselfer can snap off the end plates and replace the bearings, but the end result may be uneven performance of the rollers even after repair.

Observations

There are several bundle deals you can buy that include bottles of Hoover brand cleaning solutions. This isn’t always the most economical choice. However, you receive small samples of their pet mess cleaning solutions when you buy just the vacuum cleaner.

You cannot adjust the liquid output or suction based on how dirty the carpets are. That’s disappointing given how smart the unit is supposed to be. For example, it is in wet and solution spray or wet mode when you push forward and in dry mode when you pull backward. If you want two wet passes, you have to push the vacuum over the mess, then turn around and do it again.

There are reports that the unit suddenly starts leaking, though that is rare. If the unit does this, it is after several months of heavy wear. A more common problem is the cap on the cleaning solution tank breaking. It is difficult to find this replacement part without going straight to the manufacturer.

Summary

The Hoover brand Smartwash carpet cleaner is a good choice for pet owners who want to have a quick working carpet cleaner that’s easy to sterilize. It is perfect for taking care of sticky, gooey pet messes that require a detailed cleaning of the carpet cleaner afterward. Its strong suction and wet/dry modes allow you get things as clean as possible as quickly as possible.