Since family was coming to visit this week, I finally unboxed my new carpet cleaner and put it to work. After some initial disgruntlement, I decided it works pretty well.
My primary complaint is the user guide. My unit appeared to be one that had been returned by a previous customer, as none of the attachments were in their little plastic bags. Consequently, I wanted to verify I had all the parts. No parts list in the user guide. Instead, the list was printed on one of the inside flaps of the box, something I noticed only when I was dragging the box out to the garage. Also, the diagrams in the user guide were too small and dark to reveal much detail. And the instructions seemed to be in an odd order; for example, the optional step of rinsing the carpet didn't appear until the end of the "clean up" section.
I tested the unit on some carpet remnants, which probably was not the best idea because the cleaner has rotating brushes and it was difficult to maneuver on the remnants without catching the edges with the brushes. However, they did get clean.
After a day of rest, I tackled the hall, most of the living room, and part of the dining room carpet, all wall-to-wall. This worked better, much like vacuuming but with a really heavy vacuum. I chose to perform the rinsing step, and then I also tried sucking up more water by running the unit without any water in it, which did not make much difference. The carpeting was dry by the next day.
Even though I had cleaned the carpets after the remodeling was complete, I was gratified and amazed to see how much *more* dirt the cleaner picked up. (I have a feeling carpet cleaning is like brushing a cat - no matter how long or how often you do it, there is always more hair.) The brushes fluffed the pile some, making the carpeting look newish again. I would recommend pre-treating stains, however, so they come out with one or two passes. All in all, I am satisfied.
