If you are a parent, then at some point you will have had to deal with the 3 “P’s” (Pee, Puke and Poo) whilst your children are growing up.
Children are not fussy where they do these things and there have been numerous times they have seemingly climbed onto my lap for a cuddle and then exploded.
It is during these time of illness that carpets and soft furnishings will be in need of revitalising to rid them of finger marks, food stains and unmentionable stains!
Now that Christmas is over and the decorations are down, now is the time to move things around and refresh your home and we were sent the VAX Platinum Power MAX Carpet Cleaner to try out.
The Platinum Power MAX is VAX’s best carpet washer, proven to clean better than the leading rental and has a Which? Best Buy accolade under its belt, but how does it perform in a real house?
First of all, you need to unpack the box and perform some light assembly. The instruction manual is clear and concise, with both images and text that show you how the machine clicks together.
I have to admit that I was slightly concerned at the amount of plastic packaging inside the box that held all the individual tools, as we are trying to cut down on our plastic usage.
Once assembled the machine is slightly wider and thicker than my vacuum cleaner, but certainly not huge, like carpet washers used to be and the hose attachments come in a handy fabric storage bag, which makes it easier to keep them all in one place.
The first thing that struck me about the cleaner is how light it was, even when filled with water.
You fill chamber at the top with warm water and add 40ml of carpet cleaning solution to the other side. The chamber can be filled with a jug, or is removable so you can fill from a tap.
There is a handle release pedal and a further pedal controlling the power of the machine at the rear of the Power Max. Simply press down with your foot and you are ready to go, just like a traditional vacuum cleaner.
There are three modes to choose from: Quick clean, deep clean and rinse. Our cream rug was so badly stained that I wanted to throw it out, so we opted for the deep clean mode and treated the rug with a pre-treatment spray first. Carpet cleaners are historically heavy and cumbersome, but this was light to push, even on its highest setting.
As you push the machine forwards, press down on the trigger to release the water and cleaning solution. As you pull back, release the trigger and the machine sucks up the dirty water which is collected in a second chamber at the bottom of the VAX. Having twin tanks on the VAX Platinum Power Max ensures the clean and dirty water is kept separate and both are easy to remove to empty and fill.
For stairs and upholstery there is a spin scrub tool which attaches to the front of the machine and impressively managed to stretch all the way up our stairs.
The tool sprays carpet cleaning solution into the carpet with a similar trigger system and then the brushes on the underside spin and work the solution into the stain while a powerful vacuum element sucks the dirty water out again. We did find that we needed to use it at an angle on the stairs as the spray only reached the middle point of the tread at a vertical angle.
VAX claims carpets should be dry in an hour, however we found that two to three hours is probably more realistic, especially at this time of year. The rinse mode can be used to help pull even more moisture out of the carpets after cleaning though, which may make the drying time faster.
Also in the box is 1 x 250ml pre-treatment solution, 2 x 250ml platinum solution, Upholstery cleaning tool, Hard-floor tool and a Pre-Treatment wand, which allows you to spray a jet of cleaning solution directly onto a stubborn stain before cleaning your carpet.
All in all we are very impressed with the carpet cleaner. It has brought up the rug in my lounge beautifully and made light work of the carpet on the stairs and bedrooms, leaving them smelling clean and fresh. I am looking forward to testing the hard floor tool next!
The VAX Platinum Power Max has an RRP of £249 and is available directly from VAX and currently comes with a free steam cleaner worth £69.99.
Ooooh, our carpets are awful! Charlie dropped paint on one that I just can’t get out! I think I need this!
This looks great I think we need to invest in one of these as our carpets look a bit grubby off the kids even though they are only a couple of years old as they are always spilling things x
This is just what I need, I have cats which make the carpets end up smelling, so its great to know it leaves carpets smelling fresher.
I desperately need a decent tool to clean the stains on my beautiful sofa. Anytime I do it manually, I just make it look worse and worse. I think that 250 pounds for a good and light carpet cleaner is a great price.
This looks fab! We moved into a house with carpets 6 months ago and before then we’d only ever had wooden flooring. My fella and I have been talking about getting a carpet cleaner. This might be one to consider. x
I have been thinking about getting a carpet cleaner since we moved in 2 years ago. We cant afford to replace our bedroom carpet so this looks like it would be a good investment! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
It’s great to see how easy this is to use. I’ve previously rented one of those cumbersome machines from a DIY store and it was such a faff to use.
This looks really good! We have a Rug Doctor so would be interesting to compare and see how this product fairs. Our carpets need a massive clean!
Would be perfect with a hand-held element. Even still, we need something this good to blitz the floors before we sell the house.
Our carpets need a really good clean (cream coloured carpet and kids do not go well together!) but I’ve been putting off doing anything about it because of the faff that it seems to be. However I love that this looks light and easy to use – and the separate tanks for clean and dirty water is a great idea. It’s such a shame about the amount of plastic packaging though – we’re also trying to cut down, and I think so many companies are underestimating how passionate people are about this.
I can’t tel you how much I love a new hoover, I think a carpet cleaner would have me off the scale!
Sounds like a great bit of kit x
This sounds amazing. I have a rug which desperately needs cleaning and this would work wonders I’m sure!
Ooooh, I would find this so satisfying to use. We have hired a carpet cleaner before but it was very bulky, this one sounds like a great option.
What a great idea- so much better than the traditional carpet cleaners. It’s a good middle ground to keep carpets clean for sure and like you said not that much bigger than a vacuum. Thanks for sharing
Oh this looks great!
I have a bad carpet cleaner, but I’ve had it for years and this would be a serious upgrade. Mine hasn’t got a pull out attachment thingy.
I shall look this up, as my cleaning game is strong at the mo!
Having a rented home with cream carpets (eeeep!) keeping them clean is a nightmare, I definitely need to invest in a carpet shampoo’er
This sounds like a great carpet cleaner – my carpets really could do with a clean so I definitely need to try a machine like this.
We really need to clean our carpets although I was putting it off until the Spring. It is interesting in what you are saying about it taking 2-3 hours. That is actually a lot less than I was thinking, maybe I should look into this and get them done before we get busy!
My dad has an older model Vax carpet cleaner and I’m obsessed with how dirty thst water is when you clean just one room, it is mad! His is, like you say, quite heavy and bulky so it’s nice to know that they are now lighter and more easy to manage. I will be looking into getting one when we move house in February.
Our carpets need a good clean, so I will look in to this. Though thankfully my husband deals with anything puke related!
We have been considering this carpet cleaner and now are convinced we should buy it.
I really need one of these!! My living room carpet really needs cleaning and I can’t afford to buy a new carpet
It is interesting in what you are saying about it taking 2-3 hours. That is actually a lot less than I was thinking, maybe I should look into this and get them done before we get busy!
These are some great tips! And you’ve got it right; it makes a massive difference. Choosing the right Steam Cleaner For Mattress can be pretty tricky, but this guide made it a lot simpler! Thank you so much for writing; this was helpful!
Can anyone compare the Vax to a Rug Doctor that I can rent at Tesco? Which is better? I hate storing a Vax to only use it once a year.
Can you just use this Vax Platinimum Power Max just as a hoover?
No, unfortunately not
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