Amazon knocks £150 off carpet cleaner that rescued my floors

When we moved into our new home last year, there was a daunting amount of work to be done. Living in a period property in need of a lot of TLC, new carpets, while high on the wishlist, were far from a priority as we needed to save money for structural repairs. 

With a little one on the way, nesting instincts and the urge to scrub everything to within an inch of its life had well and truly kicked in. That’s when I decided to give them a once-over with our beloved Vax Platinum Smartwash. We received it as a wedding gift a couple of years ago and used it in our previous newbuild home to keep the carpets looking fresh – but how would it fare with decades-old, once-cream carpets? 

The Vax Platinum Smartwash promises “powerful deep cleaning and removes over 99% of bacteria” – music to my hormonal ears as I had been desperate to sanitise the carpet before tiny hands and feet started crawling on it. A leaking roof had left this particular carpet with black mould spots, which I feared would mean an expensive trip to our local carpet shop for replacement.

Three full tanks of dirty water later, the results were remarkable. The included VAX Platinum Antibacterial Solution, which promises to “remove over 99 per cent of odour-causing bacteria,”  left a fresh, clean scent without being overpowering. 

Most importantly, it made quick work of the dreaded mould spots. According to Vax, this is thanks to the Platinum Smartwash’s “advanced FlexForce Brushbars with flexible bristles” which penetrate deep into carpet fibres, helping remove stains, dirt and grime.

The unit itself is really easy to use – simply push forward to wash the carpet with an automatically mixed solution of detergent and water, and pull back to dry. Vax’s Heatblast Technology combines hot air and powerful extraction promises to dry carpets in as little as one hour. As I might have gone slightly overboard due to how heavily soiled it was – pulling three tanks of dirty water out of the carpet – I was surprised how quickly it was dry enough to walk on after washing. If you do manage to find yourself in a similar situation, you can set the unti to dry only, to avoid accidentally adding more water to the carpet as you’re trying to dry it – a very useful feature. 

It also comes with an integrated pre-treatment wand integrated with Vax’s Pre-Treatment Solution to loosen stubborn stains and embedded dirt prior to carpet cleaning, while the motorised SpinScrub Hand Tool, 2.5m Hose and 2-in-1 Wash Tool, you can effectively clean stubborn spots or stains from around your home including stairs, upholstery, rugs, pet beds and car interiors.

While the Platinum Smartwash did an excellent job of cleaning up the carpet, the only drawback for me was that it is rather heavy to move around, making it quite a laborious job.

In a similar price range, the Shark CarpetXpert Deep Clean Carpet Cleaner with Built-In Stain & Spot Remover has more than 500 five-star reviews on Amazon, coming in at £299. One shopper praised its ability to remove stains, writing: “It worked brilliantly on a large soot stain on new cream carpet.”

Meanwhile, Rug Doctor TruDeep Upright Carpet Cleaner is available for £350 at Argos. Using powerful dual-cross brushes, this machine is designed to clean carpets in a single pass. Reviewing the Rug Doctor, one happy customer wrote: “Bought this for an office building. Really pulls the dirt out of the carpets. Quite heavy to use but simple to operate. Definitely recommend.”

The Vax Platinum Smartwash usually retails at £350, but is currently available at Amazon for £199 – a saving of 43%.