Kitchen & Housewares : Vax V-026 Rapide Deluxe Carpet Washer

Rating: - Read and make up your own mind
I purchased the Vax V-026 Rapide Deluxe Carpet Washer in Sept 2007. In June 2008 I used it for the first time to clean liv/din room carpet.The carpet is a very light fawn it had no marks on it and i only cleaned it to freshen it up. The result was very good and I was well pleased The second time it was used to remove a spillage, the filter fell to pieces so I had to buy a new pack, I fitted the new filter and after 20 minuets the motor blew up leaving a black dust deposit on the carpet. It has now been with VAX appointed local service agent for five weeks and still no sign of a new motor from Vax. I sent Vax an e-mail today saying sort it out or send a replacement machine, I'll wait and see what happens.
Chris Jones

7/11/08
Hi
Finally got my vav cleaner fixed after seven weeks,in the end i had to return it too vax who fitted new motor. It appears that Vax are holding onto their motors for their own repairs, thats why the agents can't get them. I found this a bad experience and i hope nothing else goes wrong as it's guarantee has now expired.
Chris Jones

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Rating: - Do not buy for £150
I have had my Vax Rapide Deluxe for a few months now and after using it a few times a problem developed. The small float inside the water collector became too sensitive and would shut the vacuum suction after a few seconds turning the machine on. It is only supposed to do this when the water collector is about 2/3 rds full. This is quite a bad design fault and I am guessing that the people who have written decent reviews may encounter this problem before too long. I have turned the filter inside out and this has made the float less sensitive. However I would urge anyone not to buy this for more than £100. It's simply not worth it.

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Rating: - Don't regret buying this...
Despite some of the negative comments about this product I took the plunge (although not bought at Amazon, I needed something this weekend). Assembly was very straightforward, and yes you have to screw some things together but it's hardly what I'd call complicated (4 screws in total). In all it took me about 5-10 mins to put it all together ready for use.

The dirty water tank is in the lower part (in the base) with the clean water/detergent in the white tank attached to the main handle. Both go on and off very easily, and it was quick and straightforward to empty the dirty water and refill the clean tank.

Yes the capacity is not huge (as some others have complained about in their reviews), but at the end of the day the design is just a series of trade-offs. Vax could have put bigger water tanks on the product, and no doubt the very same reviewers would be complaining that the product is too big or too heavy to move around.

In my opinion they got it just about right - it's small and portable and the tank capacity gives a reasonable amount of cleaning time before you need to refill or empty the waste water. I don't find this a problem - after all, it's not like you wash your carpets every weekend is it!

When you switch it on the machine is noisy as others have said. Again, I think this comes down to trade-offs. They could have included a better quality (quieter) motor but at a higher price and probably more weight. I put ear-plugs in whilst using it and it wasn't a problem. For a machine that I'll only use once in a while I'd rather pay less and put up with earplugs.

Performance wise I was very pleased with the results. We have old carpets (10+ years) and in that time we have always had dogs, so the carpets are well used and get quite soiled. No only that, but we've just taken in a new puppy, whose toilet training is not what I'd call perfect just yet. I wasn't expecting miracles, but could certainly see a difference after just one cleaning session. The detergent also freshens up the carpets.

In use I found the machine easy, quick and simple. As another reviewer suggested, I took the dirty water tank to the toilet and was shocked at how dirty the waste water was. Not only that, but in use the washer pulled up much more dog-hair than our normal vacuum cleaner manages - unfortunately some of this got deposited as little "fur-balls" on the carpet rather than being sucked up, but it was easy to pick these clumps up by hand.

So all in all I'm very pleased with my purchase. I wanted something that was quick and simple to use, and I think the Rapide Deluxe delivers on this.

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Rating: - Love it
I bought this on ebay and got 24 delivery it arrived about 1.5 hours ago I have just finished cleaning my diningroom carpet with it.

Puttin it together - i managed it ok just 4 screws and a bit of fiddling

ease of use - so far simple, they seem to have kept the design so that there is not alot to go wrong.

Does it work - I have just done a patterned carpet that ranges from beige to deep red and I can now see all the colours. I had lost most of them to the mud bought in by my 2 dogs and my mothers wheelchair etc (not sure who is worse her or the dogs!!!) Bearing in mind I have only just finished the carpet is easily dry enough to walk on, looking forward to going the other carpets and this is so easy to use I am hoping to keep the dirt down rather than letting it build up.

I read reviews last night whilst waiting for it to come and thought OH god what have I done but now I have had a go i am so chuffed I went with it. It works for me that what its all about easy to use and store full marks

Hope this helps

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Rating: - CLEANED MY CARPET BEAUTIFULLY
I, LIKE MANY OTHER PEOPLE, WAS CONCERNED ABOUT PARTING WITH MY CASH FOR THIS ITEM WHEN IT HAD MIXED REVIEWS BUT I TOOK THE PLUNGE AND I'M SO GLAD I DID! WE LIVE IN A RENTED HOUSE AND THE CARPETS WERE STARTING TO GET DIRTY AND I THOUGHT THAT BY THE TIME I HAD HIRED A CARPET CLEANER AND BOUGHT THE SHAMPOO ETC IT WAS CERTAINLY WORTH A TRY TO OWN MY OWN - WITH 3 CHILDREN UNDER 7 I KNEW I WOULD USE IT!! i TOOK ONLY A FEW MINUTES TO ASSEMBLE AND OFF I WENT. CARPET CAME UP REALLY WELL AND I'M ABOUT OT EMBARK ON AN EPIC MISSION TO DO THE REST OF THE ROOMS!! ONLY DOWNSIDE IS THE NOISE BUT ITS NOT THAT BAD AND YOU SOON GET USED TO IT. BUY ONE - THEY ARE A BARGAIN PRICE AND YOU WON'T REGRET IT