VAX V-035

The Vax V-035 is a lightweight hand held carpet cleaning device. It is designed to be quick and easy to use so small areas can be cleaned quickly before whatever was spilled or trodden in has chance to dry and set.

It is compact with a cleaning path of approximately 4 inches and weighs 2.9 kg (around 6 lb) in weight. It isn’t meant to clean large swathes or whole carpets but is a spot scrubber for upholstery as well as carpets.
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• When emptying the Vax shouldn’t be upright as water obviously won’t do the motor any good and it should be rinsed out before putting away.

The cord is a good size 8 m and stores neatly with a cord wrap holding it in place. The filter does need washing out periodically but this isn’t a major task either.

It will be supplied with a small trial size 118 ml of Vax basic AAA cleaning solution but Vax do a range ... more

The Vax V-035 is a lightweight hand held carpet cleaning device. It is designed to be quick and easy to use so small areas can be cleaned quickly before whatever was spilled or trodden in has chance to dry and set.

It is compact with a cleaning path of approximately 4 inches and weighs 2.9 kg (around 6 lb) in weight. It isn’t meant to clean large swathes or whole carpets but is a spot scrubber for upholstery as well as carpets.

It has a rotating brush which is powered by a 200 w motor; the bristles are in a circular pattern rather than along a bar like vacuum cleaners. The brush is medium soft so it won’t damage fabrics or cause pilling of wool carpets and can be used safely on all but the most delicate of upholstery fabrics, dry clean only or materials with special finishes…although its unlikely any one would consider using a powered wet cleaner on fabrics like these and it does warn about not overworking an area of fabric. I suppose even a relatively soft brush is pressed too hard and used too much on the same area can damage material. All wet cleaners suggest testing a small out of sight area for colour fastness prior to use in visible areas which is obviously a good idea.

There are separate containers for clean liquid (warm water not hotter than 40 degrees C plus 15 ml of cleaning solution) and for dirty liquids (the grimy stuff that’s sucked back out.) The clean compartment holds 200 ml and the dirty holds 600 ml which is generally adequate for most spills. The containers themselves slide in place and latch securely; the dirty container at the bottom and the clean at the top. The containers are transparent but they aren’t clear so you don’t see the grime until you empty it… which is always good in front of guests! They don’t leak- unless the dirty water container gets overfull so don’t expect it to suck up the contents of a wine bottle, after all it does only hold 600 ml.

It has an integrated handle which enable you to hold it securely and is easy to use with a minimum of controls:
• You fill it up; secure the latches and the clean reservoir cap,
• Plug it in
• Switch it on,
• Turn the vacuum/scrub selector to vacuum-removing as much liquid as possible,
• Press the spray trigger to cover the affected area-allow the cleaning solution to penetrate for a couple of minutes
• Turn the vacuum/scrub selector to scrub and use the rotating brush in a backwards and forwards motion using steady strokes.
• Turn the knob back to vacuum and pick up as much remaining moisture as possible.
• When the dirty tank is full the motor noise changes as an air valve shuts off so it’s very difficult to actually make this machine leak
• When emptying the Vax shouldn’t be upright as water obviously won’t do the motor any good and it should be rinsed out before putting away.

The cord is a good size 8 m and stores neatly with a cord wrap holding it in place. The filter does need washing out periodically but this isn’t a major task either.

It will be supplied with a small trial size 118 ml of Vax basic AAA cleaning solution but Vax do a range of suitable cleaners in the AAA range: spring solution; for homes with pet’s solution and anti-tobacco solution ( by the way have we all stopped smoking yet?). These come in 750 ml and 1.5 litre containers. They recommend that you don’t use other brands of carpet cleaner but don’t they all say that…

You can also use it for dry spills such as crumbs if you don’t have a handheld vacuum

There are a variety of the usual rather trite and insulting warnings such as never poke sharp objects into it, not to be used as a toy, unplug when not in use, do not use if damaged, do not handle with wet hands, don’t use it to pick up petrol or other flammable liquids, don’t trip over it, keep hair and fingers out of moving parts and so on but at least it doesn’t contain nuts.

These little spot scrubbers are around £25 - £35 depending on where you purchase and I have found mine to be pretty useful. I keep it in the kitchen so its handy and once you’re used to putting it together it only takes a minute to fill it up and you’re ready to roll. One thing I do that they don’t recommend is once you’ve sucked up as much liquid as possible instead of going straight onto spraying I put a couple of thicknesses of kitchen roll on top of it and press down hard, this gets up even more of the spill.

its quite possibly worth mentioning always use cold water on blood and this is true of any fabric even clothing, its even better if you dissolve a teaspoon of salt in cold water... just never use warm or hot, it just sets the blood making it much harder to remove. 

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