Product Description

• Rapide XL Pre-treatment Carpet Washer
• Washes Carpets and Upholstery
• Pre-treatment Applicator and Solution - Revitalise High Traffic Areas and Remove Stubborn Stains
• Extra Long 4.2m Stretch Hose
• On-board Wash Tool & Hose
• Two-contra Rotating Brushbars Agitate Deep into Carpet Fibres to Lift Dirt and Stains
• Auto Mix Cleaning System
• Large 4.0 Litre Clean Water Tank and 3.7 Litre Dirty Water Tank
• Powerful Motor Helps Carpets to Dry Quickly
• Easy to Fill, Empty, Use and Store
• Includes 750ml Vax AAA Carpet Cleaner

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #33920 in Kitchen & Housewares
• Brand: Vax
• Model: 1-1-126208-00

Customer Reviews

doe's it work
this cleaner is superb i was a bit sceptical at first have hired cleaners in the past and not been impressed so this time thought we would purchase one, it cleans very well and worth the money

VAX RAPIDE XL PRE TREATMENT CARPET WASHER
Excellent product, quite heavy to carry up stairs, but does a great job. Cleans carpets, chairs, stairs and even did my car seats today with the attachment. Excellent buy,

Gets The Dirty Job Done Very Nicely
I've owned several budget carpet cleaners in the past and each got the job done with persistence and occasional creativity. The Vax V-027M Rapide XL (made in China) is the most expensive purchased, so what makes it worth that extra money. The all plastic construction is certainly not impressive. The large plastic handle is perhaps a bit more robust then budget models, but certainly won't withstand heavy abuse. In fact, nothing on the machine would likely withstand any great abuse. But, with reasonable care, the carpet cleaner should last and serve well.

Perhaps features will justify the extra expense. The list of features, including large tanks, long power cord (25-feet / 7.2-meter), long wand hose (14-feet / 4.2-meter), dual brushes rotating in opposite directions ("contra-rotating") to work the carpet, dual extraction nozzles (dual channel front air path) to suck up dirty water, pre-treatment wand, and moderate 750-watt motor, are certainly impressive. However, the ultimate proof is in how well it cleans.

The cleaner itself is fairly heavy. While weight is obviously needed to ensure good contact between the suction nozzles and carpet, a smaller person will exert considerable effort to carry it around or up stairs. Even getting it out of the box was a bit of a strain.

Assembly was easy enough. The handle attached with two screws and two bolts (phillips screwdriver). A small, self-adhesive, cosmetic faceplate covered the two bolts. Everything else was already assembled. The manual was a bit vague about where and how to store the accessories and hoses, but any method which stays on is probably good enough.

To use on the continent, had to replace the British plug with a Euro plug. Mine came with small paper card on the British plug describing the wiring layout. In essence, the green or green & yellow wire is used for ground (the outside pins on the Euro plug) and the blue or black wire and brown or red wire for the two leads (the two main pins on the Euro plug).

Filling the tanks was straightforward. The manual recommended using moderately hot water (40°C / 104°F max) in the clean water tank to help cut through grime in the carpets. The manual also said the solution tank holds enough cleaning liquid to last through about four clean water tanks. The solution tank can be filled while installed, but I recommend removal since spills can be a hassle to clean up. As the manual explained, the solution tank removes by pulling out the rubber hose on top and lifting the tank up and out.

The same tank is used for the pre-treatment solution and cleaning solution. Evidently one is supposed to fill the tank with pre-treatment solution for that process and then removes any excess pre-treatment solution to fill with cleaning solution afterwards. To avoid that hassle, I opted for a separate small pressure sprayer (cheap at hardware stores) for pre-treatment and returned the pre-treatment wand to the box.

There are four controls in the handle. The main power switch on top turns the suction motor on. The brush and soap switches are located just below. The soap can be turned off to rinse the carpets with just water. The brushes can be turned off when using hose attachments. Both can be turned off for just water extraction. Finally, a trigger under the handle dispenses water and solution into the carpets. All of these are electronic switches instead of mechnical arms or devices.

The first task was to clean two large rooms in our new apartment (great except the carpet). While I knew the machine was heavy, it actually turned out to be much heavier than expected. The beasty, filled with water and liquids, took real effort to maneuver while cleaning, fatiguing both arms (alternating back & forth) after only a few minutes. But, with frequent breaks, was finally able to finish those two rooms.

That weight, ensuring good contact between the carpet and suction nozzles, evidently paid off since the machine sucked up an incredible amount of dirt & grime from my very short nap carpet. The cleaning solution tank lasted about as long as the manual suggested (roughly four clean water tanks). We used an entire 750ml bottle of solution, but put down a lot of liquid (roughly nine clean water tanks) to clean the extra dirty carpet. That amount of solution, with normal cleaning, would have likely lasted through two or three additional rooms.

So how well did the Vax V-027M Rapide XL actually clean? The last tenants were real slobs. There were several large areas where sticky liquids had spilled (nearly black from dirt stuck to the residue), many smaller spots from obvious food spills, doorways and pathways nearly black from dirt tracked from outside, two or three areas where someone attempted to use a spot remover, and more. In other words, the carpet was a real mess. Nearly all of that came up much better than expected. The carpet, without dirt, also appears several shades lighter in colour. Overall, the carpet doesn't look brand new (might improve even more with the next cleaning), but it certainly doesn't look filthy anymore either. Given that, I'm very satisfied with this purchase of the Vax V-027M Rapide XL.