I've been the owner of a Vax SpotWash spot cleaner for about four years now and in my opinion it's one of the best spot cleaners you can buy. This trusty (and reasonably priced) cleaner has successfully dealt with common household spillages like coffee and make-up, children's vomit stains, dog pee stains and it even helped me remove some slime that was deeply embed in my daughter's carpet!
It's saved me from buying numerous carpet cleaning products to tackle various stains, plus its brilliant at giving an overall clean to grubby carpets, tiled floors and upholstery!
After some very messy and dusty house renovations, I used this spot cleaner to bring my dust-coated sofas back to life. I genuinely thought they were they were destined for the rubbish dump but after a good going over with the Vax SpotWash they were as good as new!
This review of the Vax Spot Wash will cover the setup of the machine and steps needed to begin the cleaning process. I will also test the stain removing performance of the Vax SpotWash by adding a number of household stains to a piece of carpet and seeing how well the spot cleaner removes these spillages.
I'll also explain how to connect the nozzle to the back of the machine in order to use the self-cleaning mode.
Pros
- Budget-friendly option with solid performance
- Smaller and more compact than other models, making it easy to store
- Self-clean function flushes out dirt and debris, keeping it hygienic
- Includes a hard-floor attachment for cleaning wood and tile floors
- Versatile enough to handle stains and give an overall clean to carpets and upholstery
Cons
- Feels slightly less powerful compared to more premium models
- Smaller tanks means more frequent refills during larger cleaning tasks
- Position of the fill hole could be better. Quite hard to gauge measurement of cleaning fluid to water.
Setting up
The Vax SpotWash is incredibly easy to setup and start using. It comes pretty much assembled with the main body, two cleaning chambers that slot into both sides, a hose and nozzle and two different brush attachments, one to use on carpets and upholstery and the other for hard floors.
The cord is a generous 4.5m designed to stretch up a standard staircase and can be easily wound up at the back of the machine, with the plug clipping to the cord nicely.
It also comes with a 250ml bottle of Vax Cleaning Solution. It is recommended that you only use this cleaning solution with your machine. I have used mine up but you can buy a larger 1 litre bottle from Amazon for around £9.99. This is a bit pricey but to be honest unless you're doing big cleans like whole carpets you'll only need a little of the solution so it can last quite a long time.
The Vax SpotWash also features has a good safety feature in the form of a splash proof on/off button right at the top of the machine and has a self-cleaning mode which I will explain in more detail below.
Cleaning with the Vax SpotWash
To fill up the clean water tank of your machine you simply press down the button at the top and pull out the tank. You will notice that are several markings on the back on the tank which indicate how much water and cleaning fluid you'll need. If you're only doing a small spot clean then fill your machine according to the 'small surface area' indicator. If you're going to clean a larger area like a whole carpet then fill your tank up the 'larger surface area'.
My only gripe with this machine is that it's hard to be accurate with when filling the tank as the fill hole is positioned on the side of the tank so you have to tilt it to fill it under the tap and this means you can't see how much you've filled it until you hold it straight again. It would be better if the fill hole was positioned on the top of the tank.
Once you've filled your tank to the desired level you simply need to clip it back in place. The next step is to attach whichever nozzle you need. Then turn your machine on.
If you're targeting a stain, it's advised that you spray the stain using the hose and leave it for 10 minutes. Then place the nozzle over stain and start to agitate it by moving it up and down. This should lift some of the stain and any debris. Then push the nozzle down and slowly move over the stain so that the machine sucks up the excess water and cleaning solution. If you can still see the stain simply repeat the process again.
For cleaning and refreshing a whole carpet, you can remove the brush and simply soak the carpet with the spray and them suck up the dirty liquid. This will give your carpet an overall clean and remove and dirt and dust that may be discolouring it.
What I love the most about about this cleaner is that the suction nozzle is clear and see-through so you can see the dirty water that machines sucks up and when it starts to run clear you'll know it's clean.
Stain testing the Vax SpotWash
Although I've used the Vax SpotWash in the past to remove a number of stains from my house and furniture I wanted to really put it to the test so I dirtied a sample of carpet with some of the toughest household stains. Below you'll see I stained the carpet with ketchup, black coffee, jam and blue eyeshadow!
To test the Vax SpotWash to the max I left these stains to dry out in the sun for two hours so they were fully dried in and not fresh.
I made sure to spray each stain with the water and cleaning solution first and left it for 10 minutes to soak in. Then I used the nozzle to agitate the stain and sucked up the dirty water. Most stains required me to do this process at least twice, the ketchup and coffee needed this doing three times.
To my surprise the Vax SpotWash made light work of all the stains! Some stains needed slightly more rubbing and scrubbing than others. The blue eyeshadow was the only one that you could still see a slight mark of blue in certain lights. I think this is because I really worked the powder into the fibres of the carpet. Overall I was really impressed with how well it removed all the stains.
One thing to be aware of when cleaning carpets with the cleaning brush is that if you have a looped carpet fibres like I do, the brush will pull the fibres out as you agitate the stain and leave a sort of frizz of carpet fibres behind. This isn't ideal but over time it becomes less noticable and if it really bugs you can always try trimming off the excess carpet fibres with scissors.
Using the self-cleaning function
The Vax SpotWash features a handy self-cleaning function that clears any debris from the hose safely and quickly. To use you simply remove the nozzle head as shown above and them insert it into the back of the machine as shown above. Make sure the clean water tank is filled with just a few inches of clean water. Then turn on for for a few minutes.
Cleaning stairs and upholstery
The Vax SpotWash is perfect for cleaning stairs as not only is the cord long enough to stretch up a standard sized staircase but the machine itself fits perfectly on a stair, meaning you don't need to carry it. It's incredibly light, but this clever design certainly makes refreshing your stairs that bit easier.
It's also great at cleaning upholstery- whether you're spot cleaning a stain or refreshing the whole thing. Just be aware that if your furniture fabric is delicate remove the brush first as this could damage the fibres.
Cleaning the Vax SpotWash
As strange as it sounds I love seeing all the dirty water in the tank after a good clean! It's great to see all the grime that's been removed. To remove the dirty water tank you simply press the button on top and pull it out. There's a red clip on the back that releases the lid allowing you get full access to the tank and properly rinse it out under the tap.
Final verdict
I'm a huge fan of the Vax SpotWash spot cleaner for a number of reason. Firstly, I think it's great value for money. For around £80 you get an easy-to-use carpet, hard floor and upholstery cleaner that can tackle the most stubborn stains with ease. In my experience the Vax SpotWash has more than paid for itself after removing embedded slime from my carpet, refreshing a dust coated sofa that I thought was destined for the tip. It's also been great at cleaning my kids mattresses after they've had a sickness bug!
I'm yet to find a stain it can't remove!
It's also fairly compact so can be stored in a cupboard when not in use. It's also incredibly light so doesn't give me backache when using on the stairs or around the house. This is a such a versatile cleaner, it can be used to scrub tile floors, car upholstery, chairs, mattresses, carpets, dog beds, stairs and sofas.
If I had to find any fault with it I'd say it is quite loud when in use. This was only really a problem when cleaning my daughter's bedroom after she had a middle of the night sick accident. It pretty much woke up the whole house! And as mentioned above the positioning of the fill hole for the clean water tank would be better placed on the top rather than on the side.
Overall I would 100% recommend this cleaner for its excellent performance, versatility, ease of use and value for money.
Claire Tapley is a digital editor for Yours.co.uk. She is a journalist with over 16 years' experience writing for women over 50. She is extremely passionate about all things health related, specifically fitness and healthy eating. She has a huge amount of knowledge on all areas that interest women over 50 including health, wellbeing, finance, food, tech, beauty and fashion.