Vax SpinScrub Power Plus Review: Powerful cleaning

Verdict

A relatively compact carpet cleaner, the Vax SpinScrub Power Plus uses innovative rotating SpinSrub brushes to dig deep into stains and agitate dirt. Its large cleaning tank gives plenty of range and reduces the number of refills you need, while automated detergent mixing reduces detergent wastage.

Great for most household carpet and furniture stains, the Vax SpinScrub Power Plus also has handheld tools for spot jobs or for extra focus. It’s a touch loud, but this well-priced carpet cleaner is great for everyday carpet cleaning.

Introduction

With its extra-large tanks and rotating SpinScrub brushes, the Vax SpinScrub Power Plus is designed to make it simple and fast to clean all of your home’s carpets. It even has a hose and handheld tools for tackling spot jobs and upholstery.

Those who need more handheld tools or prefer automatic dosing of solution may prefer another tool, but this one is a great cleaner for everyday jobs.

Design and features

• SpinScrub rotating brushes
• Handheld tools for spot jobs
• Mixes detergent automatically

The Vax SpinScrub Power Plus comes in two versions. The Plus version that I have comes with the handheld SpinScrub tool for dealing with tough stains; the standard version comes with the upholstery tool only. I’m a big fan of the SpinScrub tool, as its spinning brushes make it easy to lift up tough stains, and this version is only £10 more expensive than the standard one. Otherwise, both products are the same.

The Vax SpinScrub Power Plus looks much like Vax’s other carpet cleaners. At 8.9kg, it’s quite chunky, but then you need some bulk to press down on the carpet. And, this is only a device that you need to carry to an area, after which it stays firmly on the floor.

This particular model is quite compact, measuring just 108 x 30 x 44cm (HxWxD). That means that the floor head is a touch narrower than on some rival models, which may mean it takes longer to clean a large area. The flip side is that the Vax SpinScrub Power Plus can squeeze into areas other cleaners can’t, and it’s a bit easier to store.

To help, the power cord wraps around the back to stay out of the way, and Vax provides an accessory bag for the tools.

This model has a huge 4.5-litre clean water tank, which is around one litre larger than on previous machines that I’ve seen from Vax, such as the VAX Platinum SmartWash Pet-Design. That means longer cleaning times before having to refill. The water tank lifts off the top and should be filled with warm water from the tap (maximum of 40°C).

There’s then a 3-litre tank for dirty water, which has a float inside that cuts off suction once the max line has been reached. There’s a mismatch in tank sizes, but because some water remains in the carpets, it does work out that the dirty tank needs to be emptied roughly every time the clean tank is filled.

It’s nice to see a separate tank for the detergent, with the Vax SpinScrub Power Plus mixing the detergent with fresh water at the right ratio. That saves any fiddly set-up job, and means that any left-over solution can be poured back into the bottle.

Vax provides a 250ml bottle of its Platinum Antibacterial Solution, with 1.5-litre replacements available for £24.99 and 4-litre bottles for £44.99. You should use Vax’s own solution, as the carpet cleaner is designed specifically for this solution.

Underneath, the Vax SpinScrub Power Plus has a different floor head to normal. Most carpet cleaners have a rotating brush bar, but this model has five SpinScrub heads that rotate to agitate dirt.

Just be careful using this and don’t leave the unit stationary while turned on, as the SpinScrub heads can leave a mark behind on carpets. In the case below, a few brushes sorted it out, but I wouldn’t hold the carpet cleaner over an area.

Using the Vax SpinScrub Power Plus couldn’t be easier. Once the tanks are filled, there’s a foot-operated power button to turn the machine on, and a dial to select whether you want a Quick Clean or a Deep Clean. The difference is in how much water and detergent is used, with Quick Clean able to give a refresh and have carpets dry in an hour; the Deep Clean is for when you need to tackle bigger stains.

A foot pedal releases the handle, which then tilts back and starts the SpinScrub heads moving.

This particular carpet washer doesn’t automatically dose solution. Instead, there’s a trigger at the top, which Vax says you should use on a forward stroke, using a backward stroke to suck up water and stains. Additional strokes can be used to help dry out carpets. The system works well, but the manual operation means it is easy to overdose an area; with cleaners that dispense on a forward stroke, and suck on a backwards stroke, you get more even detergent dosing.

At the top of the dirty water tank is a clear strip, so I could see if dirty water was being sucked up. I normally stop the carpet cleaner once I hit the point where no more moisture is coming up, as that’s usually the point where the carpet is as dry as it will get.

You can also see dirty water from the front, as the floor head has a clear plastic shield.

Just make sure that the dirty tank is situated properly. When I first turned on the Vax SpinScrub Power Plus I couldn’t see any dirty water coming up, as the tank wasn’t seated properly. A quick push dropped the tank into place and allowed suction for dirty water.

For tackling upholstery or tough spots on the carpet, there’s a plug-in hose, which can be used with the static upholstery tool or the handheld SpinScrub tool.

This hose has its own trigger for the dosing solution, operating much like a standard spot cleaner, such as the Vax SpotWash Max Pet-Design.

With a 2.5m hose, it’s possible to clean an entire sofa or multiple stairs without having to move the main unit.

There’s also a 7.6m power cord, so the Vax SpinScrub Power Plus can clean a lot of a single floor without having to switch power sockets.

At the end of a clean, the clean tank should be emptied, the dirty tank emptied and washed out, and any leftover detergent emptied back into the bottle.

Performance

• Fast worker
• Leaves carpets fairly dry
• Handheld tools invaluable for tough jobs

To see how well the Vax SpinScrub Power Plus performed in real life, I set it about the Trusted Reviews Test Lab. First, I started with my regular stains on the test carpet.

My first test was with mud: a teaspoon of mud, mixed with water, rubbed in and left to dry. I found that the Vax SpinScrub Power Plus managed to remove this stain quickly, only taking a few passes. A combination of scrubbing and the quality of the detergent helped.

For the red wine stain, I found that the Vax SpinScrub Power Plus did a good job, quickly removing most of the stain, but there were traces of this left behind after a few passes.

To speed up the cleaning, I switched to the handheld SpinScrub tool, and used that to first saturate the stain, and then I agitated it and started to suck up the mess.

As soon as I put the tool to the carpet, I could see red-coloured liquid lift from the carpet. It didn’t take long to finish the job.

Once my test carpet was clean, I used the Vax SpinScrub Power Plus’s main floor head to pass over multiple times until liquid wasn’t being extracted. I then measured the carpet humidity level at 18%, which is low; a typical spot cleaner can only manage around 25% at best for the most powerful models. At this level of humidity, the carpet feels damp to the touch, but it didn’t take long to dry.

I also tackled some stains around the lab. First, there was an odd, white sticky stain on the carpet, which has been here since Trusted Reviews took over the space. I couldn’t shift it with the standard floor head, but a few goes with the SpinScrub handtool removed the majority of it to the point where I’d have to get down on my hands and knees to see what was left.

Standard muddy prints around the carpet were removed quickly and with ease using the Quick Clean setting. Tougher muddy marks were handled in just a few movements with Deep Clean, and brought the dull orange part of the carpet back to life, restoring some colour.

I also had some spots on the carpet, which looked like some kind of cleaning fluid was spilt. These were mostly removed with the Vax SpinScrub Power Plus, although a faint trace of marks was left behind where the carpet was stained.

At 79.5dB, the Vax SpinScrub Power Plus is exceptionally loud, as are most carpet cleaners. This definitely isn’t a product you want to use late at night or early in the morning.

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