Written by 
How to take the chore out of cleaning your carpets – Vax Rapide carpet washer review
Carpet washers (also known as “carpet cleaners”) are one of those items that soon become a housework staple.
Even a best value carpet washer such as the Vax Rapide Spring Clean carpet washer can do a great job in a short amount of time – it’s not always a case of the less you pay, the lower the standard.
With people and pets traipsing through your house on a daily basis, the carpets are bound to be dirty and start to look weathered. The occasional stain, the unfortunate spill, and the build-up of dirt that’s invisible to the eye, all dulls and weighs down the carpet pile.
This Vax Rapide carpet washer review is for you!
Another big plus is that its regular use gives your carpets a long lease of life and they won’t need replacing any time soon. Why? Simply because they’ll be in better condition and look newer for longer. They’ll be more appealing to look at, more welcoming for people to walk on, and hygienic for toddlers to roll over.
A carpet washer cleans deep into the carpet pile to make it look brighter, super clean and fresh. It washes the carpet, draws out the dirt, and sucks up the excess water to speed up the drying process.
Even if your carpet’s quite old, it’s still worthwhile using a carpet washer. Fair enough, it probably won’t lift the carpet pile to a brand new condition, but at least it’ll be clean and refreshed.
The carpet washer’s vital stats
In my experience, these are the main features to bear in mind when choosing a carpet washer, even a best value carpet washer:
I’d always assumed that the long twist of fibres that were collected by my previous carpet washer’s brushbar, were from loose hair on the carpet – even though I always vacuumed first. However, when I used the Vax Rapide, there were no fibre twists collected at all. I can only assume that my previous carpet washer’s brushbar was too abrasive and gathered the top layer of the carpet pile whilst cleaning.
- portable and lightweight – especially if you’re lifting it upstairs with a full tank of water
- static or powered brushbar – both options work well but the powered brushbar has a stronger scrubbing action to help loosen the ground-in dirt
- good sized water tank – no constant refills
- large cleaning area – the brushbar should fit the width of the carpet washer’s floor-head so that it washes to the edge of the carpet
- sufficient cord length – long enough so that you can clean the carpet without having to unplug and change sockets
- fast drying – a good carpet washer should suck up as much excess water as possible so that the carpet dries quickly
The Vax Rapide Spring Clean Carpet Washer W91RSB has the ideal features at a best value price
Best value carpet washer – Vax Rapide Spring Clean Carpet Washer W91RSB
Vax is well known as the UK’s best-selling floorcare brand. Having launched in 1979, it continues to create top quality floorcare products with your budget in mind.
“The Rapide Spring Clean carpet cleaner provides powerful cleaning power with multi-row brushbars to lift out embedded dirt and grime and stubborn stains. It’s lightweight, so is easy to use and carry around your home. It’s also great for sucking up accidental spills, so is an ideal choice for busy family homes or homes with pets” [source: Vax UK website]
The Vax Rapide Spring Clean carpet washer is one of many from the Vax range. It’s particularly good value for money whilst still doing a great job of cleaning the carpets.
Like the Vax S7AV steam cleaner (see also: An easy way to make housework more enjoyable), the Vax Rapide’s a joy to use around the house.
Vax Rapide Spring Clean Carpet Washer W91RSB
Unpacking the Box
Vax boxes need to be placed lengthways on the floor and unpacked from the side, rather than from the top. This is unusual but works well as the contents are accessible, visible and laid out in front of you.
I’d recommend you first vacuum your carpets, otherwise the carpet washer will get clogged with carpet debris.
There’s a 6 page instruction manual with plenty of drawings, together with necessary fixtures and fittings (four screws and two locking pins).
You’ll need a screwdriver to fit the three sections of the Vax Rapide carpet washer together, but it shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to do so.
Fill the 2.6 litre water tank with the required ratio of water:solution using the free bottle of Vax cleaning solution.
Then, having clicked the full water tank into the Vax Rapide carpet washer’s middle frame, you’re ready to start washing your carpets.
What’s it like using the Vax Rapide Spring Clean carpet washer?
I really liked using the Vax Rapide and noticed many benefits:
- lightweight (5.5kg) and easy to carry
- glides across the carpet so there’s no heavy push/pull motion
- multi-row brushbar has quite a bit of movement which means it can gently loosen, refresh and lift embedded dirt from the carpet pile, even though it’s not powered
- sucks up accidental spills
- brushbar fits the width of the floor-head
- the powerful 700W motor means the carpets are barely damp after washing and dry very quickly
- easy to empty and clean ready for next use
- long 6m electrical cord with storage hooks
-
Vax Rapide Spring Clean Carpet Washer W91RSBfoot pedals recline the angle and turn the carpet washer on/off
- clear plastic dirty water tank (1.8 litre capacity) to easily see the dirty water being sucked from the carpet
If you’re looking for a best value carpet washer, with a strong brand name behind it, then the Vax Rapide carpet washer is an ideal choice.
It’s so easy to use that washing your carpets becomes a joy rather than a chore
Even if you first vacuumed, you’ll still be amazed at the colour of the water when you empty the dirty water tank. That dark, dirt colour has a strange kind of satisfaction; evidence that your carpets have been well cleaned.
Surprisingly, I caught myself thinking about which carpet to clean next. See, I told you it was a joy to use!
I know from first-hand experience that the Vax guarantee and UK-based customer services are excellent. The Vax Rapide carpet washer includes a free 2 year guarantee (and free delivery if bought from Vax direct).
You can conveniently contact Vax customer services – queries are resolved and faulty products are quickly replaced.
Where can you buy the Vax Rapide Spring Clean carpet washer?
Many of the high street and online stores sell Vax products. Do check for best value prices though, as at the time of writing, the Vax Rapide Spring Clean carpet washer varied between £64 sale price and £130 full price at Tesco, Amazon, Asda, CleanStore and Vax…. and were quickly going out of stock!
Vax also has premium carpet washers which include a generous 6 year guarantee
Visit the Vax website to see the full range, or Argos, John Lewis and Co-operative for a good selection.
Note: this review is a general resource, not intended to be professional advice.
.png)
- reviews to save you time looking for good value, quality household/fintech products
- blog/tutorials for any of you website newbies to follow my PeasOnToast learning curve
- Monzo Bank review – 100% smartphone banking exceeds expectations - 16th October 2016
- Atom Bank review – the new player on the banking field - 4th September 2016
- How to use SendinBlue email automation – step-by-step guide - 19th August 2016
