Vax Rapide Ultra Carpet Cleaner

I don’t  think anyone would be likely to call us house proud. Don’t get me wrong, our house isn’t dirty but despite being less than three years old we’ve managed to build up an impressive level of scuffing, staining and general baby/ toddler/ dog related dirty marks on our house, which somehow we never get round to finding the time or the inclination to fix. Our carpets are no different. A potty training toddler, a mucky dog and an amazing propensity to spill red wine, Irn Bru or pretty much any beverage which stains will take their toll on carpets in a relatively small time, particularly if the carpets in question are a rather fetching light beige colour.

As far as I was aware, carpet cleaners were giant industrial units that you rent and then spend a full weekend wrestling with in a vain attempt to rejuvenate your tired floors. Even when we got the opportunity to review the VAX Rapide Ultra 2 carpet cleaner, I was sceptical. I assumed that that a cleaner which you could purchase and keep in the home wouldn’t get the results you would get from an industrial type cleaner and I was sure shampooing carpets would be a huge amount of effort. Balancing a little boy who loves attention, work and general household chores takes up most of our time, spending what little free time we get shampooing our carpets is not my idea of good fun.

In actual fact cleaning carpets with the Rapide Ultra 2 is no more effort than hoovering. The unit looks like a bagless vacuum. It comes with a spray wand which you use to pre-treat the carpets: think watering a lawn but indoors. A general spray of the solution, plus extra on any heavily stained areas took us a few minutes. After leaving for 15 minutes you can use the unit itself much in the same way you use a hoover. There’s a trigger on the handle, when you pull this down the VAX is putting cleaning solution on the carpet, take your finger off and its sucking up all the water and dirt and grime which comes with it. It was really easy to get the hang of: trigger down while you push the VAX away, washing the carpet, trigger off when you bring it back to you sucking up all the mess. It really was as quick and as easy as running a vacuum over the carpets. One look at the reservoir which collects the dirty liquid and you can tell that it’s working. Depite our carpets not looking *that* bad, they produced and impressive dark brown liquid which had more than a passing resemblance to Coca Cola. Impressive but a little gross to think of all that grime sitting in your carpets.

The results surprised me too. The carpets looked noticeably brighter all over and the more heavily stained areas faded after one use and were gone after two. Spilled Coke and Irn Bru weren’t a problem, neither were muddy dog’s paw prints or little marks left by a toddler who didn’t quite make the toilet in time. We first used the VAX a few months ago and we’ve busted it out a couple of times a month since then, since it’s so quick and easy. The carpets look as good as they have since they were brand new, now we just need to find a magic machine for peanut butter stains on our couches and crayon marks on the walls. We live in hope anyway…

The Rapide Ultra 2 comes with a 2 year guaruntee and retails for £299.99.

Transatlantic Blonde was provided this product for review but all opinions are our own. You should know by now we only speak the truth!