Is the Hoover Clean Slate the best spot treatment cleaner for pet owners? One dog dad decided to put it to the test.
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Hoover Clean Slate Review: We Tried this Carpet Cleaner Machine and Love it For Pet Messes
Updated on Sep. 24, 2024
Is it me, or is dropping liquids and foods on a carpet or rug one of the most nerve-wracking experiences? You know you have to act quickly to prevent the stain from setting in, but the panic also causes you to forget where your cleaning supplies are.
Good news: The Hoover Clean Slate and I are here to calm your nerves and save your carpet, rugs and upholstery. As a loving dog dad to an adorable but messy pup, I’ve had to pull this cleaner out several times to get our rugs and carpets clean. Since it’s a portable cleaner, I can use it in any room or to clean my car seats.
In this Hoover Clean Slate review, I’ll discuss my experience with this carpet cleaner, its special features, who it’s for and other opinions from professional cleaners. We’ll also compare the portable versions of Hoover and Bissell carpet cleaners.
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What is the Hoover Clean Slate?
VIA MERCHANT
Hoover CleanSlate Plus Portable Carpet & Upholstery Spot Cleaner
The Hoover Clean Slate is a portable carpet, rug and upholstery spot cleaner that removes stains. Like traditional carpet cleaners, it uses a combination of cleaning solution, scrubbing and suction to remove messes. It has the added benefit of being lightweight and able to be taken from room to room or even in the car.
Before we continue, keep in mind that this is a spot cleaner. In other words, it is meant to clean food, beverage or pet urine stains, not the entire carpet.
The Hoover Clean Slate Plus, the model we tested and reviewed, comes with three attachments—your traditional scrubber, a seven-inch WidePath tool for larger spills and a TightSpot attachment for corners and hard-to-reach areas. The 40-ounce tank is large enough to clean multiple stains, depending on their size and severity, and you’ll get a small bottle of Oxy carpet solution.
Hoover is well-known in the cleaning industry and has long been synonymous with vacuum cleaners. The famous brand has recently expanded into spot cleaners with its Clean Slate product line, which includes several models and bundles.
Hoover Clean Slate Features
Portable
The Hoover Clean Slate weighs under 10 pounds when empty, so it’s easy for most able-bodied adults and even children to carry up and down stairs or out to the car when needed, similar to a handheld vacuum. I will say the only annoying part about carrying this is the tube. It sometimes gets in the way or drags on the floor if it’s not wrapped around the cleaner, but it doesn’t make it any heavier.
In terms of storage, it’s a pretty compact unit. It’s only 14 inches deep, 10.5 inches wide and 13 inches tall, so it should fit in most closets or cleaning cupboards with no issue.
The 15-foot cord also means you don’t have to find an outlet right next to the stain. You can plug it in on the other side of the room, turn it on and get to cleaning. The tube is four and a half feet long, so you have plenty of room to maneuver it without moving the main unit.
Attachments
The Hoover Clean Slate has three attachments: a traditional vacuum nozzle with bristles, a seven-inch WidePath tool for larger spills and a TightSpot attachment for harder-to-reach areas.
All three attachments do exactly what they’re supposed to do. The traditional nozzle is the one I’ve used the most since I (knock on wood) haven’t had a spill large enough to warrant using the WidePath tool. I’ve still used it as part of my testing for this review, and it works just as fine as the regular nozzle.
The TightSpot tool has a special place in my heart because there are few things I hate more than being unable to get to a stain. This is a great tool to use in between couch cushions or around baseboards, which typically don’t get very clean with standard cleaning attachments.
My only complaint about the attachments is there’s nowhere to store them on the Hoover Clean Slate. Right now, I have them in a closet next to the cleaner, and I have to carry them when needed. It would’ve been nice if there was a storage component on the unit similar to what you see on vacuum cleaners.
Spray, Scrub, Suction
Once the Hoover Clean Slate is plugged in and turned on (the power button is right on top of the tank), you’ll hear the suction start. But let’s forget about suctioning and talk about spraying first. There’s a gray trigger on the hose that you can press to spray water (mixed with a cleaning solution) on the stain. Of course, the benefit of this is that you get to apply the soapy water directly to the stain.
Each attachment has bristles on its underside, which allow you to scrub the solution directly into the stain. It’s exactly like hand-scrubbing soap into a carpet but with more force and surface area.
The next step? Time to vacuum. Well, not really, but it’s essentially the same concept. Run the hose over the stain until it disappears. And it will happen. I’ll be honest: this isn’t the type of machine that works in one swipe, at least not for my stains. It took about six seconds of back-and-forth scrubbing/suctioning on most of the stains I tested this on. Yours might be shorter or longer. Anyway, six seconds is a short amount of time, so I got a big return on my financial and time investment.
Hose Rinse Tool
In several episodes of “The Simpsons,” Marge Simpson cleans her cleaning products (there’s an episode where she irons her trash bag before putting it in the bin). I kind of wish this fictional character could see the Hoover Clean Slate, the appliance that cleans itself.
The Hose Rinse Tool can be used after emptying the removable tank of dirty water (another feature I love) and replacing it with clean water. After attaching the Hose Rinse Tool, you can press it to flush clean water through the system to flush out any odor-causing bacteria that might be stuck within the unit. I can’t say enough good things about this feature. This should, in theory, keep the machine clean and running well for a long time since it gets rid of bacteria and other small particles.
I only say “in theory” because I’ve only had this cleaner for two months, so it’s too early to tell if this will make any difference in how long this cleaner lasts. There are some Amazon reviews saying it doesn’t have much longevity.
How We Tested It
Allow me to introduce you to Brodie: My partner’s seven-year-old fur child and my best friend.
Brodie is adorable, food-motivated, stubborn and one messy puppy. This one loves getting under the house and into the mud and just laying there, possibly rolling around in it if he’s feeling spicy. Brodie also has two younger but larger dog cousins who also love getting messy and climbing all over our furniture.
To be honest, we’ve actually replaced most of our carpet in favor of laminate flooring, but we still have a couch, bed and rugs (plus two rooms where we haven’t put the new floor in, yet) that don’t take well to dirty fur and paws. In fact, two days before I submitted this story, one of the aforementioned dog cousins got the rug under our bed fairly dirty.
Filling the tank is pretty standard. It even has markings telling you how much water and concentrate to put in for small and large areas (depending on how much you’re cleaning). The “small area” was enough to do about a quarter of an eight-by-ten rug. Oh, did I mention the rug is white? Yeah, this would be fun, especially because I had let the stain sit for about two days before getting to it.
After spraying the entire area, I got to scrubbing it before scrubbing/suctioning. This took about six seconds of work before I saw stains disappear.
I had also conducted another test in one of the rooms that’s still carpeted—spilling coffee. For what it’s worth, this was a very strong and dark coffee that was intentionally spilled on the carpet and allowed to rest for four days. I did nothing to the stain and even avoided stepping on it when I walked into the room.
This took less effort than the dog stains.
Pros
- Portable
- Powerful enough to remove set-in stains
- Hose Rinsing Tool to flush the system with clean water
- Three attachments
- Lightweight
- Compact
- Long cord and tube
- Clear markings
Cons
-
No attachment storage on the main cleaning unit
FAQ
How long does the Hoover clean slate run?
The Hoover Clean Slate is plugged into a wall outlet, so in theory, it can run until you run out of clean water. Some customer reviewers note that the motor isn’t powerful enough to last more than 10-15 minutes, but we never ran ours that long.
How to empty the Hoover Clean Slate?
To empty the Hoover Clean Slate, you simply have to press the button on top of the tank, take it out, remove the lid and empty it into a tub or sink. Be sure to clean it and let it air dry before putting it back on the machine.
What other reviewers/experts had to say
Josh Miller, a professional cleaner and CEO of Clean Carpets, has used the Hoover Clean Slate and recommends it to homeowners looking for a powerful spot cleaner. “What really impressed me was this product’s impressive suction power and excellent spot-cleaning capability,” Miller says. “This will come in very handy for those toughest stains or just small areas, making it one of our most versatile cleaning artillery.”
As of this writing, the Hoover Clean Slate had a 4.4 average customer rating on Amazon, with close to 8,000 reviews. “I tried it out on this old dirty ottoman that I had purchased at the thrift store. I cleaned the top portion, and I have to say it already looks brand new,” writes 5-star Amazon reviewer Alma Estrella.
On the other hand, some say it doesn’t last very long. “I loved this product while it was working, then the hose broke due to regular usage within a year of my purchase. I purchased a new one, and the suction only works for a minute at a time. I’m moving on to another brand,” says Amazon reviewer Lisa Ingrassia.
Hoover Clean Slate vs Bissell Little Green Pro
While I have used the Hoover Clean Slate, I haven’t used the Bissell Little Green Pro—but my partner has in her previous apartment and home. She says she liked the machine and only stopped using it because she upgraded to a full-sized carpet cleaner. (Check out our recommendations for the best Bissell carpet cleaner).
“I used it after Brodie made a mess on the rug or carpet, and it was good,” she says. She recommends it to anyone looking for a spot treatment cleaner. “My only complaint is it would sometimes get clogged with pet hair,” she adds, “so you’ll need to clean out the system to make sure it continues to work.”
The Bissell (13 pounds empty) is heavier than the Hoover (9.4 pounds empty) but has a longer power cord and hose (22 feet and five feet, respectively) than the Clean Slate (15 feet and four and a half feet, respectively).
Clean Slate has a 40-ounce container, and the Bissel has a 96-ounce clean water tank. So the Bissell definitely is the choice for people who are either cleaning large surfaces, such as a minivan or sectional sofa or have a lot of pets or kids (or you could try the Bissell Revolution HydroSteam). The Hoover Clean Slate, on the other hand, works for people with smaller areas and less frequent messes.
Check out our full Bissell Little Green review for our full thoughts.
Final Verdict
The Hoover Clean Slate is a powerful, portable and versatile spot cleaner that excels in cleaning up new and set-in stains on rugs, carpets, upholstery and sofas. The 40-ounce tank is a good amount for couples or small families with a small amount of carpeting and rugs. The attachments work well, though I wish there were a way to store them on the tank, and it’s easy to empty. The hose rinse attachment is a nice touch for people who want to flush their cleaner of odor-causing bacteria.
Where to Buy the Hoover Clean Slate
VIA MERCHANT
Hoover CleanSlate Upholstery Portable Cleaner
The Hoover Clean Slate Plus, the model we tested and reviewed, currently retails for around $125 on Amazon. It’s also available at The Home Depot and Walmart.
