Vax SpotWash Duo Spot Cleaner Review

Introduction

Although a more basic spot washer than the others in the company’s line-up, the Vax SpotWash Duo Spot Cleaner is still easy to use.

This models works well on most stains and distinguishes itself with a self-clean function. So, should you pick one up?

I’ve been putting it through its paces in our testing lab over the past few weeks, and here’s my verdict.

Versions

I’ve got the Vax SpotWash Duo Spot Cleaner, which comes with two cleaning heads: one for normal jobs and one for dirty jobs, such as pet messes. The idea is to split cleaning so that you don’t cross-contaminate.

There’s also the Vax SpotWash Spot Cleaner, which is the same product in red, and it comes with just the standard tools. This model is probably a better buy if you don’t have pets.

Design and Features

• Self-cleaning port
• Simple to use
• Decent sized tanks

The Vax SpotWash Duo Spot Cleaner looks much like other spot washers that I’ve reviewed, although this budget model is a little bigger than the others in the line-up, including the Vax SpotWash Home Duo.

That said, at 3.89kg, the Vax SpotWash Duo Spot Cleaner is still a relatively small product, and one that’s easy enough to store.

There are two pull-out tanks: one for clean water and detergent, and one for dirty water. With the clean tank, there are clearly marked lines for water and detergent, so that you get the right mix.

Vax has two sets of lines: one for large areas (1 litre of water and 250ml of solution) and one for small areas (500ml of water and 125ml of solution). It’s useful having both, as it prevents wasting detergent if you only have a small job to do.

Vax provides a 250ml bottle of its SpotWash Spot Cleaner solution in the box, which is enough for one large area clean or two small area cleans.

You can buy 1 litre of the solution for £9.99, although the cleaner is compatible with other solutions, including the Pet Stain & Odour Remover, and the Oxy-Lift Boost.

The detergent tank can be filled with 40°C water, but filling it is a bit fiddly. As the filler cap is located on the side, I had to tilt the tank to fill it, which meant that I couldn’t see the fill line properly. It’s best to have the cap on top, so that the tank stays level, which is the case with the SpotWash Home Duo.

There’s a litre tank for dirty water, which has a float inside it that prevents overfilling. Given that some water will remain on your furniture or in your carpet, the dirty tank will need to be emptied roughly when all the detergent has been used up, assuming you’ve filled to the large area mark.

Vax provides two sets of tools in the box. For regular cleaning, there’s a tool that takes the multi-purpose brush and the hard floor scrub attachment; there’s an identical-looking head in blue that has just a multi-purpose brush and is designed for messy jobs.

In truth, both tools are identical, but having separate tools to deal with regular and messy jobs means there’s no chance of cross contamination.

Using the Vax SpotWash Duo Spot Cleaner is easy. Once it’s plugged in, the 4.5m power cable and 1.5m hose make it easy to reach everywhere on a sofa without having to constantly pick the spot cleaner up and move it around.

There’s a button on top that turns the cleaner on, where it draws 380W, making it a little less powerful than the Vax SpotWash Max Pet-Design (500W), although similar in power to the SpotWash Home Duo.

A trigger on the handle sprays the area with detergent, and the brush can be used to agitate stains.

Finally, you tilt the head forward and use the suction power to remove the liquid and stain, watching through the clear head as the dirt is removed. Repeat until the stains are gone, and no more fluid is sucked up.

At the end of cleaning, the tanks should be removed, emptied and washed out, which is easy to do. The tools can be disassembled and cleaned under a tap, too.

Then, add about an inch of clean water to the clean tank, plug both tanks back into the cleaner, power it on and stick the hose into the self-clean port. This causes the clean water to be sucked out, through the hose and into the dirty tank.

A quick secondary clean of the tanks, and the Vax SpotWash Duo Spot Cleaner is ready to be stored away. The hose wraps around the body, and there are a couple of clips to store the cable. Only one tool can be stored at the end of the hose, so you’ll need to find somewhere else to place the other tool and brushes.

Performance

• Cleans quickly
• Needs a bit of scrubbing for tough stains
• Very loud

Cleaning with the Vax SpotWash Duo Spot Cleaner is easy. I tested it out on a variety of stains around the Trusted Reviews Home Technology Lab, starting with the carpet tests.

First, I tackled an organic mud stain. This stain came out easily, with a quick spray of detergent, a little bit of agitation, and then suction power to remove all of the mess.

My red wine stains needed multiple sprays of detergent, and I found that I had to agitate the stain more to get it out.

The Vax SpotWash Duo Spot Cleaner coped with the mess, but the Vax SpotWash Max Pet-Design managed the job faster, using a combination of more suction power and the excellent SpinScrub tool that agitates mess automatically.

At the end of cleaning, my carpet registered 30% humidity, which is a touch more than I expected; the Max Pet-Design reduced humidity to 24%, showing that it had removed more moisture. Still, a few hours later, my carpet was dry.

I then tackled some small spots on the carpet tiles. Again, the Vax SpotWash Duo Spot Cleaner managed to remove the mess without too much trouble.

The same was true for some dots of liquid metal polish that had fallen onto the floor; the spot cleaner managed to clean these up with no problem.

I did find the Vax SpotWash Duo Spot Cleaner very loud at 81.2dB. That’s the case with all of Vax’s spot washers, and I wouldn’t want to use one at night.

Should you buy it?