I tried Hoover’s heated spot cleaner, and it tackled all of the mess my kids (quite literally) threw at it – it can even clean windows!

As a mum of three, spills and mess are part of everyday life, and a spot cleaner is one of the appliances I use most in my house. Hoover is also a name most of us know for its vacuum cleaners, so I was keen to see how its HS5 Heat Spot Wash & Dry Carpet Cleaner would get on.

From my tired-looking carpets to dried-up yoghurt stains (cheers, kids!) and even my mirrors and windows, it certainly had plenty to tackle. So, does it deserve a place among the best carpet cleaners and spot cleaners? Here's how it got on...

In a nutshell

The Hoover HS5 Heat Spot Wash & Dry Carpet Cleaner is compact and lightweight, and I found it easy to grab when I needed to tackle a spill or stain. It only has two buttons - one for power and one for heat- which warms the water in around 30 seconds, so there's no waiting around.

My biggest gripe was that the instructions are terribly unclear. The manual is a series of pictures, and even though I've tested my share of spot cleaners before, it still took a fair bit of trial and error to work out the basics. Thankfully, it's not complicated to use once you know how, but it shouldn't take guesswork to get there.

Performance-wise, I was impressed with how it handled everyday marks. It lifted dried-on yoghurt from my sofa within a few passes, and my neglected landing carpet looked noticeably brighter and fresher afterwards. It struggled with deeper, more stubborn stains, and the dirty water tank filled up slower than I expected, which made me wonder how much water was left on the fabric.

It comes with a range of attachments too, including a window cleaning tool, which did an impressive job of removing toothpaste marks off my bathroom cabinet mirror. At full price, it's £169.99, so it's more expensive than many rivals, though it's often discounted. And once I got the hang of it, I found myself reaching for it more often than I expected, especially with little ones around.

Specifications

• Weight: 3.9 kg
• Dimensions: 38.5D x 19.6W x 31H cm
• Wattage: 400W
• Clean water tank capacity: 1.5 L
• Waste water tank capacity: 0.8 L
• Power cord length: 4m
• Hose length: 1.67m
• What's included: Multi-surface brush, window-cleaning accessory, crevice brush, extra large brush, extension tube, detergent and user guides
• Price: £169.99

How I tested

Rebecca Lawton

I'm Rebecca. I write freelance content for Ideal Home, and I'm always on the lookout for home upgrades that make my home life smoother.

I've tested a range of appliances for Ideal Home, including hard floor cleaners, steam cleaners, robot vacuums and air purifiers. I tested the Hoover HS5 Heat Spot Wash&Dry Carpet Cleaner in my three-bedroom home for two weeks, using it to clean my carpets, sofas and windows as part of our carpet cleaner testing process.

Unboxing, assembly and first impressions

Unboxing the HS5 Heat Spot Wash & Dry was pleasantly straightforward. The box it arrived in was about average in size for a spot washer, and at just under 7kg packaged, I found it manageable to carry on my own.

I liked that the top of the box had an illustration showing all the included accessories, so I knew what to expect before opening it. Everything was neatly and compactly packed, which made a good first impression.

Two paper manuals and a guarantee document rested on top of a moulded layer of cardboard, and beneath that, all the accessories and the main unit were wrapped individually in plastic packaging. While the packaging kept everything neatly organised and protected, I would have preferred to see less plastic and more eco-friendly options, such as paper, to protect the parts.

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Within a couple of minutes, I had everything unwrapped and laid out. As well as the main unit and user guides, there was a multi-surface brush, window-cleaning accessory, crevice brush, extra large brush, extension tube, and detergent.

I've tested my share of spot cleaners, and overall the design felt quite similar to others I've tried. But the purple finish on top of the water tanks gives it a more elevated look, and the build felt slim rather than bulky. At 3.9kg, it felt easy enough to lift, which was reassuring when tackling multiple rooms.

The hose and power cable are long enough to reach different areas without constantly moving the unit or switching sockets. And the clean water tank holds 1.5 litres, and the dirty tank holds 0.8 litres, which are both reasonable capacities for spot cleaning.

The hose wraps neatly around the unit for storage. The also space to clip the power cord at the back of the machine. It would have been useful if there was a place to store the attachments on the unit (although this isn't something I've come across often), but a couple of the smaller accessories can be stored inside the clean water tank when not in use.

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Before getting started, I had to work out how to use it, which was harder than it should have been. The manual is almost entirely images, with no written, step-by-step instructions, so I had to figure out what the buttons did through trial and error. It made me wonder how tricky it would be for first-time users. It didn't make the best impression, especially since I had to spend extra time figuring it out myself.

The clean water tank lifts off the unit easily. I filled it with tap water up to the max line, and added 4 capfuls of the included cleaning solution (I found a x4 symbol on one of the diagrams). Once I secured the lid, the clean water tank slotted back into place on the main unit with a satisfying click.

Using the Hoover HS5 Heat Spot Wash & Dry Carpet Cleaner

The unit has two buttons: a power button and a heat button. Unlike other spot cleaners I've tested, it doesn't have multiple modes or suction settings to choose from. Once it's plugged into mains, you simply switch it on, and if you want warm water, press the heat button.

A red indicator light flashes while the water heats up and stops once it's ready to use. Hoover says this takes 30 seconds, and when I timed this, it was spot on.

The first thing that struck me was the noise. It's louder than I was expecting, enough for my kids to comment on it, but I'd say it's no louder than my regular vacuum.

Cleaning carpets and rugs

My carpets put up with a lot from my three kids, and it's fair to say they were in desperate need of some TLC. I'll admit, I tend to focus on my living room carpets when it comes to spot cleaning, so the upstairs floors can get neglected. The area on my landing, outside my kids' room, had become covered in various different marks that I'd been putting off tackling. When I'm in a rush, I'll reach for this quick-fix stain remover, but the area was more than ready for a deeper clean.

I attached the extension tube and the extra-large brush onto the end of the hose before I switched on the unit, pressed the heat button and waited for the water to warm up. Once it was ready, I pressed the trigger on the nozzle to release the water (making sure I used enough to cover the stains) and then worked the brush over the area.

The stains didn't lift straight away, but considering they weren't fresh marks, I wasn't expecting a miracle. The nozzle glided smoothly over the area, and within a few passes I could see some of the marks fading, which I won't lie, was very satisfying.

It struggled to remove the deeper stains, but overall I was happy with the results. The area felt noticeably cleaner and refreshed. The carpet felt damp afterwards, but it was dry within a couple of hours.

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The low-pile rug in my conservatory sees a lot of action from the kids, and I'll admit, I don't clean it as often as I should. There weren't any obvious stains to target, so I used the HS5 Heat Spot Wash & Dry to give it a general refresh instead.

I left the heat off for this one, and after fitting the extra-large brush, I worked it over the area in slow, overlapping passes. The low pile made it easy to glide the brush over without applying pressure, and the whole area took only a couple of minutes.

While the results weren't dramatic, the rug looked and felt brighter. And although the dirty water tank didn't collect as much water as I was expecting, it was noticeably murkier afterwards - a sign of how much hidden grime had built up without me realising.

It's worth bearing in mind that, as a spot cleaner, the HS5 isn't really designed for cleaning large areas. I did feel like I'd worked up a bit of a sweat after tackling the whole rug. But there was still plenty of water left after tackling the whole area, so for a quick refresh when I don't want to use a full-sized carpet cleaner, it's a handy appliance to have.

Cleaning sofas and upholstery

Near the corner of my fabric sofa, I discovered a couple of suspected dried yoghurt marks, no doubt courtesy of my two-year-old. I tackled the area with the multi-surface brush, which the manual's diagrams show being used on sofas and upholstery.

I was fairly confident the marks would come out without much effort, but I still switched on the heat, as I wanted to give the sofas a decent freshen-up at the same time. Using it in the same way as on my carpets, I sprayed water over the affected area before moving it back and forth.

It didn't glide quite as smoothly over the fabric as it did on the carpet, but the marks started to lift straight away. Within a few passes, there was no trace of them left. The sofa took a couple of hours to dry completely, but I was impressed with the results.

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I also used the HS5 Heat Spot Wash & Dry to refresh the sofa in my conservatory. Keeping it clean with kids around feels virtually impossible most days, and I'd noticed what looked like an old spill that had dried but had left a visible water mark across the fabric.

I used the multi-surface brush again, spraying the entire area before moving it back and forth. This time, it was a little harder to see how well it was working because of the fabric colour, so I had to wait for it to dry before I could tell.

It also struck me that, unlike some other spot cleaners I'd tested, the nozzle head casing isn't see-through. That made it hard to tell how much water was being sucked up from the fabric as I went.

Interestingly, as I noticed with the rug, the dirty water tank didn't fill as quickly as I expected. After several cleans, it had only a fraction of water in it, even though the clean water tank was noticeably lower.

Once I'd finished, I left it to dry, but it was still damp three hours later, so I left it overnight. I was pleased with the results the next morning, though. The water mark had gone, and the fabric looked much cleaner and fresher. The long-drying time does tie in with my earlier point about not all of the water being sucked back up, so it's worth taking into account if you need to clean an entire sofa.

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Cleaning mirrors

Every morning after the kids have brushed their teeth, I'm not kidding when I say it looks like they've had a toothpaste party in there (IYKYK). So when I found a generous smear across my cabinet mirror, I was keen to put the window-cleaning tool to the test.

I didn't bother using heat, but I attached the extension tube and sprayed water over the glass before drawing the tool across the mark. To my surprise, the toothpaste lifted instantly, and after a few passes the mirror looked clean and almost streak-free.

Some water dripped onto the sink before I could wipe it up, and the tool was too wide to reach the areas around the doorknobs. But it's still a handy tool to have and easy to switch between accessories when you need to.

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Cleaning, storage and maintenance

As with setup, the manual isn't clear on the steps involved in cleaning the HS5 Heat Spot Wash & Dry, so it took me a while to piece it together. Hoover lists an auto-clean function as one of its features, but there's no dedicated button for it.

After staring blankly at the images for a while, I worked out that you simply switch the machine on and dip the nozzle into a bowl of clean water, letting it suck the water up through the hose to flush it out. It's easy enough once you know how, but the lazy cleaner in me would have preferred something a little more automated.

The dirty water tank lifts off easily, and it's straightforward to empty and rinse after each use. There's a tube and filter that also detach for rinsing. I left these to dry fully before reinserting to avoid any damp, musty smells.

The brush covers are also removable, and I found these needed a quick rinse too to get rid of any hair or fluff caught in the bristles.

For storage, the hose wraps neatly around the unit, and it's compact enough not to take up much floor space. There's no dedicated onboard storage for the attachments (which is fairly typical), but you can fit a couple of the smaller tools inside the clean water tank if you're short on space.

How does it compare to similar models?

The Hoover HS5 Heat Spot Wash & Dry Carpet Cleaner is the heated version of the brand's HS5 range. The standard HS500 doesn't include water heating and comes with fewer accessories. So, if you want warm water and more versatility, the HS5 is the better option, but it does come with a higher price tag.

The closest rival I've tested is the Karcher SE2 Spot Care Spot Cleaner. Both are compact and corded, with a single power setting and identical clean and dirty water tanks. The key difference is that the Karcher doesn't offer heated water or as many extra tools, but it does retail for less.

At the more premium end of the scale is the Bissell Spot Clean HydroSteam. At £299, it offers three cleaning modes and larger tanks, and is unrivalled when it comes to performance, but the HS5 handles everyday marks well for a fraction of the cost.

Finally, the Halo Hot Spot Heated Spot Washer is a good middle ground. It's a similar price point as the HS5, but it does include steam and heats to 60 degrees. The HS5 keeps things simpler, though, and is more intuitive to use.

How does it rate online?

On Hoover's website, the HS5 Heat Spot Wash & Dry has an average rating of 4.5 stars from 23 reviews. Many reviews needed translation, as many came from buyers outside the UK. Reviewers praised how easy it is to use and found the extra attachments handy, although opinions on the suction were split. Some were happy with how much water it pulled up, while others were less convinced.

Amazon customers were less enthusiastic, scoring it only 3.6 stars. Many still found it easy to use, but feedback on its performance painted a more mixed picture, with some impressed by the results, while others found it struggled with tougher stains, which echoed my experience.

Beyond that, I couldn't find many more online reviews, suggesting it isn't currently widely stocked by UK retailers.

Verdict: Should you buy the Hoover HS5 Heat Spot Wash&Dry Carpet Cleaner?

If you're after a compact spot cleaner to keep on top of everyday spills and marks, the Hoover HS5 Heat Spot Wash & Dry Carpet Cleaner is a good option. It heats up quickly, it's simple to use, and it effectively refreshes tired-looking carpets and sofas. The extra attachments make it more versatile and are handy if you want to clean more than just carpets and upholstery.

It's not without its flaws. The instructions aren't clear, so using it for the first few times does require some guesswork. If you need a spot cleaner to tackle deeper-set stains, there are more powerful options available. But for tackling small spills and marks that come with everyday family life, I do think this is a good choice, especially if you can pick it up on offer.