Side by Side Comparison of: Wagner vs Rug Doctor

I recently purchased a mcculloch to replace this and I regret it with every fiber of my being! Every time I use the mcculloch, I'm reminded of how great this machine was in comparison. It has excellent pressure! The only down side was that the pressure was intermittent, but you got some pretty good pressure out of it. The heat on this thing is hot enough that I wouldn't stick my hand in front of it to test the temp, where my mccolloch, I can hold my hand about six inches from the nozzle barely be effected. If you are debating between this and mcculloch, order this. I can't wait to save enough money to purchase this again. I NEED it back in my home and am so upset that I didn't repurchase it.

I have used the heck out of this machine. Wall paper falls right off. Will help remove paint off of a shower wall. Stubborn glued linoleum 3 layers thick with nails removed fairly easily. Will steam the glue off after you get the linoleum up.It got what had to be 20 years of cigarette residue off a ceiling. Will help remove grease and rust. I am not much for boasting about products but this thing just gets the job done. The effort and time this saves is just work this.

Once you get the hang of it this little guy puts out PLUMES of steam and definitely would be great for any heavy-duty application. Though despite being so robust it isn't bulky or hard to manuever. I bought a every steam cleaner available at the local stores just to get an idea of what to expect & to use as a baseline comparison for this guy. I tell you that this thing blew them all away and was head & shoulders above anything else I was able to get my hands on..

Best purchase I have made in a long time! Highly recommend it. I read the reviews prior to purchasing so felt like I knew what to expect. The product exceeded my expectations. I used it to clean tile and grout in two bathrooms. Prior to using I was thinking I would need to remodel the bathrooms but this steamer along with using a scrub brush did a fantastic job. I also used it on our laundry room sink which has been a utility sink for 30 years with paint and other product on it from many odd house jobs and it looks almost new. I recommend purchasing the extra nozzle brushes as after one bathroom of scrubbing I opted to use a new brush for the next bathroom. I've also used it to wash all the baseboards in the house. I'm already planning new uses for it. Honestly, really a good purchase.

Honestly, I would give this 10 stars if I could, and I'd still give it 5 stars if it worked half as well as it does. This thing is fantastic. Once it's "charged", it runs for well over 30 minutes on a single fill, and I can't believe what a brilliant job it does.I recently picked up a winter car that's 10 years old, and unfortunately the previous owner was a heavy smoker. It took me about 2 hours in the driveway, but when I was done - using only this steamer, a few towels and some elbow grease, you'd never know the car was smoked in. The headliner, seats, carpets - even the vents and little nooks and crannies are now spotless and there is NO smoke smell. I am flat out thrilled at how it turned out! Even the engine bay cleaned up like a shiny penny.It's a heck of a lot of fun to use, and I can't wait to get to trying it on the rest of my home. 5 stars all the way, the perfect gift for any car nut. It does a professional level job at half the cost of a professional steam cleaning.

This works really well, much better than our previous carpet cleaner. One nice thing is that, because of all the suction, the carpet is much dryer when done, it's barely damp. I was able to clean up fresh wet paint splatters with the moving brush. The water containers are a bit slippery and tricky to take out - there isn't a handle to grab, just a narrowed corner. But you get the hang of it. I like the way it packs up to put away. The carry handle and roller/handle are handy.

Best portable spot cleaner on the market and my wife loves it!

This thing is pretty magical! We only have carpet on our stairs so I didn't want a bulky full size carpet cleaner but something small with the same power. My goal was to find something for the stairs and for my car interior. After trying out a different brand purchased at Lowes and returning it disappointed I set on a mission to do more research and give it another try with a different brand. I'm so glad I did. This thing has one minor flaw but I still rate it 5 stars as its cleaning ability outweighs the fixable flaw. The flaw is that it does tend to leave a small drip puddle of dirty water under the machine, but easily fixable by placing it on a folded towel instead of directly onto the floor. The puddle is not big enough to soak through the towel so it more than solves the problem. The suction power is great for soaking up all of the cleaning fluids and remaining moisture dries quickly. I did follow someone else's review and did a second cleaning pass with just water after using the original solution to get rid of the soap left behind. Even that Second pass with just water lifted lots of dirt. I would recommend this and I would buy another one. Looking forward to trying it out in my car. The included pictures are of uncleaned stairs after 2 years of owning the house.. After two passes (1st with soapy solution followed by just a water solution) the carpet feels softer, looks fluffier and like new.

I was hesitant to buy this because many reviewers received a free machine in return for writing a review, and I wasn't sure if they were sugar-coating it or being honest. But I'm very happy with this machine. I was hesitant because the price seemed steep. I had bought a Bissell Lil Green Machine about 5-6 years ago for around $60 that recently stopped working. I'm so much happier with the Rug Doctor. The cleaning solution it comes with is very effective - while the Bissell cleaning solution maybe got 60% of the stains out of my carpet after I went over the stained area repeatedly. The Rug Doctor got most of my stains out in one pass - it seemed too good to be true! I admit I had two stubborn stains that didn't fully come out after 1 pass with the Rug Doctor, so I sprayed Spot Shot on each then immediately vacuumed that out with the Rug Doctor and the stains were gone! I rinsed out the waste water tank after using (as the directions indicated) but I will store it with the cleaning solution tank partially filled (which the directions indicate is fine to do). The vacuum head has a power switch which activates movement of some of the bristles, I found that this feature was unnecessary. I did try using it, but I worried I would break that feature or the motor behind it from the force I applied to scrub the carpet or to dig in with the vacuum part to suck the solution out of the carpet. My point is, that I don't mind a little elbow grease, so I probably won't use that feature, but other people might find it helpful. I should point out that I don't have kids or pets, so it's possible that my carpet stains are easier to get out than others.

The Rug Doctor Portable Spot Cleaner has thus far been one of the most useful cleaning purchases I have ever made. In the past, my family has rented either a Rug Doctor or similar vehicles through Walmart, but we used them frequently enough that we ultimately decided it would be more convenient to simply purchase one. While the sticker price can be a little intimidating to say the least, we received it within a week and are extremely satisfied with the results. Its smaller size allows us to clean crevices that might otherwise require us to move heavy furniture, with no apparent sacrifice in cleaning ability. One rug in particular that has been at the front door to our home is approximately a year-and-a-half old and bore the wear of many winter feet as a result; after using the Rug Doctor, it looked as if it were new again. In regard to loading the cleaning supplies, everyone in my family who has used it thus far has found it easy to do, but I do recommend you use cleaning supplies from the same manufacturer. Overall, it has been a great product and I enjoyed it so much that we may end up buying the full-size one also.

QUICK TIP FOR LONG LASTING RESULTS:If you have an area that repeatedly needs cleaning, like the carpet in front of my computer desk, add this step to your cleaning routine and the area will stay cleaner much longer:After you're done cleaning, fill the detergent reservoir with clean, hot water--no detergent and run the spray head into a sink until the reservoir is empty. This flushes any residual detergent from the machine's innards. (ps---you should do this anyway after each use). Now refill the detergent reservoir with clean hot water and "clean" the area using just plain hot water. This removes residual detergent from the carpet fibers. Residual cleaners when dry becomes soiled much faster than fibers with no residual detergents. I think you'll find you dirt prone area stays cleaner much longer.

So far I really like it. Used it on my kitchen tile floor and truly amazing, my floor looks like new. This steamer is easy to use, light weight, attachments are okay but feel like they could be a bit more sturdy. I learned that I needed to hit the control switch to allow some of the water to flow first to get the steam going, at first I was getting too much water before the steam came (probably operator error) The only downfall for me is that I tend to overfill it with water. If it had a see through container where I could see the water level that would be great and case to store it and the attachments together would be a plus :). I would recommend this product

Works as intended with good water capacity and hot steamy flow. Definitely not a miracle machine, doesn't clean as well as i expected. Machine works as intended though. Will keep machine. Nice not to use chemicals.

It's great for getting the funk from the cracks and crevices that are hard to reach with traditional methods. Takes a lot of effort out of cleaning tasks too, a whole lot. The brush on the tip is a great design to effectively scrub and keeps my hands away from the hot steam and is all that is needed to get at the filth that builds up that rags or mops just can't remove. It's big enough for average house cleaning, I've been able to clean a room on a full tank and knowing the power of steam to truely clean surfaces has cut the cost of detergents. It seems to take longer than I would think to heat up but at 1500 watts, once it's ready, I can typically get the job done. Be careful of heat sensitive materials such as paint, just use quick short bursts and a towel will be fine. The only negative for me is that there isn't a gauge to see how full it is. The power cord seems a bit short but I appreciate how easy it is to store away and I just use an extension cord anyway. And don't be a cheap a$$ and use tap water, I've had a few other steamers and clogged them up with the crap in our water supply, distilled water is your best bet. So if you like a clean house but hate cleaning, this is the gadget for you.

It works great! Cleaned everything I needed it for, my oven, cracks between the fridge and cupboards, counters and stove, bathroom, my daughters step 2 play kitchen. It's the only cleaning tool I use now!! I especially love that there are no chemicals being left behind for my daughter to get exposed to!
I only have 2 issues with this product and that's why I took off 1 star. The first issue is the trigger not having any sort of safety feature. I would like if it at least had a trigger lock so you don't run the risk of getting sprayed and burned while you're moving things around, or it could potentially get in the wrong hands and just be bad obviously I key my daughter away while I'm using it, but it only takes a spilt second for something to happen. The other issue is not having a water level indicator. You can't over fill it and you can't run it dry, but there's no way of knowing how much water is in it until you either over fill it, or you run out of steam. If those 2 things got added this would be a 5 star product!!!!

For the size it is pretty impressive how much power it has. I am guessing it is the all metal pressure tank. We didn't have any issues getting continuous supply as I have only tried it on the tile grout. It does take out all the gunk. May be per-treating the grout with some sort of chemical may make it even more cleaner. But works well with out it as well. The brass/metal brush does wear out quick; we cleaned our kitchen and part of the living room and I can see the that it will need replacement before we are done with dinning and great room. The wallpaper remover attachment is pretty usless if you dont have wallpaper to remove. I tried to see if it can be used for some other purpose but cant think of anything.
A waterlevel indicator would have been great but I think that will make the take prone to leaks as it will need to be cutout from the metal. We have not tried any other attachments so cannot review on them.

I had problems getting it to spray out the cleaner the first time around. I called customer service and they had me try different tests but nothing worked. After getting off the phone with them I gave it one more try of turning it on and off 10 times. It worked! I haven't had any problems with it since and it cleans well.**Make sure you do not leave dirty water in it! Common sense I know, but I got distracted and that stuff gets really foul, really quickly.

This is a big machine and it sucks. Not bad suck, but good. It really pulls the fluid out, along with all the crud. It is loud, but that is the powerful suction. The hose storage is a pain in the b..t. I would not leave any liquids in the machine for a long period, as the seals at the base of the tanks rely on gravity for a good fit. The spray nozzle on the wand is very fragile. Mine broke and it makes for an uneven distribution of the cleaning fluid. Like I said. This thing is big, therefore finding a storage spot is a consideration.

Overall, I am pleased with this machine and I hope that the benefits will outweigh the negatives throughout the life of the machine. Aside from the few things we've noticed, overall the Rug Doctor has been a great and handy tool for quick stain cleanup. The things that I wish were different are the following:1. Once full, you have to use all of the "clean" solution before removing the container or it will spill everywhere. So if you fill it full and only clean a small stain you either have to remove it over a large sink and waste it or you have to leave it in the machine for next time.2. Both containers are easy to spill the contents if you're not paying attention to how you're removing them or carrying them.3. It does require a fair amount of muscle and reptitions to clean a stain, however, it has performed this well in the handful of times we have used it.I think that these are relatively minor and I hope that the heavy duty feel and quality build will make this a better purchase when compared to other spot type cleaners.

First, I want to just say I do like this product. It works well. It packs up nicely. I've only used it a few times, so I can't speak to durability or anything like that. I also think competing similar products would have similar or worse problems as what I'm listing below.After using it a few times, here are some things I wish were different:This thing is a serious workout. You know that exercise where you are on your knees and holding a roller, and you roll out/back and it's really hard on your abs? That's this. To properly suck up all the liquid, you need to be pressing down firmly as you drag it back toward you (not away). This is made even harder because the handle isn't ergonomically designed for downward pressure. And the clear window to see how much liquid you're sucking up is facing away from you/probably covered by your downward-pressing hand. Would have rather had a clear spot closer to the hose.The tank is HUGE if you're truly doing "spot" cleaning. I did an entire hall way end to end twice on one full tank and still had clean fluid left over. Which sucks because the only indicator how much soap to put in is for a full tank. If you're doing less, you guestimate.I'd say, if you think there's any chance you're covering more than small spots, rent a machine or go full-in and get a stand-up full size unit. Spending hours on your hands and knees with this thing is brutal.

I have only used it on my disgusting microfiber couch (i have 3 young children haha) but I'm impressed so far. The only reason I took away 1 star is becauseuse when you are suctioning up the dirty water and pull the head away from the fabric it causes the soap dispenser to release a little water. Not a huge deal but I would prefer for that not to happen. We have tried cleaning the couch with other things but this did the job and it was only the first round. I can only see the couch looking better and better.

I have owned more than one of these portable carpet shampooers from other manufacturers, and the other have been junk, i.e., horribly engineered and designed, poorly assembled and constructed and they all end up at the curb as I SWEAR I'll not buy another.DO NOY BUY THE ONES with the brand name that begins with the second letter of the alphabet!There is no free lunch, i.e., those that supposedly sit there and "automatically" remove a spot (in my case pet urine) DON'T!!! They just make a bigger spot.I first saw this one at Costco but it was gone by the time I decided I wanted to it based on brand.I have used it ONCE!!! To clean a flight of carpeted stairs. It worked exceptionally well---the stairs are cleaner than they have been in a decade.This is a sturdy and well constructed unit---and no more expensive than the shoddy ones. The spray tubing is easily three or four times the diameter of the "other" brand. The "insides" are simple and direct and indicate that an actual engineer who had ever used such a device was somehow involved in design.This is user friendly. The pull out handle, sorta like your pullman suitcase makes it easy to maneuver, although it is not terribly heavy and there is a separate carry handle. Plus, someone thought about why we buy these most often---cleaning stairs---and the unit fits nicely on a step without tumbling over.I LOVE having the brush control on the handle.Speaking of the handle, it seems to be substantial----other brand are not and I've had to replace them.Why not five stars? Because I've only owned it for a few hours.

well...is my bathroom cleaner? probably
does it save me time and work? no way
i ended up returning it as it just releases way too much water with the steam for me. I live in the damp and cold NW coast region and adding that much water into the house just doesn't work. If i lived in a warm climate and could open the windows and had a tile/concrete house would be fine.
The window squeegee was worthless as the water just flew everywhere and left a large puddle on the floor and walls. The steam was a wonder on the toothbrush holder and sink drains and under the rim of the toilet though. That was not enough to store another machine in the house for me. Perhaps a handheld will work better. Also, my trusty home made bathroom cleaner did a better job in the shower.

I've yet to find anything inside that this is my go-to appliance. Don't get me wrong; for a sub-$100 unit it's very well constructed, with lots of attachments and no leaks (impressive, since even brand-new $3k units sometimes leak). It produces a decent jet of steam once it's up to full power, and it's plenty hot.

But... it's not for everything.

The first big project I tried it on was general dirt in the carpet, especially by the edges. I'm sorry to say that it didn't do any better than plain water; I ended up switching back to my ironically-named carpet steamer and soap. It didn't damage the carpet, but it didn't really help, and there was the added risk of smashing your drywall into paste.

Next I tried it on the range & oven. It's pretty messy; imagine using a low-powered pressure washer inside your house. Again, you kinda need to use whatever soap or cleaner you would normally use, and it's not like it's any better at breaking up stained-in cooking grease. All in all, not worth it.

So I figured if it's going to make a mess, what better task than using the squeegee attachment on the shower doors? But just like the other two experiments, this was a deafening 'meh'; it didn't really help with water stains or soap scum any more than regular water would. I also tried it on the shower pan, but again, using some cleaner and tapwater worked better. Ditto for a toilet bowl as well.

So what should you get it for? I can't speak to wallpaper removal, but it's not bad for some things in the garage. If you need to spray something like your lawn mower, for example, I think it works better than a normal pressure washer with less risk of peeling up the paint. It might work for some small degreasing projects, but only if you can do it outside and contain the leavings.

All in all my suggestion would be to try one before you get it, even an inexpensive model like this, if you don't have a specific project already in mind.

Our old steamer had finally bitten the dust. This steamer works fine (just used it the other day), but is not quite as good as the previous model. Unless the green "GO" light is on, I can almost put my hand in the path of the steam. It does work well when the green light is on. The electrical cord is also too short. You need to have a heavy duty extension cord in order to reach farther than 5 feet from the electrical socket. I'll have to look at other options when this one bites the dust.

I am a senior with health issues. Cleaning the house is a struggle for me, especially the bathrooms which are all tile (not by choice). I was hoping the steamer would help so I wouldn't have toget in and bend, stoop, scrub so much because doing so lays me out for several days. Well, the steamer does take paint of the wall and it did remove dirt,etc. from the tile grout but did not touch the mold which is what I was hoping for. I contacted the company and even though you can not use any cleaners in the tank itself, you can put cleaners on the surface you will be spraying, then steam them off AS LONG as the product can be used with steaming water.
My husband tried it on the engine of a car he is restoring and it did nothing. It constantly needs to keep re-heating (according to the light indicators). I also agree with other people that have written in that it really needs some kind of way to let you know that the water level is going down. I keep putting water in it because I'm afraid it will dry out and blow. That is a major design error. I have not used it on the floors yet because actually, it looks like a lot of work.
My husband through out the box before I decided to send it back so I will use it for somethings around the house but not like I thought I would.

We bought this steamer in order to help with the removal of wallpaper from several rooms in our home. Based on several days of use so far here's what we think:

The Good: Using this steamer beats using chemicals hands down at a price far less than either using chemicals or renting a steamer if you have a large removal area or will need a steamer for more than a couple of weekends. Depending on how many layers of wallpaper and the substrate (for us it was either bare plaster or paint over plaster; worst case was 3 layers of wallpaper on a bare plaster surface, best case was a single layer of wallpaper on a painted surface) you have it's reasonable to expect you'll be able to remove 15-25 sq. ft. of wallpaper per tank. Between steaming and scraping each tank of distilled water lasted ~ 1 to 1-1/2 hours. The wallplate attachment fits reasonably well and flush to the surface. While removing wallpaper is never fun it was great to be able to peel off wallpaper in large sections instead of having to chip away at it when we used chemicals.

The Bad: When using the wallplate for the first time after filling the tank a gush of hot water precedes the steam. That's not a bad thing when you're working 2-3' or higher on the wall (the hot water simply soaks into the wallpaper and loosens it up) but if you're closer to the floor it can cause a stream of very hot water to soak your floor (not very desirable and possibly damaging). Luckily this effect becomes less pronounced at the tank empties.

While the wallplate does effectively steam off wallpaper you'll find that a fair bit of steam escapes from the uneven contact of the plate with the wall surface. A better design would include a foam border to enhance the seal between the wallplate and the working surface to better concentrate the steaming effect.

Lastly, there is no place to attach the wallplate for safekeeping during the periods when you're scraping. There were several points where we had to use a stepladder to work on the upper portions of the wall and there was no way to safely secure the hose/wallplate when we were done steaming. The manual states that the wallpaper attachment should be pointing bottom side up when not in use to avoid accidentally steaming the floor. What they didn't consider is that, in that configuration, if the trigger were accidentally engaged that a blast of steam would go straight in the air...maybe into someone's face...with potentially dire results. The design of the unit should be modified to include a way to afix the steamer handle to the case with the attached tool facing downward and away to prevent accidental discharge. The design should also include a positive safety lock in the trigger mechanism to prevent accidental discharge as well.

Suggestions: When using this tool to remove wallpaper we've found it helpful to use a spray bottle containing hot water and wet the wall surface while you're waiting the 20 minutes or so for the steamer to get to operating temperature. The extra water helps loosen the wallpaper and enhances the effect of the steamer, especially when the tank start to run dry.

Overall this is a good and very useful steamer. Once the wallpaper job is done we'll still be able to use it for multiple other cleaning uses :-).

For a flight of stairs, this worked OK and had great suction, but still is a lot of work, just about as much as using a spray can with scrubber brush on top of Woolite. A lot of downward pressure needs to be used to make great contact with the commercial carpeting and suck up the dirty water. The design overall is good and it is good looking; however, the design of the tanks is terrible. They cannot stand on their own to fill or empty. Taking the dirty water tank out for the first time, half of it surged out all over me. It does work... just not sure if it is worth the work and effort considering the price. By the way, I have never had a spot cleaner before... have always done it by hand with microfiber towels and Woolite for carpet spot cleaning.

I have a full size Rug Doctor and I hoped this would be easier to clean up occasional pet messes. I had a few spots (ok,- several) and this was okay but frankly the big one is easier to use. I am 77 years old and I was getting a backache from stooping over. I don't think this will get much use. It may be great for younger people. I would never need a full tank of solution for one or 2 spots - not sure what the ratio of water to cleaner would be.

The motorized brush it quite weak. You still need to use good old muscle to get the dirt but the solution and suction help. Just don't go in thinking the machine will do the work for you.Still it did a good job (or rather I did) of removing month old stains on the floor compared to my large Hoover "steam" carpet cleaner.Tanks were easy to refill, empty and clean.Had issues with the SPRAY NOZZLE. Took a long time to get it to work and a lot of adjusting. The Shampoo container is finicky and has to be set down just right.Hose seems like it would last but only with care. This is a BIG issue for most spot cleaners, the hose usually gives out after a few months.I'll update if anything else happens.

I like that this spot cleaner has a removable brush, instead of rotating brushes under the machine. I used it on both carpet and furniture. It is fairly lightweight, even with the water, and is easy to carry.I dislike that it only sucks up about 1/3 of the water I put down. I think with a bit more practice, I could get that amount higher, but not much. The setup process is a bit difficult because the water container is rounded on the end, making it impossible to set down - make sure you have the soap opened before you start, or someone else to help you. I also dislike that you have to fill the entire container, and top off with soap - with the rounded end, it's hard to know that I filled it up enough with water, or put in enough soap. And it is quite a lot of water/soap to use, especially if you're just cleaning a spot! I dislike the waste. I'd prefer the ability to only fill 1/2 or 1/4 full, for smaller areas. Lastly, it is extremely loud in use.

A cleaning contractor brought this machine in to clean a mattress and I was so impressed with the amount of water that it sucked out that I bought one to replace a Rug Doctor that I had. And in about six months I sent it back because the dirty water tank leaked CONSTANTLY which is absolutely disgusting (the contractor didn't seem to have this problem). So the new machine comes in and the clean water tank pools in the bottom of its holder and the tank also leaks a bit after the machine is turned off. But it's the clean water tank so I'm just going to deal with it. I really hope the dirty water tank doesn't start leaking because I'll soon be out of the 1 year warranty. The power of the vacuum is great though, and I have a bunch of animals so vacuum power is important.

It worked the first time I used it (puppy had an accident). According to the instructions, I did not have to empty it in between uses. So when the puppy had another accident a week or so later, I just plugged it in, as there was still water and soap. But this time, the stain did not come out. My guess is that it is has something to do with my using not hot water (you are supposed to fill it with hot water initially). If I fill it up with hot water and soap every time I have small stain, I will be using a lot of soap and water unnecessarily. Note that I am not sure if the not so good second use is due more to the machine or the cleaning product.I will say it did a pretty good job of just getting the dirt out of the carpet. The water was pretty brown when I was done, but that would take forever to use it for that purpose because of the small wand.

I paid for a new steamer, was sent a used one. It did work great however, so I kept it and got a discount/partial refund.However, ten months later, it is dead. Will not power on at all.Other cons: only has one floor cleaning pad (it'd be nice to have several included or easy option to buy more). Short electrical cord (minor quibble really).People that said it doesn't stay hot enough in use need to read the instructions manual. It worked great (when it was working). The lights go back on while heating during use, but you can continue to use it.One star for breaking in less than a year and shopping company sending me a used model, second start just cause it worked great when it was working

Does not heat up enough or stay hot. It did scour off the discoloration caused by water and soap scum on my tiles, but it wasn't fast and I had to wait for the steam to build up a few times. Overall, it's a good clothing steamer but for cleaning I am still looking for a better tool.

I dunno, maybe I'm doing something wrong. It's really not cleaning much. It just makes things wet.Also, it doesn't last 30 minutes on a full tank.

Pros - CompactCons - Lack of water level indicator, this can cause one to overfill the water compartment and/or have no idea when the water level is very low. Water doesn't always get to a steam level and spouts warm water all over the place. The cord isn't very long and the cord thickness is more of a vacuum cleaner cord than what was expected for a product of this watt. The cord seemed to get a little warm to the touch. Placement of water compartment is in the back of the machine and down inside of a tight enclave, causing difficulties while attempting to take water compartment cap off. When the device did decide to get to a steam level, the water wasn't an actual steam, the consistency more of a mist. The ergonomics aren't of a user comfort design.When this product arrive, was excited to give it a go, that excitement fizzled rather quickly.

As soon as I bought mine, it was recalled for a malfunction making the handle hot to the touch while using it. I sent my unopened steamer back in and waited to get my new one. Got it, set it up, within minutes the handle was burning hot. It doesn't stay charged up very long. Every time I shoot steam out the light comes on to stop using it so it can build up more steam. The cord for the plug is seriously so short. You'll absolutely need an extension cord if you plan on moving anywhere while using this steamer. It's just not very powerful. Huge disappointment.

I really wanted to like this steam cleaner; It got good reviews both on Amazon and other consumer websites. Perhaps I'm expecting too much as I've never used a steam cleaner but I would best describe this cleaner as a toy. Serious cleaning duties are not within the steamer's abilities. You've got to constantly wait for the steam to reheat (even when mopping your kitchen floor). Do no expect this steamer to clean your grill, car, engine or other "serious" tasks (as clearly pictured on the box by the way) without a lot of scrubbing with the included wirebrush and waiting. If you're scrubbing with a wire brush how much work is the steam really doing? In short, it makes a lot of noise and a lot of steam (for limited periods of time) but it doesn't really do anything. Maybe it's good for cleaning your stove or counter or something?

First let me start off by saying I own an automotive detailing company and bought this for back up after my bissell broke.So first off its a great machine. Although the head is wider this thing has almost as much suction power as my mytee carpet extractor. It works good but man is the head and handle almost useless. It's so bulky it's hard to get around areas. The bristles are also so stiff you can only pull with it not push. Good news is the head has a scrubbing action. Without that I wouldn't even be able to use this machine. It works great don't get me wrong. It's just the head needs to be redesigned. The other thing that needs to be redesigned is the water fill tank. It's triangular shaped so you can't set it on a glad surface to fill.In comparison to my bissell spot clean pro it's hard to say which ones better. The handle on the rug doctor is just so bad but the suction makes up for it in a way. The bissell gets into tight areas and you can scrub with it plus the bissell tank is easy to fill.If you ask me this thing is perfect for a house. For a car not so much only due to the handle. For a car I think the bissell is better. But I will say the suction power is incredible.

This worked for me exactly once. The second time I pulled it out, I could not get the water to flow through the machine and it was completely unusable. Thankfully I was able to return it. I liked it the one time I was able to use it. I may have gotten a dud, but I won't be reordering this.

Works great! Unfortunately the big design flaw is a deal breaker. The leakage of the dirty water tank mentioned in other reviews (and to some extent the clean) is a genuine problem. I cleaned one spot, moved to a second but had to leave it sitting for a while before starting up again. When I came back, water everywhere. Afterward I noticed a trail of water from the first spot to the second, so the leaking had started right away. Who wants to deal with that?? I'm doing what one other smart reviewer suggested: spray bottle and a shop vac.

Purchased an open box deal that was suppose to be like new. It looked like it was opened and used once. So after testing it on carpet stains and stairs, I guess it worked okay. The water extraction wasn't great because the carpet was still very wet but it looked like it was extracting well from the see thru compartment. I love that it has two handles but the unit leaked clean and dirty water everywhere. That defeats the purpose of cleaning when I'm also mopping.

The dirty water always leaks through the bottom (or throught the hose where it is connected to the unit) of the unit. I always put it on the hard surface so that I can mop up the leak after cleaning. I use it to clearn carpet when my dog makes a mistake on it. It sucks up urin well from the carpet, though.

Easy to use, compact, and effective. The only downside is you have to let the whole thing dry out or you get mildew/mold inside the tanks.*Update as of 6 months after receiving* 1) They don't tell you how to clean the inside of the machine itself, and that is critical because the sprayer and pump begin to mildew if it sits. 2) The sprayer quit a month ago. 3) Just using the extractor after pouring solution on the spots, the machine started smoking. In addition, when I called customer service, they gave me useless advice and they were clearly not in the US so hard to understand. They expected me to run the machine while I was on the phone with them, and it's deafening.....NOT happy with this machine, or with Rug Doctor! No wonder my local repair shop stopped working with them a few years ago....

Bought this to strip all of the wall paper in every room of a 1980's house. The heater did not heat up the water and all it did was soak the wall with water. Because this house was at a remote location, I didn't get to try this and find out that it did not work and get it returned in time. So now I have a big paperweight.

The one we received seems to be defective, sprays a luke warm stream of water and the steam it produces is cold.

After further research it appears to be a consistent problem with these.

After 6 months the steamer stopped working. Thought it was first class product.

I was very excited to receive this steamer and finally get the wallpaper down from my newly purchased home. I planned to use it to also do some major deep cleaning. I read all instructions and followed them exactly. I waited for the steamer to heat up and began. Less than 15 seconds later the red light came on! I wondered why no steam seemed to be generated while I was working - all 15 seconds at a time. I let it heat up again and tried it again and again and again. I wanted to give the machine a chance to actually work. It didn't get better. It got worse! I was doing better spraying water on the wall with a dollar store spray bottle and dollar store putty knife! (I even broke out my good putty knife.) I am not impressed at all with this machine. It is worthless. I would do better using my steam iron! (Then it's a good brand and older and probably can't be found any longer - at least not one made that well.) I have never used a steamer before. I have always just used "elbow grease" to clean and remove wallpaper etc.

Waste of money!
I am very unhappy with the Wagner steam cleaner.
This steamer does not heat up to the level of producing steam and this is after waiting 30-45 minutes for it to get hot. I could put my hand on the vapor coming out and it was barely lukewarm .The green light came on but it never got hot.

Oh, it worked well until it didn't. The power beater brush stopped working the second time I used it. So I called the number they suggested. It is probably one of the worst menuing systems in the world. I think I spoke to every department. Of course, ​they wanted me to send it back at my expense - still under warranty but I wanted to see if I could trouble shoot it myself. All I wanted was a little information or a schematic. No one seemed to know and to make matters worse every person I talked with seemed to be on time lapse. I'd say something and then nothing for several seconds. Exasperating. I kept thinking the call was dropped. So no, with that kind of support I would not recommend no matter how well it worked.

Very disappointed with this item. It is true that the stream of cleaner does not work well if not at all. When I got cleaner the machine did a very good job of cleaning and had a very powerful suction. Until Rug Doctor fixes this problem, I would not buy this machine. I sent it back.

Had some VERY light stains on a tan-colored carpet that was installed a month ago. This machine/concentrate would not clean them out. I had to dab the concentrate on straight out of the bottle to even begin to make an impact on them. The other thing that's a problem...strands of carpet fiber have collected between the red and clear part of the nozzle and will not vacuum through to the dirty water container. My carpet was completely vacuumed before I started cleaning with this Rug Doctor, but the rotating action on the machine's brush pulls out more fibers. I can't see any way to clean this nozzle out. The clear piece should unscrew for cleaning purposes. Also, unless you have carpeted stairs, you might as well get an upright rug cleaner. You will be on your hands and knees far longer than you wish to clean a path. I'm returning the Rug Doctor.

This item was used once and malfunctions. Don't waste your money. The spray comes out of a windex bottle better than the spray on this unit which is paltry at best. The suction is adequate, but for spot removal-it's worthless and going to the junk yard.

This cleaner has good suction and that is about all the good I can say about it. The spray nozzle constantly clogs up and the hose is too short.

I might have to return it. Seems the water trigger does not put out water all the time. I've only used it 4 or 5 times. I'd like to know where I can take this for repair? It's got to go to a rug doctor only. A regular repair shop can't get rug doctor parts. It won't spray at all.