VAX ONEPWR Compact Cordless Carpet Cleaner review: a carpet washer with no strings attached!

The humble carpet cleaner is the last division of corded floor cleaning products to be given a cordless makeover and it’s well overdue. After all, vacuum cleaners – and even hard floor cleaners that mop – have been cordless for years, but carpet cleaners have remained tied to an annoying power cord that makes carpet washing a much bigger hassle than it ought to be.

Thankfully, that’s all about to change with the recent launch of the UK’s – and possibly the world’s – first cordless carpet cleaner from VAX. It’s called the ONEPWR Compact Cordless Carpet Cleaner and it will revolutionise the mundane process of carpet cleaning by doing away with an irritating cable so you can wash that hideous dog stain without continually having to wrestle with a long ungainly cable.

So, just how good is this new carpet cleaner and does not having a cable attached make a big enough difference? Let’s see.

VAX ONEPWR Compact Cordless Carpet Cleaner review: price and availability

The VAX ONEPWR Compact Cordless Carpet Cleaner is priced at £299.99 and currently only available to buy direct from VAX. However, you can be sure that other VAX stockists like Amazon, John Lewis & Partners, Argos and Currys will follow suit as soon as it’s officially distributed.

VAX ONEPWR Compact Cordless Carpet Cleaner review: design and features

At a reasonable 6.9 kilos with battery attached and 109cm in height, a svelte 26cm in width and 45cmm in depth, this model is smaller in size – and lighter – than most of the wired competition, including VAX’s own premium Platinum range. And this makes it easy to maneuver around the home and carry upstairs, where most of your carpeted areas are like to be. Its reduced stature also makes it relatively easy to store away under the stairs or in a utility room cupboard.

Like many advanced models, this one features a push-to-dispense and pull-to dry system that makes the act of carpet cleaning mostly fool proof because there are no triggers to remember to press. In essence, when you push the machine forward, water and carpet cleaning solution are dispensed automatically from the leading edge while the brush begins to spin, and when you pull it back the water and brush stop and the suction kicks in to suck up as much moisture as possible.

However this automatic method of carpet cleaning does require a little planning because you can’t really do short one-metre long push-and-pull actions over a length of carpet as you work your way down a room. This is because when you push it further forward to complete the next section, more water is dispensed but not collected on the bit you've already cleaned. Hence, the best method is to perform a complete forward run the entire length of the room followed by pulling it back along the same path to dry it.

The VAX ONEPWR Compact Cordless Carpet Cleaner comes with three main modes which are selected using the + and - buttons on the handle. Wash is the general do-it-all, push-and-pull mode mentioned above, Spot dispenses water and solution continuously and is designed for intensive cleaning of stains and overly dirty areas, and Dry Only is for finishing the entire area using the machine’s powerful suction to leave the carpet as dry as possible. Like most carpet cleaners, you can actually see the dirty water being sucked into the dirty water tank by simply looking down at the transparent window positioned on top of the splayed suction tube.

The VAX ONEPWR Compact Cordless Carpet Cleaner comes with an antimicrobial brush head and it’s a good idea to remove it after every cleaning session to gain access to the area behind it which will almost certainly contain clumps of wet carpet fibres, especially if your carpet is many years old and the fibres have started to loosen.

Although VAX makes no mention of the size of the two water containers on this model, I measured them both myself and they are 2.2 litres for the clean water tank and 1.6 litres for the dirty water tank. While the dirty water container is a lot larger in volume – well over 2 litres – you’re advised to keep its contents below the 1.6 litre marking on the side. As a side note, this model does not have a separate mixing reservoir for carpet cleaning solution so you will need to add it to the main water tank – there are two guide lines on the tank to make it easier. Oh, and you’ll be pleased to read that both tanks are a doddle to fit and remove.

This model uses a single 8.0Ah battery from VAX’s ONEPWR system of interchangeable batteries. This equates to a 35-minute running time which is pretty impressive for a cordless carpet cleaner. From my experience, 35 minutes has been more than enough to cover two bedrooms, but if you’re tackling multiple rooms or large carpeted areas, this 35 minute runtime could become a key limitation unless you have a spare battery or a well-planned charging schedule.

VAX ONEPWR Compact Cordless Carpet Cleaner ships with 500ml of Vax Platinum Antibacterial Solution and 250ml of Vax Pre Solution for pet stains and odour control.

VAX ONEPWR Compact Cordless Carpet Cleaner review: performance

I have to say right from the off that having no cable to drag around or get in the way is a godsend and we can only hope that other manufacturers follow suit and add a few cordless models to their respective ranges. However, I am mindful that one battery can only take you so far.

In my two main tests, I cleaned a hallway and one medium-sized bedroom and the battery still showed two bars out of four of remaining juice. So I did the hallway again and managed to complete another full clean before the battery hit one bar. I calculate that I spent about 25 minutes doing these areas and that’s good enough for me. Nevertheless, you will doubtless require an extra ONEPWR battery if you have a three or four bedroom property.

Although my carpets didn’t look too dirty before starting, my partner and I both noticed a remarkable difference in cleanliness about an hour later, after the carpet had dried. Mind, the state of the dirty water tank should have been enough to tell me that the VAX had done its job because the water it had collected was almost black after the hall and bedroom test.

Given that the contents of the dirty water tank looked cleaner after a second pass on the hallway floor was further proof that this model cuts the mustard. I also tested the machine’s Spot mode on a patch of rug with an ingrained stain and, while it didn’t remove it completely, it definitely made it less noticeable.

Is there anything I’m not that keen on? Well let’s just say that the interface is a bit confusing at first because, while it defaults to automatic wash & dry mode when you turn it on without moving the machine, the wording on the small interface screen says Dry instead of Wash. It didn’t take long for me to twig that this is because the machine hasn’t been moved. Hence, as soon as I pushed the machine an inch forward, the display switched to Wash. This isn’t a major niggle by any means but something you should be were of in case, like me, you start stabbing at the plus/minus buttons in a vain attempt to select the Wash mode.

While most hybrid robot vacuums and all smart hard floor cleaners come with self-cleaning stations, carpet cleaners have no such tech so I’m afraid you’ll have to get on your knees, remove and rinse the grubby transparent suction plate before removing the brush roller and using your fingers to remove the inevitable clumps of carpet fibre and hair that always gather in that area. That’s just the way it is – until hopefully someone invents a carpet cleaner that comes with its own self-cleaning station.

VAX ONEPWR Compact Cordless Carpet Cleaner review: verdict

For homeowners who dread dragging out a heavy, corded carpet washer, VAX’s new cordless model is a refreshing alternative. With up to 35 minutes of runtime, an automatic Wash& Dry mode for general use and a Spot mode for stains, it handles almost all scenarios with consummate ease.

That said, the battery life and compact tank sizes mean that it's best suited for moderate spaces and not an entire house in one go.