Hoover SteamVac Agility

Has anyone ever owned this carpet cleaner? Hoover claimed that it made carpet cleaning as easy as vacuuming. As a result, it had some convenient features, including side-by-side clean and dirty water tanks, along with a folding handle much like the Fold Away vacuum. Based off my research, the Agility came out in late 2004 in two colors: Lavender Mist and Surf Blue.

I actually owned one; my dad purchased a Surf Blue model back in March of 2005. It was the first carpet cleaner my family ever owned. Prior to this, we borrowed my grandmother's old SteamVac Supreme and rented a Rug Doctor to satisfy our carpet cleaning needs.

Initially, the Agility did a really good job cleaning our white carpeting, thanks to the five SpinScrub brushes and heated cleaning. It also featured a removable tool caddy, 8-foot hose and SpinScrub hand tool for stair and upholstery cleaning. The hose on the Agility was very simple to hook up: just open a door on the back of the cleaner, line up the hose connector with the hose and solution ports, snap it into place and you're ready to clean. A LOT simpler than other SteamVac models.

Unfortunately, the Agility had a TERRIBLE design flaw: there's an internal hose that carries the dirty solution from the nozzle to the recovery tank, and it's a very short hose that is under a lot of stress from normal usage (moving the handle between upright and operating positions). That hose split on mine after about a year of use, just after the warranty ended. We had to resort to solutions such as duct tape. But the hose just split even more to the point that it tore open completely and was only hanging on by the wire reinforcement. As a result, the machine would only suction while in the upright position. And the machine was only really usable in hose mode, so it became a rather large spot cleaner which we continued to use.

In addition, some plastic parts broke, namely one of the latches on the solution tank lid, and the latch on the standard stair/upholstery nozzle. It wasn't a big deal for the solution tank lid/measuring cup, but the stair/upholstery nozzle became unusable, so I just threw it away, leaving us with only the SpinScrub tool.

Finally, in early 2012, I found out that ANOTHER internal hose split, this time the other one that carries air from the recovery tank lint filter to the motor. This one was longer than the recovery hose. Overall, I was very disappointed by the engineering of the SteamVac Agility. Ultimately, the machine was thrown out later that year.

There are only a few videos of this machine on YouTube, including a commercial for it. One video shows a guy who taped a ten-pound weight onto the top of the machine, claiming that it doesn't extract water very well, possibly due to his Berber carpeting.

Here are some pics of the lavender and blue models.

Photos... < > Photo 1 of 6 View Full Size


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Post# 415384 10/28/2019 at 16:17 (1,638 days old) by niclonnic (Bonney Lake, WA)
Checkrate/Likes Has anyone ever owned this carpet cleaner? Hoover claimed that it made carpet cleaning as easy as vacuuming. As a result, it had some convenient features, including side-by-side clean and dirty water tanks, along with a folding handle much like the Fold Away vacuum. Based off my research, the Agility came out in late 2004 in two colors: Lavender Mist and Surf Blue. I actually owned one; my dad purchased a Surf Blue model back in March of 2005. It was the first carpet cleaner my family ever owned. Prior to this, we borrowed my grandmother's old SteamVac Supreme and rented a Rug Doctor to satisfy our carpet cleaning needs. Initially, the Agility did a really good job cleaning our white carpeting, thanks to the five SpinScrub brushes and heated cleaning. It also featured a removable tool caddy, 8-foot hose and SpinScrub hand tool for stair and upholstery cleaning. The hose on the Agility was very simple to hook up: just open a door on the back of the cleaner, line up the hose connector with the hose and solution ports, snap it into place and you're ready to clean. A LOT simpler than other SteamVac models. Unfortunately, the Agility had a TERRIBLE design flaw: there's an internal hose that carries the dirty solution from the nozzle to the recovery tank, and it's a very short hose that is under a lot of stress from normal usage (moving the handle between upright and operating positions). That hose split on mine after about a year of use, just after the warranty ended. We had to resort to solutions such as duct tape. But the hose just split even more to the point that it tore open completely and was only hanging on by the wire reinforcement. As a result, the machine would only suction while in the upright position. And the machine was only really usable in hose mode, so it became a rather large spot cleaner which we continued to use. In addition, some plastic parts broke, namely one of the latches on the solution tank lid, and the latch on the standard stair/upholstery nozzle. It wasn't a big deal for the solution tank lid/measuring cup, but the stair/upholstery nozzle became unusable, so I just threw it away, leaving us with only the SpinScrub tool. Finally, in early 2012, I found out that ANOTHER internal hose split, this time the other one that carries air from the recovery tank lint filter to the motor. This one was longer than the recovery hose. Overall, I was very disappointed by the engineering of the SteamVac Agility. Ultimately, the machine was thrown out later that year. There are only a few videos of this machine on YouTube, including a commercial for it. One video shows a guy who taped a ten-pound weight onto the top of the machine, claiming that it doesn't extract water very well, possibly due to his Berber carpeting. Here are some pics of the lavender and blue models. Photos... < > Photo 1 of 6 View Full Size

Post# 415387 , Reply# 1 10/28/2019 at 19:06 (1,638 days old) by RoyalFan103 (Washington)
Checkrate/Likes There was actually a black Turbopower version of this. I don't know how high the product number was in the lineup, but it looked like it was a higher end machine. View Full Size

Post# 415442 , Reply# 2 11/1/2019 at 07:45 (1,634 days old) by kirbyklekter (Concord,Ca.)
Checkrate/Likes I think they all work great for the first two or three times they're used. Then the little things start happening, the pump goes out, a hose cracks or you bump into a wall to hard and the nozzle cracks or chips badly. I don't have the Agility, but I've had three spin scrubs and I also have had to ad weight to the front to push the nozzle down into the carpet to get a better extraction of liquid out. You're right, raising and lowering the handle does stretch the vacuum hose beyond it's too short length, it's very common on the Hoovers. Planned obsolescence strikes again! One tip I got is to always run clear water through the machine to clean out the sprayers, pump etc,and pour a little clean water on the floor and suck it up to clean nozzle. This is a must if you don't use the machine that often so soap doesn't cake up inside machine.

Post# 415446 , Reply# 3 11/1/2019 at 11:07 (1,634 days old) by gottahaveahoove (Pittston, Pennsylvania, 18640)
Checkrate/Likes *It's a shame about those flaws.* They really should be more careful/thorough before mass production. Hoover was always so careful with "detail".

Post# 415543 , Reply# 4 11/5/2019 at 19:55 (1,630 days old) by kirbyklekter (Concord,Ca.)
Checkrate/Likes *Way back in the mid-nineties* my neighbor bought a new Hoover Spin Scrub,then asked me if I'd be interested in cleaning their carpet, both floors while they were in Europe for a couple weeks. They paid me 300.00 in advance. I took my time and did a bang up job for them. When they returned they were so happy that they paid me again! That's how good these machines worked when new and will continue if maintained. They all have good points and a few weaknesses, I prefer steam pressure machines myself.