Bissell Revolution HydroSteam Pet vs Hoover SmartWash

Analysis

A thorough examination of the differences between the HydroSteam and the SmartWash in six different categories.

The Hoover SmartWash was tested to have significantly more measured suction than the Bissell HydroSteam in all three of our suction tests.

Winner: SmartWash

Despite having less measured suction, the HydroSteam outperformed the SmartWash by a significant margin in our upright stain test.

Much of this can be attributed to the fact that the HydroSteam uses steam in addition to water and soap to clean (the SmartWash only uses water and soap).

Some of the discrepancy in performance can also be attributed to the fact that the SmartWash didn’t always cooperate well with this test. The SmartWash automatically dispenses soap and water (with the HydroSteam you pull a trigger to do the same). It requires you to move the cleaner forward at a minimum threshold of speed for it to properly dispense. The problem is that the standard push speed (the speed we use to push all carpet cleaners in this test) is very slow. And so the SmartWash would sometimes not properly dispense in this test.

With that caveat out of the way, note how the HydroSteam cleaned up 4 out of 7 stains faster than the SmartWash. The two models cleaned up the other 3 stains equally fast.

The table above lists the number of passes it took to clean each stain. For example, the HydroSteam cleaned up the caramel syrup stain in only 3 passes. The SmartWash cleaned up the same stain in 6 passes.

Adding up the total number of passes it took to clean each stain, the total “stain score” for the HydroSteam is a much better than average 35. The total score for the SmartWash is a much worse than average 54.

Winner: HydroSteam, because it took fewer passes to clean most stains.

The SmartWash left carpet slightly drier after cleaning.

Winner: SmartWash

Both models have relatively large water tanks, but the SmartWash uses significantly less water to clean, so it can cover a much larger area before you need to refill or empty its water tanks.

Winner: SmartWash

It’s just about equally easy to clean both models’ dirty water tanks.

It is much easier to clean the SmartWash’s cleaner head though. You can easily remove both of its brushrolls for cleaning without using any tools (you just press down on a lever to pop them out), while you can only remove the HydroSteam’s brushrolls using a screwdriver.

Winner: SmartWash

Both models can be used as spot cleaners. They both include spot cleaning tools and a hose that you can connect to a port on the front of the cleaner.

The SmartWash did perform better in our spot cleaning test though, as you can see below.

Winner: SmartWash

Other Notes and Features

The HydroSteam’s most unique feature is its steam cleaning functionality.

The SmartWash’s most unique feature is that it automatically dispesnses soap and water when you push it forward, and it automatically maximizes extraction of liquid when you pull it backward.

Verdict

Our bottom line recommendations.

The SmartWash wins a lot of categories – it has more measured suction, it leaves carpet drier after cleaning, it has a larger area of coverage (before you need to refill and empty its tanks), it’s easier to clean, and it spot cleans better.

That being said, the HydroSteam won the most important category – upright stain cleaning performance.

The SmartWash was at a disadvantage in this test because our testing protocols require the cleaner be pushed at a very slow speed, and the SmartWash requires you to push it relatively fast for it to dispense soap and water properly.

But, we also tested the SmartWash at faster speeds (in a separate test), and even at faster speeds it still struggled to clean up many of the stains in our test (i.e. its performance wasn’t much better pushing it at faster speeds).

So overall, the SmartWash does more things better, but the HydroSteam does the most important thing a carpet cleaner has to do – clean up stains – it does that better than the SmartWash. And so we generally recommend the HydroSteam over the SmartWash because it’s a better upright cleaner.