Great for stains but wish it could vanish monsters! (Vanish High Traffic Area Powerfoam)

Member Name: madmum71

Product:	Vanish High Traffic Area Powerfoam
Date:	26/05/08 (511 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It actually works

Disadvantages: Wet knees!

I like most people am always on the look out for the next miracle cleaner, I have cupboards full of them all promising me that they will clean up my monsters mess! My main area that drives me mad in my living room carpet, when we moved into our house we had to take up all the carpets in the house because the previous owner had cats and I am allergic to them. I spent the first couple of days in my new home with eyes as red as Rudolph's nose and sneezing ever second! So due to lack of funds I just bought a cheap carpet for the living room with a view to replacing it later when we could afford it. Suffice to say 3 years later we still have the same cheap carpet!

The problem is 3 years later my boys haven't seemed to get any tidier or cleaner and we have also acquired a lovely little rescue dog that hasn't yet learnt to wipe her feet! So I am constantly trying to clean the carpet that I want to get rid of! I do have a vax but it is to big to get out every day and if the truth be known I kind of broke it the last time I used it and haven't got around to telling the other half!
I saw this product advertised and decided that it will be the answer to my prayers or my carpets anyway! So did it work?

PRODUCT STATEMENT

Are you frustrated by a busy family making your carpets look tired and worn? New Vanish high traffic area power foam is perfect to ensure that the high traffic areas of your carpets such as hallways, staircases and doorways- where your family come and go are always clean and fresh.

Its gentle foam penetrates deep into the carpet fibres to loosen and lift dirt effectively without over wetting your carpet, Vanish power foam respects fibres and colours and is suitable for use in wool carpets.

PACKAGING

This product comes in a 600ml can, the can is the usual Vanish bright pink with the writing on the front in big bold letters, the lid is your bog standard plastic one that I always seem to snap in my haste to get it off! The spray bit has a button ust big enough for my finger and is white plastic the spray doesn't seem to get clogged up which is good as the foam is quite thick and comes out quite fast.


USING

I bought this cleaner quite a while ago but had to wait a while for the opportunity to use it, see there is no point cleaning the carpet for me to turn around and find the eldest walking on it with his football boots (even though he has been banned from doing this!) the youngest spilling drinks on it (he has also been banned from having drinks in the living room!) and the dog bringing half the garden in with her (have tried banning her but she is soooo cute, I can't resist!)

So I waited until they were both away at their grans (not the dog just the kids!) and then decided to tackle the carpet. I suppose this would be a good time to tell you the directions, I say this because I always end up using these products and then reading the instructions and suddenly realizing where I went wrong!

1. Shake the can and spray from a 80cm height over the area to be treated.

2. work the foam into the carpet using a clean colourfast damp sponge mop or cloth

3. Leave for 2 hours or until dry and vacuum

So that's how you should do it, but me being me I kind of didn't do it that way. In my excitement of finally getting my carpet clean (yes I do know I really need to get a life!) I forgot to measure 80cm away from the carpet (come on hands up who would do that anyway!) but my biggest mistake was I got a bit carried away with spraying the carpet and did the whole floor. Now this may not sound like a problem but seeing as I didn't read step 2 I now realized that I was going to get really wet knees as I don't own a sponge mop and if I did I doubt it would be clean!!

When you spray this product on the carpet it comes out like thick white foam (I thought the name might have given that away!) if you leave the foam sitting on top of the carpet the foam gets thinner as it absorbs into the carpet. This product does have a smell to it, but its not overpowering, if like me you do the whole carpet then I would open a window.

So it was a hands and knees job with a cloth, which isn't a problem but at this point my dog, was very interested in this cloth flying about the carpet and decided she wanted to play! So after chasing her around and out of the room it was back to the important task at ahead, using the damp clean cloth I went around the floor rubbing the foam into the carpet. The foam absorbs very quickly when rubbed with the cloth I did give an extra rub when I came across a more stubborn stain (I dread to think what the stain was!) At times I had got a bit carried away with the foam and when I was rubbing those patches in I found that the carpet did have some white streaks on it but these did fade and didn't turn the carpet white.

So with very wet knees I finally finished the whole carpet, I then did read step 3 and closed the door (to keep the dog off the carpet!) and left it to dry for 2 hours. As I had finally read the instructions I then noticed a little bit of writing that told me before I used this product I should do a test on a small discreet patch of carpet before doing a larger area. Great so I opened the door and took a peek at my drying carpet and with relief it didn't look damaged or shrunk!

So after the stated 2 hours I then got the hoover out and went over the carpet, I then stood back to admire my work and I have to say I was really impressed. The carpet did look much fresher and the colours in the carpet seemed to stand out more but the best bit was the disappearance of those nasty looking stains. I would say that this product got out 99% of the marks and stains.

WARNINGS
As with any cleaning product this comes with the usual warnings:

Keep away from little monsters (unless you teach them to clean up after themselves!) Do not expose the product to direct sunlight or temperatures exceeding 50oc, Do not pierce or burn the container after use, Do not spray on a naked flame, Do not spray near electrical appliances, Use in a well ventilated area, Do not breathe vapour, Avoid contact with the skin and eyes, Do not swallow.

PRICE & RANGE

Vanish oxi action carpet and upholstery cleaner 500ml ... £2.66

Vanish carpet power foam 600ml ... £3.82

Vanish power shot carpet stain remover 400ml ... £3.69

INGREDIENTS

Less than 5%: Polycarboxylates, Anionic Surfactants, Non-ionic Surfactants, Phosphate, Preservative (Benzisothiazolinone)

This product is sold by Reckitt Benckiser which are also responsible for brands such as finish, Lemsip, Dettol and optrex to name but a few.

WOULD I USE IT AGAIN?

I can say with confidence YES! I haven't got a large living room and the 600ml can did about 4 times cleaning the whole carpet, each time I cleaned the carpet it looked refreshed and clean. It also got out a range of stains on the spot including milk, chocolate, ice cream, juice, lots of mud (from the dog and my eldest!), blood (don't ask!) and the best one Sick!!!! I still haven't got around to telling the other half that I have broke the Vax but he seems to think that's what I am using to clean the carpet and who am I to upset his little world!!!!

Property of madmum71 &lisa88

Summary: A good carpet cleaner that can be used on large areas