The Best Wet and Dry Vacuum for Hard Floors & Carpets?

I have the British made George.
Couldn't touch the Chinese Vax with a barge pole.

Offer prices @ Jan 2025: Vax £150. George £250 /£285 with additional heads. Review is helpful - and the George looks better than vax - but at this price - if you don't need hard floor cleaning - you should consider the Bissell Hydrosteam Revolution 1300w steam carpet cleaner at £322 on offer. This is what I bought in the end and am very impressed with its cleaning power - it also has hose attachment to spray & suck. For me - the Vax uprights and George have too many reviews detailing problems and poor support. The Bissell comes with full 6 year warranty (including hose etc but excluding brushes which are obviously wear and tear).

Did you end up using that fila solution? And if so, did it affect the plastics of the vacuum?

We've recently got a George in addition to one of the bigger-sized Henry we already had and find both to be so effective as a kit. Two people can blitz through a house in no time at all.

Once cleaned and dried you better put some non-slip protective layer (wax) to slow down next dirt/bacteria build up

I had a vax and hated it for all these reasons - great review and accurate on the downsides on the vax - I don’t won’t another one becuase of the downsides INCLUDING LEAKS!!

Thanks, God bless

Hi,you should do a camparison between a charles and george one,im into car detailing charles looks good for my budget,but know from experience having all rounder george for home could be good,what do you think? ?

Your kitchen floor before the George was disgusting, like lazy pigs lived there, but the George did a superb job...

I have had 3 vax PPP in 3 years, bought the first, other 2 were replaced under warranty,. The machine has fatal design flaws, including a belt tensioner that completely fails and is not replaceable. Great upright cleaning performance when it's working. Tiny water tanks. Best thing about the vax is the warranty process, they never seem to argue; I wonder why. Top tip.... Never use detergent to clean your carpets, the dry detergent acts as a glue which causes your carpets to become grubby 3 times quicker. Use bicarbonate soda instead.

Have both myself, have a Henry for general vacuum work and George for carpet cleaning, just purchased a vax smart wash- almost identical to machine here but for carpet only and without doubt the vax is better to clean carpets, more weight to push into the carpet, two brushes for agitation etc, much less hard work and leaving carpets less wet, however the George is easier to maintain and repair, and no doubt last much much longer and there built over here. Overall both good machines but if I had only 1 I’d go for the George, longer lasting and more versatile.

Bought one today on the basis of this review. I agree George is best I've had many hard floor cleaners. I recently wasted £350 on tineco steam c5 which is dreadful if you have pets. Despite Tineco, bissel and vax claims if you have pets you don't get a proper clean unless you vacuum first and eventually leak dirty water from back of machine and need to clean roller and underside of machine after every use. George has none of these problems. No need to vacuum first as sucks up everything, fur does not clog up machine. It is quite heavy though.

The best review!

Do you know if this comes in a 110

How much psi do George has ?

Thanks so much for this very honest and simple descriptions that anyone could understand.
I have Owned a vax 2 in fact since 2000 first one (multivax 6130) was a quieter motor it lasted 9 years and was used for both hoovering and carpet and sofa washing 🧼 it just blew up (the motor) but was great till that day. Anyway decided to get another one it looked exactly the same just different model number and motor a (multivax 6131T) it’s lasted 12 years and the pump smoked out and stop pumping water and think the actual motor is on its way out as kept cutting out after about half hours use , never used to do that unless it had been carpet washing non stop for at least two hours.
The motor in it is deafening!!! No exaggeration it’s always been so loud it’s horrible and now it’s even louder than ever and is now broken. As it doesn’t wash anymore. But I hate the motor it’s just so loud and it was also my 3rd replacement as the first new one the (6131T) to replace the old (6130) vax.
After 2 weeks of use it started to sound like a chainsaw so stopped using it as it was getting worse, then they sent me a new one didn’t bother taking the old one which was only 2 weeks old so threw it out as it was completely dying. The 2nd replacement the pump stopped working after 5 months and been used twice for carpet washing in that time! Again they sent me a new one and didn’t take the old 2nd brand new replacement either so sold it as just a hoover to a friend it lasted about 6 years after that. The 3rd replacement I didn’t take any chances and ordered a Henry hoover to use as a hoover and just the vax for wet carpet bed and sofa cleaning. And lasted 12 years till 2
Weeks ago.
I am sick of vax now so want an alternative and after watching this I have made up my mind and next week going to go and buy a George carpet cleaner as love my Henry turbo hoover and my old Henry before that lasted 12 years and blew up but just after i done whole flat with it 🙏😂 so find the numatic brand very reliable , affordable and definitely a lot quieter than the multivax brand.
So definitely getting this one now thank you.

Is the George okay on timber floors?

Hi does the numatic george do a good job for carpets or is the vax better? I have thick carpets

Thanks for this review - very helpful. Mum still has the Vax equivalent of the Henry from the 90s and it's still doing an incredible job, but today it looks like Henry takes the win!

can it be used as a shop vac as well?

I'm a bit confused as your talking about two different models a dry Numatic and the Wet Numatic, whichever you buy you wont be supplied with both the wet kit or dry . I bought the Henry wet and expected the dry kit to be included and wasn't.

I'm now waiting on my 5th vax to be collected for repair / replacement. Thank god for the 6yr warranty. Absolutely terrible design, too much stress placed on the motor due to the way the dual brush works. Also the clutch mechanism when you tilt it back fail as well (that's what's happened on my latest failure) . So far 3 burnt out motors and 2 clutch issues (the clutch issues mangle the inside of the machine). The hose attachment sometimes stops working as well for some reason (happened on everyone i had), had to remove and then reattach. Cleaning the machine after use is also a pain. I actually bought a bissell at the weekend which is superior to the vax in every way.

Thank you for the great review. All the popular car detailers have a numatic. Your review has helped me decide on the George. Thank you Charlie.

The George is a great wet & dry machine

Vax platinum comes with 6 year warranty so its worth it I guess

I'm onto my second George first one was little used, I only have two settees, and stair carpet but the pump lasted no time at all, Too expensive to replace. Easier to buy a new machine, How ever I will say that my sister's Vax carpet brought my stair carpet up like new even after I had just previously cleaned it with George. Husband struggled to shampoo his car with George. My verdict is that George is OK and excellent vacuum but I will be buying a vax for my next Shampooing machine,

Ugh I hear you.I have a large large kitchen in the country with a big dog. Despite “shoes off” policy at the door and dog retained in utility till his feet are wiped, I have to clean the floor everyday. The important thing you mentioned briefly about the vax is it dropping its dirty water back on the floor when idle - and sometimes it spits it out the front of the machine - its one step forward and two back! I don’t have the carpet cleaner - just wet and dry. I despair of it. I bought the duprey steamer which seems ok for the ingrained muck, but I’m left with dirty water on the floor. I need something to suck up and didnt want to spend 3k on vac steamer. George seems to be the main contender. Where to put all this machinery?

I like George and I am going to buy it. One more reason is the design of the device and the tools are classic of 80s!!!!!

Iv found vax to be a bit unreliable in past 1 upright carpet washer top of range at the time broke down after the warranty period. The wet and dry 6100 series the old fashioned big orange thing. One broke after a week got replaced and I noticed the hose to be poor quality and it’s only glued into the end that attaches to the machine. Upright vacuum cleaner broke in warranty period again replaced under warranty. One thing I will say is that upright carpet washers don’t give the ability to put more pressure on high traffic areas or spots. I have achieved better results with the 6100 series vax than the upright washers. The attachments for the vax 6100 aren’t great feel cheap however they can work on car interior but not professional standards.

Using george for nearly 8 years. Simple, good all rounder. Carpets, hard floor upholstery, car interior. Once just changed motor, after +-4 years, cost including labour,~80quid for aftermarket motor. Used different many brands carpet shampoo.

Superb tests Charlie - I just purchased the George off the back of your review so Numatic owe you haha. Just tried it on our sofa, the dirt it lifted was horrifying and much better than the Rug Doctor we always used previously - mainly because of the amount of liquid it recovered versus applied. I don't think you can ask more of the machine than to recover a high percentage of liquid applied, if that doesnt clean properly then one has to question the carpet cleaning jollop you add - probably a good next test with your machines? - Thanks

Hi Charlie, I can fully recommend George. We use one for the sole purpose of cleaning car interiors! We have had some shocking second hand cars to prep for our forecourt and the results we achieve are fantastic time and time again so much so that we have purchased one for the home. great professional review.

Hi Charlie, do you still recommended this?

Excellent Charlie, clear thorough and honest, this was very informative !

George is way better In terms of suction and their way more durable than vax

Thank you for your review, amazing quality.

To be fair, I can wet and brush the carpets at home with a hand, twice a year or straightaway after something has been spilled won't kill me... Or use drill with attached brush on my car seats and mats... All I need is just one very important thing - powerful water extractor with good size tank... That's the game changing tool

Used mine for the first time today. I found the hard floor attachment was good for scrubbing the carpet then changing to the fish tail. Unfortunately the nozzle for the fish tail got a mind of its own and was spraying more side ways than on the carpet where I was extracting.

Why is it not letting water to the carpet?

I worked for an industrial cleaning company for many years (cleaning pub/office carpets) using an industrial style (twin vac) carpet cleaner the George wet n dry vac was a handy back up for smaller jobs like (Domestic upholstery/narrow staircase/spot cleaning)

Great video btw

I’ve owned two of the Vax machines. They work well but not for long sadly. The first Vax bits just keeps breaking and every time I replaced something, another thing broke. The seal on the waste tank was a dog to keep in place. When it went to the skip after the irreplaceable wheel fell off , there were lots more in the skip all broken. The replacement from Vax was faulty on delivery. The steamer died after a week. Had George for two years now. I have abused it big time including unblocking the kitchen drain pipe and lots more. Still working as good as the day I got it bar a leaky solution pipe that the dog bit. Fixed that with a dremmel and a cable tie rather than buying a replacement. Yes, I have sucked up dog sick with George tool

How loud is it compared to the henry?

You sped the video up actually so that was a lie, any other lies?

Thanks again. Do you know how we can raise the pressure of the nozzle of George?🙋

The vax breaks alot, the brush system packs up after a short time for no apparent reason. Had 2 that have both broken within weeks of purchase with normal use

Thank you for the great presentation and✌👍 good explanations of "George". Now we can finally start using our "George" - We'll go on tomorrow...GOOD LUCK🍀! Best regards from

So pleased you did this video! I too have the Vax Platinum but couldn’t understand why the heads seemed SO filthy after just ONE round of shampooing two small rooms. The rotating brush heads do seem to pull up dirt (amazing how a light carpet kicks up so much BLACK fluff!) but then this machine spits it out ferociously against skirtings and leaves more of a mess to clean up ggggrrr! I’ve just taken mine apart to clean the heads and it still cannot clean the whole head because of the small inlet for water so after only two uses, it looks old and dirty. Not happy with that. Mine also leaked and has spilt black water all over the place when I moved it. When I lifted it to descend the stairs, it leaked again. It’s incredibly heavy, even when empty, to cart around. And clunky. It needs a separate cupboard to house everything. I love the idea of it all being incorporated with the George and they certainly are robust. I would be so interested in seeing how the George performs. Too pricey to buy one and just hope for the best. I wonder if people rent them out? This is a great video, thanks for going to such lengths.

Thanks for the great, honest, in-depth reviews and advice as always. I am hunting for an allrounder myself as well. Considering the Karcher SE 4001 or the George at the moment. I think the Numatic tank-in-tank design looks messy when emptying. The Karcher does not come with upholstery tool as standard, but has a more powerful motor. ... 🤔

Probably the best all rounder I've come across...Excellent results with both carpet and hard floors...Excellent.