Shark R-EX205 CarpetXpert Carpet, Area Rug & Upholstery Cleaner with StainStriker, Built-in Spot & Stain Cleaner, Teal - Certified , EX200 Series (Renewed)

This literally saved me from ripping up carpet. I have been trying to get a cat pee stain out of my carpet for the past 2 days and the little green machine was not doing it. This arrived and went right to work. It took out the pee and freshened the carpets. Some complained how wet their carpets are, i think you can run this faster than old units and also your carpets are going to be wet. Its the same if you have a professional do the job. Put a fan on it and let it dry. I used the hand tool on my couch and the suction is amazing. The only defect I found on the refurbished unit was a small crack in the clear plastic where the water gets tucked up. It didn't change the way this cleaner works. It still did it's job. The water pails are small but it's worth the trade off. This works way better then my old hoover carpet cleaner. And the cleaning attachment for the hose is ingenious, just swirling the hose while your holding the button. Shark is now my favorite brand!

The refurbished model was same as new at a great price. Unfortunately the refurbished instructions are only one page and very tiny to read. Once you get used to assembling and using it, it works very well. Lightweight, cleans well, with many attachments. It disassembles into many pieces for easy cleaning. The dirty water reservoir shuts the machine down when it is only about 1/3 full so you have to change it frequently. If they would use electronic sensors instead of the old tech mechanical float, the reservoir would hold more. The front carpet suction piece is tricky to attach properly.

I rented a machine for the first time ever a few months ago. It was bulky, not fun to pick up and return, and pretty difficult to drag to the second floor and back. I became obsessed with buying my own machine, even though I rent, partially because the water was almost black and I knew there was more dirt to be had from this carpet which I guess is 7 to 10 years old standard apartment carpet. Then, while this Shark R-EX201 was in transit, my dog had a bout with a digestive issue and left massive 'gifts' in the LR 2 nights in a row. Now I was even more happy I bought my own machine.Pros & one thing I know most people think is a con (but it's really not)1. Very efficient use of water. I filled up the much larger tank of the rental 2 or 3 times for the LR, whereas the Shark used about 3/5ths of its tank for the same area.2. The few extra pounds over other lightweight machines gives more contact and better suction.3. I am happy with the 2 modes - a Deep Clean and a Dry Only. I think the dry is important to have.4. It dries with suction, not heat, so I can use this machine in the summer. Of course the carpet was still damp, but I made multiple slow passes to get up as much water as possible. The extraction was good and I was pleased with the level of remaining dampness, the same or better than the rental I would say. It seemed like the carpet dried in a little over an hour, but I didn't time it.5. It is quieter than the rental. I would compare it to a good quality vacuum cleaner's level of noise, and it is not obnoxious. I watched some video reviews of other machines that I would describe as obnoxious.6. Cleaning the machine after use, while it is going to be disgusting with any machine, was pretty quick to accomplish. I dumped the dirty water tank and rinsed most all of the debris *outdoors*, and used a paper towel to grab the dog hair around some of the parts and under the front cover. Be smart & save your plumbing, just do the final touch up rinse in your sink or tub.7. Okay the one thing I know people think is a negative is when a carpet cleaner leaves clumps of pet hair randomly on the carpet. I have a very high quality German vacuum cleaner and I vacuumed thoroughly just before using the Shark. These clumps of hair were a testament, in my view, to the power of the motor. (The rental did not leave any clumps, but their motor is not as powerful as the Shark EX-201, according to carpet cleaner wars) I picked them up as I went because I didn't want them to get sucked into the machine and have to clean them anyway in the end, which of course is no one's favorite thing to do, but I feel sure that eventually this embedded hair buildup will come to an end and the carpet will be much cleaner. I would rather bend over and pick up the hair mats than have all that extra stuff to get out of the machine, afterwards.Lastly I will say that this Renewed Shark R-EX201 looked perfectly brand new when I received it and had all the parts. (The one I got was rated Excellent, so ymmv)I can recommend the EX-201 based on the above. Sorry no pictures or video because I started after dark tonight.

The shark works great. A little heavy but I think it's in all the right places. The ability to clean is perfect. I love it's vacuum ability along with the dry more function, that allows you too vacuum up the water without placing anyone down. It's easy to set up and use. Great value for the quality. Easy to clean and change. And the solution it's comes with smells great!

This product worked extremely well for deep cleaning my carpets, rugs, and furniture. It even got out deeply imbedded urine from my dogs. It’s fairly quiet and easy to handle. I just wish it was better made. We’ve had a few of the plastic parts break or fail completely on us and are now taking it to a repair shop. It is a great product but you definitely need to baby it a bit.

If you aren't using the attachments, the unit is great. The attachments are absolutely horrible..they have zero suction! My grandson spilled a glass of tea so I was using the attachment with it's own dirty water reservoir to clean it up so I didn't have to clean the entire machine. Pics show how much the attachment picked up (carpet was still soaked) so I used the floor until to suck up the remaining dirty water (the suction on it is great!) You can see how much more the floor unit picked up that would have been left in the carpet using only the attachment. Working the floor unit is different than any other carpet machine so you have to get used to it. Another issue is the sticker that shows what the lights mean is so small I can't even see the writing with magnifying glasses so this gets frustrating for me. Overall decent machine once you get used to it (but overpriced) IF you don't need to use the attachments. I purchased so I could also use in the car but after seeing how little water it picks back up, I won't be using it for that so debating on if it's worth it.. may decide to return UPDATE: I have had this carpet cleaner 5 months and have used it 2-3 times and wishing I had returned. The first time it cleaned the carpet well. The last couple of times have been a hassle.The last 3 pics are from using today. The water reservoir was full and now empty but no water is being vacuumed backed up (dirty water tank also empty). I used in deep clean mode for the first pass, then switched to quick dry mode and went back over each pass 3-4 times but still not vacuuming back up any water.