Hoover CleanSlate Plus Portable Spot Cleaner (FH14050) Review

The Hoover CleanSlate Plus (FH14050) has a small profile but some genuinely nice features packed into it, and after testing it against real carpet stains, it earned the Just A Dad sticker — with one real hiccup worth knowing about before you buy. Here's exactly how it held up.

What's in the Box and First Setup

In the box you get the machine, the 7" WidePath tool, the TightSpot stream tool, the Hose Rinse self-clean tool, a small measuring cup (marked for half an ounce and one ounce), and a trial bottle of Oxy concentrate. The solution tank has a wide spout that makes it easy to fill over a sink, and a fill line tells you how much water to add.

The Priming Process — the One Real Hiccup

This is the thing to know before you buy it: fresh out of the box, it needed real priming before the solution would spray at all. Pulling the trigger did nothing at first — the manual explained there was an air pocket that needed clearing. It took about 10 minutes: turning the unit on and off several times, taking the solution tank on and off to work the air out, and even running the hose-rinse tool, which seemed to help pull the solution through. It's not something you'll deal with again day to day, but it's a rough first impression if you're not expecting it.

Cleaning Performance: What It Actually Picks Up

Stain Test: Tea & Grape Jelly

Once primed, I tested it on tea and grape jelly worked into an old piece of carpet. The suction was decent, the spray pattern could be a touch wider or finer, but the WidePath tool's bristles gave a good scrubbing feel and it lifted a fairly bad-looking stain out well.

The Two Tools

The WidePath tool sprays in a fan pattern for covering broader areas, while the TightSpot stream tool sprays in a focused stream instead, with a separate spot for suction away from the scrub brush — good for detail work and tight corners. Both tools snap on and off quickly using a simple release button.

The Hose Rinse Tool

This is a genuinely useful feature that not every spot cleaner has: a dedicated Hose Rinse Tool that stores right on the machine. Snap it onto the nozzle, run water through by pulling the trigger, and it flushes the inside of the hose clean — then holding the hose up lets air dry it out. It did a good job clearing out any leftover solution after cleaning.

Ease of Use

The switch is simple — one button to turn it on and off. The cord measured 15 feet on on my tape measure (manufacturer listings show 18 feet, worth double-checking), it's a three-prong plug, and both the cord and hose wrap around the base with quick-release clips for storage. The carrying handle makes it genuinely easy to move around the house.

Maintenance Reality

Emptying the dirty-water tank takes a press-and-tilt motion using its handle. Getting the lid fully off for a deeper clean takes a little practice — lift straight up rather than at an angle — but once you know the trick it comes off fine, and it seals back on well. Outside of the initial priming, day-to-day maintenance was straightforward.

Is It Worth It?

For everyday carpet stains in a small, easy-to-carry package, the CleanSlate Plus is a strong performer — a large brush head, decent suction, and a genuine hose-rinse tool that most spot cleaners don't bother with. Just budget extra time the first time you unbox it; priming took about 10 minutes and a bit of trial and error. Get past that first setup and it's a solid, portable pick that earned the Just A Dad sticker.