Tineco CARPET ONE Cruiser carpet cleaner provides deep, professional-standard cleaning results on most carpets. It removes oh, so much dirt!
When was the last time you really cleaned your carpets? You know rented a carpet cleaning machine or engaged a carpet cleaning service.
The answer is usually never. Sure, you vacuum carpets regularly, but is that enough? Our Harvey Norman carpet cleaning expert said.
“Annually under typical light use. A deep clean will rejuvenate carpet and lengthen its life. If you smoke, have pets, kids, or traipse dirt around the house, then every three months is advisable”. Dirt in the pile is abrasive and shortens carpet life”.
Well, we tested the Tineco CARPET ONE Cruiser at our four panellists’ homes, and without exception, the result was “I did not know how dirty my carpets were until this”.
Here are some comments.
- I last cleaned my carpets late in 2023 with another carpet cleaner. I was astonished at how much dirt it removed. Now, 18 months later, the Tineco CARPET ONE Cruiser has made it clear that I need to do my carpets at least once a year.
- We have pets, and as part of Ray’s review team, we rely on getting the latest gear to try to remove pet hair and smells from our wool carpets. I nearly puked when I saw literally handfuls of pet hair in the wastewater.
- Our engineer was impressed with the design and moving the combo clean and wastewater tank to the motorised base. Makes sense, and the adjustable motorised wheels really help.
- Gobsmacked at how much crud comes out of apparently clean carpets.
- Love the carpet heat dry mode – 75°C PowerDry PTC leaves carpets ready to walk on in <30 minutes.
- Beats those rental units’ hands down. Rentals cost at least $50, plus an even more expensive cleaning solution, and leave my carpets too wet.
- Smell the difference!
- Easy to use. Add water and cleaning solution, and turn it on.
- Upholstery cleaner attachment works very well – my couch looks new.
- I was initially hesitant to try it on a feature rug, so I did a discreet test first, and it was fine.
- Love the self-cleaning base feature.
- Powered wheels helped enormously with my arthritic hands, and no lower back pain.
Carpet Cleaners are not for
- Delicate, silk, wool, antique or area rugs without a manufacturer’s tag.
- ‘W” (for “wet” clean) or “S/W” (for “solvent/dry” or “wet” clean). Do not clean fabric marked “S” (“solvent/dry” clean only)
Well, that is the review! Oh, you want more.
Australian Review: Tineco CARPET ONE Cruiser carpet cleaner Model CW200800AU (1/8/25)
| Website | Product Page Manual |
| RRP | $999 and free delivery |
| From | Harvey Noman, Domayne, Costco, Amazon, Tineco Official Store |
| Warranty | 5-year warranty |
| Made in | China |
| Company | Tineco (Est. 1998) is part of Ecovacs (Deebot). In 2019, it launched in the US, Europe, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. |
| More | CyberShack Tineco news and reviews CyberShack Cleaning news and reviews |
Ratings
We use the following ratings for many of the items below. CyberShack regards 70/100 as a pass mark. You can click on most images to enlarge them.
- Fail (below expectations), and we will let you know if this affects its use.
- Pass(able) rating that is not as good as it should be.
- Pass (meets expectations).
- Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good, but does not quite make it to Exceed
- Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader).
First Impression – Not so scary
Even though our panellists have used all manner of cleaners, there seems to be a hesitation about cleaning the carpet. What if I wreck it? Frankly, the manual does nothing to prepare, let alone give confidence to, a first-time user
Fortunately, there is a decent video that you should watch before reading on.
Base details Tineco CARPET ONE Cruiser carpet cleaner
- 240V power – there is a long power cable and a cable management system
- The Tineco App adds limited functionality
- 2-litre clean water tank
- 1.7-litre wastewater tank
- Auto mode: Detects how dirty the carpet is and cleans accordingly
- Max mode: For stubborn stains and adds more water
- Accessory mode: For use with the handheld wand
- Drying Mode: PowerDry at 70 to 80°, detect residual water/humidity (red lamp turns blue)
- Voice prompts
- Self-cleaning mode – really good.
The App – Fail
Despite several attempts, the Tineco app would find the device, allow you to select Wi-Fi and provide a password, but not connect. You don’t need the app anyway.
Setup
Assembly is easy: push in the handle, fill the clean water tank with up to 2 litres, add two caps (60ml) of Tineco Carpet Cleaner, and you are ready.
It comes with a base plate to rest on and for self-cleaning.
Having watched the video, turn it on, select Auto, remove it from the base, and use your foot to depress the reclining panel.
We all found that it is best to do about 1metre strokes forward and back and move logically onto the next stroke.
A 10m2 room takes most of the clean water. You self-clean, empty the wastewater, refill the clean water, and then move to the next room.
Drying: Pass+
It has a PTC (Positive Temperature Coefficient) heater using ceramic stone doped with barium titanate. This is excellent as PTC cannot overheat, is self-regulating, provides constant temperature, has low energy use, doesn’t burn oxygen, and has a long life.
The PTC provides a 40°C heated wash, which is safe for carpets. It then provides a 75°C hot air blow dry if needed.
Using a Klein moisture meter, we found the carpets contained about 15% moisture, damp to the touch but fine to walk on. If left damp, carpets reach 5% in about three hours.
Or use the heated air dry, which reduces water to about 4% (typical dry carpet). This means another going over of the same area.
How do the carpets look and smell? Pass+
Revitalised – the best word for it. Underfoot, they feel far cleaner, have a nicer texture to walk on, and the pile is refreshed. And that was after the first application.
Our four panellists washed the carpets twice each week. While the carpet’s appearance was the same after each wash, the amount of dirt in the wastewater tank reduced significantly.
The carpet solution has a very light fragrance – it is not chemically, and it has a citrus smell.
Edge Cleaning – Passable
It is 280mm wide, with a 260mm water delivery width and a 220mm brush. That leaves 30 mm on each side that cannot be cleaned, although you can get a little closer using the front of the machine.
Accessory – Pass with potential
This takes a bit of getting used to. The 2.4m hose carries water and suction. It has a triangle-shaped head and a choice of a rubber or bristled scrubbing pad.
You need to depress the trigger on the handle to wet the surface, and the head then sucks up any water. It effectively cleaned car carpets, but there was no hot air drying.
There is a spray pack of pre-treatment that works very well.
Tineco Carpet Deodorising and Cleaning Solution – Problem
The solution contains Fatty Acid Methyl Ester Sulfonates derived from palm or coconut oil (surfactant/detergent), Potassium Cocoate (glycerine moisturiser), c9-11 alcohols ethoxylated (alternative to ammonia), Methoxy isopropyl (solvent/grease cutter), Benzothiazolinone (Antimicrobial), Polyether modified Polysiloxane (non-ionic wetter/spreader) and perfume (smell). It is mainly organic and safe to use.
We ran out! It comes in a 500ml sample bottle, and you use about 60ml per room, or enough for eight typical rooms (80m2).
It costs $34.90 for a 1-litre bottle plus delivery (which can be up to $20). Our nearest Harvey Norman was out of stock, so we ordered it. Four weeks later, we still had no solution. We found another Harvey Norman store and bought the last bottle. It is not listed on Amazon AU. The hard floor solution was readily available, not the specific carpet solution.
It’s not Tineco’s fault, but in both cases, HN had either not stocked enough or forgotten to reorder.
Maintenance – Unavoidable
It is tempting to think that self-cleaning means that is all. When I got the unit after the four panellists, it needed a good manual clean.
A small foam filter needs rinsing. The front of the cleaner detaches, and you can clean the brush, water delivery system and vacuum mouth – you need to.
More details
CyberShack’s view: Tineco CARPET ONE Cruiser is pretty close to perfect.
You think that vacuuming the carpet is enough – wrong. Even carpets that we thought were relatively clean can ‘spew forth’ masses of dirty water. Pet owners will be completely surprised by how much they shed.
The panellists (and I) were all impressed. At $999, it’s not cheap, but consider getting a few friends together and share one! The Carpet Solution is not cheap, and now I know how the carpet cleaning rental companies make so much money!
Tineco CARPET ONE Cruiser Ratings
- Features: 90. It has everything consumers need to wash carpets and suitable upholstery regularly. The 2.4m accessory hose has potential.
- Value: 90. At RRP $999, you may hesitate, but it seems a better value than the competitors’ offerings.
- Ease of Use: 90. Fill and go. Maintenance should be performed after use.
- Performance: 90. The filthy state of the wastewater gobsmacked each review panel member.
- Design: 90. Typical Tineco – well thought out and well made.
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