Review of the Thermax Vacuum Cleaner

Revolutionary Thermax Vacuum Cleaner for the Home. Thermax is a name many people recognize for its line of commercial grade and rental vacuum cleaners and steam cleaners.

The company was founded in 1971 by Carl Parise, the inventor of the world’s first UL-approved hot water extraction system for cleaning upholstery and carpets. The company thrived for a couple of decades by providing powerful vacuums and steam cleaners to companies and via rentals.

However, the company’s leaders realized that a home Thermax vacuum cleaner was clearly needed to fill the growing demand for such a device. To satisfy this demand by homeowners, the Thermax AF vacuum cleaner was created. The goal was to offer a cleaner that could operate as both a dry vacuum and a wet steam cleaner – all in one lightweight, easily storable home unit. It was a daunting task, to say the least. It’s difficult enough to make one or the other that fits the bill, but to provide both capabilities in one compact unit was unthinkable before the folks at Thermax decided to tackle the issue.

But tackle it they did.

The Thermax AF is a study in convenience, versatility, and usability. It works on a principle called hydro-pneumatics – a fancy scientific way of saying it combines air and water to filter out dirt and dust.

Thermax Vacuum Cleaner Features:

Here are some of the Thermax AF’s other important features:

• Several onboard cleaning heads to clean drapes, furniture upholstery, stairs, and hard-to-reach spots throughout the home
• A 1 1/2-gallon water tank to capture and hold what the vacuum cleaner sucks up and for use in steam cleaning mode.
• A patented water filtration recovery tank.
• A canister that is made from a high-impact, rust prevention alloy.
• A stainless steel telescoping wand to reach the tops of drapes and ceilings.
• A 10-foot patented electrified cleaning hose.
• 3 electrostatic allergy filters.
• 1 bottle of Thermax Therminator 100 carpet and upholstery cleaning solution.
• Several bottles of scents to ‘aromatize’ any room you vacuum.
• Instructional DVD included with the owner’s manual.

Better Than HEPA Filtering:

Independent tests by leading consumer testing laboratories reported in reviews an amazing 99.99% efficiency rate in pulling dirt, dust, contaminants, and various airborne allergens from the air. The particles get trapped by the water in the machine, instead of floating around in the air within the bag or canister, like other vacuum cleaners, with some of that matter inevitably escaping back into the air you breathe.

Dual Purpose Cleaning:

The real beauty of this Thermax vacuum cleaner is how easily it converts to a deep-cleaning hot water extraction system. You can use this feature to keep high traffic areas clean, and to give your entire carpet a thorough cleansing every few months. It’s also a wonderful spot cleaner for those inevitable food and drink spills or pet accidents.

Versatility:

The Thermax AF is versatile enough to be used on hardwood and tile flooring as well (in dry vacuum mode). It comes with the strongest motor of any residential vacuum cleaner on the market, so, unlike most of its competitors, it can easily clean heavily soiled hard floors. Moreover, because the patented water filtration system is easily removed and cleaned after each use, there is never a reduction in the vacuum’s suction power, as with traditional bag and canister cleaners.

Using the Thermax AF as an Air Purifier:

As if all of the features listed above weren’t enough, the Thermax AF vacuum cleaner can also be used to purify your home’s air. This is an especially useful feature for those suffering from allergies caused by indoor air pollutants (pet dander, dust, pollen, etc.).

Thermax uses a patented triple-filtration system for this purpose. It’s incredibly efficient at removing even the tiniest of particles from the air you breathe. Independent laboratory testing proved that, when reviewed, just by passing the air sucked in by the Thermax AF through the canister’s water, about 97% of airborne particles were trapped. That’s pretty good. But Thermax improved upon this by adding both a foam core filter and an electrostatic urethane filter. This three-tiered filtering system was proven to remove virtually all particles from the air (99.99%). In fact, when used in this mode, the Thermax AF is as good as or better than the most expensive home air purification machines on the market.

Thermax’s Superior Cleaning Does Not Come Cheap:

If there is one drawback to choosing the Thermax AF vacuum cleaner, it’s the price tag. There are actually two versions of the Thermax AF (AF1 and AF2). The AF1 is the bigger of the two, having a 1 1/2-gallon water tank, compared to the AF2’s 1-gallon tank. It was designed for homes with most of the flooring covered with carpeting. The AF2 was designed to fill the need that homeowners with mostly hard flooring have. As you would expect, the AF1 is the more expensive of the two, running $1,800 – $2,000 (new). The AF2 will set you back around $1,500 (new).

A closer look at the price for this amazing Thermax vacuum cleaner puts things in a better light, however. You’re getting three high quality machines in one: a vacuum cleaner with the strongest motor available, a hot water steam cleaner, and an air purification system. If you bought each separately (and of comparable quality), you could expect to spend considerably more than $2,000.