Quick Answer: The Hoover CleanSlate (FH14000) is a $99.99 portable spot cleaner (regular $129.99, verified 2026-08-21) with a 40-oz clean-water tank, a 7-inch WidePath tool, and a 4.05-out-of-5-star rating from 2,242 reviews on Target.com — the largest review sample of any budget portable on this site. It’s the right buy if price is the deciding factor and you’re covering stairs, upholstery, or car interiors rather than whole rooms. The one real risk: a recurring complaint describes suction weakening or the machine failing to spray after only a handful of uses, backed by a shorter 2-year limited warranty than its pricier rivals.
Hoover’s CleanSlate line has been the budget answer to Bissell’s Little Green for years, and the base FH14000 is still the cheapest way into a dedicated spot cleaner on this site. Here’s what $99.99 actually buys, based on Hoover’s own published specs, Target’s aggregated customer review data, and the failure pattern reviewers keep flagging.
CleanSlate, by the numbers
- 4.05 out of 5 stars — the customer rating from 2,242 reviews on Target.com (verified 2026-08-21), the largest review sample of any portable spot cleaner covered on this site.
- $99.99 — the current sale price on both Hoover.com and Target.com (verified 2026-08-21), down from a $129.99 regular price and about $10 lower than the $109.99 this site cited earlier in August.
- 40 oz / 23 oz — the clean-solution and dirty-water tank split per Hoover’s spec sheet, the same dual-tank capacity as the step-up CleanSlate Plus.
- 2-year limited warranty — a full year shorter than the Bissell Little Green Max Pet’s 3-year parts-and-labor coverage, worth weighing against the early-failure reports below.
What’s good
| Strength | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| $99.99 price | The cheapest dedicated portable carpet cleaner covered on this site, roughly $50 less than the Bissell Little Green Max Pet |
| 40-oz clean-water tank | The largest clean-solution capacity of any portable on this site, meaning fewer refill trips on a big job |
| 7-inch WidePath tool | Covers open stretches of low-pile carpet or a large rug far faster than a narrow 3-inch spot nozzle |
| 4.05/5 stars, 2,242 reviews | A large, consistent satisfaction sample directly from Target.com |
| 9.4 lbs | Light enough to carry one-handed between floors, the car, and stairs |
What’s not
- Early-failure complaints are real. Multiple Walmart and independent reviewers report the suction weakening or the machine failing to spray solution after as few as 3 uses — not a wear-out pattern, but an early-failure one worth knowing about before you buy.
- Hose durability complaints. At least one reviewer reported the hose breaking around 8 months of use, and noted difficulty finding a replacement hose afterward.
- Only a 2-year limited warranty. A full year shorter than the Little Green Max Pet’s 3-year parts-and-labor coverage — thinner protection if you do hit an early failure.
- 23-oz dirty tank fills first. Despite the generous 40-oz clean tank, the smaller dirty-water tank hits its limit sooner on heavily soiled jobs, meaning more sink trips than the tank size alone suggests.
- Not a steam cleaner. It’s a spray-and-extract machine — tough, set-in stains still need manual scrubbing with the included tool, the same limitation every portable in this class shares.
Full specs
| Spec | Hoover CleanSlate (FH14000) |
|---|---|
| Price (verified 2026-08-21) | $99.99 (Hoover.com, Target.com), regular $129.99 |
| Clean water tank | 40 oz |
| Dirty water tank | 23 oz |
| Weight | 9.4 lbs |
| Power cord | 15 ft |
| Cleaning path | 7 in. (WidePath tool) |
| Included accessories | WidePath tool, TightSpot tool, hose rinse tool, 2 detail brushes, trial-size Oxy solution |
| Warranty | 2-year limited |
| Customer rating | 4.05/5 (2,242 reviews, Target.com) |
Hoover CleanSlate Portable Spot Cleaner (FH14000)
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Who should buy it
Buy the CleanSlate if price is the deciding factor and you mostly clean stairs, upholstery, and car interiors rather than whole rooms — at $99.99 it undercuts every other dedicated portable on this site, and its 40-oz clean tank and 7-inch WidePath tool are genuinely generous specs for the price. It’s also the better pick over the step-up CleanSlate Plus if you don’t need the extra cord length or bigger accessory bundle, since the core motor and tank system are identical.
Skip it if long-term reliability matters more than upfront price — the recurring early-failure and hose-durability complaints, paired with a shorter 2-year warranty, make the Bissell Little Green Max Pet the safer bet despite its higher cost. See the full spec-by-spec breakdown in our Little Green vs CleanSlate comparison, or step up to a full-size machine in our best carpet cleaner roundup if you’re cleaning whole rooms, not just spots.
The bottom line
The Hoover CleanSlate earns its spot as the budget pick in its class largely on price and tank size: $99.99 for a 40-oz clean tank and a wide 7-inch tool undercuts every rival portable on this site, and a 4.05-star rating across 2,242 reviews shows most owners are satisfied. The real tradeoff is reliability risk — a documented pattern of early suction failures and hose durability complaints, backed by only a 2-year warranty, means the case for it rests on price, not peace of mind. For pet households, see our best carpet cleaner for pets guide, or our best portable carpet cleaner roundup to see how it stacks up against the rest of the field.