Replacing area rugs and carpeting can be expensive, but a carpet cleaner can save both your floors and your budget. While there are professional carpet cleaning companies for hire, removing stains from rugs and upholstery is an easy DIY task if you have the right tool for the job. “Choose a home carpet cleaner with multiple cleaning modes and a pre-treatment feature with enzymatic cleaning action to get rid of difficult stains,” advises Robert Johnson, marketing director at Coast Appliances. Our in-home testers tried out 20 of the most popular at-home carpet cleaners. They put each one to the test on both fresh and dried-on carpet stains, noting which ones were tops in terms of stain removal, portability, ease of setup and use, noise level, and overall value. Many were quite effective at nixing stains, but the one that got carpets looking like new was the Bissell Big Pet Pro Carpet Cleaner. Even if you’re not a pet owner, you’ll appreciate the effectiveness of this machine in cleaning up tough household messes, especially the attachments that offer extra scrubbing power for dried-on stains. Keep in Mind: The hose might be hard to clean in small sinks. The tester thought the instructions were clear and found the machine easy to use, though it did take a minute to understand how some of the attachments locked into place. Even when the tank was full, it wasn’t hard to maneuver the carpet cleaner. Cleaning the machine after use was also simple. The tester was able to dump out most of the water, and the tank itself was accessible if they had to reach in to remove any dirt or residue from cleaning. The clean and dirty water tanks are large enough so that you can clean larger carpets or multiple area rugs without having to empty/refill too quickly, but they weren’t so heavy—our tester was able to easily steer the machine around the space thanks to the carpet steamer being on wheels. The cord stores easily, too, though there is no way to secure any of the attachments on the carpet cleaner, which would have been a nice feature. The hose was a bit long to rinse at the sink, so it might prove to be easier to do in the tub or shower. As for dismantling the carpet cleaner after use, the tester was pleasantly shocked to see they were able to get everything back into the box. If you’ve ever unpacked brand-new household appliances with multiple pieces or attachments, then you know what a feat that is. Overall, our tester found the Bissell Big Pet Pro Carpet Cleaner to be worth the money, especially for high-traffic households that include pets. Price at time of publish: $443 Product Details: Weight: 44 pounds | Surface Types: Carpet and upholstery | Cord Length: 25 feet | Capacity: 1.75 gallons | Decibel Level: 88 decibels Keep in Mind: It’s better for lighter/smaller stains. This Bissell has a gentle whirring sound, but make no mistake—it’s working hard to get those stains out of your carpet and upholstery. It removed the wine and coffee stain, while the dirt stain left just a faint reminder that a mess was there. The chocolate stain was the hardest to lift; our tester said it was still detectable after cleaning. However, this carpet cleaner is billed for pets, not food stains. The Bissell Pet Stain Eraser Plus uses cleaning solution (available through Bissell and other retailers). Our tester found it easy to fill, empty, and clean the tank, so it’s definitely worth having on hand for pet mishaps. At just 3.3 pounds, this machine is about the same weight as a handheld vac, so it’s no trouble to reach for in a pinch. Our tester liked that this Bissell model was cordless and lightweight, which made it easy to carry and use. At just around $100, it’s one of the most inexpensive options on our list, so it’s worth it for cleaning up small spots, though you’ll need something bigger if you’re attempting to take on larger-scale household messes. Price at time of publish: $134 Product Details: Weight: 3.3 pounds | Surface Types: Carpet and upholstery | Cord Length: Cordless | Capacity: 8 ounces | Decibel Level: 70 decibels Keep in Mind: The upholstery tool is sold separately for an additional $99. While this machine is bulkier than others on our list, there’s no assembly required. If you’re concerned about the “commercial” aspect of this machine, don’t worry. There are detailed instructions—and they’re also written right on the machine for easy access—so you can get to cleaning very quickly. If you were thinking of hiring a pro cleaner to come in and take care of those stains, this machine gives you the power to DIY. The tester found that all stains disappeared fairly quickly. The wine and coffee stains were among the easiest to remove (just six passes with the carpet cleaner), while the tougher potting soil and chocolate stains took double the work. Still, when you consider that you are avoiding near disaster for your carpet, doing double work to get rid of tougher stains seems like a fair trade. The commercial grade of the machine means it’s both louder and heavier, so there’s no time for small talk—or any talking, really—while it’s in use. That’s fine because you’ll likely be mesmerized seeing how it lifts up your mess from the carpet. You might have to get used to using the machine because it’s so big—our tester noted that it can feel a bit awkward having to push it forward and pull it back to clean at each pass. However, it is easy to figure out and once you get going, it does move smoothly. It bears noting that this machine is built for cleaning entire floors, not just small spots. (Although, there is an upholstery tool that’s sold separately.) In fact, our tester found that the base is so wide, it was difficult to see whether it was actually covering the smaller stains. The Rug Doctor’s bigger price tag is rather reasonable for the bigger results. If you allow yourself a bit of time for trial and error, you’ll get the knack of it soon enough—and the clean carpet you’re left with will be worth the work. Price at time of publish: $533 Product Details: Weight: 47 pounds | Surface Types: Carpet and upholstery (must use an attachment, sold separately) | Cord Length: Not listed | Capacity: 3 gallons clean water, 3.9 gallons dirty water | Decibel Level: 106 decibels Keep in Mind: Water extraction power could be stronger. Our tester found it took three wet and three dry passes to get rid of the stains. While that does require a bit of labor on your part, considering that you now no longer have to go carpet shopping after your furbaby’s mishap, the extra effort is well worth it. The Bissell JetScrub comes with parts that snap together quite well, so you’ll know when they’re locked in place and ready to go. The tester noted that the noise was “what you would expect from a vacuum,” so you won’t have to worry about things getting too loud when you’re cleaning. Our tester thought that the effectiveness of this machine plus its compact size were enough to make it a winner. Though the water extraction “could have been more powerful,” the machine did remove the stains, which is the ultimate goal. If you’re concerned about a carpet cleaner being too complicated, the Bissell JetScrub has just three buttons to operate it. The overall design is quite slim and compact—it’s only a little more than 12 pounds—which is a manageable size for an upright cleaner and bodes well for portability as well as storage. For the price, it’s a great value, especially if you catch it on sale. Price at time of publish: $267 Product Details: Weight: 12.34 pounds | Surface Types: Carpet and upholstery | Cord Length: 20 feet | Capacity: 0.5 gallon | Decibel Level: 91.2 decibels Keep in Mind: Keep some dry rags around to mop up spilled water during and after use. Though this carpet cleaner is little, the directions for assembly were a bit tricky—our tester advises keeping a screwdriver handy during setup. Still, you won’t mind getting all those attachments in place, especially when you see how effective the stain trapper tool and 3-inch scrub brush are. The Bissell Little Green Pet wasn’t loud—in fact, our tester found it “slightly muffled”—so it won’t give you or anyone else at home a headache while it’s in use. The machine completely removed a coffee stain, but it took 10 passes. Other stains faded but didn’t completely go away, so count on taking the time to use all those extra attachments to help you get rid of stains more effectively. The Bissell does seem to have a lower suction ability and the water tends to dribble and leak out in some parts, so keep some dry rags on hand. However, for its price point, portability, and effectiveness at getting rid of stains, you might find it worth the added trouble. Price at time of publish: $120 Product Details: Weight: 14.97 pounds | Surface Types: Carpet and upholstery | Cord Length: Not listed | Capacity: 48 ounces | Decibel Level: 78 decibels Keep in Mind: Stains should be pretreated before use. The half-gallon tank makes the Rug Doctor lightweight and easy to carry. Our tester was prepared to refill it at some point while cleaning but was pleasantly surprised to see the tank was still half full, even after doing three cleaning passes on each of the four stains. You will need to pretreat the stain and wait five minutes before using the Rug Doctor, but it’s worth the wait. It’ll also take several passes to get rid of the stains, but they do come out. “I’m pretty impressed with how good it looks,” said our tester about the carpet after three rounds of cleaning. The tester noted that there were no images in the instructions, which would have made setup a bit easier. The one design flaw our tester noted was that the clean water tank is curved on top and needs to be upside down in order to fill it with soap and water—they called in a helper for assistance to avoid spilling because it doesn’t sit steadily while upside down. The hand tool and spray trigger both take a bit of getting used to, so keep in mind that your first attempt with this device might be as awkward as it is effective. Price at time of publish: $157 Product Details: Weight: 18.89 pounds | Surface Types: Carpet and upholstery | Cord Length: Not listed | Capacity: Not listed | Decibel Level: 90 decibels Keep in Mind: It’s pricier than most on this list. With just three passes, the tester was able to remove the coffee stain completely, along with much of the other stains. The hand tool is indeed handy for cleaning stubborn spots, and soon, even the chocolate syrup was a distant memory. The cord is 25 feet long so you can move this carpet cleaner easily throughout your space—it stores easily by wrapping around the machine. There aren’t many extra tools included, but there is a separate hand-held hose that is pretty effective at clobbering stains. The tank is large, so you can clean more carpet in between refills. Our tester found the unit to be extremely heavy when full—as in, it’s barely moveable unless you first remove the tanks. Pushing it around, however, is fine once you get used to maneuvering the machine. Despite its size, our tester found cleaning up the Big Green to be “fairly easy.” There are some grooves in the dirty water tank that make it tricky to clean, though the tank is easy to empty. If you’ve got a small sink or are trying to clean this in a cramped space, you might have more of a challenge. Again, because this carpet cleaner is rather hefty, it’s not good for smaller spots and stains unless you’re up for a workout. But if you’re ready to put this machine through a workout of its own by taking on a room (or rooms) full of dirty flooring, then this is a great choice. Price at time of publish: $412 Product Details: Weight: 48 pounds | Surface Types: Carpets | Cord Length: 25 feet | Capacity: 1.75 gallons | Decibel Level: 99.4 decibels Keep in Mind: Low suction power might take more passes to remove stains. The Bissell Spot Clean Pet Pro comes with two handy attachments to help you take on tough stains on carpet and especially upholstery. Setup is quick and simple for this carpet cleaner, which is exactly what you would hope for when a messy pet disaster strikes your carpet or upholstered furniture. However, you will have to do some work and have a bit of patience once you get it up and running. While it removed the coffee stain completely, the wine, chocolate, and soil stains lingered longer. Still, it’s billed for pet stains, and you’ll likely find the brand’s Oxy-boosted cleaner (available to bundle with the machine) to make quick work of both pet messes and odors. The compact nature of this carpet cleaner is everything, so if you treat the stain quickly, then the weaker suction power won’t be an issue. We recommend making additional passes over tough stains to ensure they’re completely eliminated. Price at time of publish: $176 Product Details: Weight: 13 pounds | Surface Types: Carpet and upholstery | Cord Length: 22 feet | Capacity: 0.75 gallon | Decibel Level: 88 decibels Keep in Mind: It’s only for carpet. The DeepReach PowerBrush Roll has four rows of bristles that push through carpet fibers to lift stains. With just three wet and three dry passes, the Bissell TurboClean completely removed two of the stains and did a great job at fading two others—though another few passes and they, too, were fully removed. Overall, our tester found this carpet cleaner lightweight and easy to maneuver, much like an upright vacuum would be. There aren’t any attachments or extra parts—rendering it useless for cleaning upholstery or cars—but you won’t miss them anyway because this machine tackled carpet stains well. Price at time of publish: $114 Product Details: Weight: 12 pounds | Surface Types: Carpet | Cord Length: 20 feet | Capacity: 0.6 gallon | Decibel Level: 93 decibels Keep in Mind: Using it will likely require some trial and error. Our tester found that the Hoover was effective on both the wine and soil stains with very little trace remaining. The chocolate and coffee stains were gone completely. For the tougher wine and chocolate stains, the Tight Spot tool “really made a difference” according to our tester, so it seems to be a handy attachment for more stubborn spots and stains. There’s no assembly required to get this up and running. But our tester did run into issues when removing the tank for cleaning—it was difficult to put back in, and there was no real guidance from the instructions on how to do it. The attachments worked wonderfully once we figured out how to use them. Our tester noted that there was no explanation in the user manual. However, the “how to clean hose” step was explained and still resulted in water spraying everywhere, so beware that some trial and error may be required—we recommend testing it outside first to avoid a mess. Even though the tester had to wing it when using the attachments, they were the best feature of the Hoover carpet cleaner because they were so effective in removing the stains. Even better? Very little water or cleaning solution was needed to clean the stains, so you won’t have to wait long for your car seats to dry. Price at time of publish: $130 Product Details: Weight: 9.4 pounds | Surface Types: Car and upholstery | Cord Length: 15 feet | Capacity: 40 ounce dual tank | Decibel Level: 92 decibels A number of the best carpet cleaners on our list are suitable for pets. Even if your household doesn’t have any furbabies, know that these are good for high-traffic areas and hard-to-clean messes. If you are looking for a carpet cleaner that’s good for smaller messes or stains on upholstered furniture, look to the smaller appliances on our list, or those larger carpet cleaners that have upholstery attachments for easier cleaning.
Our Testing Process
Our in-house testers assembled each carpet cleaner, filling the tank with water and/or any suggested chemical-based or natural cleaning solutions, per the manufacturer’s guidelines. They recorded the weight of the carpet cleaner once filled and how easy it was to transport. Once each assembled machine was started, they measured the noise level using a decibel meter. Then, they tested it on four types of stains: potting soil, chocolate syrup, red wine, and coffee. Our testing team tried each carpet cleaner on both fresh stains and old stains (dried for 72 hours) using at least three wet passes and three dry passes of each machine. The testers analyzed the results to see how powerful the suction of each carpet cleaner was, how effective it was in removing stains, and how easy or challenging it was to maneuver the machine while in use. They also noted how long it took the carpet to dry after the cleaning was done. They scored and ranked the best carpet cleaners based on ease of setup, stain removal power, noise level, ease of use, portability, and overall value.
What to Know About Carpet Cleaners Before Shopping
Weight
Portability is key with vacuums and carpet cleaners alike, as you don’t want it to be too difficult to carry or use the device. You’ll note that the products on our best carpet cleaners list run the gamut of being ultra portable (i.e. you can hold it in one hand) to hefty (i.e. you’ll need some muscle power to maneuver it). If you want something that’s good for spot cleaning, look for something that’s lightweight, but if you need to take on room after carpeted room, choose a machine that’s hefty enough for the job.
Surface Types
Like the name says, carpet cleaners are indeed for area rugs and carpeted surfaces. However, many of the products on our best carpet cleaners list have attachments and/or are portable for use on furniture and other upholstered surfaces, including car seats. Make sure you purchase the right tool for your specific job.
Cord Length
While some of the most lightweight carpet cleaners on our list are cordless, the heftier models do indeed need an electric source. Most of the corded models have around 20 feet to work with because they’re meant for you to move all over a room or even into multiple rooms. However, if you’re looking for a carpet cleaner that does more spot touch-ups, you might be better suited for a cordless model.
Capacity
Capacity refers to both the reservoir that holds the water/cleaning solution and the one that holds the dirty water that gets extracted from the carpet. You’ll want one big enough so that you’re not having to dump/refill before you finish the room. However, if you need a machine for smaller jobs, then go with models that have smaller reservoir capacities—you won’t have to refill or tote around a heavy device.
Decibel Level
None of the winners on our best carpet cleaners list is exactly quiet, but they won’t blow you out of the room with their noise level, either. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says that noise levels exceeding 70 decibels over a prolonged period of time can damage your hearing. While many of the carpet cleaners on this list are around 90 decibels, keep in mind you will not have them running for very long. If you are concerned about hearing loss, you can always wear ear plugs. However, the CDC notes that noises above 120 decibels are what can cause immediate harm to your ears, and the carpet cleaners on this list do not come near that level of noise.
Other Carpet Cleaners We Tested
Tineco Carpet One Pro Smart Carpet Cleaner
While the Tineco Carpet One Pro Smart Carpet Cleaner was effective at removing stains (it took more passes on some spots than others), our tester found its setup and use to be overly complicated and not clearly explained in the instruction manual.
Rug Doctor Portable Spot Cleaner
Our testers found the Rug Doctor Portable Spot Cleaner to be awkward to use; in particular, the tank was tricky to fill and the spray trigger proved difficult to use. We were also disappointed that a chocolate stain was still visible after a few passes and the noise level was higher than similar models. For the price, this machine left much to be desired.
Rug Doctor Pro Deep Commercial Carpet Cleaner
The Rug Doctor Pro Deep Commercial Carpet Cleaner was effective at removing stains, but it was too cumbersome to maneuver for our testers and too expensive to make our list for a home appliance that you likely won’t need to use very often. The water tank also leaked during testing—a flaw that we didn’t expect from a machine of this price.
Your Questions, Answered
How long does it take for carpet to dry after cleaning it?
“Dry your carpets for 12 to 24 hours to avoid mold formation and odd smells due to dampness,” Johnson advises. “Steam carpet cleaning without drying treatments takes 48 to 72 hours to dry thoroughly.” This means that unless you are cleaning just a small spot that might be easily avoided during the drying time, you’ll want to plan accordingly if you are cleaning entire floors or even the seats in your car.
Do I need to vacuum before carpet cleaning?
Yes, but that’s not all the prep work you should do before using a carpet cleaner, according to Johnson. “Declutter to remove objects and debris, pre-vacuum the carpet, and protect the walls with foam padding and painter’s tape,” he explains. That last part is especially good advice, as some of these machines are quite heavy and hard to maneuver until you get the hang of them.
Can you put vinegar in a carpet cleaner?
Do not put vinegar in a carpet cleaner, Johnson says. “A white vinegar and water solution or other homemade carpet cleaning solutions cause carpet damage that the naked eye can’t see,” he explains. “Even such minor damage can void the carpet manufacturer’s warranty.”
Who We Are
Barbara Bellesi Zito is a freelance writer from Staten Island, NY, covering all things home and lifestyle for Better Homes & Gardens and other top digital publications. She dove into the results gathered by the BHG in-house testing team to come up with the best carpet cleaners based on effectiveness, portability, ease of setup and use, noise level, and overall value. In addition to analyzing the in-house results, Barbara also consulted with Robert Johnson, marketing director at Coast Appliances.
What Is BHG Recommends?
Next to all of the products on this list, you may have noticed our BHG Recommends seal of approval. Products that earn the seal have been put through rigorous testing to make sure they’re worth a spot in your home. We buy most of the products we test ourselves, but occasionally we are provided samples by companies if buying isn’t an option. In these cases, we use the same testing criteria we use to test the purchased products and we let you know that we got it for free to remain as transparent as possible about our picks. Looking for more products that have earned our BHG Recommends seal of approval? Check out our picks for everything from picnic blankets to humidifiers.
