Pets may be your closest friend, but they are your carpet’s greatest foe (and if you have small children, you know that children are a close second). If your children, cats or dogs frequently stain your carpet, you may need to buy a carpet cleaner and add it to your routine cleaning regimen.
Carpet cleaners remove stains and smell from your floor using cleaning sprays, brushes, and suction force. We evaluated nine of the most prominent mobile and standup carpet cleaners to help keep your carpets clean and smelling fresh.
Do you need a carpet cleaner?
If you have carpets or rugs in your house, especially if you also have dogs or children, you’ve likely experimented with various stain removers to deal with spills, pet messes, and the dirt that accumulates over time. However, sprays and scrubbing can only do so much.
You can rent professional carpet cleaning equipment, such as supermarkets and big-box stores, and you may even have used a service like Stanley Steemer when you moved into a new home. However, buying a smaller unit might make a great deal of sense, particularly if you have animals or younger kids who frequently soil your carpets.
Even though most rental stores provide professional-grade carpet cleaners, you should expect to pay between $20 and $40 a day in charges (based on the equipment you require), which can soon creep up if you clean more than a few times per year. If you run into this situation, it makes sense to have a carpet cleaner in your cleaning arsenal.
There are two varieties available on the market. Similar to upright vacuums, upright carpet cleaners use water tanks instead of a bag or canister and are pushed around the room in the same way. Mobile carpet cleaners are small, handheld devices — resembling little canister vacuums — designed for spot cleaning or relatively small areas; they frequently contain a hose for upholstery cleaning and scrubber attachments.
Portable carpet cleaners are optimal if you frequently deal with tiny spills and stains and have limited storage space. Many of the models we evaluated also contain pet hair removal tools, which would likely appeal to pet owners. A portable cleaner is also conveniently transportable if you need to clean a stain in your car or on the stairway.
If you often clean many carpeted rooms and floors, you might consider investing in an upright carpet cleaner. Portable carpet cleaners are far less potent than upright cleaners, and portable cleaners have narrower cleaning heads. Compared to portable cleaners, uprights are typically more challenging to use, as they require a separate hose for spot cleaning and have additional components to clean and maintain.
Our testing methodology
To determine the finest mobile and standup carpet cleaners, we put nine models through various cleaning situations over the course of a month.
We primarily evaluated how successfully each model removed grime, latte, red wine, apple juice, ketchup, and soy sauce stains on a low-pile carpet. All of the cleaners we evaluated could remove the stains, but only the top models were able to clean our test carpets without needing substantial power or many passes.
Using our carpet cleaners, we also attempted to clean alternative surfaces, such as medium-pile area rugs, floor mats, automobile floor coverings, and mattresses. Our top selections, which contained many attachments for each cleaning situation, handled these obstacles with little difficulty. We fully charged all carpet cleaners that have rechargeable batteries before using them on a test carpet.
During our evaluations, we also emphasized usability and design. Throughout our testing, the highest scores were awarded to models that were convenient to transport, maintain, and clean.
The best carpet cleaner in 2022
The King: Hoover SmartWash+
The Hoover SmartWash+ has been built from top to bottom with simplicity in mind. Its intelligent triggerless spraying technology automatically sprays and dries the carpet as you move it forward and backward. In contrast to the majority of the competitors, which needed us to hold a spray trigger, it is much more like using an upright vacuum. Notably, while selling for approximately $100 less than the Bissell ProHeat, it worked well throughout our tests.
The SmartWash+ worked well in our staining tests and other practical applications. Due to the auto-spray technology of the cleaner, we just operated the SmartWash+ back and forth over our carpet specimens until the soy sauce, red wine, and dirt stains vanished. After a few runs with the Hoover, our carpet seemed as good as new with no evidence of the test stains.
In contrast to many other carpet cleaners we tested, you won’t have to worry about putting under or over solution or letting water linger in a tank for an excessive amount of time with the SmartWash+’s dual dedicated solution and clean water tanks. If your cleaning water tank goes dry, you may quickly replenish it without having to prepare a fresh batch of solution. The SmartWash+ offers a simple Dry Only mode that allows you to “vacuum” your carpet without activating the forward spraying function. A convenient backlit display indicates whether the SmartWash+ operates in spraying or drying function.
The SmartWash+ includes an additional five-year guarantee if something goes wrong with the cleaner. It features one of the largest cleaning heads we evaluated at 12 inches, which is an inch broader than the Bissell ProHeat, and its dirty water tank is somewhat larger than the Bissell’s at 0.4 gallons. A 22-foot power chord and an 8-foot attachment hose provide ample working space.
However, the SmartWash+’s discounted price relative to the Bissell ProHeat implies that some convenience is sacrificed for the budget. If you wish to pre-treat harder stains with the Hoover, you must connect its 8-foot hose adapter and spray them by hand. With the integrated spray head of the Bissell ProHeat, you can rapidly treat particular stains without carrying an additional spray bottle or hose carrying bag.
The SmartWash+ is our top-rated carpet cleaner for one simple cause: it washes carpets just as effectively as the Bissell ProHeat for $100 less. The automated spraying technique and stress-free design of the Hoover SmartWash+ make it an excellent choice if you’re searching for an economical, practical, and user-friendly upright carpet cleaner.
The Queen: Bissell ProHeat 2x Revolution Pet Pro
During our tests, this 11-inch vacuum unit and dual roller brushes of the Bissell ProHeat 2x easily removed dirt, soy sauce, and strawberry lemonade stains from our carpets and a substantial quantity of dirt entrenched in a massive area of the rug. It was just as effective as the Hoover SmartWash+ for straightforward carpet cleaning. Still, its efficient pre-soaking feature option and Swiss Army knife-like range of adapters helped make it even more versatile. The ProHeat’s longer 25-foot cable and 10-foot attachment hose gave us more working space, which we appreciated when cleaning stairwells and large carpeted rooms.
Bissell’s CleanShot spot treatment technology was our favorite feature of the ProHeat. It’s easy to use Bissell ProHeat’s built-in cleaning system by simply pressing the CleanShot button on the rear wheel. Even though it took us a while to get used to targeting the CleanShot, we enjoyed using it as a rapid spot treatment device. Attaching an adapter hose and sprayer head to the washer was the only option to swiftly pre-treat stains with the other evaluated models. When we tried the Bissell on a kitchen runner rug, we encountered baked-on grease stains with the CleanShot, washed the remainder of the carpet, and subsequently simply removed them once the solution had soaked in.
The ProHeat utilizes Bissell’s Heatwave technology, which employs a tiny fan to heat the cleaner’s clean water tank. Some Hoover upright vacuums release warm air to assist dry your rug, but nothing does the same for their liquid tanks. In our tests, the heated water tank did not make a significant difference; the ProHeat and Hoover SmartWash+ worked similarly when removing carpet stains; nevertheless, the ProHeat allows you to operate for more extended periods without having to reload with warm water. If you’re using the Bissell to clean an entire floor thoroughly, the heated water tank is a pleasant convenience, but it’s not a vital function.
The Bissell is flexible, featuring a robust array of equipment for cleaning various carpets and upholstery. In addition to a 10-foot hose (two feet more than the Hoover SmartWash+) which connects to the vacuum, the ProHeat has a standard brush head and a pet-friendly brush head. The ProHeat Pet Upholstery tool traps hair and dirt before they reach the water tank of your vacuum cleaner. Unscrew the cup’s lid and remove any hair accumulated in the tool’s filters after a cleaning session. We had no issues utilizing the adapter, and if you have pets that shed regularly, you will like the equipment.
Cleaning your carpet results in a dirty water tank. Although upright carpet cleaners are often more challenging to wash than portable cleaners, Bissell made the procedure pleasant. You may simply empty the water tanks of the ProHeat, and Bissell supplies a plastic instrument for removing hair and other material from the nozzle. Additionally, the ProHeat’s nozzle housing may be removed by depressing two clearly designated buttons on the cleaner’s front.
We wish Bissell had made it simpler to detach the brush heads for a more thorough cleaning. You’ll need a screwdriver to unscrew the front housing of the vacuum cleaner and remove the gear belt to remove the rollers. On the competitive Hoover SmartWash+, removing each roller brush is as simple as removing the nozzle cover and popping them out. Although it is available separately for $29.99, Bissell does provide a cleaning tray for power-washing the ProHeat’s brushes.
The $100 price difference between the Hoover SmartWash+ and the Bissell ProHeat makes sense if you often clean your furniture of pet hair or stains and want to utilize the cleaner’s specialized hair catcher tool, given the modest performance differential. Other than that, convenience features such as the ProHeat’s sprayer are nice but not essential for most houses.
The Portable King: Hoover CleanSlate Pet
With a portable carpet cleaner, you’ll be able to clean up pet messes and spills without investing in a full-room or rug deep-cleaning machine. The CleanSlate Pet from Hoover was the most user-friendly and efficient of the devices we evaluated. During our tests, the CleanSlate handled salt-crusted vehicle mats, soiled kitchen carpets, and dirt and food stains with ease and effortlessly sucked up dirt. Thanks to CleanSlate’s 4.5-foot hose, we could reach spots without repeatedly dragging the cleaner all over the carpet.
The layout is well-considered, and every function and tool is easily accessible. On the CleanSlate’s top are a carry handle, water tanks, and a detachable hose cleaning tool. Attaching the device to the top of the hose and depressing the solution trigger causes it to spray cleaning solution down the hose and flush any dirt into the water tank.
On the rear of the CleanSlate are its power cable, hose, and narrow head attachment. Unlike many vacuum extender heads, the CleanSlate’s tapered extension is equipped with a spray head and brush, ideal for cleaning tight spaces such as crevices and seat corners. As with the hose cleaner head, the attachment may be stored directly on the CleanSlate, which increases the cleaner’s mobility by eliminating the need to search thru a bag or cabinet each time you need to swap cleaner heads.
The CleanSlate’s oversized washing tool is a significant factor in why it is our best portable cleaner. With a 7-inch width and interchangeable bristle and rubber-tipped heads, the washing tool is enormous compared to standard 4-inch-wide mobile cleaning equipment. The Bissell Little Green Pro, on the other hand, has a 3-inch cleaning attachment that is just average. The broader tool allowed us to clean more efficiently.
With CleanSlate’s big cleaning head, we could cover more ground at once and did not have to return again to remove stains. When we cleaned a vehicle floor mat, it only required a few pre-soak sprays and swipes. The CleanSlate sprays cleaning solution straight down in a broad triangle pattern. Due to the cleaner’s smaller head took us twice as long to clean the same mat with the Bissell Little Green Pro. Unlike other portable carpet cleaners, CleanSlate’s bigger head allows it to tackle a wider variety of carpet cleaning tasks; it is not limited to spot cleaning.
The CleanSlate features a two-year guarantee and ample dirty water and clean water tanks of 23 and 40 ounces, respectively. While the CleanSlate’s tanks are smaller than the Bissell Little Green Pro’s 3/4-gallon tanks, they are simpler to clean. The Bissell’s filthy water tank features a thin plastic lip that periodically collects sediment and crevices that require numerous rinses to clean thoroughly. In contrast, the Hoover’s tank has a more straightforward design and is simple to clean with heated water and a kitchen towel.
If your top priorities for a portable carpet cleaner are affordability, portability, and efficiency, the Hoover CleanSlate is an excellent choice.
Other options
Hoover Power Scrub Elite Pet
The SpinScrub brush technology on the Hoover Power Scrub is one of our favorite features. Instead of a conventional revolving roller brush, the Power Scrub features a collection of horizontal brush heads that rotate to remove stains. The Power Scrub required only a few sweeps to remove our tests’ dirt, soy sauce, and strawberry lemonade stains. It also offers a convenient Rinse mode that allows you to use only water to rinse your carpet of any remaining cleaning solution; we’d love to see this feature on more cleaners since many require you to pre-mix your water and cleaning liquid. The Hoover includes two substantial 1.25-gallon storage tanks so that you will have enough supply.
But the Power Scrub’s operation can take some getting used to; the cleaner’s handle comprises the clean water tank and a thin plastic portion that floats like a turtle shell over the filthy water tank.
When we lowered the handle, the jumbo-sized clean water tank changed the handle’s center of gravity and making it unnecessarily top-heavy. On versions such as the Hoover SmartWash+, the arm part contains both water tanks to aid in weight distribution. The Power Scrub’s clean mode controls are also strangely located on the front of the cleaner, which might be a slight inconvenience when switching modes mid-clean.
Hoover ONEPWR Spotless Go
In addition to being lightweight and battery-powered, the Hoover ONEPWR Spotless Go is also easy to move about the house or into your car. Despite the ONEPWR’s tiny size, we had no trouble removing juice and dirt stains from carpets during testing. The Spotless Go is part of Hoover’s ONEPWR range, consisting of vacuums and other equipment powered by ONEPWR-branded batteries.
We wished the Hoover’s hose was longer than 2 feet; throughout our cleaning testing, we had to reposition the ONEPWR frequently to maintain the line straight. As with most battery-powered cleaning equipment, have an extra battery or charger on hand if you’re removing more than a few spots. Using the 2Ah battery provided with the Hoover, we could clean for around 18 minutes. Hoover also offers 3Ah and 4Ah ONEPWR packs.
With its limited energy and 9-ounce filthy water capacity, the Hoover ONEPWR is not ideal for regular or even moderate carpet cleaning. For portable carpet cleaners, Hoover’s Spotless Go may be worth a second look if mobility is your priority.
Bissell TurboClean PowerBrush
The Bissell TurboClean strikes a good compromise across price and quality if you’re searching for an affordable standup carpet washer. The TurboClean quickly removed red wine and strawberry lemonade stains, and it is one of the cheapest standup carpet cleaners we examined.
However, for the price, you will only receive a one-year guarantee, a 5/8-gallon clean water tank, and no hose connection for spot cleaning. With the TurboClean, you may need to allow additional time after your carpet washing for more thorough cleaning; after our test washes, we had to remove a substantial quantity of wet carpet fluff off the bottom of the TurboClean. The other upright vacuums we evaluated fared far better when controlling and capturing carpet cleaner overflow. Overall, we believe it is worthwhile to invest a bit more for improved performance and more straightforward upkeep.
Bissell Little Green Pet Pro
The Bissell Little Green Pet Pro is more durable and robust than other portable cleaners because of its 5-foot hose, large 96-ounce water tanks, and accessories such as a specialty pet stain tool that combines brushes with hard plastic spikes. In our tests, the Little Green Pet Pro required only a few passes to remove tiny stains despite its 3-inch head.
Relative to the Hoover CleanSlate, the Little Green’s lack of integrated attachment holsters, noisy motor, smaller vacuum head, and the greater price are minor disadvantages. However, if you’re willing to pay a little more for its bigger tank, the Bissell can be a worthy premium portable cleaner alternative.
Bissell Pet Stain Eraser PowerBrush Plus
The Bissell Pet Stain Eraser features a handheld vacuum-like design, making it portable and easy to store compared to the majority of the cleaners we tested. During testing, the cleaner’s internal battery ran for around 20 minutes. Throughout our testing, the Bissell’s revolving roller brush assisted the cleaner in removing stubborn stains; roller brushes usually are only seen on upright cleaners. In contrast to other carpet cleaners, however, the 3-inch head size of the Bissell necessitates several cleaning passes.
Rug Doctor Pet Portable Spot Cleaner
Thanks to the cleaner’s wheeled design and additional retractable handle, it’s easy to move the Rug Doctor from one area to another. The 4.5-inch vacuum head of the Rug Doctor made impressive work of our carpet staining test. However, the Rug Doctor was hindered by poor design decisions, such as water tanks with curved bottoms that were difficult to refill.
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