Welcome to CarpetCleanerMachinesReviews.com. Here, we publish detailed reviews and guides to help you find the best carpet cleaner machine for your needs.
See reviews of the best cleaning machines. Bissell Big Green Deep Cleaning Machine 86T3, Image credit Bissell.com
If you live in a home with carpets and rugs, we can help you decide on the best carpet cleaners to maintain carpet hygiene and cleanliness. If you are a pet owner who need a way to clean out pet carpet stains, we can show you the top cleaner models that will help. You can learn more about us and our review process here.
It is often time-consuming to search out and compare the carpet cleaning machines on your own. Top manufacturers like Hoover or Bissell have lots of cleaners that appear similar. However, they have different design subtleties and combinations of features that differentiate their performance and handling.
First-time visitors could browse through our list of top carpet cleaners with short reviews below.
Top Carpet Cleaner Machine Reviews 2021
For readers who are in a hurry to see the best home carpet cleaner machines in the market today, here is a list of models regular domestic home use.
1. Best Overall – Bissell Big Green Deep Cleaning Machine 86T3/ 86T3Q
2. Best Consumer-Grade – Hoover Smartwash Automatic Carpet Cleaner FH52000
3. Best Value – Hoover Power Scrub Deluxe Carpet Washer FH50150
4. Best Budget Cleaner – Hoover PowerDash Pet Carpet Cleaner FH50700
5. Best Standard Upright Bissell – Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Max Clean Pet Pro Full-Size Carpet Cleaner, 1986
6. Best Value Bissell – Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet Carpet Cleaner 1548/ 15489
7. Best Budget Bissell – Bissell Turboclean Powerbrush Pet Upright Carpet Cleaner Machine and Carpet Shampooer, 2085
8. Best Portable Spot Cleaner – Bissell SpotClean Pet Pro Portable Carpet Cleaner 2458
9. Best Regular Spot Cleaner – Bissell Little Green Portable Pet Spot Carpet Cleaner 1400W
10. Best Rug Doctor to Buy – Rug Doctor Mighty Pro X3 Pet Pack Carpet Cleaner
A. Best Commercial Lightweight Carpet Cleaner – Mytee Lite Extractor 8070
Carpets are great at trapping dirt, but having a cleaner machine like the following allows you to continually keep your carpeted flooring clean and safe with convenience. There’s also peace of mind from knowing that your carpet cleaner is exclusively for your home, not shared with others like in a rental situation.
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1. Bissell Big Green Deep Cleaning Machine 86T3/ 86T3Q
[Best Overall] The Bissell Big Green Deep Cleaning Machine 86T3/ 86T3Q is the best carpet cleaner for home users due to its first-rate cleaning capabilities and the quality of the machine’s construction and workmanship. This unit is a professional-grade model, just like the rental machines you find at grocery stores. For customers, this means exceptional cleaning results using a well-constructed carpet cleaning machine that is exclusive to your home.
To maximize efficiency, Bissell has incorporated an extra-large rotating power brush with Bissell’s DirtLifter® mechanism to ensure proper scrubbing action. This Bissell unit works by spraying the carpet with the cleaning formula and water, which helps the brush to loosen, scrub, and remove messes from your carpet.
Bissell Big Green 86T3/ 86T3Q Features
The Bissell Big Green 86T3 comes with two large tanks. These separate, removable reservoirs, one for clean water and another for dirty water, simplifies clean up. You can comfortably use this for full room cleaning without frequent refills, since it has a sizeable 1.75-gallon capacity. Besides, the 25-foot power cord allows you to reach farther space and increases your maneuverability around a work surface.
One feature that hastens the cleaning time is that this carpet shampooer model cleans using both forward and backward passes. This is in contrast to other carpet cleaning machines like the Rug Doctor rental machine that cleans only when you pull the machine back. Not only is it more efficient for busy home users, it also reduces cleaning time.
This machine has powerful suction, which quickens drying. That way, you do not have to stay out of your room for long just because the carpet is still wet. At 12 amps of power, it has stronger motor power compared to Bissell’s standard consumer-grade models (3 amps to 7 amps).
The Bissell 86T3 carpet cleaner also has a 9-foot hose attachment that enables you to clean hard-to-access areas without pulling the machine around. It features a 6-inch tough stain tool, which lets you spray and scrub stubborn stains on specific carpet spots, cleaning stairs, and upholstery.
Bissell has a strong reputation as a top vacuum and floor appliance company. They have sold lots of different models over the years, yet the Bissell Big Green Deep 86T3 continues to be one of its top selling models, despite being more expensive than the rest.
We believe this has to do with both this Bissell Big Green carpet cleaner’s exceptional cleaning power and durable build quality that stands up to heavy-duty usage. If you want a hassle-free product usage experience over time, and appreciate getting exemplary cleaning results, this is the best cleaner machine to get. Full review >>
2. Hoover Smartwash Automatic Carpet Cleaner FH52000
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Read Full Review
Image Credit: Hoover.com
According to the Hoover company itself, this is their best full size carpet cleaner. Many users will attest to that “best full size carpet cleaner” claim, as they have found that the machine’s cleaning results rivals that of professional-grade machines. It’s also inexpensive for all the design features you get to make cleaning dirty carpeting a breeze. Whether it is tough stinky pet stains like poop and urine, or soiled spots that have set in, customers say the Smartwash machine clears them away with ease.
Hoover SmartWash+ Carpet Cleaner Highlights
Key highlights include powerful FlexForce PowerBrushes and extra-long bristles to effectively agitate and loosen dirt from carpets, smart Automatic features, and 1 gallon capacity water tanks. In comparison, some of the compact carpet cleaners have only 1/2 gallon sized tanks. With the Hoover Smartwash carpet cleaner’s larger 1 gallon tank capacity, you avoid having to make twice as many trips to the sink to refill.
The Hoover Smartwash offers fast dry time due to it’s powerful suction and Hoover’s HeatForce™ heated air feature. When drying the carpet, the Smartwash FH52000 will force out warm air on the carpets to speed up the drying process.
At under 19 lbs in weight (without water), the machine is lighter and more maneuverable than the professional Bissell Big Green 86T3. It does not require a lot of storage area and can be brought out and used as often as needed, exclusively for your home.
The SmartWash has 10 amps of power – that makes it more powerful compared to other top-rated carpet shampooers; such as Bissell’s upright full-sized cleaner ProHeat 2X Revolution (at 6.8 amps), and the compact Hoover PowerDash Pet Carpet Cleaner (7 amps).
Automatic Smart Cleaning
Not only can the Hoover SmartWash clean powerfully, it is designed to be easy to use, almost like using a vacuum cleaner. There are separate water tanks – one to fill with clean tap water and one to collect back dirty water suctioned from the carpet. The machine automatically dispenses a mix of clean water and cleaning solution, and then dries according to the movements of the machine. With most carpet cleaners, there is a tendency to squeeze the trigger overly and hence dispense more cleaning solution mix than needed.
For pet urine stains or other embedded stains, this cleaner’s base power and brushing system is well-equipped to clear them out. If there are stubborn spots, the carpet cleaning machine comes with a 2-in-1 pet tool accessory and an 8 foot hose for more dedicated spot cleaning. The attachments allow for auto interiors and upholstery cleaning as well.
In summary, the Hoover SmartWash is a user-friendly, powerful all-in-one carpet cleaner for domestic users, whether it’s for whole home cleaning, small area cleaning, pet messes, set-in stains, or general maintenance of carpet hygiene. This carpet cleaner is recommended for homes with or without pets. Read Full Review or Check Price or Buy from Amazon >>
3. Hoover Power Scrub Deluxe Carpet Washer FH50150
[Best Value] The Hoover Power Scrub Deluxe Carpet Washer is a high-performing carpet shampooer model that can be used for cleaning carpets, area spots and stains, pet messes and upholstery. As a slightly older model, it’s pricing compares well with other carpet cleaners in it’s class.
Most users are very impressed with how clean their carpets get with this machine. Many find that even light carpets with dark stains are no match for this full-powered (10 amps) upright carpet cleaner that delivers high quality results.
Hoover Power Scrub Deluxe Features
Top highlights include powerful counter rotating SpinScrub brushheads, a rinse-wash selector switch, fast dry time and lots of handtools for flexible cleaning. The machine has separate tanks for clean water and dirty water, plus a separate compartment for filling cleaning solution.
With a hose attachment and cleaning tools, you can use this cleaner model for more focused cleaning on carpet spots, sofas or car upholstery. This attachment feature is something that budget models like the Hoover PowerDash Pet FH50700 does not have.
It weighs a mere 18.1 lbs (without water), making it one of the lightest full-powered cleaners on the market.
The Hoover Power Scrub carpet washer has established a strong track record of five-star user ratings since it was introduced in 2012. It retains its position as one of the best rated carpet cleaners out there, continueing to be a top-selling customer favorite 8 years.
Overall, the Hoover Power Scrub carpet cleaner offers excellent carpet cleaning effectiveness for homes with or without pets. It also doubles as a upholstery cleaner. The Power Scrub is well-designed, inexpensive, easy-to-use and cleans extremely well. Full review >>
There is an enhanced version of the Hoover Power Scrub Deluxe, click this link to learn more: Hoover Power Scrub Elite Pet Carpet Cleaner FH50251 Review
4. Hoover PowerDash Pet Carpet Cleaner FH50700
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Image Credit: Bissell.com
If you need a carpet shampooer for smaller spaces or if you just want a lightweight machine to use between more extensive deeper carpet cleanings, this is the best model to pick. As an upright cleaner, you use it while standing. This machine can be used for cleaning both spots or entire rooms. For more details, Read the Full Review.
Although less powerful than the Hoover Power Scrub or Smart Wash (PowerDash has 7 amps compared to the SmartWash’s or Power Scrub’s 10 amps), it is more powerful than many other popular upright consumer carpet cleaning machines.
Customers vouch for the PowerDash Pet’s amazing cleaning power, often describing how it was able to clear up difficult pet stains or embedded bad stains with ease. It’s well-equipped to clean using Hoover’s PowerSpin Pet Brush roll. Drying time is minimized through Hoover’s HeatForce technology that forces out warm air to hasten drying.
Weighing under 13lbs (without water), this machine is light and easy to move around. It’s ideal for customers who may not have a long of arm strength, and for quick clean-ups or for smaller areas. You can use this to clean rooms, rather than spots. However, if you want to clean the whole home, it might take you a while to finish each room.
This easy-to-use carpet cleaning machine has two separate half-gallon-sized tanks, one for clean water and another for dirty water. Users fill the clean water tank with a mixture of clean water and cleaning solution.
The main downside is the smaller tank size of 1/2 gallon. This means that users needed to make more trips to the sink to refill their tanks when carpet cleaning larger areas. There is also no attachment hose for cleaning upholstery or car seats.
For it’s low price, outstanding cleaning power, fast dry technology and compact design, the Hoover PowerDash Pet Carpet Cleaner FH50700 is currently the #1 favorite consumer choice for a carpet cleaning machine. It’s equally useful for maintaining carpet hygiene in homes with or without pets. For optimal cleaning results, bundle it with Hoover branded solutions, such as the Renewal Deep Cleaning shampoo.
It’s hard to go wrong for the price point, and this model has deservedly earned lots of 5-star reviews from customers. Full Review >
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5. Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Max Clean Pet Pro Full-Size Carpet Cleaner, 1986
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Image Credit: Bissell.com
User feedback has been very positive regarding this model’s ease of use and superior cleaning performance. Many pet owners are impressed with this machine’s ability to brush out stubborn pet stains effectively, and powerfully suction dirty water off carpets for a complete cleaning cycle.
With 6.8 amps of motor power, this carpet washer machine has twice the power of Bissell’s lightweight Turbo Powerbrush model.
Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet Pro 1986 Features
This Bissell pet carpet cleaner machine has outstanding features like 12 rows of Bissell’s DirtLifter brushes to loosen dirt particles from carpet fibers. It also has a convenient dual water tank system for easy filling and draining of water. Users fill clean water and cleaning solution in to one tank, and the machine will extract out dirty water that is collected from the carpets into a separate tank.
The machine’s dual Express and Max Clean modes adds more flexibility to using it. Users can choose whether they just need a quick carpet refresh with an Express clean or a more thorough deep cleaning. In addition, Bissell engineers have thoughtfully included Heatwave technology with this model.
Heatwave technology re-channels heat produced by the Pet Pro 1986 cleaner machine into maintaining the temperature of water. When you add warm water to the tank for cleaning, Heatwave technology helps to keep that water warm for better cleaning.
It’s tank size of 1 gallon also allows for a larger area to be cleaned each time, unlike the smaller cleaners like the Hoover PowerDash or Bissell Turboclean Powerbrush. It weighs about 20 lbs without water, making it lighter than older Bissell upright cleaners in its category.
As a premium Pet Pro model, this model comes with a removable brush roll cover and a Clean Shot feature that sprays out extra cleaning solution and water for treating tougher stains. This model comes packaged with a premium 2-in-1 pet-related stains cleaning tool.
For pet owners and customers who like the cleaning power of these features, and the extra convenience, the Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Max Clean Pet Pro is great carpet cleaning machine to own. Check Price or Buy from Amazon
6. Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet Carpet Cleaner 15489
[Best Value Bissell] The Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet Carpet Cleaner is a full-powered Bissell upright cleaner that provides product users with a quality and convenient carpet cleaning experience.
People like how easy it is to use the carpet cleaning machine and how well it works in getting their soiled carpets thoroughly cleaned. Like the Revolution Max Clean Pet Pro, it has a Max Clean mode for deep cleaning, and an Express Mode for quick maintenance clean-ups on the go.
As a full-sized machine, it comes with 12 rows of Bissell’s DirtLifter® PowerBrushes, a proven brushing technology for deep cleaning carpets and for stains removal. In comparison, the lightweight Bissell Turbo Powerbrush Pet 2085 uses 4 rows of brushes.
While this is not a lightweight carpet cleaner, it is a handy machine with a streamlined design. At under 18 lbs (without water), it is intended to be taken out and used frequently without intimidation, allowing home users to enjoy clean carpets more often.
If you think the Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution is very similar to the Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet Pro 1986 Carpet Cleaner described above, you are right! They are basically the same machines in design, with the same power amperage of 6.8 amps and 1 gallon water tank capacity.
The main differences are that the Bissell Revolution 1548/ 15489 is standard in design and lack the premium features you find in the Pet Pro 1986 described above.
For example, the Revolution 1548 does not have a removable brush roll cover that makes it easier to remove debris and pet hair from the brushes, nor a clean shot spray for handling bad stains from pet accidents and more.
However, it has hose attachments for upholstery or stairs cleaning. The Bissell Revolution 1548 also comes with a standard Pet-related stains cleaning tool accessory for dealing with tough pet spots and a 3″ tough stain tool to clean both spots or upholstery.
All in all, customers find that Bissell Revolution Pet 1548/ 15489 works very well in cleaning pet stains and more. It’s a well-designed and convenient tool to have at home for restoring dirty carpets back to a cleaner state. It is one of the best Bissell upright machines and offers excellent value for its price. Full Review >>
7. Bissell Turboclean Powerbrush Pet Upright Carpet Cleaner Machine and Carpet Shampooer, 2085
[Best Budget Bissell] As one of the best carpet cleaners, how is the Bissell Turboclean Powerbrush 2085 different from the other Bissell carpet shampooers?
If you want an inexpensive Bissell shampooer for casual area cleaning and that’s easy on your arms, this is the best one to get. As Bissell’s leading lightweight upright cleaner, it’s both functional and elegant. It’s not going to have as much power as the Bissell Proheat 2X Revolution Pet, but it’s also lighter and less costly.
For a compact, lightweight carpet cleaning machine with 3.4 amps of power, the Turboclean Powerbrush provides good suction to ensure proper rug cleaning. The shampooer’s four-row, rotating power brush does a great job removing embedded dirt, stains, and pet messes. Together with Bissell’s Oxy cleaning formula, you have a better chance of quickly cleaning spots and stains.
The Bissell Turboclean Powerbrush 2085 is lightweight (12 lbs) and easy to operate. It incorporates a retractable handle that saves storage space. Besides, it has a two-tank system that is convenient to use, while ensuring that clean and dirty water do not mix.
As a lightweight carpet washer, the tank capacity for this model stands at 0.5 gallons. It’s not a lot, but it will get the job done for cleaning rooms and entire rugs.
For maintenance, the shampooer machine has a removable nozzle to ensure easy access to the inside for cleaning. It also has Edgeweep bristles to sweep the sides of furniture and along baseboards.
For more power and a larger tank, you may be better off with the full-powered Bissell Revolution Pet 1548. The model is the next level up with double the amperage power (6.8 amps) and a one-gallon tank size. For basic cleaning around the home, this Bissell Turboclean Powerbrush Pet cleaner could be adequate.
This Bissell Turboclean cleaner is suitable for cleaning small areas, area rugs and entire carpets, not just spots. You can use this Bissell Turboclean cleaner for cleaning up regular carpet stains, or for dog and cat urine, vomit that cause your carpets and rugs to soil. It makes it much easier to keep your carpets clean. With the 20-foot power cord, you will have maximum maneuverability as well.
8. Bissell SpotClean Pet Pro Portable Carpet Cleaner 2458
[Best Portable Spot Cleaner] If you are looking for the best portable carpet cleaner, the Bissell Spot Clean Pet Pro Carpet Cleaner 2458 is Bissell’s most potent unit.
The Bissell SpotClean Pet Pro has 5.7 amps of power and a sizeable 0.75-gallon tank for a spot cleaner unit. These are more powerful specs compared to some of the top lightweight upright machines.
This portable carpet cleaner is designed to clean pet stain spots, dirty carpeted areas, area rugs, upholstery, stair steps, or used for cleaning auto interiors. You focus on a smaller cleaning area, and you may need to get on your hands and knees to use this. If you need a carpet cleaning machine to clean the whole room, the upright cleaners that you use standing up (most top carpet cleaners on this list) would be more suitable tools.
The Bissell SpotClean Pet Pro 2458 comes with a long 4-foot hose. That allows users to cover much ground or clean tough-to-reach parts of rugs and other areas. It is also a corded device with a long 22-foot power cord; providing great flexibility in moving the unit around.
Inside the box, you will find a premium Pet Stain trapper tool for cleaning up pet messes, and a 3-inch tough stain attachment. Bissell has also added two trial size Pet urine stains cleaning solutions formula to get your cleaning started.
Non-Pet Version: Bissell SpotClean Pro 3624
If you are comparing the SpotClean Pet Pro 2458 to the classic SpotClean Pro 3624, both portable carpet cleaners have the same body (ie. same design, motor power and tank size). What’s different are the attachments and included trial-sized cleaning formulas.
Both packages include the 3-inch tough stain tool. In addition, the SpotClean Pet Pro 2458 has a Pet Stain trapper tool while the SpotClean Pro 3624 has the 6-inch stair tool. The SpotClean Pet Pro 2458 also comes with a 4 ft hose vs. the 5 ft hose attachment for the SpotClean Pro 3624. See Bissell SpotClean Pro 3624 review
Overall, the Bissell SpotClean Pet Pro 2458 is easy to take out and use for everyday spots cleaning, as pet and other messes develop. Fortunately, it also doesn’t take a lot of room for storage. If you want the most powerful portable spot cleaner available, this is our recommendation. Check Price and Availability at Amazon
9. Bissell Little Green Portable Pet Spot Carpet Cleaner 1400W
[Best Regular Spot Cleaner] The Bissell Little Green Portable Pet Spot Cleaner is a best-selling small portable unit for focused carpet spot cleaning. You can use it to remove stains and soiled spots on carpets, upholstery, stairs and auto interiors. If you need a regular portable carpet cleaner for smaller jobs, this is the best one to get.
Although small in size, this spot cleaner unit effectively removes tough stains and spots using powerful suction and strong spray. At 3 amps, it does not have the extra cleaning power of the more powerful Bissell Spot Clean Pro listed above. However, it’s also less expensive and lighter.
Like the Spot Clean Pro, this smaller portable carpet cleaning machine is different from the upright machines you find on this list. If you are looking for a lightweight model to clean bigger spaces, the Bissell Turbo Powerbrush will make more sense.
The Bissell Little Green Portable Pet spot carpet cleaner comes with a flexible 4 ft hose attachment and cleaning two brush heads: a 3-inch tough stain tool and Pet Stain Trapper tool that loosens and extracts stains and soils from your carpet. With a 15-foot power cord and a 9.65 lbs weight, this is a compact tool you can quickly move around the room or from room to room. It’s also a handy machine to use for everyday stains as they occur.
This Bissell portable spot cleaner has two detachable, 48-ounce water tanks that ensure easy emptying and filling. Bissell has also packaged this with two trial-sized pet cleaning solutions.
Non-Pet Bissell Little Green Portable version
There is a also a non-pet Bissell Little Green Portable 1400. It’s a lime green or dark green unit without the purple accents.
Besides color, the main differences between the pet and non-pet versions lay in the accessories and brush heads included. The non-pet version comes with 3-inch tough stain tool and trial size Spot & Stain formula. See the Bissell Little Green Portable review >
Overall, the Bissell Little Green Portable Pet Spot Cleaner 1400W is a great portable unit for regular spots cleaning. It’s small and easy to bring around, making it the ideal carpet cleaning machine to have for cleaning everyday carpet stains. Check Price and Availability at Amazon
10. Rug Doctor Mighty Pro X3 Pet Pack Carpet Cleaner
[Best Rug Doctor to Buy] While Bissell or Hoover dominate the carpet cleaners market for domestic users, one should not overlook the Rug Doctor brand. It offers high-quality machines that may fit your deep carpet cleaning needs.
If you want a high caliber carpet shampooer unit, the Rug Doctor Mighty Pro X3 is a classic carpet cleaner machine well-worth considering. It looks just like the red rental Rug Doctor machines but comes in blue instead. Besides consumers, some businesses purchase the Mighty Pro X3 to do commercial carpet cleaning and auto detailing.
The Rug Doctor Mighty Pro X3 machine cleaning procedure entails three steps spray, scrub, and extract. The Rug Doctor is a big, sturdy cleaner with a huge recovery tank with a 3.9-gallon capacity to ensure minimal emptying and refilling.
This Rug Doctor machine is known to be effective in eradicating all types of bad stains, whether it’s pet stains, or stains resulting from heavy foot traffic, vomit, blood, urine, fecal matter, and worse.
It’s a heavy-duty workhorse, a professional-grade machine that is similar to the Bissell Big Green 86T3. To learn more about how these two cleaners compare, check out our Rug Doctor Mighty Pro X3 review.
The Rug Doctor’s rotating brushes separate dirt, grime, mud, and urine from the fibers of your carpet to leave it looking just spectacular, renewed, and sanitary. This product has an enhanced vacuum motor with excellent suction, pulling the dirt into the recovery tank.
For extra user-friendliness, the Rug Doctor Mighty Pro X3 features a 12-foot hose attachment and upholstery tool. This set-up extends the use of your machine beyond just cleaning carpets. The tool is good for cleaning car seats, chairs, couches, stairs, pet beds, car mats, car seats, and mattresses etc.
Overall, if you want a reliable carpet cleaner that cleans with excellence, the Rug Doctor Mighty Pro X3 will fit the bill. Full Review >>
Need a Small Compact cleaner? Check out the Top 5 Portable Carpet Cleaning MachinesWhat To Consider When Choosing Carpet Cleaner Machines
Carpet cleaners vary in different ways. Therefore, it is prudent to know the type of machine and the features you need. Otherwise, with so many models out there, you might have a hard time identifying the right one to buy. Consider the following factors when purchasing a suitable model that best fits your carpet cleaning needs.
Pet Stains
Pets can be messy sometimes. The odor, urine, or vomit your cat or dog leaves on your carpet will stain your carpet. Vacuuming cannot help deal with such issues. You need a carpet cleaner to provide deep cleaning.
The best carpet cleaners, like each of the ones reviewed above, are carpet extractor machines. Carpet extractors will inject shampoo and water into the carpet threads, scrub the carpets, and then extract the water back out. This carpet cleaning process will do the job of lifting the dirt and grime your pet leaves behind.
A lot of carpet cleaner machine owners are pet owners, so manufacturers know they must address pet carpet cleaning needs. The cleaner machine itself may not explicitly be named a “pet carpet cleaner.” even though the machine is capable cleaning pet stains.
If you are unsure how useful a particular cleaner machine is for pet urine, accidents and other stains, check out a few user reviews. More often than not, you will see lots of comments from other pet owners.
Use Pet Cleaning Formulas
What’s very important is to use a cleaning shampoo formulated for pet stains with the extractor machine.
Each brand, whether it’s Hoover, Bissell, or Rug Doctor, offers their own pet specific formulations that will work best with their branded machines. Some of these carpet cleaning solutions will contain an OXY boost or enzymes to eliminate urine odors and stains.
Pet or Non-Pet Machine Versions?
When shopping around, you may notice that some carpet cleaners have Pet and non-Pet versions. Both versions are typically the same carpet cleaning machine with different colors and packaged with different accessories. The Pet version will usually come with trial-sized cleaning formula and tool attachments that are specially meant for cleaning pet stains.
When shopping for a carpet cleaner for cleaning dog or cat stains, you do not always need to go with the pet carpet cleaner version if there is a less expensive non-pet version available. Seek to understand the premium features that come with the pet carpet cleaner and consider if it’s worth the extra expense.
For more information, check out our Pet Carpet Cleaners guide.
Carpet Steam Cleaners
Some people also refer to carpet cleaners like the top ones listed above as carpet steam cleaners, even though no steam is involved. Most home carpet cleaners have no internal heaters, or weak ones, so no hot steam is produced. However, you can add hot tap water to your carpet cleaner for hot water cleaning.
Should You Shampoo or Steam Clean Carpets?
With a home carpet cleaner or shampooer like the models reviewed above, you are primarily deep cleaning your carpets by shampooing them and then extracting out the dirty water.
This extraction method of cleaning is sufficient to restore your carpets to much cleaner levels without any steam cleaning. There is no carpet steam cleaning involved – the water temperature is not being heated up to steaming hot levels.
The professional cleaner may have more commercial-grade portable professional machines with water heaters or truck-mounted carpet cleaners that can do steam cleaning.
Many would liken the results they get to be as good as that of a professional cleaner and choose not to proceed with hiring a professional to do a steam clean. Once in a while, you could still supplement your efforts by hiring a professional.
Homes with Children
If you have kids, your best bet is to look into carpet cleaners that are conducive to frequent use, and that dries your carpet fast.
Controlling the movement of children can be tough. If they spill drinks or bring dirt into the home carpets, you want to be able to clean out the stains quickly.
You also do not want them to step on a wet rug. Therefore, consider a model with a quick mode that cleans carpets fast and dries them in a short period too.
That way, the carpets can be kept sanitized all the time. If your children decide to go on all fours or roll on the carpets, they are doing it on a clean, sanitized carpet.
Deep Clean vs. Regular Maintenance Clean
Think about what your carpet cleaning needs are. Do you need a machine to do thorough deep cleanings or regular maintenance clean-ups? The Carpet and Rug Institute recommends deep cleaning your carpets every 12 to 18 months by professionals. Every home’s situation is different, and you have the prerogative to decide how often to clean your carpets.
You may be looking for a cleaner model that allows you to do a thorough deep cleaning every X months, and maintenance clean-ups as needed. For that, a carpet cleaning machine like the Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Max Clean could fit the bill. It has been Max clean and Express clean modes for a deep clean or a maintenance clean.
Choosing between deep cleaning and regular maintenance also depends on how dirty your flooring is. When you have a dirty rug that has not been washed for a long time, you may want to deep clean it. Regular cleaning is not as thorough as deep clean.
A lot of households have more than one cleaner, since different needs often arise through time. Different kinds of cleaners are ideal for different jobs. For example, a household could have a larger Bissell Big Green Deep Cleaning Machine 86T3 for thorough deep cleaning periodically, and depend on a portable spot cleaner or lightweight upright model to clean up stains as they develop.
If you need a unit just for cleaning stained spots, choose a small portable unit. It is easy to carry around from one spot to another. Besides, you can use it for cleaning rugs, upholstery, auto interiors, and pet beds.
Weight and Size
In case you have limited space, the market provides small, compact cleaner units that can fit in your cabinet. Some have retractable handles to ensure they fit in tiny storage spaces. However, if you have adequate room, you may not have to focus as much on size and storage as a factor.
Some of us may not have a lot of arm strength. In that case, we may also want to choose to own a lighter unit.
Choose the Best Brands
Carpet cleaners are helpful devices that work fast and efficiently to ensure you have hygienic, spotless, odorless space. The market offers a wide range of carpet cleaning machines, but always go for the top brands available. They tend to offer the best cleaners at the most economical prices. With these reviews and factors to consider, you are in a better position to identify the best carpet cleaning machine that suits your needs.
See Top 10 Carpet Cleaners List
- Stain-Cleaning with Martha Stewart and Meurice Garment Care - May 9, 2018
- What Are The Best Handheld Carpet Cleaners? - August 4, 2017
- 5 Best Pet Carpet Cleaners For Removing Pet Stains And Odors - May 22, 2017
