Top 5 Best Carpet Cleaners
Updated June 2023
With so many different models of carpet cleaners for sale on the market, trying to select just one out of the bunch is no easy task for shoppers. Most people just don’t have the time to review and research all of the different carpet shampooers out there. But that's where we can help. By doing the legwork for you, we hope that we can help make your purchasing decision a bit easier.
After investing over 29 hours into researching, reviewing and comparing over 50 different models of carpet cleaning machines, we chose seven units which we consider to be the cream of the crop. When making our selections, we took into consideration a number of different factors, including cleaning power, features, ease of use, build quality and price.
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Best Overall: Bissell 86T3 Big Green Carpet Cleaner
The Bissell Big Green is, in our opinion, the best carpet cleaner currently on the market. It is our top pick and we give it our highest recommendation. This is a commercial quality carpet cleaner that has a very powerful motor to suck up dirt and grime from your carpets. It also has a second motor that powers its rotating cleaning brushes, which break up the dirt in your carpets before the machine sucks it up. These brushes clean in both forward and backward directions, allowing you to push and pull the machine as you clean.
Another great feature of the Bissell Big Green is that it has one of the largest water tanks of any carpet cleaner currently on the market. This is a significant advantage because a larger water tank means fewer trips to the sink to refill it.
Rug Doctor Mighty Pro X3 Carpet Cleaner
The Rug Doctor Mighty Pro X3 is another commercial quality carpet cleaner and is quite possibly the most well-known home carpet cleaner on the market today. And like the Bissell Big Green, it is an extremely effective cleaning machine. One of the reasons why is because it has a very powerful motor that gives it the ability to suck up even the most deeply embedded dirt and grime from carpets and rugs.
Additionally, this carpet cleaner has brushes that vibrate, which enables the machine to loosen up caked-on dirt before vacuuming it up. Users will also like this carpet cleaner’s simple two tank system, which makes it easy to dump out the dirty water and refill the clean water tank.
Best Pet Carpet Cleaner: Bissell 3588F ProHeat 2X Revolution
The Bissell ProHeat 2X is a great all-around carpet cleaner that utilizes a dual-tank system and an innovative water heating system Bissell calls Heatwave technology, which will maintain the temperature of the water that you pour into the clean water tank (up to 140 degrees). Using warmer water can give you a more thorough clean, so this is a useful feature that not many other carpet cleaners have.
This model offers two different cleaning modes: Deep Clean and Express Clean. Deep Clean mode gives you a more thorough clean for when you need to tackle hard-to-remove pet stains or extremely dirt-ridden carpets and rugs. And when you want to just do a quick once-over on your carpets, you can use the machine’s Express Clean mode.
4Best Value: Hoover FH50150V Power Scrub Deluxe Carpet Cleaner
If you’re looking to get the best “bang for your buck,” look no further than the Hoover Power Scrub. It’s one of the most versatile carpet cleaners around, and is very lightweight, making it easy to carry up stairs. It also utilizes a “two tank” system in which one tank holds your water and solution and another holds your dirty water. What’s great about this machine is that it automatically mixes the water and solution for you, giving you just the right balance of each for optimal cleaning efficiency. Additionally, the tank has a nifty pour spout that allows you to conveniently empty the contents of the tank out into your sink.
The Hoover Power Scrub utilizes a set of counter rotating brushes that clean deep into your carpets, loosening up dirt and picking up pet hair along the way. It also dries your carpets using hot air, resulting in much quicker drying times. Furthermore, it comes with an 8′ foot hose and a number of different attachments, including a SpinScrub powered hand tool, a crevice tool, a stair tool and even a tool storage bag to keep everything neatly organized.
5Best Portable Spot Cleaner: Bissell 1400B Little Green Portable
Upright carpet cleaners are great for cleaning large areas and rooms, but for tackling specific areas, upholstery (especially vehicle upholstery) and stairs, spot cleaners are much more practical and better suited for handling these types of tasks.
For spot cleaning, there is probably no better carpet cleaner on the market than the Bissell Little Green. Its lightweight and compact design allows you to easily carry it around as you move from stain to stain. It comes with two different brush tools – one 6″ brush and a smaller 3″ brush. The larger brush is ideal for cleaning stairs and rugs, as well as car interiors, and the smaller brush tool is designed to be used for especially stubborn or hard to remove stains.
It also has a long 5′ flex hose that provides ample slack to get around furniture and reach into corners. Additionally, even though this portable carpet cleaner is fairly compact, it has a relatively large water tank, allowing you to do quite a bit of cleaning before needing to empty/refill the tank.
Carpet Cleaner Buying Guide
If you want a hassle-free way to remove dirt, hair and stains from your carpets, you need a good, effective carpet cleaner to get the job done. It's important that you know what to look for, as the best carpet cleaner machines have certain qualities and features in common. Also, some aspects may be more important to you than others, depending on what your needs and preferences are. Here is a list of some things you should consider when deciding on which carpet shampooer to buy.
Suction Power
One of the most important aspects of a good carpet cleaner is its suctioning power. The higher end carpet cleaners tend to have bigger and stronger motors that allow it to suck up more dirt (especially deep, ground-in dirt/grime) and liquid from your carpets than the lower quality models. This not only leaves your carpets looking cleaner, but it also results in quicker drying, as more of the water is removed from the carpet.
Water Tank Size
Carpet cleaners with larger water tanks are generally better because they allow you to clean a larger surface area before having to pause your cleaning session to refill the water tank. This does have the downside of adding a bit of weight to the machine, but the advantage of the reduced trips to the sink far outweigh the slight increase in weight.
Features and Accessories
If purchasing an upright carpet cleaner, always look for a model that has a hose accessory with an accompanying brush attachment, so that you can clean stairs and sofas. Additionally, some models come with a built-in basket that collects pet hair as you clean, while others come with the ability to blow hot air out onto the carpet for faster drying.
Size and Weight
If you lack strength, then it may be better for you to opt for a lighterweight model, or even a portable spot cleaner. However, do keep in mind that the smaller, more compact carpet cleaners tend not to be as powerful as the bigger, bulkier ones (more powerful motors tend to be heavier). So if you want to get a professional quality clean, you'll have to get a machine like the Bissell Big Green, which is a bit on the heavier side as far as carpet cleaners go.
Price
A carpet cleaning machine will typically run you anywhere from $70 to $400+. We realize this is a wide price range, so it’s a good idea for you to first decide how much you can or are willing to spend before doing too much research, in order to narrow down your choices to only those units that are within your budget.