Best Carpet Cleaners

Bissell's Revolution HydroSteam adds a steam pretreat stage to a conventional upright carpet cleaner, and that is what it is for: sticky, set-in stains that soap and hot water alone leave behind. Vacuum Wars scored its stain removal 89.2 against a field average of 83.5. The trade is extraction - carpets come up wetter than average, the tanks need refilling often, and coverage is only about 105 square feet per clean tank. Buy it for stain removal, not for fast whole-house cleaning.

The Big Green Pet Pro 3288 is the heavy-duty end of BISSELL's home line, built around an 8-row DirtLifter PowerBrush and dual 1.75-gallon tanks so a large area can be cleaned without stopping to refill. A 9-foot hose and pet-specific tools reach stairs and upholstery, and it ships with the brand's urine eliminator formula. The catch is mass: at 44 lbs it is difficult to move, awkward to empty and hard to carry between floors, and it wants warm tap water to work at its best. It suits households with multiple pets and a lot of carpet, and nobody else.

The Shark CarpetXpert EX201 has strong suction and covers a lot of ground, doing especially well on moisture extraction and spot cleaning with its StainStriker handheld unit. Reviewers noted below-average stain removal on most stains during upright cleaning tests, peanut butter in particular. Its compact design and easy maintenance suit pet owners and households that need both full-area and targeted cleaning, though the small water tank limits coverage between refills. That makes it a solid choice for targeted cleaning and a weaker one for large areas without frequent refills.

The Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet Pro Plus Carpet Cleaner earns high praise for professional-grade cleaning, especially on pet stains and odors. Bob Vila's review highlighted how it handled everything from dirt to chocolate to pet accidents, and reviewers noted the powerful suction and specialized tools. Heatwave Technology keeps water temperature up, and a CleanShot pretreater targets individual stains. Users find it front-heavy and bulky, which makes it awkward to carry and store. Pet owners who want deep cleaning are the fit; anyone short on storage space is not.

The Hoover PowerDash Pet+ Compact FH50704 is a small, cheap carpet cleaner that does one job well and several jobs not at all. Suction at the nozzle is good for the money and the tanks are larger than the price suggests, so it covers more ground per fill than most machines near it. Against that: a 7.5-inch cleaning path, weak results in upright stain testing, and no hose or attachments for stairs and furniture. Buyers who want a light, low-maintenance machine for routine carpet upkeep are the fit; anyone who needs to lift set-in stains, or to clean anything that is not a floor, is not.