Best carpet cleaners 2024: for pets and stains at home (2024)

If you are tired of looking at stains on your carpets, rugs, and upholstery, it may be time to invest in one of the best carpet cleaners. Carpet cleaners employ a more powerful direct approach than the best vacuum cleaners, helping you get an intense, deep clean, and stain-free home.

The following carpet cleaners, from brands such as Numatic International and Bissell, are equipped with powerful brushes and a range of features and attachments to tackle tough dirt, grime, dust, and pet stains.

Starting at under $150, budget-friendly carpet cleaners are best kept for spot cleaning rather than home cleaning. Most are compact machines with powerful suction and a few tools to reach small spaces or crevices.

The best carpet cleaners are larger and more well-equipped to tackle tougher stains and larger areas across the home. They may have larger tanks, more attachments, and longer hoses to reach small crevices.

Many models use steam to tackle dirt and grime, making them a powerful duo paired with the best steam mops for hardwood floors.

The quick list

Use the quick list to skim get an overview of the best carpet cleaners. If something catches your attention, you can jump down the page to read a more detailed dive into the product's features and to get the low-down on how well it performed during our testing.

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The best carpet cleaners we recommend in 2024

We've rounded up the best carpet cleaners that are currently available to help you keep your rugs and carpets spick and span. While we endeavor to review every product we highlight in our guides, some of the products shown here are currently being reviewed. Where this is the case, we've summed up the key specs and features and provided a summary of the user reviews to help you make the best decision for you and your household.

The best carpet cleaner overall

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Henry's older brother, George (the Numatic International GVE 370 George Wet/Dry Vacuum), is a recognizable vacuum that lives up to its reputation. It’s powerful, but just as importantly, it’s versatile. It helps to clean household debris, pet hair, and water and unblock sinks. Basically, this is a three-in-one appliance that acts as a vacuum, mop, and hose.

Design: The George vacuum has a distinctive design with a smiley face and a large green tank. It's heavy, mainly thanks to its huge four-gallon tub. Nevertheless, moving around is not too awkward as the base has two sturdy swivel castors.

George is a powerful, capable machine. It has a strong 1.6 HP vacuum motor, a 110” water lift, and 96 cm of airflow. Everything is easy to operate and well-designed. There are two waterproof switches to turn on or off the suction (green) or the carpet cleaning and floor washing (blue).

The turboflo vacuum turbine and power flo pump system deliver professional-level cleaning. Several handy attachments, including a mozzle/extractor, are also included for cleaning carpets, cars, stairs, and upholstery.

Performance: George performed well in most of our tests after a lengthy set-up. The powerful suction vacuumed every last piece of debris on carpets and hard floors, and the super soft dust brush was gentle on delicate surfaces.

It works like a dream for wet vacuuming, even packing in a squeegee to extract dirty water from the floor. This feels far more hygienic than using a mop and bucket. The upholstery and carpet cleaning tools are great for removing old food and pet stains. The carpet cleaner also successfully unblocked a drain. It was also quiet, reaching a max of 61 dB, less than many similar models.

It does leave surfaces damp after cleaning, so it’s best to allow some drying time.

Price: The Numatic International GVE 370 George Wet/Dry Vacuum costs $750 on Amazon. Dust bags must be added to the ongoing budget, costing $39.16 per pack of 10. This may seem like a lot to pay for a carpet cleaner, but George plays the role of several appliances and has a huge range of accessories. The two-year warranty is also handy.

Read more: The Numatic International GVE 370 George Wet/Dry Vacuum review

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The best budget carpet cleaner

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If you want clean carpets and upholstery but don't want to spend a lot of money, the Bissell Little Green Multi-Purpose Portable Carpet & Upholstery Cleaner is a good compromise. We wouldn’t recommend using the carpet cleaner on very large areas, but it’s easy to assemble and use, and it is also effective on pet hair.

Design: This little green machine weighs just 9.65 lbs. It has two inserts and three accessories, including a three-inch tough stain tool, a self-cleaning accessory, and a sample-sized cleaning solution. Our reviewer had it set up and ready to use almost immediately, just with the help of a screwdriver. Their main complaint was that there isn’t much on-unit storage for accessories, so you will need extra storage space in your home.

The carpet cleaner is easy to use, although it’s only designed to clean small spaces and not the entire home. It has a four-foot hose and a 15-foot extension cord, perfect for smaller spaces. The 48-oz clean and dirty water tank is easy to remove and fill.

Performance: This Bissell machine has exactly what you need to clean smaller spaces effectively. However, because the design is so compact, it can cause back pain if you attempt to use it for too long. It produced great results on carpet and upholstery stains and only emitted 79 dB, which is not exceptionally loud but also not exactly quiet. Cleaning tough carpet stains and pet hair took a couple of minutes.

Price: Bissell Little Green Multi-Purpose Portable Carpet & Upholstery Cleaner is listed at $123.59, which is over $600 cheaper than our best pick, George. It covers the basics and is widely available from retailers like Walmart, Target, and Amazon. Remember to factor in buying the solution, which costs $12.99 for a 32-oz bottle.

Read more:

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The best carpet cleaner for small spaces

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Small, affordable, and lightweight, the Bissell Little Green ProHeat Portable Carpet Cleaner will help you get small spaces spotless in no time. Like the Bissell Little Green Multi-Purpose Portable Carpet & Upholstery Cleaner, it’s best for spot-cleaning rather than tidying the whole home.

Design: The Bissell Little Green ProHeat Portable Carpet Cleaner has three clip-on attachments that can easily be switched out when you want to apply a different approach.

The unit itself is compact, lightweight, and easy to hold. The four-foot hose helps reach into small spaces, and a 15-foot cable adds yet more maneuverability. A single power button, large handle, and easy-to-remove clean and dirty water tanks add to the intuitive design.

Performance: This isn’t the quietest machine, nor the loudest. During testing, we measured noise levels of 79 dB. Any noise is worth it, however, for the spotlessly clean couches and carpets it achieves.

In our tests, the carpet cleaner removed old stains, animal waste, and around a year’s worth of pet hair from a couch despite not being marketed for cleaning up pet hair. Deeper stains may need time and attention, but this machine will help greatly.

When using the carpet cleaner, you do need to be on your hands and knees most of the time. That’s why it’s best for spot cleaning only. Cleaning out the device is straightforward; the see-through plastic covers may not be the prettiest, but they help you see any blockages that are building up.

Price: This handy carpet cleaner costs just $133.89, which is hard to argue with, considering how well it removes stains. It’s also easy to come by, with big retailers like Walmart, Target, and Amazon all selling the model. The cleaning solution costs an additional $12.99 for 30 ounces.

Read more: Bissell Little Green ProHeat Portable Carpet Cleaner Review

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The best carpet cleaner for pets

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Pets bring lots of love into the home, but they can also bring pet hair, food, or mud stains. Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet could be exactly what you need to eradicate these stains once and for all. The carpet cleaner is suitable for couches, chairs, carpets, stairs, and other spots frequented by paws.

Design: Firstly, the Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet is a bit larger and heavier than most carpet cleaners we’ve reviewed. It weighs 19 lbs, but thankfully, it has a large carrying handle and wheels to help you move it around the home.

The Dual DirtLifter PowerBrushes have 12 rows of bristles. The brush rotates, helping to tease out ground-in dirt and grime. The ProHeat 2X also has three cleaning modes, including a deep clean mode, which uses extra water. However, this mode can leave your carpets quite damp. The express clean mode is less intensive, but the carpets typically dry within an hour. A pre-treating solution can be squirted directly onto stains by pressing a pedal, which is again very handy.

Other features that make life (and cleaning) easier include a long 25-foot power cord and an eight-foot hose that can help you reach into smaller nooks and crannies.

Performance: If you want to remove pet stains once and for all, the ProHeat 2X will quickly become your go-to cleaning tool. It also makes light work of mud, dirt, and grime, making it a good tool for outdoorsy households or families with young children.

Price: The Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet is listed for $226.59 on the Bissell website, which makes it only slightly more expensive than other Bissell carpet cleaner products such as the Bissell Little Green ProHeat Portable Carpet Cleaner. Considering that it is best suited to larger spaces and specifically designed for pet hair, we’d expect this price increase. The product also comes with one of the best warranties we’ve seen, a five-year warranty, which is a huge bonus.

Read more: Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet review

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The best basic carpet cleaner

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Can a product costing under $100 really clean carpets? The Hoover Powerdash Pet Compact seems to say so. Although the carpet cleaner is small and only suitable for spot cleaning, it performs well on most typical household stains, whether on upholstery, beds, rugs, stairs, or carpets.

Design: The Hoover Powerdash Pet Compact has wheels and only weighs 12.5 lbs, making it easy to transport between different floors in a multi-level home. However, one of the reasons you may find yourself moving it around a lot is because the cord is only 10 feet long. If you don’t have many electric sockets in your home, some stains may remain out of reach.

The carpet cleaner does not have a hose or other accessories, so it may not be able to reach into very small corners. It's best reserved for carpets and other easily accessible stains. It’s incredibly easy to use and maintain.

The simple tank design also has a water and soap line, making it a good entry-level carpet cleaner.

Performance: When tasked with cleaning dried-on grape juice and dirt, the Hoover Powerdash Pet Compact performed pretty well, considering it is so inexpensive. It’s by no means perfect at removing stains, though. You may need to use other cleaning products in conjunction with very old or stubborn stains.

It performed best when removing water from carpets. It removed 24 ounces in one go, nearly 14 ounces more than the amount extracted by other machines we tested. Therefore, carpets are quick to dry, allowing you to resume your daily activities much quicker.

Price: The Hoover Powerdash Pet Compact is the cheapest carpet cleaner we’ve included in this round-up. Although it’s listed for $109.99, it’s available on Amazon for $85.51. It does, however, have limited features and no additional accessories. Unsurprisingly, the carpet cleaner has a short warranty of only one year.

Read more: Hoover Powerdash Pet Compact review

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How to choose the best carpet cleaner for you

When trying to decide on the best carpet cleaner for your home, it is important to keep your intended use in mind. Here, we’ll break down the common features, how they vary, and the impact they will have on how the machine is used.

• Carpet cleaner tanks: The first feature to consider is their capacity and number of tanks. The more practical carpet cleaners have a tank for both detergent and water. This is a handy feature as it means you don’t have to work out tricky ratios with the detergent. The weight of carpet cleaners varies greatly. The lightest in our guide weighs 12 pounds, while the heaviest is 58 pounds. The heavier cleaners will need two people to operate comfortably, so it won’t be ideal for some people. The base weight of the machine will increase with the amount of water placed in the tank, so bigger tank capacities mean it can get very heavy. Weight affects maneuverability. The heavier it is, the harder it is to move around.
  
• Carpet cleaner hose length: Hose length varies greatly from machine to machine. Some of the more basic models do not have a hose attachment. If you have many awkward steps to clean or want to shampoo carpets tucked away in awkward nooks, a model with a longer hose would allow you better access. A stand-up-only model might not be the most suitable solution to this.
  
• Carpet cleaner accessories: Many accessories, mainly hose attachments, extend function and usability, similar to vacuum cleaner attachments.
  
• Crevice Tool: A crevice tool is a taper attachment that fits to the end of the hose and allows you to reach all those small, tight places that a stand-up cleaner can’t reach. This is a great attachment to have if you are cleaning out small areas, like your car.
  
• Upholstery Tool: An upholstery tool is a small brush head that you can attach to a carpet cleaner’s hose to give you greater control over the flow and area that you are cleaning. This allows you to concentrate on removing stubborn stains from your favorite chair, cushion, or soft furnishings without drenching it.
  
• Stair Tool: A hose attachment that makes cleaning the carpets on stairs easier. This is a pretty important tool to have with a stand-up cleaner that is not designed for narrow strips of carpet that are not laid flat.
  
• Noise: The average dBA of a standard vacuum cleaner is 70 dBA, whereas the average for a carpet cleaner is 80 dBA. It is recommended that earplugs or noise-muffling safety equipment be used in conjunction with carpet cleaners that go above 80 dBA, as long-term usage could impair hearing.

Carpet cleaner FAQs

How do carpet cleaners work?

Carpet cleaners spray a solution of detergent and warm water into the carpet to loosen dirt and wash away stains. Most machines have two separate tanks, one for clean water to wash the carpet and a second tank to suck the dirty water from the carpet. A lot like a standard vacuum cleaner, carpet cleaners have brushes. The brush design of the carpet cleaner is the most important factor in determining the effectiveness of the carpet clean. Some of these brushes are static on a brush bar, while others are motor-powered and will rotate or move from side to side. Our tests demonstrated that the powered brushes provide a deeper clean than static brushes.

What kind of carpet cleaner do I need?

There is confusion over the difference between carpet cleaners and steam cleaners. Steam mops and carpet cleaners operate differently and clean in different ways. There are a few different styles of carpet cleaners to consider:

• Shampoo Cleaners: Most of the cleaners featured in this review are shampoo-based. These cleaners use heated water and soap to clean old and worn carpets and treat them chemically to brighten them up. They are generally surface-level cleans and do little to remove the bottom layers of dirt.
  
• Steam Cleaners: Steam cleaners operate on a different principle than carpet cleaners and are not limited to cleaning carpets alone. They heat water into steam to create pressure and release jets of steam that penetrate deeper than a carpet cleaner, shaking loose the underlying dirt. They generally don’t use chemicals to brighten or treat carpet; they just remove dirt. This means they don’t give carpets a nice new sheen. Fewer models are available to buy, and they have smaller tanks due to pressure-creating mechanics.
  
• Spot Cleaners: Spot cleaners are smaller, handheld versions of a full-sized shampoo carpet cleaner. These small machines don’t offer the same level of deep or whole carpet cleaning as a full-sized model, but they are great for cleaning up after puppies or kids daily. They are also fantastic for sprucing up the upholstery in a car with the right attachments.
  
• Multi-Surface Cleaners: Multi-surface cleaners are not as dedicated as shampoo carpet cleaners to washing carpets. However, they can be used more regularly across sealed hard surfaces and carpets while vacuuming. However, they are not as good for giving a carpet a bright, new lease of life as a shampoo-based carpet cleaner.

What can I use my carpet cleaner on?

One of the biggest considerations is whether your carpet cleaner is fit for the purpose you intend to use it for. One of the biggest concerns and questions is about what surfaces the carpet cleaner can be used on. The most common questions we are asked are:

Can I use my carpet cleaner on mattresses?
We recommend against using carpet cleaner on mattresses, as it can dampen them. A damp mattress can attract mold and take a long time to dry out.

A steam cleaner with an upholstery tool would be better suited to cleaning mattresses, as the jets of steam offer a more penetrative clean while leaving your mattress slightly less wet. However, not all mattresses can be cleaned using steam, and it is best to check the warranty label.

So, a plain old vacuum cleaner might be the best tool for ensuring that your mattress is not damaged.

Can I use my carpet cleaner on upholstery?
Many carpet cleaners, like the Rug Doctor Deep Cleaner, come with upholstery attachments. If you are buying a carpet cleaner for this purpose, please check that there is a relevant accessory for this function.

Can I use my carpet cleaner on wooden floors?

We wouldn’t recommend using a carpet cleaner on any type of wooden flooring. The soap and chemicals can harm the wooden finish, often stripping off the veneer and finish. We recommend a chemical-free cleaner like a steam mop for water-sealed floors only. Never use a steam device on an unsealed floor, such as natural wood, as this could result in water damage.

Can I use my carpet cleaner on linoleum or vinyl floors?

We wouldn’t recommend using a carpet cleaner on linoleum floors. Water can get trapped under the linoleum, causing bubbling and the floor to slip out of place. The brushes would also not clean a flat, hard surface like a carpet. Steam mops are a better option as long as they have a dial to adjust the amount of steam. Heat and condensation can also affect the adhesive holding the linoleum to the floor.