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. Remember to watch for Prime Day vacuum deals, as you may find great discounts on top-rated carpet cleaners and vacuum cleaners during this special shopping event. It's a great opportunity to score a high-quality cleaner at a more affordable price.
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.
The best carpet cleaner overall
Who could refuse a three-in-one solution for vacuuming and cleaning carpets and upholstery? While this carpet cleaner can be a bit bulky for some tastes, it has a powerful suction and can even unblock your sink or valet your car.
The best budget carpet cleaner
It’s small, green and powerful. The Bissell Little Green Multi-Purpose carpet cleaner is ideal for spot cleaning on a budget, and it’s also easy to set up and use even if you have never touched a carpet cleaner before.
The best carpet cleaner for small spaces
This is it if you’re looking for an affordable, uncomplicated way to clean small areas and stubborn stains. For under $150, you can spot clean to your heart’s content.
The best heavy-duty carpet cleaner
Suited for home or commercial jobs, the Numatic International CVC370 Charles Wet/Dry Vacuum has a powerful 1.6 HP motor. It can handle everything from pet or plumbing accidents to car valets and floods.
The best carpet cleaner for stains
If you’re always tackling stains left behind by pets or kids, Shark StainStriker includes various attachments to help tackle stains and odors on carpets, rugs and upholstery. Best for small spaces, it’s also very compact.
The best carpet cleaner for pets
Removing pet stains can be tricky, but this Bissell carpet cleaner performed impressively in our stain removal tests. It is also reasonably priced, compact, and easily moved between multiple floors.
The best basic carpet cleaner
Cleaning the whole home won’t be a chore anymore with the Hoover Powerdash Pet Compact, a small, basic, portable machine with just as much stain-removing power as a full-sized carpet cleaner.
The best carpet cleaners we recommend
Why you can trust Top Ten Reviews Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
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
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. 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 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 muzzle/extractor, are also included for cleaning carpets, cars, stairs, and upholstery.
Performance: George performed well in most 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
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Design | It may be bulky, but it it is powerful, versatile and durable. | ★★★★½ |
| Performance | Falls just short of a professional carpet clean. | ★★★★½ |
| Price | A little expensive but a good choice considering its capabilities. | ★★★★½ |
The best budget carpet cleaner
If you want clean carpets and upholstery but don't want to spend much 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 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. Consider buying the solution, which costs $12.99 for a 32-oz bottle.
Read more: Bissell Little Green Multi-Purpose Portable Carpet & Upholstery Cleaner review
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Design | Very compact and therefore best for small spaces only. | ★★★★ |
| Performance | Eradicates stains and pet hair in a couple of minutes. | ★★★★★ |
| Price | An affordable solution for spot cleaning. | ★★★★★ |
The best carpet cleaner for small spaces
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 applying a different approach.
The unit itself is compact, lightweight, and easy to hold. The four-foot hose helps reach small spaces, and a 15-foot cable adds 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
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Design | Simple, easy to set up and not overcomplicated. | ★★★★ |
| Performance | Best for spot cleaning, it's very effective at removing stains. | ★★★★★ |
| Price | Very reasonably priced for what it achieves. | ★★★★★ |
The best heavy-duty carpet cleaner
A heavy-duty carpet cleaner, the Numatic International CVC370 Charles Wet/Dry Vacuum is part of a recognizable line-up including Henry and George. Our expert Joanne Lewsley found it to be easily the most powerful. Suitable for wet and dry mess, it’s full of promise for home, professional and commercial environments.
Design: On paper, Charles has an impressive set of features. Firstly, it has a powerful 1.6 HP motor, a 100” water lift, and 95 CFM of airflow. It comes with various accessories, including two-floor nozzles (one for dry and one for wet mess) and tools for cleaning stairs, upholstery, cars, and tight corners. The capacity is generous, too; it can hold up to 4 US gallons of wet mess.
Joanne found the 32.8-foot cable particularly handy for large homes or businesses. Two large wheels and swivel castors help with maneuverability, especially as it weighs 19 lbs. The weight increases with the more water it holds. In all, the carpet cleaner and accessories feel durable.
Performance: Joanne tested the CVC370 over a few weeks, finding the suction magnificent. The upholstery tool removed pet hair from her sofas and chairs, and although the carpet cleaner shifted oats and flour around on carpets, it sucked them up eventually when she lifted the tool up and down. Charles was a dream for wet messes, easily lifting away sticky sauces like honey and ketchup, and it also sucked up grass clippings on the patio.
When cleaning and emptying Charles, Joanne had no trouble tipping liquids into the drain (and dry debris into the trash can). Charles’ main downfalls are that it’s heavy and demands a large storage space. Unlike George, it can’t wash carpets.
Price: Charles costs $539.04 on Amazon and $499.95 on The Vacuum Factory. It’s over $200 cheaper than George, our top pick, but expensive compared to budget wet-dry vacuums from Bissell. However, Numatic’s cleaners haven’t become household names by chance. Charles is a durable, reliable carpet cleaner packed with power. You’ll probably need it, but it also has a two-year warranty.
Read more: Numatic International CVC370 Charles Wet/Dry Vacuum review
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Design | Durable and powerful, plus equipped with a variety of different tools. | ★★★★ |
| Performance | Although it’s heavy, Charles excels at cleaning dry and wet messes on a variety of surfaces. | ★★★★ |
| Price | Charles is cheaper than George but more expensive than its competitors, and it’s very durable. | ★★★★★ |
The best carpet cleaner for stains
The Shark StainStriker is a wise purchase if you’re constantly tackling kids’ and pet stains. We had our expert, Terri Williams, test this lightweight carpet cleaner in full, and while it emerged too small for wall-to-wall carpet cleaning, it was excellent at targeting smaller messes.
Design: First of all, you'll need the instruction manual to put together the Shark StainStriker, as it comes with a generous selection of attachments, including a crevice tool to get into hard-to-reach crevices, 3.5-inch and 7-inch hand tools, a hose cleaning tool and a pet mess tool. Interestingly, the Pet Mess Tool sucks the mess into the tool container rather than the main tank, a hygienic concept.
Overall, Terri found the design clean and efficient. However, the 12-foot cord is a little short, so she used an extension cord to reach into her foyer and the middle of her stairs, areas without an electric outlet. There’s a handy tool to spray water on the carpet if the area needs scrubbing first.
Performance: The carpet cleaner is very easy to use. After scrubbing the carpet, Terri moved the hand tool over the damp area to extract the water. The Shark Deep Clean Pro Formula and Shark OXY Multiplier effectively removed dirt and grime, which you’d hope, given that Shark claims they provide 20 times more stain-fighting results.
It didn’t leave carpets soggy, a common problem with wet carpet cleaners, and the suction was powerful enough to remove dirt and water. However, cleaning the carpet cleaner was easy. It’s just a matter of removing and emptying the dirty water tank and rinsing the tanks and hand tools.
Terri registered noise levels between 85 and 87 dB, a little more than expected.
Price: The Shark StainStriker is reasonably priced, listed for $119.99 on Shark and $139.99 on Amazon. Most compact, portable carpet and upholstery cleaners cost $120 to $150, with close competitor Bissell Little Green ProHeat costing $123.59. With an average rating of 4.5/5 on Amazon, everything points towards this being worth the money.
Read more: Shark StainStriker review
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Design | Small and lightweight, but the cord is too short. | ★★★★ |
| Performance | The variety of tools are great at removing stains. | ★★★★★ |
| Price | Attractively priced compared to similar models, at $119.99. | ★★★★★ |
The best carpet cleaner for pets
Pets bring lots of love into the home but can also bring pet hair, food, or mud stains. Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet could be exactly what you need to eradicate these stains. The carpet cleaner suits couches, chairs, carpets, stairs, and other spots frequented by paws.
Design: The Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet is 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 handy again.
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
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Design | A little heavy but the wheels make it easy to move. | ★★★★ |
| Performance | The brush rotates to remove tough pet stains. | ★★★★★ |
| Price | Great warranty and a justifiable price. | ★★★★ |
The best basic carpet cleaner
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 be unable to reach 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 quickly 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
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Design | A basic, intuitive design which lacks accessories. | ★★★★ |
| Performance | Best for basic household stains that are easily accessible. | ★★★★ |
| Price | Available for under $100 but comes with a short warranty. | ★★★★ |
How to choose the best carpet cleaner for your home
When deciding 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 their impact 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 that 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 the function and usability of carpet cleaners, similar to vacuum cleaner attachments.
- Crevice Tool: A crevice tool is a taper attachment that fits the hose's end and allows you to reach all those small, tight places that a stand-up cleaner can’t. This is a great attachment if you clean 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 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 with a stand-up cleaner 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 with carpet cleaners 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 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 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 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.
