Best Handheld Carpet Cleaners
A handheld carpet cleaner is a spot cleaner: isolated stains, stairs, upholstery and car interiors, not whole rooms. For spots and stairs, get the Shark StainStriker HairPro, the best stain score in the category at 165 against a 145 average. If you want heat on the stain, get the Little Green HydroSteam Pet, the steam pick. For cars, the best handheld carpet cleaners are the Little Green machines: at 48 oz and 9.65 lb, the compact Little Green is the lighter one to carry.
Best Portable Carpet Cleaner with Heat
The best portable carpet cleaner with heat is the Little Green HydroSteam Pet, which carries a built-in flow-through heater and a temperature sensor that turn the water and the cleaning solution into steam. Heat on a carpet machine means . Sellers call the same tool a carpet steam cleaner or a carpet shampooer: it sprays hot water and formula, then sucks it back up with the dirt.
BISSELL's portables split into two families. ProHeat machines use HeatWave Technology to maintain the water temperature through the cleaning with the motor's own heat. HydroSteam machines make steam and combine it with cleaning solution, and those are the ones that heat anything.
The HydroSteam splits the work into three modes: SteamWash for oily and sticky messes, Steam for refreshing upholstery, grout and tile, and Wash for spills and pet accidents. SteamWash mode cleans oily stains up to 50 percent better. The clean tank holds 64 oz, the machine weighs 13 lb, the cord runs 15 ft and the hose reaches 4.8 ft. For car interiors, the best handheld carpet cleaners are the BISSELL portables: auto interiors are a listed surface on the Little Green, and the HydroSteam covers auto and garage.
Two machines here don't heat. The Shark StainStriker HairPro runs no heater, and the UWANT B300Pro cleans with room temperature water, where warm water up to 50 C is allowed in the tank and boiling water damages the machine. Fill a BISSELL portable with hot tap water, never boiling. Rentals keep the same technology underneath: Rug Doctor's uprights spray hot water and formula and suck it back up.
Portable Carpet Cleaner with Best Suction
The portable carpet cleaner with the best suction is the Shark StainStriker HairPro, at 13.1 kPa of internal suction against a 12.7 kPa average across the portable spot cleaner category. Pull is what carries the loosened dirt back out of the carpet, so the machine that leads the category on it starts every job ahead.
For pets the answer is the same machine: the portable carpet cleaner with the best suction for pets is the Shark StainStriker HairPro, since nothing about the measurement changes with the source of the stain.
Portable Carpet Cleaner with Rotating Brush
The best portable carpet cleaner with rotating brush is the ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet Pro, at 17.5 lb with a 12 row dual DirtLifter PowerBrush. The other rotating brush machine here is the Big Green Machine, an 8 row XL DirtLifter PowerBrush over a 10.5 in cleaning path in a 42 lb body.
The Hoover CleanSlate's 2-in-1 tool carries a bristle insert for carpet, rugs, sofas and upholstery and a rubber nub insert for high pile and pet messes, so the scrubbing is yours. The UWANT B300Pro adds a detachable brush head with a silicone panel for leather and hard surfaces, plus a self-cleaning function for the hose and brush.
A portable carpet cleaner with rotating brush rental follows the same rule: Rug Doctor's uprights scrub with a vibrating brush rather than a rotating brush roll and carry two large capacity tanks and an adjustable fold-down handle. Neither rental turns a brush roll, so a rotating brush stays a purchase. A refundable machine deposit may be required, and a machine returned dirty or late draws cleaning and late fees.
Buying has a case of its own: MAX Clean Mode on the ProHeat 2X out cleans the leading rental machine on ASTM F2828.
You're cleaning a whole room rather than a spot
Rug Doctor's traditional uprights rent at thousands of locations across the United States and Canada, on 24 hour or 48 hour terms.
The upholstery and stair tool add-on has a 12 ft hose and a 4 in wide tool, which takes it to stairs, sofas, upholstered chairs, area rugs and auto interiors, and it works on either the 24 hour or the 48 hour term. At some locations the 48 hour option has to be chosen when you rent, and some locations also stock a Pro Portable Spot Cleaner for smaller jobs.
Which Portable Carpet Cleaner Has the Strongest Suction?
The strongest suction in this group belongs to the Shark StainStriker HairPro, and the case for it rests on a test result rather than a spec number.
Shark states the machine's suction is the strongest among consumer spot cleaners based on ASTM F558 with its strongest suction tool, and lists the PX251 at 8.51 lb, a 12 ft cord, a 4.5 ft hose, 450 W at 3.3 amps and a three year limited warranty.
The other published figure belongs to the UWANT B300Pro, at 18,000 Pa of suction from a 600 W motor in an 8.3 lb body with a 5.25 ft hose, a 14.76 ft cord and a 75 dB noise level. The same line runs from 18 kPa on the B400 and the Y100 Steam to 22 kPa on the Y100 Pro, and the B300Pro carries a one year warranty.
For suction, buy the HairPro. If you want the rating printed in pascals, get the B300Pro.
What Is the Number One Rated Carpet Cleaner?
The number one rated carpet cleaner here is the BISSELL Big Green Machine, at 4.8 stars from 2,099 ratings, ahead of the ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet Pro at 4.6 from 4,649 ratings and the Shark StainStriker HairPro at 4.5 across more than 6,000 reviews.
Among the handhelds, the HairPro's 4.5 is the top score, with about 5 percent one star reviews against a category average of 4.37 stars and about 7 percent one star reviews. That top score makes the Shark the number one rated carpet cleaner for pets as well. The Little Green is the machine that carries Pet Proven certification, at 4.4 stars from 1,372 ratings.
The best carpet cleaner spray here belongs to the Shark: its two tank system keeps the Deep Clean Pet formula and the Oxy Multiplier separate until the trigger mixes them into an oxy boosted spray.
You've got wall to wall carpet and a whole house to clean
The Big Green is a whole-room upright: 1.75 gallons in the clean tank, 42 lb to move, and a 5 year limited warranty. The clean tank takes warm tap water.
What Is the Best Manual Carpet Cleaner?
No manual carpet cleaner is worth buying today, for hardwood floors or for anything else: every job here, pet accidents, spills, upholstery, stairs and car interiors, is a wet one.
For those, get the Shark StainStriker HairPro for stains and suction, or the Little Green HydroSteam Pet when the mess is oily and you want steam in the mix.
Best Handheld Carpet Cleaners for Pets
For a pet house, the best handheld carpet cleaners are the Shark StainStriker HairPro and the Little Green, and the choice between them comes down to reach and to tools.
The HairPro is the lighter of the two at 8.2 lb against a 9.6 lb category average. It ships with four brush attachments where the category ships two, including a HairPro extractor tool that funnels collected hair into an internal hair cage and out of the suction path. Its tank holds 41 oz against a 48.8 oz category average, so a long job means a refill, and its cord runs 11.83 ft against the Little Green's 15 ft. Get the Little Green if you're working a big room or a long flight of stairs and want fewer trips back to the sink.
The Little Green ships with a 3 in Tough Stain Tool, a Spraying Crevice Tool and a HydroRinse self cleaning hose tool. The Little Green name covers about twenty similar model numbers, so check the model before you buy.
You've got pets and carpet in every room
Deep clean carpets every 6 to 12 months, and more often in high traffic rooms or homes with pets and children.
A spot cleaner handles what happened today. The schedule handles the carpet underneath it.
Best Spot Carpet Cleaner for Pet Stains
The best spot carpet cleaner for pet stains is the Little Green, which removes pet urine stains and odors when you run PET PRO OXY Spot and Stain Urine Eliminator formula through it.
For a colored stain rather than a urine stain, the Hoover CleanSlate takes a different route with a pre-mixed OXY formula rated to permanently remove tough colored stains from mud, wine, pasta sauce and coffee. The formula does the work on a stain like that, and the CleanSlate's comes pre-mixed.
Questions
Which portable carpet cleaner has the strongest suction?
The Shark StainStriker HairPro has the strongest suction among the portable spot cleaners on this page. It measures 13.1 kPa of internal suction against a 12.7 kPa average for the category, and pull is what carries loosened dirt back out of the carpet, so the machine that leads on it starts every job ahead. Suction also settles the pet answer, since nothing about the measurement changes with the source of the stain. The UWANT B300Pro publishes a different figure, 18,000 Pa from a 600 W motor, so it is the pick if you want the rating printed in pascals.
What is the number one rated carpet cleaner?
The BISSELL Big Green Machine is the number one rated carpet cleaner on this page, at 4.8 stars from 2,099 ratings. It sits ahead of the ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet Pro at 4.6 from 4,649 ratings and the Shark StainStriker HairPro at 4.5 across more than 6,000 reviews. Among handhelds the top score is the HairPro's 4.5, against a category average of 4.37 stars. The Big Green is a whole-room upright at 42 lb with a 1.75 gallon clean tank and a 5 year limited warranty.
What is the number one rated carpet cleaner for pets?
The Shark StainStriker HairPro is the number one rated carpet cleaner for pets, on the strength of its 4.5 star rating, the top score among the handhelds on this page. That rating sits against a category average of 4.37 stars, and the machine draws about 5 percent one star reviews where the category averages about 7 percent. Its suction is also the best in the category at 13.1 kPa, and nothing about that measurement changes with the source of the stain. The BISSELL Little Green carries Pet Proven certification, at 4.4 stars from 1,372 ratings.
What is the best portable carpet cleaner with heat?
The BISSELL Little Green HydroSteam Pet is the best portable carpet cleaner with heat, because it carries a built-in flow-through heater and a temperature sensor that turn the water and the cleaning solution into steam. It splits the work into three modes, SteamWash, Steam and Wash, and SteamWash cleans oily stains up to 50 percent better. Its clean tank holds 64 oz, the machine weighs 13 lb, the cord runs 15 ft and the hose reaches 4.8 ft. The Shark StainStriker HairPro runs no heater.
Which handheld carpet cleaner is better for pet hair, the Shark StainStriker HairPro or the BISSELL Little Green?
The Shark StainStriker HairPro is the better of the two for pet hair, because it ships with four brush attachments where the category ships two, including a HairPro extractor tool that funnels collected hair into an internal hair cage and out of the suction path. It is also the lighter machine at 8.2 lb against a 9.6 lb category average, though its 41 oz tank is smaller than the 48.8 oz category average and its cord runs 11.83 ft against the Little Green's 15 ft. Get the Little Green for a big room or a long flight of stairs.
What is the best manual carpet cleaner?
No manual carpet cleaner is worth buying today, for hardwood floors or for anything else, because every job on this page is a wet one. Pet accidents, spills, upholstery, stairs and car interiors all call for water and suction, and a manual tool supplies neither. For stains and suction the pick is the Shark StainStriker HairPro, and when the mess is oily and you want steam in the mix it is the Little Green HydroSteam Pet.