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The Best Carpet Cleaner

Last updated on July 26, 2022

We looked at the top 9 Carpet Cleaners and dug through the reviews from 10 of the most popular review sites including and more. The result is a ranking of the best Carpet Cleaners.

Best Carpet Cleaner

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Our Picks For The Top Carpet Cleaners

Show Contents
Our Take
Experts Included
Pros
Cons
  Strong Contender

Hoover Power Scrub Deluxe Lightweight Carpet Cleaner

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Hoover

Power Scrub Deluxe Lightweight Carpet Cleaner

Overall Take

Attacks the Toughest DirtFor a spotless home, use this carpet cleaner tool — it attacks dirt and messes with its powerful cleaners.

Experts Included
DWYM Cleaning & Organization Experts plus BestReviews, The New York Times. Along with user reviews from Amazon.
Pros
" Lightweight and 20 ft cord. Easy to use. Includes dual tanks, a rinse option, and hot air blowers for drying."
Cons
"Has some quality-control problems,"
  Also Great

OxiClean Stain Remover Liquid Carpet Cleaner

OxiClean

Stain Remover Liquid Carpet Cleaner

Overall Take

Budget-Friendly OptionThis carpet cleaner has a pleasant scent that will leave your floors smelling good for days.

Experts Included
DWYM Cleaning & Organization Experts plus . Along with user reviews from Amazon.

BISSELL ProHeat Professional 2-In-1 Carpet Cleaner

BISSELL

ProHeat Professional 2-In-1 Carpet Cleaner

Overall Take

Superior CleanWith each carpet cleaner purchase, the company makes a donation to help homeless pets.

Experts Included
DWYM Cleaning & Organization Experts plus . Along with user reviews from Amazon.

Hoover PowerDash GO Compact Carpet Cleaner

Hoover

PowerDash GO Compact Carpet Cleaner

Overall Take

Easy to Move AroundThis carpet cleaner has a dual-tank system that is easy to use and clean.

Experts Included
DWYM Cleaning & Organization Experts plus . Along with user reviews from Amazon.
Don't just take for granted what one reviewer says. Along with our own experts, DWYM analyzes the top expert reviews of the leading products and generates a score you can actually trust.
16

Products Considered

We identified the majority of the carpet cleaners available to purchase.
9

Products Analyzed

We then selected the leading and most popular products for our team to review.

View All Product Rankings

10

Expert Reviews Included

In addition to our expert reviews, we also incorporate feedback and analysis of some of the most respected sources including: Good Carpet Guide, The New York Times, BestReviews, Steam Cleaner Master, The Spruce.

130,714

User Opinions Analyzed

We also incorporate user reviews from the leading retailers including

Our experts reviewed the top 9 Carpet Cleaners and also dug through the reviews from 10 of the most popular review sites including and more. The result is a ranking of the best of the best Carpet Cleaners.

DWYM is your trusted roduct review source. Our team reviews thousands of product reviews from the trusted top experts and combines them into one easy-to-understand score. Learn more.

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Look for the DWYM seal for products that are the best in their category.

The Best Overall

Hoover Power Scrub Deluxe Lightweight Carpet Cleaner


Our Expert Score

7.5
2 expert reviews

User Summarized Score

8.8
22,433 user reviews

Our Take

This vacuum and shampooer makes it easy to deep-clean your rugs. It has a spinning brush system that is strong enough to clean thoroughly, all while being gentle on your carpeting. It comes with an upholstery tool, a stair tool, an 8-foot hose and some carpeting cleaning solution. This powerhouse also weighs under 19 pounds.

What other experts liked

Lightweight and 20 ft cord. Easy to use. Includes dual tanks, a rinse option, and hot air blowers for drying.
- BestReviews
This floor scrubber performed ever so slightly better than the FH50130 and is a bit lighter.
- The New York Times

What other experts didn't like

Some incidence of leakage and breakage
- BestReviews
Has some quality-control problems,
- The New York Times

Overall Product Rankings

1. Hoover Power Scrub Deluxe Lightweight Carpet Cleaner

Overall Score: 9.4
Reviews Included: 5

2. OxiClean Stain Remover Liquid Carpet Cleaner

Overall Score: 9.3
Reviews Included: 1

3. BISSELL ProHeat Professional 2-In-1 Carpet Cleaner

Overall Score: 9.2
Reviews Included: 1

4. Hoover PowerDash GO Compact Carpet Cleaner

Overall Score: 9.2
Reviews Included: 1

5. BISSELL Turboclean Stain Fighting Carpet Cleaner

Overall Score: 9.1
Reviews Included: 5

6. Resolve Pet Expert Brushing Kit Carpet Cleaner

Overall Score: 9.0
Reviews Included: 3

7. Rug Doctor Dirt Removing Triple Action Carpet Cleaner

Overall Score: 8.8
Reviews Included: 4

8. Bissell LittleGreen Stain Removing Carpet Cleaner

Overall Score: 8.7
Reviews Included: 5

Our Carpet Cleaner Findings

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Hoover Power Scrub Deluxe Lightweight Carpet Cleaner

What We Liked: This vacuum and shampooer makes it easy to deep-clean your rugs. It has a spinning brush system that is strong enough to clean thoroughly, all while being gentle on your carpeting. It comes with an upholstery tool, a stair tool, an 8-foot hose and some carpeting cleaning solution. This powerhouse also weighs under 19 pounds.


OxiClean Stain Remover Liquid Carpet Cleaner

What We Liked: Whether you own a carpet cleaning machine or you plan on renting one, this carpet cleaner solution will restore your floors to “like-new” condition. Each bottle contains 64 ounces of solution, which is enough to cover a very large room. Reviewers rave about this product, as it does an excellent job of getting deep into your carpet fibers.

Our Carpet Cleaner Buying Guide

Carpet cleaners are not the same thing as vacuum cleaners. Vacuums suck up dirt, fur and other unwanted particles from carpets and floors, while carpet cleaners wash the floors using liquid carpet cleaning agents and water. Both may have attachments, which can make it easier to get into corners, use on furniture and work in other narrow spaces.

Carpet cleaners have brushes that spin fast, accessing deep rug fibers to loosen the dirt. The cleaning agent is deposited amongst the fibers and is then sucked back out into a wastewater container. Most carpets can dry on their own, but this can take time, depending on the type of carpet and cleaning method used.

Many people love carpet cleaners because of their multi-functioning capabilities. They act like two machines in one (vacuums and cleaners), which saves time and money. Carpet cleaners allow people to avoid renting expensive carpet cleaning machines or having to hire companies to do the job.

Pet owners, in particular, can appreciate a good carpet cleaner because these tools make cleaning up after their furry friends much easier. Compact models are good for smaller jobs, but full-sized models may be more effective at cleaning up standard messes. You can find everything from smaller models up to industrial-grade varieties available for purchase, but the one you get should be able to effectively scrub, rinse and drain the dirt from your floors.

DWYM Fun Fact

Before vacuum cleaners and carpet cleaners were invented, folks used to beat rugs with brooms and pour lemon juice on carpet stains (in fact, some people still do). The first vacuum cleaner was invented by Ives W. McGaffey in the 1860s, but it had to be operated with a hand crank while moving it on the floor. A man named Bissell invented the first mechanical carpet sweeper about 10 years later.

The Carpet Cleaner Tips and Advice

  • Before making your purchase, check your carpet or flooring manufacturer’s warranty or website and search for recommendations on how frequently you should clean them and the best products for doing so.
  • Carpets will usually dry after some time has passed, and some carpet cleaners have features that promote faster drying. Otherwise, hot water extraction (steam) cleaning should take from 6 to 12 hours to dry. To speed things up, you can turn on fans, open windows or turn on the air-conditioning in your home.
  • Do not walk on or put any furniture on carpet that is not completely dry.
  • Consumer Reports recommends plugging your carpet cleaner into outlets that have ground-fault circuit interrupters since you will be working with both water and electricity at the same time.
  • These machines can be loud, so you may want to wear earplugs during use.