These Handy Machines Make It Easy to Keep Your Carpets Stain Free
These Handy Machines Make It Easy to Keep Your Carpets Stain Free
Accidents happen – a knocked-over glass of red wine, food spilled, even pet stains. And even if we intend to deal with them as quickly as possible, stains still happen. That's where carpet cleaners come in, with onboard cleaning solution and a built in spray at the nozzle to power through wet spills and stains.
When a full-sized option is too large or unwieldy, a portable carpet cleaners are ideal for zapping smaller stains from carpet, upholstery and even from your car. Each machine has two tanks – one holds the cleaning solution (either pre-mixed or you must dilute it, depending on the machine) and the other is for the dirty liquid that is sucked up. They’re easy to use: Pre-spray the stain, wait a few minutes, then drag the nozzle or machine over the stain to suck up the dirty liquid. For heavier stains, extra applications can be necessary.
When the Good Housekeeping Institute Home Appliances and Cleaning Products Lab evaluates portable carpet cleaning machines, we test how well they lift fresh and set-in stains, and how easy they are to fill, empty and clean. We also look at their weight, how easy they are to maneuver, and how comfortable they are to use. For this project, we conducted 38 different tests, and logged over 494 data points. Understanding the impact of noise pollution, we sent the machines to be evaluated by Quiet Mark. Appliances deemed “quiet” earned a 3-star rating, while those deemed “loud” were given a 1-star rating. Based on our tests, these are the top portable carpet cleaning machines to buy:
- Best Overall Portable Carpet Cleaner: Bissell Pet Stain Eraser PowerBrush Plus
- Best Value Portable Carpet Cleaner: Hoover PowerDash GO Pet + Spot Cleaner
- Best Lightweight Portable Carpet Cleaner: Black+Decker spillbuster Cordless Spill + Spot Cleaner
- Best Stain Removing Portable Carpet Cleaner:Rug Doctor Pet Portable Spot Cleaner
- Best Portable Carpet Cleaner for Pet Messes: Bissell Spot Clean Pet Pro
- Best Portable Carpet Cleaner for Cars: Hoover ONEPWR Spotless Go
- Easiest to Maintain Portable Carpet Cleaner: Bissell Little Green Machine
Psst: There are even cordless models for your car.