5 Best Carpet Cleaners of 2024, Tested and Reviewed

Tineco’s Carpet One Smart Carpet Cleaner boasts incredible technology that blew our testers away. The carpet cleaner, which has an easy-to-read LCD screen and voice prompts that walk you through the cleaning process, automatically adjusts water flow and suction power according to how much of a mess it detects. The voice will also alert you when you need to empty the dirty water tank, refill the clean water tank, and even when the surface is fully clean. The appliance also has a built-in heater to dry carpets post-clean, so you walk away with a clean, dry carpet in record time.

In our tests, this was—hands down—the most efficient model. It sucked red wine up in less than two minutes and cleared smeared peanut butter in less than three minutes. (Other models required five or more minutes.) At 16.5 pounds, the machine is lighter than most, making it exceptionally easy to maneuver, even as the tank fills. It also has a smaller footprint than most upright models, so it’s easier to store. Yes, it’s more expensive than most, but if spills and stains are frequent in your home, this machine is definitely worth the investment.

If you can’t stomach the thought of spending hundreds of dollars on a carpet cleaner, Hoover’s PowerScrub Deluxe offers excellent bang for your buck. In tests, it eliminated a red wine spill in two to three minutes and was one of the only machines to fully clear up smeared peanut butter. While regular passes with the suction brush largely tackled the latter stain, the handheld SpinBrush was very useful for getting up any lingering traces of peanut butter.

The appliance is rather bulky which affects maneuverability a bit, plus makes it harder to store. On the upside, the machine is largely made from plastic, so it’s not all that heavy—it clocks in around 18 pounds, which is similar to most of the carpet cleaners we tested. It also has very sizeable 128-ounce clean and dirty water tanks. Our tester loved that the entire lid on the dirty tank popped off to allow for more thorough cleaning, too.

BISSELL’s iteration of the upright carpet cleaner is designed with pet owners in mind, and our tester, a parent of two border collie mixes and two young adults, has relied on this machine for years, noting it expertly removes stubborn stains and general dinginess from rugs. The 17.5-pound machine features two 128-ounce tanks, one for clean water and another for dirty water, making it one of the largest machines on our list. Our tester said that doesn’t affect maneuverability, though. In fact, our tester says the appliance has no trouble reaching underneath furniture—something most models can’t do.

A nozzle and brush cover pop off with ease, so you can remove built-up pet hair, a huge pro for our tester who said combing out fur and dirt is essential to keeping the machine running smoothly. The biggest downside is that the dirty water tank has a very small opening, making it difficult to fully rinse out. We weren’t all that impressed with the upholstery nozzle, either—it's finicky and uncomfortable to use.

This pick might throw you for a loop. What about the BISSELL Little Green Machine, right? While we did really love the Little Green Machine for its small size and portability, we ultimately had more success lifting stains with the Rug Doctor Pet Portable Spot Cleaner. And even though the Rug Doctor is larger and heavier (it weighs as much as many upright models), it was still highly portable thanks to a retractable handle and wheels that allow you to cart it around the house with minimal effort.

In tests, the Rug Doctor outperformed all portable models we evaluated. It cleared red wine in a matter of minutes, leaving no visible signs or odor behind. Cleaning peanut butter required a bit more effort, but ultimately got the job done in about five minutes. On the downside, the large-capacity 128-ounce dirty water tank has a small opening that makes it hard to thoroughly rinse.

This is not your everyday carpet cleaner—it’s a big, serious machine for big, serious cleaning jobs. But if you want the kind of results that mimic a professional job and have the space to store a machine this large, then we can’t recommend BISSELL’s Big Green enough. The hefty price and size (It weighs more than 50 pounds!) are intimidating, but the suction power is unrivaled.

Despite the weight, our tester remarked on how effortlessly it glided across her carpet. It worked wonders on an area where dogs regularly snooze and soil. In fact, our tester noted the shampooed area was a completely different shade of beige than the rest of her rug. Unfortunately, you will have to move furniture to clean wall-to-wall. Because the tank is so large, the machine doesn’t fit under furniture. It does, however, come with a 9-foot hose attachment that can help you reach stairs, tight spaces and tackle upholstery. If you frequently rent commercial machines for deep cleaning, this will be a worthwhile investment. It’s perfect for very large, open rooms with wall-to-wall carpet or area rugs and for homes with accident-prone pets or kids.