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The high-traffic areas of your home — the family room, eating areas and even the entryway — are the ones guests see first, and, of course, they're also the hardest to keep clean. Tracked-in dirt, food spills, pet messes and more can turn these areas into eyesores instead of the warm, welcoming spaces you want them to be.
A portable carpet cleaner is the perfect tool to quickly and easily clean up pet accidents or wine spills on carpeting and upholstery, so these busy areas of your home look their best. Plus, they can suck up wet spills better than a cloth, are gentler on fabrics than stain remover spray and power through stains better than you can by hand. Finally, they're nimble, ready-to-use at a moment's notice and easier to use and store than a full-sized carpet cleaner.
When the Good Housekeeping Institute Home Care and Cleaning Lab evaluates portable carpet cleaning machines, we test how well they lift fresh and set-in food, dirt and other stains and how easy they are to fill, empty, clean and store. We also assess their weight, how easy they are to maneuver and how comfortable they are to use and hold. We also have each tested and scored by Quiet Mark, an outside organization that evaluates products and appliances for sound on a scale of one to three stars. “Quiet” appliances get a three-star rating, while those deemed “loud” get a one-star rating. In our last category test of portable carpet cleaners, we conducted 38 separate tests and assessed nearly 500 data points!
As you read through, you'll learn more about each of our recommended portable carpet cleaner picks, how we test them, what features you should look for, what to consider when buying a portable carpet cleaner and why you can trust our recommendations.
In our GH Cleaning Lab tests, this Bissell mini carpet cleaning champ earned our best overall score for performance which included stain and odor removal, sound, run time and more.
It easily removed both fresh and dry red wine and blueberry pie filling stains from our test carpets, and we found the machine was easy to clean and maintain. At just over 4 pounds, it was the lightest model we tested. We especially like that it features a built-in rotating brush for better deep-cleaning, but we also like that the brush can be switched off to clean delicate fabrics like hand-woven rugs and velvet. An included nubby rubber pet tool helps better tackle pet messes.
In testing, we experienced about 20 minutes of run time and a recharge time of four and a half hours. The 8-ounce tanks are small and require more frequent refilling than models with larger ones. Bissell recommends using its own ready-to-use formula, which we think is a good idea because it doesn't require diluting and can be stored in the machine so it's ready to use when you need it. It also earned a top score of three stars for sound — which means it's relatively quiet — with analysts deeming it "good" compared to others in our test.
We love finding a great performer at a great price, and this Hoover perfectly fits the bill. This corded portable cleaner comes with an array of helpful features for a model at this price point. Its 5-foot hose is longer than some other models which makes it easy to pick up spills in hard-to-reach places such as on stair treads or in the car — though it is corded, so your reach may be limited. We loved the big carry handle and found that the included pet attachment efficiently tackled set-in and embedded stains.
This Hoover got top marks for ease of use too. The cord wraps neatly at the back, the hose clips on and its slim design makes it convenient to carry, store and set on a stair step or in the narrow confines of the car. The tanks, though a bit small, stand on their own, delighting our tester who said, "They are super easy to fill without any spilling."
Take note: Hoover requires the use of its own pre-mixed solution or you risk voiding the warranty, but there's no diluting required which we think is a plus. It’s not the quietest nor the loudest machine: Quiet Mark rated it two stars.
Bissell is well known for its vacuums and extractors designed to clean up after pets, and this SpotClean Pet Pro has features that pet parents will find especially helpful.
A 4-foot hose, very long power cord and large tanks make it perfect for cleaning up big messes, especially in hard-to-reach places. We especially liked its “stain trapper” tool that keeps nasty pet messes from reaching the hose or dirty water tank where they can settle and cause odors. In our tests, it was second only to the Rug Doctor in overall stain removal and was excellent at removing the odor of yellow ammonia that we put down on carpets to simulate pet urine. The cleaning formula that comes with this unit must be diluted before use. It lasts longer but requires this extra step. We applaud the large tanks that need refilling less often, but that does make it heavier to carry than smaller models, especially when the tanks are full. And it received a "loud" rating in our Quiet Mark sound tests.
Larger than other models we tested, the Rug Doctor is almost a cross between a portable and full-size carpet cleaner, and with its telescoping handle and wheels, it almost resembles a piece of carry-on luggage. Looks aside, it's a workhorse that powered through our stain tests and did the best job of nixing both the stain and the odor of the yellow ammonia we put down to simulate pet urine. The only downside we found is that it's a bit louder than others we tested, earning a one-star rating from Quiet Mark.
In our tests, the nozzle’s rubberized bristles even grabbed pet hair while removing stains for a more thorough attack on pet messes. Its wheels and carrying handle helped make it easy to maneuver and move from one room to the next. The oversized tanks on Rug Doctor’s corded model hold 64 ounces of cleaning solution, so that means less refilling through big or multiple jobs. We found that filling the solution tank was a bit tricky as the tank does not stand on its own and can be heavy when full, so be sure to balance it well on a flat surface.
One of the first portable carpet cleaners to come to market, Bissell's Little Green Machine set the bar high and continues to be one of the best, most sought-after cleaning appliances. We've tested it many times in the GH Cleaning Lab and it's been all the rage on TikTok for the last several years. Its 4-foot hose extends the reach of the cleaning nozzle into nooks and crannies where some other cleaners can't go, and the 48-ounce tanks mean you don’t have to refill or empty them that often. Some portable cleaners can be cumbersome to disassemble and clean for storage, but not this Bissell. We found the hydro-rinse tool very handy to help flush out the hose, ridding it of trapped gunk and debris which can start to smell in storage. In addition, we love that the hose wraps around the base and snaps into the back.
The cord also winds up neatly on the back, and the large top handle makes it easy to carry. The cleaning solution must be diluted before use, and we did find holding the tank with one hand and pouring in the cleaner with the other a bit tricky. This little machine earned "loud" marks from Quiet Mark.
Cleaning an entire sofa, an upholstered wing chair or a set of eight dining room chairs might be too much for a small, cordless appliance to handle. That's why we're recommending Kenmore's SpotLite Portable Spot Cleaner.
Its combination of large tanks, an extra long hose and cord and an oversized cleaning attachment means that you can easily reach and more quickly clean the cushions, curved arms and broad backs of upholstered furniture pieces. But its usefulness doesn't end there. It's well-equipped to handle fresh and set-in carpet stains more quickly than cleaners with smaller brush heads.
We tested the Kenmore Spotlite in our GH Cleaning Lab for our 2023 Good Housekeeping Best Cleaning & Organizing Awards and deemed it a winner. It was intuitive to use and did a great job removing grape juice, tomato sauce, coffee stains and more. The large tanks were easy to fill and markings for small and big jobs let us know how much solution to add. While it lacks a hose cleaning feature, Kenmore recommends drawing clear water through it to rinse the hose before storing.
When you run out of the sample cleaning solution that comes with the SpotLite, any brand of portable cleaner solution can be used without voiding the warranty.
When the Good Housekeeping Institute Home Care and Cleaning Lab evaluates portable or even full-size carpet cleaning machines, we test how well they lift both fresh and set-in food stains and other spills from light-colored medium-pile carpets.
We assess how easy they are to fill, empty and clean and how well they remove the odor of colored ammonia we put down to simulate a pet urine stain. We also measure their weight and assess how easy they are to maneuver and how comfortable they are to use. For cordless models, we measure charge time and run time. We test any extra attachments included with the appliance. In our last category review of portable carpet cleaners, we conducted 38 different tests and logged over 494 data points.
Because some of these machines can be quite loud, we send the machines to be evaluated by Quiet Mark, an independent organization that evaluates products for the sound levels they produce. Appliances deemed “quiet” earned a three-star or "good" rating, products with average sound levels earned two stars and those considered “loud” were given a one-star rating.
✔️ Warranty: Some manufacturers will void the warranty if you don’t use their brand of cleaner. Check the manufacturer's website or the user manual to be sure. Most machines come with one-year limited warranties. Some may offer longer ones.
✔️ Brush: Consider a carpet cleaner with a powered rotating brush to take the effort out of removing stains from your carpet. A switch to turn off the brush when cleaning delicate fabrics is a plus. Without a powered rotating brush, you will need to scrub the stain manually using the built-in stationery scrub brush.
✔️ Tank size: Large tanks mean less frequent refilling and emptying for larger jobs, but remember that large tanks weigh more when full and can be heavier to carry up and down stairs. A 64-ounce tank filled with solution and water will add 4 pounds of weight to the machine. If you know you will be frequently cleaning up stains or cleaning large areas, a larger machine might be handier than a smaller one.
✔️ Cordless vs. corded: Cordless cleaners are more portable, but check how long they run and how long they need to recharge, especially if you’re using them for bigger jobs. You won't have to worry about battery life with corded models, though you'll be tethered to a cleaning radius determined by the nearest outlet.
✔️ Weight: Carpet cleaners with hoses stand on their own while you're using them so all you're really lifting is the weight of the nozzle, but they do need to be carried from room to room and perhaps up and down stairs. With handheld models, you're holding the entire weight of the machine while you are doing the cleaning, so look for one that will be manageable even when full of water and solution.
Portable carpet and upholstery cleaners are designed to be ready to use at a moment's notice when spills happen, so if there's leftover solution in the clean water tank when you're done using it, it's fine to leave it there for the next time. But, it's always important to empty, rinse and dry out the dirty water tank, remove any fuzz, lint or hair from the brushes and flush any debris from the nozzle before storing it. This helps keep bacteria from growing and odors from forming. The last thing you want to do is deposit any old dirty remnants on a new stain!
Carolyn Forté has over 40 years of experience testing all types of cleaning appliances and stain removal products for clothing and home furnishings, drawing on her textiles background to make sure GH's recommended cleaning products are safe to use on today's carpeting, upholstery and clothing fabrics. She is the consumer information chair of ASTM's F-11 Vacuum Cleaner Committee, where industry engineers develop test standards for wet and dry vacuums and floor and carpet cleaning appliances. She supervised all the testing for this review, assuring that the tests were conducted in a repeatable and reliable way.
Lynn Redmile is a contributing product reviews analyst for Good Housekeeping and spent over two years testing all kinds of portable and full-size floor cleaning products, including robot vacuums, handheld vacuums and portable carpet cleaners. She conducted all the hands-on testing for this review and helped develop some of the carpet cleaning testing protocols.
Lynn Redmile (she/her) is a contributing product reviews analyst at the Good Housekeeping Institute, where she's been evaluating nutrition, fitness, beauty, textiles, home, pet, and cleaning products since 2012. She brings over 30 years of data analysis and project management experience to the role.
Carolyn Forté brings more than 40 years of experience as a consumer products expert to her role as executive director of the Good Housekeeping Institute's Home Care and Cleaning Lab. Using deep analytical testing and writing expertise in appliances, cleaning, textiles and organizational products, she produces cleaning and home care advice for GH, has authored numerous books and bookazines for the brand and partners with the American Cleaning Institute to co-produce the Discover Cleaning Summits. She holds a bachelor's degree in family and consumer sciences from Queens College, City University of New York.
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