Both fresh stains and set-in stains are treated with each portable cleaner, and we also rate how well they remove odors from the swatches. You’ll likely recognize the Rug Doctor brand from the rental aisle in your local hardware store. Now, you can have the professional cleaning power of a rental in your home every time you need it without having to run to the store. If you’re really serious about carpet cleaning, we think the Rug Doctor is the next best thing to professional cleaning. We haven’t tested this model in the Cleaning Lab, but we have tested an older version and were pleased with its performance. And this Rug Doctor has earned the highest rating from the Carpet & Rug Institute — the carpet industry’s trade organization — for soil removal, water removal and gentleness.
The chocolate stain was more resistant to lifting, but that was the case with every carpet cleaner we tested. Our tester’s main gripe with this machine is the design of its clean water tank. The top of the tank is curved, which makes filling it from the bottom incredibly tricky, if you don’t have an extra set of hands.
While the Hoover Spotless Portable Carpet & Upholstery Spot Cleaner is no longer our pick for spot treatments, it’s still incredibly effective at cleaning fresh and set-in stains. It was also one of the easiest devices to use during our initial round of testing. It has two separate tanks—one for dirty water and one for clean water.
This Bissell SpotClean Pro Steamer features a generous 3/4 gallon tank and 22′ power cord. Attachments include a 3″ stain tool and 6″ stair bissell cordless tool, which makes easy work of cleaning on stairs. This cleaner is recommended for use on carpets, upholstery, stairs, and auto interiors.
Although it has a short runtime, we don’t see that as a total downside, since it’s meant to treat stains quickly and only operate for a few minutes at a time. This machine impressed our tester as it cleaned perfect 3-inch paths through each stain. As a result, we think it works best on fresh stains, but it still worked well enough on set-in stains to score a 4.5-star rating for effectiveness. You have to deal with a greater number of stains and messes in homes with pets or kids than in those without. From spilled juice to muddy paws to puppy pee, there’s always something that needs clearing up.
Our favorite feature on the ProHeat was Bissell’s CleanShot spot treatment system. When you press the CleanShot button above the Bissell ProHeat’s rear wheel, a sprayer shoots out a Super Soaker-like stream of cleaning solution . Although it took us a second to get comfortable aiming the CleanShot, we liked using it as a quick spot treatment tool. bissell crosswave costco On the other models we reviewed, the only way to quickly pretreat stains was by connecting an attachment hose and sprayer head to the cleaner. When we tested out the Bissell on a kitchen runner rug, we hit baked-in grease stains with the CleanShot, cleaned the rest of the carpet and easily removed them later once the solution soaked in.