The Best Carpet Cleaners

How to find the Best Carpet Cleaner

When you have a lot of traffic in your home, the best carpet cleaner can save you a lot of headaches. It can also save you from a big bill if you have to call in a professional or rent a machine locally. Having a carpet cleaner on-demand whenever a stain occurs is something you’ll be thankful for, and you don’t have to break the bank to buy one if you follow a few simple tips.

Carpet Cleaner Pros and Cons

Carpet cleaners aren’t nearly as popular as a vacuum cleaner or spray mop. Like any cleaning tool, there are advantages and disadvantages with this type of system. While the pros outweigh carpet cleaner cons, keep these tips in mind.

A carpet cleaner can save you loads of money when you factor in the cost of renting a machine over the course of your carpet’s lifetime. Even hiring a professional several times a year adds up quickly. Another huge advantage is the fact you can spot clean an area when it’s needed – not 24 hours later.

With the negatives, weight is typically the biggest issue, but the best carpet cleaners can also be expensive. You’ll still need to own a vacuum as well, which means more storage space is needed for the extra system.

How much carpet do you need to clean?

Before we start looking into power brushes and cleaning path widths, we need to talk about your carpet. Do you have carpet in almost every room in your home or just a few bedrooms? If you only have a few rooms to contend with, and no children or pets, you won’t need a 50-pound machine for your home. Alternatively, if you find yourself scrubbing stains once a week, spend up for a serious carpet cleaner and consider it an investment.

Drying Times

One of the most common questions we’re asked with carpet cleaners has to do with drying times. If you are wondering how long it will take to dry your carpets after using a cleaner, the answer isn’t so simple. The type of carpet you have can impact drying times, along with the type of system and how much cleaning solution you use.

Heat is the quickest way to dry your carpet after a thorough cleaning, but it’s a feature that’s only found on a handful of systems. That heat can be generated in a variety of ways, and may not be nearly as hot as you think. It’s more of a gimmick than an actual feature on some carpet cleaners, and strong suction can dry your carpet quickly as well.

On average, it can take 4 to 6 hours for a carpet to fully dry most cases, although you can cut that down to a few hours if the carpet cleaner has a solid drying system use. With that in mind, if you’re trying to clean up something like red wine, drying times aren’t as important as a machine’s cleaning capabilities. 

The Nozzle

Whether you’re buying a traditional upright carpet cleaner or something a bit more manageable, pay close attention to the nozzle. That’s where the magic happens, and it’s also the area where brushes will come into contact with your carpet.

The best carpet cleaners will have brushes capable of deep cleaning and more than enough suction to extract dirt from your carpet along with moisture. Whether the system has dual spinning brushes or a single roll – make sure it’s easy to remove or access for maintenance and cleaning.

The wider the nozzle or head, the larger the cleaning path is. Carpet cleaners with wider nozzles allow you to clean more carpet in a single pass, but some systems only clean when they are pushed forward while others clean in both directions.

Cleaning Tank Systems

Every carpet cleaner will have a tank, but some can have two. It could also have a divided tank to keep clean and dirty water separate; it largely depends on the type of system you choose. The main thing to remember with cleaning tanks is the capacity and design.

Water or detergent tanks should be easy to remove and fill as required. They should also have a tight seal and not leak – a common problem with some carpet cleaners. Smaller tanks will need to be filled more often, whereas a larger tank will increase the weight of the machine when it’s topped off. 

Weight

An upright vacuum cleaner can be difficult to push on medium to high pile carpet when not properly designed. Even systems with large wheels can be a drag to move, however, especially if they have strong suction. The best carpet cleaners will have plenty of power, and given the nature of their design, they can weigh considerably more than a large upright.

Do you have a two-story home with carpet on both floors? That will rule out professional-grade carpet cleaners, so you’ll need to look for something light enough to handle, but still powerful. Most residential carpet cleaners weigh between 17 to 24 pounds while a professional model can be 35 to 45 pounds. That’s just a rough average and the “empty” weight” of a carpet cleaner as water will make your system even heavier.

Ease of Use

The weight of a large carpet cleaner alone can make it difficult to use, but manufacturers have plenty of things they can do to make life easier. Large wheels and ergonomic handles are two things you’ll be thankful for after a long cleaning session.

A folding handle is an often overlooked feature that makes storage a little easier, and nobody wants a system with a short cord. 25’ long cords are around the average, but if you opt for a longer cord, make sure it stays in place when wrapped. That holds true for models that feature “lift away” modes as you are still tethered to a cord.

While there aren’t many attachments with carpet cleaners compared to a vacuum cleaner, they definitely fall under the ease of use category. Carpet cleaners with long kink-free hoses are useful on stairs but can work on other areas as well.  If you own pets, look for a carpet cleaner with pet-centric features like a pre-treatment system or unique brush rolls.

Warranty

You can run into a variety of issues with vacuum cleaners, but those problems are compounded when water is involved. A good warranty is crucial with carpet cleaners unless you want a rather large pile of plastic collecting dust in a corner.

The main problem with carpet cleaners are water leaks, but we’ve seen plenty of systems with busted wheels and burned out motors as well. Some of those issues are easy to address, although leaks can be difficult to track down, considering it could be a hose, tank, or a half-dozen other parts.

Thankfully, most of the best carpet cleaners will have warranties from 3 to 5 years, which gives you more than enough time to notice a problem. Extended warranty plans are never a bad idea for this type of system and highly recommended with the more expensive models.