What are the best home carpet cleaners for pets on the market today? Which models tackle pet urine and the worst biological stains, and which are best for spot cleaning that spilled grape juice? Which commercial machines are cheap enough and otherwise suitable for heavy duty use in the home? Which models let you shampoo thick rugs that take the most abuse, and which can gently but deeply clean your most delicate carpets? Take a look at our list of the top rated carpet cleaners which are ideal for homes with pets.
As a pet owner myself, I know how important it is to find a good carpet cleaner, for dealing with pet stains, pet urine, and all the other unwanted odors and mess our pets bring in. The joy we experience, living with cats and dogs, can be never be underestimated. But, let’s face it, cleaning up after our pets is no fun. Are we pet owners, or do our pets own us? I think it’s the latter and I’m perfectly happy with that.
Top Rated Pet Carpet Cleaners
This review of pet specific carpet cleaners, could end up saving you hundreds of dollars. Getting professional carpet cleaners in, or renting a carpet cleaning machine, is not the best long term solution. Buying your own carpet cleaner for pets, means you can clean your carpets whenever the need arises. You can clean the carpets as often as is required, without concerning yourself with the cost of hiring a carpet shampooer or steam cleaner.
1. Hoover Power Scrub Elite Pet Carpet Cleaner, FH50251
This is a top rated carpet cleaner from one of the best brands when it comes to home cleaning. More than just the best carpet cleaner for pets, the Hoover Power Scrub Elite (FH50251) is fantastic for large homes and is packed with really useful features. The extra-large (1.25-gallon) dual tanks mean you can clean a large area without the need to refill or empty the water tanks. It also mixes the detergent automatically, saving you time and eliminates any chance of a mistake.The wide, 12” cleaning path is yet another time saver. Added to this, the quick clean mode dries your carpets in record time. Within 45-minutes, your carpets will be ready for use.
Despite the improved cleaning capacity, the Hoover Power Scrub Elite is not all that heavy. At 18.5-pounds, with multiple easy to reach handles, you can push, pull, or carry the carpet cleaner with ease. The attachments are perfect for cleaning carpets with pet stains and pet urine odor. A 2-in-1 antimicrobial pet tool fits onto the hose, allowing you to clean hard to reach areas. This handy little pet cleaning tool has two cleaning modes. The rubber base is easy to rinse clean after removing pet mess and is great for easy stain removal. A bristle brush can be used when you need extra scrubbing power.
Along with the great pet cleaning attachments, you also get a sample bottle of pet cleaning solution. This is formulated for the best carpet cleaning, when dealing with pet stains and odors. The Hoover Power Scrub pet carpet cleaner is delightfully easy to use. A dial on the cleaning head allows you to select between the quick clean, or deep clean operating mode. Using quick clean, ensures faster drying time, assisted by Hoover Heat Force Technology.
For many, this could be the ultimate amongst the best carpet cleaners for pets. It has a huge capacity, is easy to use, and is great for quick cleanups. Hoover is a brand that has a fantastic reputation for longer than most of us can remember. A wonderful carpet cleaning machine, from a top brand. You really couldn’t ask for more. Reading any of the (1000+) reviews on Amazon certainly confirms this.
2. Hoover PowerDash Pet Carpet Cleaner, FH50700
The next Hoover carpet cleaner we’ll be reviewing is a good deal cheaper than highly acclaimed Power Scrub Elite that kicked off the review. Although, relatively cheap, it is still a hoover carpet cleaner, and that means quality you can trust. This is a more basic machine and is smaller. The compact design makes it ideal for smaller homes where storage space is limited, and you don’t need such a large cleaning capacity. Though, make no mistake, the Hoover PowerDash may be small, but it has what it takes to powerfully clean up pet mess with ease.
The antimicrobial scrubbing brush is designed to handle pet odor causing bacteria and is wonderful at removing pet stains without much effort. It also has the advantage of Heat Force technology for faster drying times. The single water tank is not that big, holding 0.5-gallons.
The Hoover PowerDash also has a more average cleaning path of 10”. While this could be limiting in a large home, it is ideal for apartments, or a small to mid-sized house. The low profile cleaning head gets into tight spaces, so you won’t really miss the absence of any additional attachments for pet cleaning. The real advantage to this is an exceptionally lightweight design, only 13-pounds, and it’s easy to store
You won’t easily find a pet carpet cleaner, this cheap, from a top rated brand like Hoover. That in itself makes the delightful little Hoover PowerDash (FH50700) really attractive. When it comes buying a compact, yet immensely competent, carpet cleaner for pets, this one would be hard to beat.
3. Hoover Smartwash Automatic Carpet Cleaner, FH52000
Hoover weren’t joking when they chose to call this automatic carpet cleaner “Smartwash”, it really is smart. Everything is done for you; and is done almost to perfection. You just need to fill the water tank with warm water, fill the 20 OZ detergent reservoir with carpet cleaning formula and everything else is done for you. There is no trigger switch or any anything else to get used to. Simply push the Hoover Smartwash forward and it starts cleaning. Pull it backwards, and it will dry the carpet, using amazing HeatForce technology.
When the Hoover Smartwash encounters tough dirt, like pet mess, it will ramp up the cleaning force to provide the extra cleaning power needed. So, you really need only push the machine back and forth to get superbly clean carpets.
Like other top carpet cleaners from Hoover, this model includes the 2-in-1 pet cleaning tool. Used with the hose, this nifty little attachment allows you to clean pet stains from your furniture and hard to reach places. Not that the low profile 12” brush head doesn’t get in where many others can’t.
The Hoover Smartwash automatic carpet cleaner has a 1-gallon water tank and is great for larger homes. It’s quite astonishing that a fully automatic carpet shampooer with such a large capacity can be so lightweight, only 18.5 LBS.
What an amazing work of technological genius. The Hoover Smartwash is probably one of the only carpet cleaner that can truly be called fully automatic. To top it all off, this carpet cleaner just smacks of quality build and components. Certainly, the easiest way to clean any home where pets reign supreme.
4. Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet Pro Full-Size Carpet Cleaner, 1986
If you own a pet skunk, this might be your ultimate carpet cleaner. At least, this is the word from Bissell, claiming that the ProHeat 2X Pet Pro carpet cleaner “even removes skunk odor”. Truth be told, I can believe this. The Bissell ProHeat is certainly a revolution in pet cleaning technology. It’s powerful, has an incredible brush roll system and, possibly, the fastest drying time of any high-end carpet cleaner. Although not cheap, I feel the price is great for one of the very best carpet cleaners for pet owners.
No stain, or any kind of pet odor, can withstand the Max Clean mode on this Bissell carpet cleaner. An immensely powerful combination of dual dirt lifter power brushes, an incredible 12 rows of them, will easily remove the toughest stains, pet mess, and pet urine odor. If you come across dirt that needs even more cleaning power, simply use the Clean Shot that delivers a preheated burst of concentrated steam cleaning solution.
The Bissell ProHeat Pet Pro has one of the fastest drying times, it can be as little as 30-minutes. If all this weren’t impressive enough, the Pet Pro has an amazing 3” pet cleaning tool. It will effortlessly remove pet hair, stains, and odors from your upholstery. This is also a super easy and convenient carpet cleaner to use, with a removable brush roll cover, for easy cleaning, and a generous 1-gallon water tank. They’ve even thrown an 8 OZ bottle of Professional Pet Urine Eliminator formula and an 8 OZ bottle Pet Antibacterial formula to sweeten the deal.
The Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet Pro Full-Size carpet cleaner delivers professional results in an easy to use, lightweight (20-pound) machine. It cleans up pet dirt, stains, and pet urine odor like few can without much effort from you. This is a truly magnificent carpet cleaner for a busy home with pets and kids. As one of the top models from Bissell, the ProHeat Revolution has an amazing 5-year warranty.
5. BISSELL Turboclean PowerBrush Pet Upright Carpet Shampooer, 2085
If you’re looking for a lightweight, compact and easy to store carpet cleaner, the Bissell Turboclean PowerBrush Pet (2085) carpet shampooer is very likely your best option. At well under $100, it is also one of the most affordable known brand carpet cleaners around. This is a real winner for first time homeowners. Though probably better suited to smaller houses and apartments. The Bissell Turboclean PowerBrush is designed for small homes with limited storage. It weighs only 12-pounds and the handle folds down, requiring very little closet space
. Although this is a small carpet cleaning machine, with a 9.5” cleaning width and a 0.5 gallon water tank, it has the cleaning capabilities to rival some of the very best carpet cleaners for pets. It even outperforms machines that cost a fair deal more. The four rows of dirt lifter power brushes rotate, lifting away pretty stubborn dirt, before being slurped away with powerful suction.
The little Bissell Turboclean PowerBrush is designed for convenience. It glides easily around the floor an has a removable nozzle for quick maintenance. The two water tanks also make things simpler.
This is a basic, no frills, carpet cleaner at a wonderfully cheap price. Despite being one of the most compact, lightweight carpet cleaners, the Bissell Turboclean PowerBrush has what it takes to do away with pet stains and odors.
6. Rug Doctor Mighty Pro X3 Pet Pack Carpet Cleaner
It comes in with an upholstery cleaning tool. Why would you want to consider this commercial model for home use or business use? First and foremost are the large clean water and dirty water tanks – you can deep clean a house with three thousand square feet of carpets with a minimum of trips to the sink to refill the clean water and empty the dirty water tanks. This commercial unit uses the same Rug Doctor brand shampoos for pet stains and deep cleaning food stains.
The biggest reason not to buy it for home use is size and weight. It weighs around fifty pounds empty. However, you get a thorough cleaning job and wide cleaning area. And this model is versatile – it has tools to let you clean your car seats with the upholstery cleaning tool.
It has a five year commercial warranty. One of the weaknesses of this model aside from price and size is that it doesn’t pull all the water out of the carpet after it lifts up the stains. Your carpets will need hours to dry out after you use this machine.
7. Bissell Big Green Deep Cleaning Carpet Cleaner 86T3
One of the attractions of this professional model is that it works just as well forward or backward, so it lifts up stains as you go back and forth, lifting up heavy stains with fewer passes.
It has a strong set of brushes. Yet they are gentle enough not to rip up most sensitive carpets. It has large capacity dirty and clean water tanks. The water tanks sometimes leak.
You get a stain tool suitable for cleaning upholstery. It uses standard Bissell shampoos, though its larger capacity tank could cause you to add too much soap and clog up the system.
One of the weaknesses of this unit is that with heavy handling or impacts, it is prone to breaking. And getting service for it can be a challenge.
8. BISSELL PowerLifter PowerBrush Upright Carpet Cleaner and Shampooer, 1622
Bissell offer a wide variety of cleaning appliances, at very affordable prices for the caliber of machine you’re buying. This is also a company that is big on pets. Not only supplying some of the best carpet cleaners for pets, but also saving animals through the Bissell Pet Foundation. The Bissell Lifter PowerBrush carpet cleaner is the ideal carpet cleaner for pet owners, who want value for money and the ability to clean a large area quickly and easily. It does not have a built-in water heater, though. You need to fill the machine with warm water. Though this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
You don’t have to wait for the water to heat before you can start using the Bissell, and it saves a little on your electricity bill.
The 2-in-1 (0.75 gal.) detergent and waste-water tank is very convenient and easy to use. Once you set to work, the 11” 4-row Dirt Lifter PowerBrush is dream to use. It works deep into the carpet fibers to remove any trace of pet urine and pet stains seem to disappear like magic. The cleaning head is also removable, making it super easy to remove pet hair and other junk from the brushes. A lint screen is supplied to further ease your carpet cleaner maintenance. Along with this, you get an 8 OZ bottle of cleaning formula.
The internal bladder system supplies a perfect ratio of detergent, without you having to measure and mix. It has a very convenient 20’ power cord, that wraps neatly around the handle for hassle-free storage. You won’t have to stress about getting this machine upstairs, it only weighs only 20.9-pounds.
I don’t need to be convinced that any Bissell product is excellent value for money. None the less, I took a look at some of the customer reviews on Amazon. There are over 3,000 of them, so it’s quite a task. The conclusion is that the overwhelming majority of verified Bissell buyers absolutely love the Powerlift PowerBrush upright carpet cleaner – 4.2 stars from that many customer reviews is a noteworthy achievement.
9. Rug Doctor Deep Carpet Cleaner
Rug Doctor carpet cleaning machines are rated, by many, as the number one professional-grade machines on the market. In many ways, the Rug Doctor Deep Carpet Cleaner shares this industrial style build, power, and quality. Though it has been made for easy use in domestic setting. This certainly a big and powerful carpet cleaner for any size home. It has a pretty unique and very effective brush system. Far superior to a regular brush roll, the Rug Doctor dual cross action brushes oscillate whilst rotating. This allows it to aggravate and remove dirt that many others leave behind.
This carpet cleaner genuinely deep cleans event the thickest carpets and the large wheels also make it easy to move across deep pile carpets. It also has a great tilting handle with excellent grip for easy maneuvering around the home.
Ultra-powerful suction works in conjunction with the superb brushes to lift away the most stubborn pet stains from your carpets. When an extra boost is needed, there’s a concentrated spray of detergent available at the touch of a button. It has additional upholstery cleaner for more difficult to reach areas. This is quite necessary because the floor nozzle is quite bulky. You also can’t remove the nozzle for cleaning, which isn’t the best.
Although this is a fairly large carpet cleaning machine and isn’t all that lightweight (24 LBS), it is remarkably easy to store. The hose and upholstery cleaning head stow away neatly onto a caddy which clips onto the back of handle. This all folds away with easy release clip fits over the base of the machine. For storage, the machine occupies about the half the space it would without this great solution. The tanks are also really easy to remove, with lift away handles.
The Rug Doctor Deep Carpet Cleaner isn’t a sleek, modern looking machine. It is more of industrial type design, with all high power cleaning capabilities that come with it. Despite this, it maneuvers like a dream and is superbly practical to store. The magnificent brush system is one of the best for scrubbing away pet mess from any type of carpet.
10. Hoover SteamVac Plus Carpet Cleaner with Clean Surge - F5914901NC
I’m too sure why Hoover calls this model a SteamVac. This is not a carpet steam cleaner. None the less, it should not detract from the fact that the Hoover F591490NC SteamVac Plus is a remarkable carpet cleaner, certainly one of the best for pets. I like the price, not cheap, but very affordable for such a technically advanced machine with the proven reliability that is synonymous with the brand. The Spin Scrub 360°, counter rotating brushes are unconventional with some amazing advantages.
The powerful cleaning action cleans away pet dirt like magic, yet it is gentle enough to also clean hardwood floors. The multiple action of this brush roll sort of massages the dirt out of the carpet and has the ability to get into recesses, like the grout between tiles. The brushes are removable for easy cleaning.
This model uses heat for faster drying and 3 speed settings for the brush roll. By controlling the speed, you can choose whether to use a light action, for delicate surfaces, stepping up the intensity as needed. It also has a detergent booster at your fingers, for extra cleaning when needed. A Power Upholstery and Stair cleaning tool is included, excellent for removing pet dirt from places where an upright carpet cleaner won’t suffice.
We expect great things from Hoover, and we don’t usually pay to much for this. That kind of sums up the Hoover SteamVac Plus carpet cleaner. It has great, and unique, features and true Hoover quality, all at a price that won’t leave gasping for air.
Carpet Spot Cleaners
All the carpet cleaners that have been reviewed here, are great for cleaning up after your pets. But these are large machines and take some time to set up. After you’re done, you need to empty the tanks and clean the machine. So, you only want to use these machines when you intend cleaning a fairly large area.
What about getting rid of small pet stains and mess when they happen? You’re not going to haul out a carpet cleaner every time your pets make a small mess. A useful addition to pet cleaning supplies would be a carpet spot cleaner. Using the best carpet spot cleaners will allow you to instantly clean pet dirt on the go. Cleaning a small stain , using a portable spot cleaner, should only take a minute or two.
How do you know that you’re actually getting the best carpet shampooer for pets? That’s not the easiest question to answer. We all have different needs. We’ll be reviewing a bunch of carpet cleaners that will appeal to a variety of pet owners. After the review, I’ll now provide a pet carpet cleaner buying guide, for those who may still be uncertain as to which carpet cleaner for pets is their best solution.
Carpet Cleaner Buying Guide for Pet Owners
Cleaning a carpet in a home where pets live, requires some extra attention. There are certain features and functions that are essential when cleaning pet stains and getting rid of pet urine odors. There are others that may be nice to have; but aren’t all that crucial. Be prepared to pay a little extra for the best pet carpet cleaner, you’ll appreciate the investment.
Though, a good carpet cleaner for a home with pets need not be the most expensive. In the above review, are some very affordable carpet cleaners that are quite up to the task of cleaning up pet mess and removing odors. You may not get all the extras when buying a cheap carpet cleaner for pets. But these more affordable machines will get the job done.
Let’s start by discussing the most important things to look for when buying the best carpet cleaner for pet owners.
Power
You certainly want a carpet cleaner with some extra power. This means better suction for removing ingrained pet dirt and mess that may cling to the carpets. A carpet cleaner that’s going to effectively clean pet dirt needs a powerful motor with good suction and a good brush roll action.
Heat
Heat is very helpful when cleaning carpets and can be beneficial for faster drying times. Though, we should not confuse the two. Using hot tap water can be fine, but for extra cleaning power a machine the provides more heat can be beneficial. This would be the water temperature. Many of the best carpet cleaners provide additional heat, in the form of hot air that dries the carpets quicker. But if you need to sanitize your carpets naturally without using cleaning solutions, then you need a steam cleaner.
Brush Roll
Cleaning pet mess takes a good scrubbing action. It is, therefore, imperative to buy a carpet cleaner with a rotating brush roll. Even then, some brush rolls are better than others. Multiple brush rolls do a better job and some carpet cleaner manufactures use counter rotation and oscillation to improve the machine’s effectiveness. The width of the brush roll may also be important. A wider brush roll will obviously clean a larger area with greater efficiency. Though the large cleaning head may not always be too practical if you have to get into smaller areas.
Less Essential Pet Carpet Cleaner Features
Having looked at the carpet cleaner specs that are crucial for cleaning up after pets, let’s look at some of the less critical ones. Though for many pet owners, some of these features could be seen as essential.
Convenience
There are quite a few carpet cleaner features that can make your life easier. Simple stuff, like the handle design can make the job more comfortable and a collapsible handle is great for compact storage. Large wheels can also be a plus, as these allow the machine to move easier on thicker carpets.
Other convenient features include removable water tanks that make it easier to empty them and there’s little chance of spilling. A removable cleaning head is certainly going to make cleaning and maintaining your carpet cleaner much easier.
Attachments
A hose and pet cleaning attachments are obviously going to push up the price. Though they can certainly be worth it. Specialized pet cleaning attachments for upholstery and stairs will come in handy, not just for cleaning up pet mess, hair, and stains. These smaller tools allow to clean areas where a conventional upright carpet cleaner can’t. They also make it possible to clean your car upholstery and carpets. If your pet travels with you, this would be something to consider.
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