Compare Our Picks
Others Tested
Photograph: Simon Hill
Hoover HF4 Hydro for £199: For UK folks in flats or small houses with a mix of carpet and hard floor, this cordless, space-saving vacuum and mop from Hoover could be a smart pick. You get a standard cordless stick vac with around half an hour of battery life, but you can switch the head to mop. It’s excellent for cleaning hard floors, with a shape that gets right into corners and two rotating pads to lift stains. But the water tank, contained within the head, is tiny, the vacuum is only moderately powerful at lifting, and battery life drops to just 15 minutes in turbo mode.
Hoover SmartWash Automatic Carpet Cleaner for $250: It’s bulky, but it has automatic cleaning and drying cycles—pushing it forward releases the solution and pulling it back starts the drying process. After you’ve gone over the whole area, you can turn just the drying mode on for an extra pass if the carpet needs it. The handle comes out with the click of a button, and you can use its separate tank with a cleaning solution to spot-treat before vacuuming. A hose and separate antimicrobial pet tool can clean stairs or any other hard-to-reach areas that need extra elbow grease. Some customer reviews say it worked well for a few months but then shorted out. We’ll keep trying it to see if we run into that issue. —Medea Giordano
Bissell Little Green Portable Carpet Cleaner for $79: If you’ve landed on the cleaning side of TikTok, you’ve probably seen people cleaning their carpets and furniture with this Little Green machine. This opens up the world of upholstery cleaning too, not just carpets. It worked well and it’s easier to store and tote around your house than our top pick. But use the included hose-cleaning tool frequently. These hoses can get nasty. —Brenda Stolyar
Cleaners We Like for Hard Floors
Photograph: Simon Hill
Dreame H14 Pro for $380: The Dreame H14 Pro is quite large, but I found it easy to maneuver, and it can lie flat to get under furniture. A handy LED headlight helps you see what you are cleaning clearly. A full charge proved enough to do all my hard floors twice over, and the result was super shiny. What I love about this vac is that it effectively cleans up dry or wet spills, so whether you are cleaning cat litter or a spilled bowl of cereal, it performs. It’s best for cleaning recent spills but can shift stubborn stains with repeated passes on Ultra mode. When you finish, you can return it to the charging cradle and trigger the self-cleaning mode to sterilize the soft roller and dry it (though it gets loud and takes a long time). No one wants to install an app or create an account just to use a vacuum, but it enables you to choose modes and schedule the self-cleaning, which could be handy if you want it to wait until you go out. —Simon Hill
Shark S5003D Genius Steam Mop for $100: This steam mop is great for cleaning hardwood, tiles, or laminate flooring (not carpets). Simply fill the water tank, plug it in, and attach one of the mop pads. It has three heat levels, and you press down to release a jet of steam for stubborn stains. There’s no need for any detergent, it’s light and maneuverable, and it doesn’t require much space. The clever pad design enables you to flip it over when one side is soiled, and the mechanism makes it easy to attach, with a button to detach the dirty pad, which is machine washable. (You get two pads in the box.) I regularly use this mop to clean laminate, composite, and tile floors, but you must be careful using steam, especially on wood or vinyl flooring. Test it on the lowest heat setting before going over the whole floor. There are no special attachments or extras here, and it’s only suitable for use on hard floors. You also need to empty any remaining water if you don’t plan on using it for a while, or the tank can go nasty. —Simon Hill
Karcher SC 3 for $164: If your budget can stretch, this option is better if you want attachments and the option to steam-clean harder-to-reach surfaces and your hard floors. It’s good for complete kitchen or bathroom cleaning without the need for any detergent or other products. It’s effective for cleaning glass and mirrors too. It only comes with one microfiber cover, and it’s not recommended for use on fabrics or carpets. —Simon Hill
Not Recommended
Eufy E28 HydroJet Robot Vacuum with Carpet Cleaner for $1,400: I generally love Eufy’s attractive, smart, multipurpose robot vacuums, and since I have two dogs and two kids, I was expecting to love a robot vacuum that could also mop hardwood floors and has a detachable carpet cleaner. Unfortunately, the water injection system is wonky. It has to be perfectly positioned to get water from the portable carpet cleaner tank (I often had to tap it into place), and every time I mopped, it leaked constantly all over my kitchen floor. At least the carpet cleaner was effective. —Adrienne So
Things to Consider When Shopping for a Carpet Cleaner
There is a lot to think about when shopping for or using a carpet cleaner, such as how much space you’ll need for storage and whether you should rent or buy. Here are some tips to keep in mind.
Carpet cleaners are heavy and bulky, especially when filled with water. They can be harder to maneuver than regular upright vacuums. They will also need quite a bit of storage space.
Tackle stain-causing spills immediately. Most households only need to wash carpets once every six months to a year, but spot cleaners are ideal for treating immediate spills, plus they’re easier to store and use.
You likely won’t use a carpet cleaner often, so it’s OK to consider hiring professionals to do your whole home, especially if you have limited storage space. (It also can depend on how dirty and stained your carpets are.) Look at options for renting a machine from local businesses or retail stores like Home Depot. You’ll be able to get the benefits of a commercial-grade cleaner without paying a fortune.
Clean your carpet before you use a carpet cleaner. This may seem counterintuitive, but you don’t want dirt and hair to form wet clumps that block the cleaner. And if you haven’t washed your carpets in a while (or ever), be prepared for an embarrassing amount of hairy clogs to fill the dirty water tank.
The carpet shampoo or detergent you use is important. Manufacturers often insist you use their brand, and while other types may work fine, you might void your warranty (although I have no idea how they’d know). Most carpet cleaners come with some detergent.
Try, try, and try again. It can be disappointing to fire up a carpet cleaner and find that it’s incapable of removing that old red wine stain or ground-in toothpaste. Don’t lose heart. Multiple cleaning sessions can sometimes chip away at established stains, and at least reduce, if not remove, them.
Drying your carpets can take a long time. Most carpet cleaners have different settings, and they will suck up some of the water, but they all leave carpets a bit damp. The deeper cleans tend to leave carpets wet, so think about how you might speed drying time. Use fans, fire up the heating, or do your carpet cleaning in the spring and summer months when you can leave windows open.
Protect your hearing. Of all the ways you can damage your hearing, a carpet cleaner is perhaps the least fun, so protect your ears. Some of these get very loud, so wear earplugs while you work.
Power up with unlimited access to WIRED. Get best-in-class reporting and exclusive subscriber content that’s too important to ignore. Subscribe Today.