The 10 Best Carpet Cleaners For Pets

For homes where accidents land on whole rooms of carpet, the Bissell Big Green Machine brings rental-class muscle you get to keep. In the pet-stain test run by Consumer Analysis, it lifted urine in a single pass and left the carpet only lightly damp, which matters for odor and mold. A long hose and a wide stain tool reach stairs and sofas, and it carries a five-year warranty. It's heavy and bulky, and it has no heater.

Pet owners who want a full-size machine without a big bill should start with the Bissell TurboClean Pet XL. It cleared urine and greasy food stains in few passes in independent stain tests, and its large tank covers a good-size room before a refill. A short hose with a spraying crevice tool and a stain tool reaches baseboards, stairs and pet beds. There's no heater, and carpet stays damp for a while, so plan on fans or an open window.

The Shark StainStriker PX202 keeps a cleaning formula and an oxygen booster in separate tanks and mixes them only at the tip of the hand tool, right on the stain. That setup posted one of the strongest stain results in an independent spot-cleaner comparison. Four tools come with it, including one for hair on furniture, and it rinses its own hose afterward. The hose is short, so you'll move the body often on stairs, and it's hefty to carry.

If shedding is the daily battle, the Shark CarpetXpert HairPro is built so hair doesn't wrap around its brush roll; it pulls strands into the dirty tank instead. It also blends an oxygen booster into the spray, and it topped an independent grape-juice stain test on white carpet. A hose rides on board and cleans itself when you're done. The clean tank is small, so a big room means refills, and it's a steep buy for occasional use.

Small apartments with no closet space for a bulky machine suit the Hoover PowerDash Pet. It's slim and light enough to carry up a flight of stairs, and in an independent pet-stain test it needed few passes across a mix of food and urine. Warm air from the motor helps the carpet dry, and the tanks lift out to fill at the sink. There's no hose or hand tool, so stairs, couches and car seats are out of reach.

A fresh accident on a rug or a dog bed is the job for the Bissell Little Green Max Pet. It's a carry-around spot cleaner with a coiled hose and a stain tool that rinses itself, so cleanup takes less handling. Bissell claims stronger suction than a leading rival portable and backs the claim with its own pet-mess trials. We found no independent test of this exact model, and its tanks fill up fast on big messes.

Heated cleaning and a fast-dry mode are the draw of the Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution. Bissell says the quick setting leaves carpet dry in about half an hour, and a trigger sprays an oxygen pre-treatment ahead of the brushes. Two spinning brush rolls are treated to resist odor, according to the maker, and a long cord means fewer trips to a new outlet. It struggled with greasy food stains in one independent test, so expect repeat passes there.

Plenty of pet households have relied on the Hoover PowerScrub Deluxe for years, and it remains a sound middle-of-the-road upright. Its brushes spin to scrub fibers from every side, and it mixes water and formula for you, so there's no measuring. A long hose with an upholstery tool handles stairs and sofas, and the motor has a two-year warranty. There's no built-in oxygen pre-treater, so old pet stains need a separate spray first.

Quick cleanups on a couch cushion or a car seat suit the Bissell Little Green Mini, which is compact enough to live in a hall closet. It sprays, scrubs and suctions through one hand tool, and a second tool flushes the hose clean after a mess. An independent spot-cleaner ranking named it a strong value. The tank is tiny and the hose and cord are short, so it's for single accidents, not a whole rug.

Bigger spills on a rug or a car floor call for the wide hand tool on the Hoover CleanSlate Plus, which covers more ground per stroke than a typical spot tool. A narrow second tool reaches corners and stair edges, and a rinse attachment flushes the hose afterward. Its tank holds enough for several accidents before a refill. It gets heavy to carry with full tanks, and only a small trial bottle of formula comes with it.