Best Portable Carpet Cleaners in 2023

Carpet cleanup made easy.

Carpets can make your home feel nice and cozy.

They also unfortunately absorb food spills, pet stains and other dirt that makes its way into your home.

For wet spills that stain your carpet, you need a designated carpet cleaner. Rather than just sucking up dirt, a carpet cleaner washes your floors with a cleaning solution.

Today’s carpet cleaners are now small, sleek, and portable. Even red wine spills can be cleaned in minutes!

If you have carpet, check out our list of the best portable carpet cleaning machines on the market.

Our Top Picks

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Image	Model	Features	Best Portable Carpet Cleaners of 2023
	Best Overall BISSELL Little Green 1400B	Big tank capacity Includes trial size Spot & Stain cleaner Separate dirty water tank & clean water tank	Check Price
	Best Budget Hoover PowerDash Go	Flexible hose Useful attachments Easy storage	Check Price
	Best for Pet Messes Bissell SpotBot Pet 33N8A	Preset with two cleaning settings Tackles pet urine with Pet Stain & Odor Solution 2-year limited warranty	Check Price
	Best Lightweight Black+Decker Spillbuster	Battery indicator Dishwasher safe nozzle and bin Cleans wet/dry spills	Check Price
	Best for Cars Hoover ONEPWR	Powerful suction Rechargeable battery Comes with spot cleaner solution	Check Price
	Best For Stains Rug Doctor Spot Cleaner	Extendable handle Tackles pet hair & dirt Flexible hose	Check Price
	Easiest to Maintain Bissell Little Green Machine	Long cord Includes trial size cleaning formula Sucks up hair without getting clogged	Check Price

Reviews

1. Best Overall : Bissell Little Green Portable Carpet Cleaner 1400B

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A busy household is bound to have a bunch of little messes on the daily. This Bissell Little Green is the perfect compact carpet cleaner to get these little messes all cleaned up.

A built-in carrying handle makes it easy to transport, and the flexible hose lets you reach any stains.

Plus, the 3 inch cleaning nozzle of this carpet cleaner is the perfect size to clean paw prints and juice spills. It can be used on furniture, floors or even in your vehicle.

Corded power also means you have unlimited time and suction, so you can get the job done.

If you need reliability and versatility in one machine, this Bissell is it. It has the size to tackle small jobs, and the tank capacity to clean your whole carpet, vehicle or sofa if you want.

2. Best Budget : Hoover PowerDash GO Pet + Spot Cleaner

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Cleaning upholstery or stairs will never be a burden again with this budget friendly portable carpet cleaner from Hoover.

At only 6.5 pounds, this cleaner is a breeze to lift and carry around.

The two-tank system is also easy to empty and fill as well, just snap in and continue cleaning.

And inexpensive doesn’t necessarily mean lack of power. The spot and stain pet brush tool can powerfully scrub and suck up deep stains, even red wine and pet stains.

Finally, the Paws & Claws cleaning formula gets rave reviews from customers for its stain removing power. Because there’s no water involved, the formula has full cleaning power on embedded dirt.

3. Best for Pet Messes : Bissell SpotBot Pet 33N8A

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This Bissell combines the convenience of a handheld cleaner with the power of an upright cleaner.

This carpet cleaner has a “hands free” stain remover setting that does the scrubbing for you with the push of a button. Just place the machine over the stain and it will spray, brush and suction without you breaking a sweat.

If you want to just clean little messes here and there, this carpet cleaner also has a hose and handheld option.

The Tough Stain Tool then pinpoints tough stains like pet urine, and shampoos them out of the carpet.

Are you looking for other options? Check our list of best pet carpet cleaners.

4. Best Lightweight : Bissell SpotBot Pet 33N8A

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If you’ve ever had to use a typical carpet cleaner, you know how heavy and cumbersome they can be.

This Black+Decker has the most cleaning power you can get for only 5.4 pounds! On top of that, it’s cordless, so you can take it anywhere.

While so many carpet machines are designed for liquid only, this handheld carpet cleaner has a wide nozzle to collect debris too.

This three-in-one cleaner will vacuum, spray and scrub at stains. So you won’t need any other spot cleaner, since this one does it all.

5. Best for Cars : Hoover ONEPWR Spotless Go

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One of the main issues when trying to vacuum or shampoo your car is making sure the cord will reach. This isn’t a problem with this cleaner, since it is cordless!

This Hoover runs off a powerful lithium ONEPWR removable battery that can clean your car for up to 13 minutes.

The lightweight and compact design has a handle that lets you take it from the front seat to the back.

The multi-purpose pet brush scrubs at stains in your vehicle upholstery and leaves them clean and refreshed.

Finally, two-tank technology means you’re never reusing the same dirty water on your car seats.

6. Best For Removing Stains : Rug Doctor Pet Portable Spot Cleaner

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Stains are inevitable if you own carpet, but it’s important you can clean them when they happen.

This portable carpet cleaner from Rug Doctor is armed with a special pet brush with rubber bristles. Perfect for pet owners, these bristles help pull out pet hair, dirt and odors from everyday spills and pet accidents.

This Rug Doctor has 1200 watts of suction power, so your carpet will have no trace of leftover cleaning solution.

And a dual tank system also means all that dirty water stays out of your carpet for good.

7. Easiest to Maintain : Bissell Little Green Machine

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A carpet cleaner goes through a lot to get your floors and surfaces clean, especially if your house has pets.

Fur gets sucked up into the dirty water tank and can cause clogs. It’s also a pain to clean out of the flexible hose.

This Little Green portable carpet cleaner comes with a convenient HydroRinse self-cleaning tool.

It allows you to rinse out the hose using water, to get rid of any pet hair or residual dirt. Having a clean machine reduces the risk of mildew and bad odors building up.

What To Look For In a Portable Carpet Cleaner

Power Suction

A carpet cleaner’s main job is to remove stains, and so powerful suction is very important.

For portable carpet cleaners or upholstery cleaners, suction is usually measured in amps and volts. Amps are generally used for corded cleaners, while volts measure cordless cleaners.

These are measurements of electricity, but can translate into higher suction power. This is due to the increased power to the motor.

If you’re buying cordless, opt for 15-20 volts, while corded cleaners should have 5-7 amps minimum.

Corded vs Cordless

You might wonder what the benefits are of a corded, versus a cordless carpet cleaner.

Corded models like this Hoover Spotless FH11300PC provide unlimited power, and are great if you have a large home.

Cordless models allow you to take carpet cleaning to any area of your house. No annoying cord trailing behind you, and no need to find a plug.

Of course, then you have to make sure you don’t run out of battery life.

Cleaning Solutions

Portable carpet cleaners use a cleaning solution to shampoo stains from your carpet. And most models come with trial bottles of their own solutions or stain removers.

Just keep in mind this is a regular expense you will have to factor into owning a carpet cleaner.

Cleaning solutions come in so many varieties, all designed to tackle specific issues. For example, there are cleaners for pet urine, and products like Bissell Pro Oxy Spot & Stain for deep-set stains.

Make sure to read the manufacturer’s warranty before you buy any new cleaning solution. Sometimes using the wrong cleaning solution can void your warranty, or even damage your machine.

Weight

Portable carpet cleaners generally have two tanks that fill with liquid—one with clean water and one with dirty used water.

Keep this in mind when you’re looking at weight, since the product description won’t include the weight of full tanks.

In general, a cleaning solution will add about 4-6 pounds to a carpet cleaner. Choosing a lighter machine means you’ll have an easier time cleaning.

If ease and maneuverability is important, opt for a lightweight model like this 1.36 pound ReSolve Carpet Cleaner.

Tank Capacity

Carpet cleaners usually divide cleaning solution and water into two tanks, but sometimes use one tank for both.

A bigger tank means you can tackle big jobs without needing to empty the dirty water frequently. This also means that you’ll be lugging around a heavier carpet cleaner.

Portable models usually have smaller tanks. This is perfect for spot cleaning when you need something light and easy.

But, you will have to refill and empty the tanks quite often if you’re tackling a whole carpet.

CRI Seal of Approval

Unsure which cleaner is safe to use? Check out this index of cleaners which have the Carpet & Rug Institute (CRI) seal of approval. ⁽¹⁾

The CRI aims to help consumers find the best products to have cleaner and longer lasting flooring.

This institute judges carpet cleaners and products based on these performance criteria:

• pH Level
• Colorfastness
• Residual Moisture
• Soil Removal Efficacy
• Resoiling
• Surface Appearance Change
• Optical Brighteners

Their website also includes a list of carpet cleaners which have a seal of approval. ⁽²⁾ Along with this is a detailed list of all approved carpet cleaning solutions. ⁽³⁾

Attachments

Attachments allow you to deep clean a variety of surfaces and areas with ease. For example, many carpet cleaners come with a power rotating brush, which takes the scrub work out of stain removal.

Others will include accessories to clean wood flooring – too.

Attachments that help reach into small spaces are also useful, like a small brush or crevice tool for stairs and edges.

Some brands include unique attachments that can’t be found anywhere else. This BISSELL SpotClean Pet Pro Carpet Cleaner, for example, has a stain trapper tool that keeps dirty water from flowing back into the tank.