Best Portable Carpet Cleaners, According to Our Testing
Tracked-in dirt, food spills, pet messes and more can turn the common areas of your home into eyesores instead of the warm, welcoming spaces they’re meant to be. A portable carpet cleaner is the perfect tool to quickly and easily clean up pet accidents or wine spills on carpeting and upholstery, so these busy areas of your home look their best. Plus, they can suck up wet spills better than a cloth, are gentler on fabrics than stain remover spray and power through stains better than you can by hand. Best of all, they’re nimble, ready-to-use at a moment’s notice and easier to use and store than a full-sized carpet cleaner.
When the Good Housekeeping Institute Home Care and Cleaning Lab evaluates portable carpet cleaning machines, we test how well they lift fresh and set-in food, dirt and other stains. We also assess how easy they are to fill, empty, clean and store. We consider factors like weight, maneuverability and how comfortable they are to use and hold. We have each tested and scored by Quiet Mark, an outside organization that evaluates products and appliances for sound on a scale of one to three stars. “Quiet” appliances get a three-star rating, while those deemed “loud” get a one-star rating.
Bissell Pet Stain Eraser PowerBrush Plus
In our GH Cleaning Lab tests, this Bissell mini carpet cleaning champ earned the highest overall score for performance which included stain and odor removal, run time, sound and more.
It easily lifted both fresh and dry red wine and blueberry pie filling stains from our test carpets, and we found it easy to maintain and clean the machine. At just over 4 pounds, it was the lightest model we tested. We especially like that it features a built-in rotating brush for better deep-cleaning, but we also appreciate that the brush can be switched off to clean delicate fabrics such as hand-woven rugs and velvet. An included nubby rubber pet tool helps better tackle pet messes.
In our tests, we noted a runtime of 20 minutes and a recharge time of four and a half hours. The 8-ounce tanks are small and require more frequent refilling than models with larger ones. Bissell recommends using its own ready-to-use formula, which we think is a convenient choice because it doesn’t require diluting and can be stored in the machine so it’s ready to use when needed.
It also earned a top score of three stars for sound — which means it’s relatively quiet — analysts deemed it “good” compared to others in our test.
| Power | Battery/cordless |
|---|---|
| Weight | 4.4 lbs |
| Tank capacity | 8 oz |
| Powered brush | Yes |
| Stationary brush | No |
| Runtime | 20 minutes |
| Quiet Mark sound rating | Good |
Dirt Devil Portable Carpet & Upholstery Spot Cleaner
This Dirt Devil may not have all the bells and whistles as some more expensive carpet cleaners, but it boasts a user-friendly design and a powerful cleaning performance for a model at this price point.
It did well in our Lab tests, effectively removing tough carpet stains like grape juice, tomato sauce, chocolate, coffee and synthetic pet urine. We found it intuitive and easy-to-use, and its small size made it easy to carry and store.
When you are done with your cleaning, use the hose-cleaning function to flush out any remaining dirty water before you tuck the machine away. The cord wraps neatly around a reel on the back of the machine, and the hose and cleaning nozzle wrap around the base and snap into place as well. Plus, the carrying handle can be folded down for even more compact storage.
At only 8 pounds, this model is lighter than many others we tested, but the small dirty and clean water tanks may need to be refilled and emptied more often than those in larger carpet cleaners.
| Power | 15-ft cord |
|---|---|
| Weight | 8 lbs |
| Tank capacity | 19 oz |
| Powered brush | No |
| Stationary brush | Yes |
| Runtime | N/A |
| Quiet Mark sound rating | Not tested |
Hoover PowerDash GO Pet+ Spot Cleaner
Good things come in small packages, and this Hoover perfectly fits the bill. This corded portable cleaner packs an array of helpful features for a model of its size. Its 5-foot hose is longer than some other models which makes it easy to pick up spills in hard-to-reach places such as on stair treads or in the car — though it is corded, so your reach may be limited. We loved the big carry handle and found that the included pet attachment efficiently tackled set-in and embedded stains.
This Hoover earned top marks for ease of use too. The cord wraps neatly at the back, the hose clips into place and its slim design makes it convenient to carry, store and set on a stair step or in the narrow confines of the car. The tanks, though a bit small, stand on their own, which delighted our tester who said, “They are super easy to fill without any spilling.”
Take note: Hoover requires the use of its own pre-mixed solution or you will void your warranty, but there’s no diluting required which we think is a plus. It’s not the quietest nor the loudest machine: Quiet Mark rated it two stars.
| Power | 14-ft cord |
|---|---|
| Weight | 9.48 lbs |
| Tank capacity | 8 oz |
| Powered brush | No |
| Stationary brush | Yes |
| Runtime | N/A |
| Quiet Mark sound rating | Average |
Kenmore SpotLite Portable Carpet Spot Cleaner
Cleaning an armchair, sofa or a set of eight dining room chairs might be too much for a small or cordless appliance to handle. But this Kenmore’s combination of large tanks, extra-long hose and an oversized cleaning attachment means that you can easily and more quickly clean the cushions, curved arms and broad backs of upholstered furniture pieces.
Its usefulness doesn’t end there. It’s well-equipped to handle fresh and set-in carpet stains more quickly than cleaners with smaller brush heads. When we tested the Kenmore Spotlite in our GH Cleaning Lab for our Best Cleaning & Organizing Awards (and deemed it a winner), it was intuitive to use and did a great job removing grape juice, tomato sauce, coffee stains and more.
The large tanks were easy to fill and markings for small and big jobs let us know how much solution to add. While it lacks a hose-cleaning feature, Kenmore recommends drawing clear water through it to rinse the hose before storing. When you run out of the sample cleaning solution that comes with the SpotLite, feel free to use any brand of portable cleaner solution.
At over 10 pounds, it may be heavy for some to carry and can be a bit large to use easily in small cars.
| Power | 20-ft cord |
|---|---|
| Weight | 10.23 lbs |
| Tank capacity | Clean water tank: 76.8 oz; dirty water tank: 64 oz |
| Powered brush | No |
| Stationary brush | Yes |
| Runtime | N/A |
| Quiet Mark sound rating | Not tested |
Bissell Little Green Machine
Bissell’s Little Green Machine was one of the first portable carpet cleaners to come to market, and it set the bar high. It continues to be one of the best, most sought-after cleaning appliances.
We’ve tested it many times in the GH Cleaning Lab, and it’s been all the rage on TikTok for the last several years. Its 4-foot hose extends the reach of the cleaning nozzle into nooks and crannies where some other cleaners can’t go, and the 48-ounce tanks allow for plenty of cleaning in between emptying and refilling.
Some portable cleaners can be cumbersome to disassemble and clean for storage, but not this Bissell. We found the hydro-rinse tool helpful for ridding the hose of trapped debris and gunk which can cause odors in storage. In addition, we love that the hose wraps around the base and snaps into the back.
The cord also stores nicely on a reel in the back, and the large top handle makes for easy carrying. The cleaning solution must be diluted before use, and we did find holding the tank with one hand and pouring in the cleaner with the other a bit tricky. This little machine earned “loud” marks from Quiet Mark.
| Power | 15-ft cord |
|---|---|
| Weight | 9.65 lbs |
| Tank capacity | 48 oz |
| Powered brush | No |
| Stationary brush | Yes |
| Runtime | N/A |
| Quiet Mark sound rating | Loud |