Imagine six mud-covered, diaperless toddlers and an adult in a white-carpeted room. Serve the kids sugary drinks, peanut-butter-and-Nutella sandwiches, and chocolate ice cream with caramel syrup. For good measure, give the tots some colorful slime to play with, hand the beleaguered parent a bottle of red wine, and then step away for a couple of hours.
We simulated this not-inconceivable scenario to test how well carpet cleaners tackle the worst gunk, grime, and goo imaginable. The bad news: We had to throw out the carpet. The good news: Our picks—the Tineco Carpet One Smart Carpet Cleaner and the Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet Carpet Cleaner—cleaned up most of the stains they were confronted with in our testing.
Our pick
The Tineco Carpet One Smart Carpet Cleaner cleaned our soiled test carpet more thoroughly—and left it drier and more revitalized—than any other model we tested. It took ground-in dirt in stride, and it tackled chocolate ice cream and caramel syrup better than any of its competitors.
With its smooth construction and intuitive design, the Tineco Carpet One is easy to operate and comfortable to maneuver. Unlike some other models we tested, this model doesn’t require you to hold and release a spray trigger during cleaning.
It’s also considerably quieter than most machines, emitting a hum rather than a deafening roar.
Helpful voice prompts warn you if technical errors occur, and they remind you to refill or empty the tanks. An LED display shows cleaning progress and the carpet’s dryness level—a useful feature that the competitors lack.
Budget pick
This model cleans nearly as well as our top pick, and it costs less. But it’s more awkward to use, and it didn’t leave the carpet as dry and refreshed.
In our tests, the Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet Carpet Cleaner performed almost as well as our top pick, getting rid of many common household stains, such as urine, soil, and peanut butter. When confronted with chocolate ice cream and caramel syrup, it lagged behind our pick, but this cleaner beat all contenders on red wine.
However, compared with our top pick, this cleaner left our test carpet damper and less refreshed.
At 17½ pounds, the ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet model is lighter than our top pick, but it looks and feels clunkier. Its power and mode switches are awkwardly placed. And its trigger—which you have to hold and release to control solution spraying and extraction—feels cumbersome. This machine is also noisier.
