Big Green Machine vs Rug Doctor

Analysis

A thorough examination of the differences between the Big Green Machine and the Rug Doctor in six different categories.

The Rug Doctor was tested to have more suction at the base of the hose connector and the end of the hose (for spot cleaning).

The Big Green Machine was tested to have more suction at the nozzle (upright cleaning).

Winner: Tie

The table above lists the number of back and forth passes it took to clean each stain.

Sometimes, a cleaner would not be able to clean a stain after we ended the test – after 10 back and forth passes. In these cases, we assign a score greater than 10 - the higher the score, the darker the stain the cleaner left behind.

For example, the Big Green Machine completely cleaned the tomato sauce stain after 7 passes (as is indicated by the score of 7 in the table above). The Rug Doctor left behind some light staining after 10 passes. It only left behind a relatively light stain though, so it scored 11. If it left behind a darker stain it would score 12, 13, 14, etc.

The Big Green Machine also outperformed the Rug Doctor cleaning up several other stains – it was faster than the Rug Doctor cleaning the ice cream, caramel syrup, chocolate syrup, and urine stains. These two models were equally fast cleaning the ice cream and juice stains.

Winner: Big Green Machine, because it cleaned several stains better and faster than the Rug Doctor.

After our upright stain test we measured the moisture level of the strip of carpet that was cleaned. The reading for the Big Green Machine (24%) was lower than that of the Rug Doctor (25%).

Winner: Big Green Machine

These two models have very similarly sized clean water tanks, but the Big Green Machine uses less water and soap to clean (per sq. ft. of coverage), so it can cover a larger area than the Rug Doctor before you need to refill its clean tank with soap and water.

The Rug Doctor has a much larger dirty water tank than the Big Green Machine, so it can cover a much larger area than the Big Green Machine before you need to empty its dirty water tank of dirty water.

Winner: Tie. The Big Green Machine has a larger area of coverage per clean tank and the Rug Doctor has a larger area of coverage per dirty tank.

The Rug Doctor has more parts to clean than the Big Green Machine.

It also has a less user-friendly design – which makes it more difficult to clean and maintain.

For example, the Rug Doctor’s clean water tank cannot be removed from the cleaner itself. It’s permanently installed into the cleaner. To empty this tank, you have to run the cleaner repeatedly over carpet or connect a hose and spot cleaning tool and then spray soap with the spot cleaning tool until the tank is emptied.

For comparison, the Big Green Machine’s clean tank can easily be removed. It also has an outlet on the top and the bottom, and so it can much more easily be emptied after cleaning.

Winner: Big Green Machine

You can connect a hose and cleaning tool to either model.

However, a hose and tool is only included with the Big Green Machine. You have to buy these parts separately for the Rug Doctor (for about $100).

The Big Green Machine also performed better than the Rug Doctor in our spot cleaning test.

Winner: Big Green Machine

Other Notes and Features

The Big Green Machine works much the same way as a standard consumer grade carpet cleaner: You hold down a trigger near the handle of the cleaner to dispense soap and water as you push it forward, and you release the trigger to maximize extraction when you pull it backward.

The Rug Doctor has an entirely different design. You don’t hold down a trigger – instead you push down on a button to dispense soap and water, and you only pull it backward to clean. The Rug Doctor extracts AND dispenses soap and water on the backward pull.

You tilt it up and push it forward to reset its position without cleaning. The Rug Doctor only cleans in one direction – on the backward pull.

Verdict

Our bottom line recommendations.

The Big Green Machine performed better than the Rug Doctor in our upright stain test, it left carpet drier after cleaning, it’s generally easier to use and maintain, and it’s a better value (both models are priced similarly but the Big Green Machine includes a hose and spot cleaning tool while the Rug Doctor does not).

For these reasons, we generally recommend the Big Green Machine over the Rug Doctor Mighty Pro X3.