Best Carpet Cleaner for Pets

We tested 16 carpet cleaners to see how well they could clean up seven different stains.

Only one of those stains – the urine stain we used for the test – is actually a pet stain. Otherwise, the peanut butter stain (oil-based with some protein) can be used as an approximation of the other type of stain you might encounter when cleaning a mess left by a pet on carpet.

These are the complete results for all of the carpet cleaners we tested:

In the table above the number in each row and column represents the number of passes it took to clean each stain. For example, it took the Bissell TurboClean four back and forth passes to clean the caramel syrup stain.

Any number higher than 10 represents a stain that wasn’t completely cleaned after 10 back and forth passes in this test (we ended the test after 10 passes). The higher the number, the darker the stain that was left behind.  For example, the Hoover PowerScrub XL left an exceptionally dark tomato sauce stain after 10 passes, and so it gets a score of 14 for the tomato sauce stain.

Urine

As you can see in the table above it took most cleaners only 1 or 2 back and forth passes to clean the urine stain.

Now, all of the stains in this test were only left to dry for 24 hours, so keep that in mind when evaluating these results.

But, regardless, the urine stain was still one of the “easier” stains to clean up.

Three models stand out as having the best performance cleaning the urine stain:

• 1. Bissell TurboClean
• 2. Bissell Big Green Machine
• 3. Shark CarpetXpert EX301

These three models took only one back and forth pass to clean the urine stain.

One model stands out as having the worst performance cleaning the urine stain:

• Tineco Carpet ONE

This was the only model that took more than two passes to clean the urine stain.

Peanut Butter

As I mentioned earlier, we’ll use peanut butter results as an approximation for the other type of stain (other than urine) you might encounter when cleaning pet messes.

Overall, peanut butter results were much more varied than urine results.

What immediately stands out is that one of the best performers cleaning urine stains was one of the worst performers cleaning peanut butter stains – the Shark CarpetXpert EX301.

The EX301 also comes with a variety of pet mess spot cleaning tools. It has other design features that make it especially optimized for cleaning pet messes (for example, its cleaner head is optimized to reduce hair wrap and clogging according to the manufacturer); however, because it performed so poorly cleaning peanut butter, we generally do NOT recommend it for cleaning pet messes on carpet, unless you only need to clean up urine stains. In that case, it’s still a decent option.

All of the other Sharks we tested also had some trouble with peanut butter. A few Hoovers did as well.

Bissells (with the exception of the ProHeat 2x Revolution) were really the best performers cleaning peanut butter overall.

Most of the Bissells we tested use a lot of water to clean. This really limits the total area they can clean before you need to refill their clean water tank (with soap and water) and empty their dirty water tank (of dirty water). They also generally leave carpet wetter after cleaning than competitor models.

But, using a lot of water has certain benefits as well, and the benefit that’s relevant here is that they do clean peanut butter (oil-based) stains very well.

If you’re looking for a cheaper option, the Bissell TurboClean is an excellent option.

The best option overall, and the best carpet cleaner we tested in general, is the Bissell Big Green Machine.

The Big Green Machine is the only Bissell that does not use a lot of water to clean, but it still performed very well cleaning the peanut butter stain (and all of the other stains in this test) regardless.

It also has very large water tanks and so it can cover a very large area before you need to refill and empty its tanks. And it left carpet the driest after cleaning of any carpet cleaner we tested.

Verdict

Our bottom line recommendations.

The best carpet cleaners for urine stains are

• 1. Bissell TurboClean
• 2. Bissell Big Green Machine
• 3. Shark CarpetXpert EX301

The best carpet cleaners for the “other” type of pet stain (i.e. the best performers cleaning the peanut butter stain) are

• 1. Bissell TurboClean
• 2. Bissell TurboClean Pet XL
• 3. Bissell Big Green Machine
• 4. Hoover PowerDash Pet
• 5. Rug Doctor Mighty Pro X3

Taking into account all of the other factors we use to rank carpet cleaners

• Measured suction
• Cleaning path width
• Area of coverage per water tank
• Cleaning difficulty + maintenance
• Value

The Bissell TurboClean is the best affordable carpet cleaner for pets.

The Bissell Big Green Machine is the best carpet cleaner for pets overall.