Hoover PowerDash Pet Review

Analysis

A step by step breakdown of the PowerDash Pet's performance.

All three compact carpet cleaners we tested, including the PowerDash Pet, were measured to have exactly the same suction at the base of the cleaner – 58 inches of water lift.

The PowerDash had the second most measured suction at the nozzle (of the three compact cleaners we tested) with a reading of 2.28 kPa. This is very close to the highest reading of 2.4 kPa (Bissell TurboClean).

The table above lists the number of passes it took the PowerDash Pet to clean up each stain.

For example, it took the PowerDash Pet 5 back and forth passes to clean the peanut butter stain.

Note that we’re only scoring cleaning through the center of the PowerDash Pet’s cleaning path. The PowerDash Pet and PowerDash Pet+ both clean very poorly along edges and so we gave them a bit of a handicap in this test – only scoring how quickly they cleaned through the center of their cleaning paths. For all other models we scored cleaning throughout the whole cleaning path.

Among the three compact carpet cleaners we tested the PowerDash Pet cleaned stains much faster than the Pet+, and just about as fast as the Bissell TurboClean.

The primary difference between the PowerDash Pet and TurboClean involves edge cleaning performance.

Both of these models cleaned through the center of their cleaning paths about equally fast, but the TurboClean cleaned along the edges of its much better than the PowerDash Pet.

After our upright stain test we measured the moisture level of the carpet that was cleaned. The reading for the PowerDash Pet was 27%, which is right around an average result.

We then pushed and pulled the cleaner over the same strip of carpet three more times, only extracting moisture (not washing) during these three passes.

After these three additional “dry” passes we measured the moisture level of the same strip of carpet again. This time the reading for the PowerDash Pet was 24% which is a slightly drier than average result.

Both of these results are better than those of the Bissell TurboClean which left carpet wetter directly after cleaning (28%) and after additional “dry” passes (25%).

The PowerDash Pet has very small water tanks and so it can only cover a very small area before you need to refill its clean tank (with soap and water) and empty its dirty water tank (of dirty water).

That being said, it can cover a slightly larger area (per tank) than the Bissell TurboClean, which had the smallest area of coverage (per tank) of any carpet cleaner we tested.

This is another weak spot for the PowerDash Pet. It’s almost impossible to properly clean its dirty water tank because it cannot be opened up for cleaning. You have to rinse it through a very small outlet. There’s no other way to clean it.

This design flaw was fixed with the PowerDash Pet+ which has a very similar looking tank, but one that you can open up to clean properly.

It’s also difficult to clean the PowerDash Pet’s cleaner head after washing carpet because there’s very limited space between the brushroll and the compartment that surrounds it.

This is another problem that was fixed with the PowerDash Pet+. The compartment surrounding its brushroll can be opened up so that you can clean it much more easily.

The PowerDash Pet is also more difficult to clean than the TurboClean. You also have to clean around the TurboClean’s brushroll (the compartment surrounding it doesn’t open up) but there’s more space around its brushroll to clean this area more easily. You can also fully disassemble its dirty water tank to clean the tank and the components inside it more easily.

None of the compact carpet cleaners we tested, including the PowerDash Pet, can be used with a hose and spot cleaning tool. There isn’t a port on the front of the cleaner to connect a hose like there is with full-size carpet cleaners.

Other Notes and Features

The PowerDash Pet does have a narrow cleaning path. All three compact cleaners we tested have a path that was measured to be only 7.5” wide. Full size cleaners have a cleaning path upwards of 10”+. Note that these are not manufacturer specifications. Manufacturers include the width of the nozzle (suction only) and the brushroll (carpet washing). We measured only the width of the path over which the carpet cleaner actually washes carpet, which is more narrow than manufacturer specifications.

Verdict

Our bottom line recommendations.

The PowerDash Pet, at its current price point, isn’t a bad purchase. It cleans well through the center of its cleaning path and it leaves carpet relatively dry after cleaning.

That being said, we do think the Bissell TurboClean is a better purchase overall, even if it’s slightly more expensive.

The TurboClean cleans throughout its whole cleaning path (including edges) much better than the PowerDash Pet. It’s also much easier to clean and maintain itself. The Bissell TurboClean is currently recommended as the best compact carpet cleaner we tested. The PowerDash Pet is the second-best compact cleaner we tested. We generally don’t recommend the PowerDash Pet+ because it performed very poorly in our upright stain test.