Keep Your Home Spotless With One Of The Best Carpet Cleaners For Pets

Pets can be hard on your floors, especially carpets. If yours aren’t looking and smelling so fresh, the best carpet cleaners for pets effectively lift dirt and stains from rugs and upholstered surfaces. Our top pick overall is the expert-backed Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet Pro Plus, which has several rows of scrubbing brushes that can tackle the most stubborn messes. And to those seeking a compact option ideal for spot cleaning upholstery and rugs, we recommend Bissell’s Little Green Pet Pro Portable Carpet Cleaner, which is a favorite among pet owners and the pros we consulted.

While a vacuum for pet hair can give your floors a solid surface clean by picking up loose debris and fur, carpet cleaners go even deeper to leave your rugs and carpets spotless and stink-free. Using a combination of water, scrubbing, suction power, and cleaning solution, these machines are capable of addressing everything from accidents to muddy paw prints to lingering smells. Ahead, our team of home editors, who have extensive experience covering a range of cleaning products, has rounded up the best carpet cleaners for pets, including budget-friendly and portable picks.

• Best Carpet Cleaner For Pets Overall: Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet Pro Plus
• Best Value Carpet Cleaner For Pets: Hoover PowerDash Pet+ Compact Carpet Cleaner
• Best Upgrade Carpet Cleaner For Pets: Bissell Big Green Professional Carpet Cleaner
• Best Portable Carpet Cleaner For Pets: Shark StainStriker Portable Carpet And Upholstery Cleaner
• Best Cordless Carpet Cleaner For Pets: Hoover Cleanslate Cordless Upholstery & Carpet Spot Cleaner
• Best Upholstery And Carpet Cleaner For Pets: Bissell Little Green Pet Pro Portable Carpet Cleaner

Best Carpet Cleaner For Pets Overall

User-Friendly And Incredibly Powerful

Weight: 17.5 pounds | Dimensions: 43.5 x 12.5 x 15 inches | Clean water tank: 1 gallon | Cord length: 25 feet | Additional features: 2-in-1 upholstery tool, 8-ounce bottle of urine eliminator solution, crevice tool, CleanShot pretreater feature | Brush style: Multiple spinning brush rolls

What you’ll love:

• Brushes spin forward and backward
• Very powerful suction
• User-friendly operation

Keep in mind:

• The tank needs frequent changing
• Carpets may take a while to dry post–deep clean

If you have a pet that’s prone to having accidents or tracking mud indoors, the Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet Pro Plus is an ultra-powerful machine that can tackle serious messes and smells. (It even promises to remove eau de skunk.) That’s partially thanks to the multiple rows of dirt-lifting brushes, which spin in two directions to scrub more deeply into carpets. “For those set-in stains, deep-cleaning machines that use heat and powerful suction like the Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution can be a lifesaver,” says professional home organizer Meghan Kessman, who’s a dog parent. “It’s powerful, versatile, and designed with pets in mind.”

The deep clean setting offers the most thorough clean, but for smaller jobs, there’s also an express clean mode that allows you to get things clean and dry in 30 minutes. And for especially tough messes, there’s also a feature that sprays a concentrated stream of formula at stains and smells that are extra stubborn.

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Best Value Carpet Cleaner For Pets

Petite And Powerful For Smaller Jobs

Weight: 12.8 pounds | Dimensions: 43.5 x 10.1 x 15.3 inches | Clean water tank: 0.5 gallon | Cord length: 20 feet | Additional features: Antimicrobial brush roll, removable nozzle, HeatForce technology, dual tank, storage mat | Brush style: Spinning brush roll

What you’ll love:

• Compact and lightweight
• The dual tank system separates clean water from dirty
• Removable brush roll guard

Keep in mind:

• The dirty water reservoir needs emptying often

If you can’t bring yourself to spend hundreds on a carpet cleaner, this affordable model from Hoover—a trusted brand in the space—costs less than $200 and gets the job done. It features a powerful brush roll with antimicrobial-treated brushes to tackle bacteria that cause odors, while the cleaner’s HeatForce technology helps carpets dry more quickly by blowing out hot air. This cleaner is also light, weighing in just under 13 pounds, making it easy to tote around and store.

Just note that a smaller build means a relatively small water tank, too, so this machine is best used on small carpeted areas and rugs or for spot-cleaning. The included cleaning tool simplifies the task of removing pet hair from the brush roll, and we also love that it comes with a storage mat, in case of leakage.

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Best Upgrade Carpet Cleaner For Pets

On Par With Industrial Models

Weight: 50 pounds | Dimensions: 42.3 x 11 x 20.5 inches | Clean water tank: 1.8 gallons | Cord length: 25 feet | Additional features: Tough stain tool, extension hose, upholstery brush, crevice tool, three 8-ounce bottles of cleaning solution | Brush style: Rotating brush roll

What you’ll love:

• Adjustable handle
• Outstanding suction and stain removal
• Intuitive to use
• Best for those with multiple pets and/or kids

Keep in mind:

• Very heavy

If your pets always seem to be soiling your carpets or rugs, you might want to invest in a professional-grade machine like Bissell’s Big Green model, which features eight rows of bristles and powerful suction to reach the most embedded stains and dirt in your carpet.

Simply put, this is one mighty—and big—machine. It weighs around 50 pounds, so using it is a bit of a workout, plus it requires a decent amount of storage space. This isn’t the kind of cleaner you can tuck into a tight corner of your closet. But if you’re looking for the most powerful model to tackle frequent and heavy-duty pet stains so you don’t have to book professional services, this cleaner is up to the task.

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Best Portable Carpet Cleaner For Pets

Perfect For Catching Messes As They Happen

Weight: 8.5 pounds | Dimensions: 12.8 x 11.6 x 15 inches | Clean water tank: 40 ounces | Cord length: 12 feet | Additional features: Pet, crevice and self-cleaning tools | Brush style: Reversible with stiff bristles and softer bristles

What you’ll love:

• Handheld design requires little storage space
• Specialized pet tool that’s effective against small messes
• Lightweight and easy to tote around

Keep in mind:

• You need two cleaning solutions
• The cord is on the shorter side

If you’re short on storage space, the Shark StainStriker packs a lot of power in an 8.5-pound, 15–inch–tall design. What sets this model apart is its use of two cleaning solutions: When you combine the brand’s Deep Clean Pro Formula and OXY Multiplier Formula, both of which come included with the machine, they mix in the tank and work together to address ultra-deep messes and smells. It’s also especially great for cat and dog owners, thanks to its dedicated pet tool that picks up dirt and liquids with ease, distributing it all in a removable chamber.

To use this handheld model, simply move the brush head, which is reversible, with one bristly side and one less-abrasive side, over stains. (This model also comes with a crevice tool, if you need to get into hard-to-reach corners.) Then, to add formula, simply press the button on the handle to distribute water and cleanser. And when it’s time to add more fluid or empty the dirty water, both tanks pop right off and have easy-carry handles to facilitate effortless dumping and refilling. Just keep in mind the machine is designed to run with two of Shark’s proprietary formulas, and its 12-foot cord means you can’t stray too far from an outlet.

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Best Cordless Carpet Cleaner For Pets

Battery-Powered And Portable

Weight: 11 pounds | Dimensions: 13 x 10 x 13 inches | Clean water tank: 40 ounces | Cord length: N/A | Additional features: 7-inch WidePath tool, TightSpot tool, Hose Rinse tool, trial-sized cleaning solution | Brush style: Bristle brush, narrow brush

What you’ll love:

• Portable and storage-friendly
• Includes a hose-cleaning attachment
• Auto-shutoff when tank is full

Keep in mind:

• Relatively small tank capacity

For those seeking a battery-powered model to clean areas far away from outlets like the car, this cordless model from Hoover combines powerful cleaning with cord-free convenience. Offering 15 minutes of continuous run time, this pick isn’t ideal for large messes, but it’s perfect for accidents and smaller stains you want to address immediately. It also has two effective antimicrobial attachments: a 7-inch WidePath Tool, which is best used on surface areas like the stairs or your couch, as well as a TightSpot Tool that can get into tricky nooks and crannies. If you ever find yourself up against especially dark, troublesome stains, boost mode increases the suction power and liquid recovery. And once you’re ready to clean the machine, it’s easy to flush it out with the included Hose Rinse tool.

“I love the portable size—it’s easy to put away and store it,” says art director of content and design Janet Yin, who owns the machine and has two long-haired dogs and two cats. “Every part comes off, too, so I can clean and dry it thoroughly.”

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Best Upholstery And Carpet Cleaner For Pets

Popular, Compact, And Versatile

Weight: 13.3 pounds | Dimensions: 14 x 14 x 10 inches | Clean water tank: 0.8 gallon | Cord length: 20 feet | Additional features: Pet stain tool, tough stain tool, spraying crevice tool, trial-size Urine Eliminator solution | Brush style: Upholstery

What you’ll love:

• Lightweight design
• Three attachments to target various messes
• Sizable tank capacity

Keep in mind:

• Not for deep-cleaning large carpeted areas

Thanks to its compact design, impressive suction and scrubbing action, and multiple attachments to target messes big and small, Bissell’s Little Green Pet Pro cleaner is one extra-versatile pick. While the Pet Stain Tool can handle most messes on carpets and upholstery, both the Tough Stain Tool and the Spraying Crevice Tool come in handy when you’re dealing with an especially stubborn or tucked-away stain.

We speak from experience—this model is very popular among pet owners. “We have five animals in a carpeted apartment, and it’s one of the reasons we’re able to keep the space consistently clean. Dream Reside’s director of features and special projects, Kimberly Peiffer, swears by the Little Green Pet Pro’s performance, too. “I use it all the time to clean up various pet messes in my household,” she says, adding there are “many” in her home. “It’s also not huge in size, so I can tuck it neatly into a closet without it taking up a ton of space.” And if you’re looking for a more compact and affordable version of this cleaner, multiple staffers swear by Bissell’s Little Green.

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How We Chose The Best Carpet Cleaners For Pets

We started our search for the best carpet cleaners for pets by sifting through top-rated models among trusted home appliance retailers, including Bissell, Hoover, and Shark.

• We considered a number of factors, including suction power, budget, movability, weight, cord length (or cordless), design (e.g., upright or portable), tank capacity, noise level, and ease of use and cleaning.
• We noted any extra useful features for each product, such as express cleaning modes, solution auto-mixing, and spot-cleaning accessories and attachments.
• We considered customer reviews, honing in on carpet cleaners for pets that have highly favorable customer feedback.
• We looked for models with an average rating of at least 4 out of 5 stars and at least 700 total ratings (a majority of our recommendations have garnered thousands).