by Christopher Jones
Sometimes you need a carpet cleaner that can do a lot more than just vacuum your carpet. In some cases, you'll need a carpet cleaner that promises a heavy duty cleaning job that will leave your carpet spotless and flawless.
Getting out stains out of your carpet on your own can be stressful and time consuming. This is one reason why you might want to look into getting a carpet steam cleaner. Another reason you might want to consider a carpet steam cleaner is if you have pets. Between their dander and other stains that they produce, a vacuum cleaner will not be enough to clean the carpet optimally.
If your carpet gets a lot of traffic where many people and pets in your home are walking all over it and tracking all kinds of dirt into the carpet, you'll want a carpet steam cleaner. Do not be intimidated by the potential complications that carpet steam cleaners possibly possess. There are many different carpet steam cleaners out there, and finding one that is suitable for you and your home is easy to do.
You just need to know what to look for.
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The first thing you need to know about carpet steam cleaners is that you should plan on keeping one in the long term. You simply will not be able to choose a carpet steam cleaner for the long term properly if you buy one on impulse.
Buying a carpet steam cleaner on impulse because it is popular or has a lot of attachments is not a good idea. You likely will not keep it for the long term and you might regret it.
Avoid this by considering the following before buying a carpet steam cleaner.
Most carpet steam cleaners are designed for heavy duty cleaning, meaning they will eliminate all kinds of stains effortlessly.
While it may make sense to just get the most powerful cleaner, you need to consider the fact that not only will they cost a little more, they will also use a lot more power compared to cleaners which may not be so powerful.
If you do not encounter pet stains and spills regularly, you may not need a cleaner that is extremely powerful.
Some cleaners are optimal for small areas of carpet. They are powerful, but they are very heavy and not really easy to carry around.
If you do not mind carrying around a carpet steam cleaner that weighs 25 pounds, then maybe you wouldn't mind a very strong cleaner.
But if you want a carpet cleaner for a four bedroom townhome where you need to clean multiple rooms, you may want a cleaner that is easy to carry around.
Cleaners that are easy to carry around do not necessarily need to take a sacrifice in power. It is very possible to get a cleaner that is easy to carry around but is powerful enough to remove the biggest carpet stains.
Some of the most powerful carpet steam cleaners use pretreaters and other solutions.
These kinds of fluids are usually sold separately, and are even necessary for some carpet steam cleaners to function. If you are interested in a carpet steam cleaner that is powerful, it is likely that it will require pretreaters and other formulas. This is especially true if you want your carpet steam cleaner to be able to clean pet stains. Cleaners that use these formulas are indeed effective. But they will require you to acquire certain materials that are necessary for the cleaner to operate correctly.
You'll need to be able to make these kinds of preparations and be content with buying these additional formulas if you want a cleaner that uses them.
It is very likely that you will need a carpet steam cleaner that is very powerful if you have pets. Pets can cause stains in a carpet that oftentimes, only a powerful cleaner can remove.
However, this all depends on the pet and how they affect the carpet.
If you own a pet that stays in a cage or otherwise does not cause a lot of stains on the carpet on a regular basis, the chances are good that you'll be able to hold off on a powerful carpet cleaner. Whether you own a pet that causes regular carpet stains or not, your cleaner will need to be pet friendly regardless. Whether they use additional formulas or not, carpet steam cleaners use chemicals. If you own pets, you will need to make sure that the chemicals they use are pet friendly.
If you are looking for a carpet cleaner that will undoubtedly clean any given carpet no matter how dirty it might be, you'll want to pay attention to what the ProHeat 2x Revolution has to offer.
Containing something called the "max clean mode," it contains 12 rows of power brushes to eliminate almost any stain in your carpet, no matter how deep or strong the stain might be.
It also takes only 30 minutes to dry after use, which is very forgiving considering how powerful it is. Most other cleaners that are this powerful will take significantly longer to dry after use, so the fact that the ProHeat 2x Revolution only takes 30 minutes to dry is very impressive.
Another thing that is impressive about the ProHeat 2x Revolution is that it is also much easier to carry than other cleaners that are as powerful. Weighing only 18 pounds, it is pretty easy to carry around if you need it for multiple rooms in a home.
The ProHeat 2x Revolution uses a lot of additional formulas that they claim are optional, but it is unsure that they are or not. It contains pretreater formula and a sample of pet urine eliminator, and if you wish to use these, you'll need to refill them as necessary.
The problem with a lot of carpet steam cleaners is that they are not easy to carry around. This is especially true if you just need to clean certain spots on the carpet and nothing else.
Using a standard carpet cleaner to do this can be troublesome and inconvenient. Fortunately, if all you need to do is clean certain spots on the carpet, the SpotClean is something you will want.
Being very compact and lightweight, you'll be able to carry the SpotClean anywhere and be able to enjoy similar benefits that most common steam cleaners have in terms of cleaning power. Its flexible hose extends to 5 feet and can clean areas that are difficult to clean with a common carpet cleaner, such as stairs and area rugs.
The SpotClean's cord is also very long, being well over 20 feet. If you are struggling with cleaning certain areas of your carpet that you cannot reach with a regular steam cleaner, consider the SpotClean. However, the SpotClean is not suitable for cleaning large areas. It is specifically designed to only clean small areas and spots. It is designed to complement a large-scale carpet cleaner that you may possess, not replace it.
Accessories are the one thing that a lot of even the most powerful and alleged efficient carpet steam cleaners lack.
It seems like even the best cleaners can clean a carpet and that's about it. If you need a cleaner that can clean a carpet as well as other surfaces, you'll likely need to own different kinds of cleaning devices.
This can be very inconvenient, and McCulloch's carpet cleaner solves nearly all of these inconveniences. Containing 18 different accessories, you'll be able to clean practically anything with it.
Not only will McCulloch's carpet cleaner be able to clean carpets easily with its canister like design where it has a hose attached, but it is also very easy to carry around. You'll be able to carry this to any room and clean almost anything in any room with it.
However, it can be easy to lose a few of these 18 accessories as most of them come in the form of brushes. Also, you'll need to fill its water tank often - McCulloch's steam cleaner only has a capacity of 48 ounces which only provides 45 minutes of steam.
It also takes 8 minutes to heat up, which does increase the amount of total time it will take to clean whatever you need with it. You can clean a lot of things with McCulloch's cleaner, but it will take a very long time to do so.
There are a good amount of carpet cleaners that claim they are very powerful, but are not really. Even worse, many "professional grade" carpet cleaners use more than one kind of formula to operate properly.
This can be confusing and stressful when all you really want to do is clean your carpet to where it will not need to be cleaned again for a very long time.
Rug Doctor's carpet cleaner is designed for heavy duty cleaning, and it is very impressive at doing this. Containing dual-cross brushes that deeply scrub carpets from every angle, it is almost guaranteed to remove any given stain from any given carpet.
Rug Doctor's carpet cleaner is impressive when it comes to suction as well. Containing a whopping 75% more suction compared to other carpet cleaners of its caliber, this is just one more reason why Rug Doctor's cleaner is without peer when it comes to carpet cleaning power.
All of this impressive power comes at a cost, however. Rug Doctor's carpet cleaner is disturbingly heavy. Weighing nearly 25 pounds, carrying it around will be a massive chore. It is indeed very powerful, but Rug Doctor's cleaner is not designed for multiple rooms. It is only designed for one.
There are two problems with the common pet friendly carpet cleaner.
First, many of them are difficult to carry around. The tanks for the water and formula are usually placed precariously, and the cleaners themselves can be pretty heavy, often weighing right around 20 pounds.
Different than most other pet friendly carpet cleaners, the PowerDash is actually designed like a common vacuum cleaner, with the tanks for the water and the formula located right above the base of the cleaner. This makes them not only easy to remove, but also easy to carry around because the tanks will not get in the way of anything.
Another thing that makes the PowerDash easy to carry around is that it does not weigh as much as other carpet cleaners. It only weighs about 15 pounds, which is much lighter than the common carpet cleaner, which usually weighs about 20. Like with most pet friendly carpet cleaners, you'll need to use different formulas that are specific to the PowerDash. While these are easily acquired, they do add to the process of cleaning your carpet.
You'll need to use two separate formulas to get the most out of the PowerDash, and as useful as it is for cleaning homes with many rooms and pets, it would be better if it used only one formula instead of two.
One thing that turns people off from getting a carpet steam cleaner is the fact that they need to also buy different formulas for them.
This is understandable, as buying extra things alongside anything can be an inconvenience, let alone buying extra things alongside a carpet cleaner.
Fortunately, the Power Scrub Elite comes with a full bottle of Hoover's very own cleanplus concentrated solution that can be used for any Hoover carpet cleaner. This solves the inconvenience of needing to purchase solution for the cleaner in a big way.
As for the Power Scrub Elite itself, one of the best things about it is the fact that it only takes 45 minutes for carpets to dry after using it. Seeing that most other carpet cleaners have a drying time of upwards of four hours, the Power Scrub Elite is great for those who do not feel like waiting all day for their carpets to dry after cleaning them.
Despite what its name implies, the Power Scrub Elite is not as strong as it claims to be. Even in its deep clean mode, it may not get overly tough stains out of the carpet. If you have pets and want a carpet cleaner that is better than average, the Power Scrub Elite will work.
But if you are looking for something that will decisively clean carpets to where you can ignore them for months, you'll want to look elsewhere.
It can be rare to find a carpet cleaner that is not only pet friendly, but contains the settings you need to clean your carpet as deeply as possible.
Bissell's DeepClean Deluxe contains everything you need to make sure your entire carpet is cleaned optimally. Pet related messes and dander can damage a carpet cleaner if too much of it gets pulled in. to solve this problem, the DeepClean Deluxe has a tool called the stain trapper. This detachable tool will keep pet stains inside of it instead of using the unit itself to remove pet stains. This is very useful if you have multiple pets.
The DeepClean Deluxe is also compatible with a pretreater. This is very useful if you want your carpets to be as clean as possible, and is almost necessary if you want to clean your carpets so decisively that you will not need to worry about cleaning them for a long time.
You will not need to worry about water temperature either, as the DeepClean Deluxe contains heatwave technology that will ensure that the carpet you clean with it dries evenly.
There is no way you'll be able to use the DeepClean Deluxe for different rooms. It is by far one of the heaviest carpet cleaners in existence, weighing in at a massive 35 pounds. This makes it incredibly difficult to carry around. The DeepClean Deluxe is a fantastic carpet cleaner, but it is really only designed for one room and one room only.
When it comes to cleaning carpets, it doesn't get much more heavy duty than Rug Doctor's Mighty Pro x3.
After using it on your carpet, you will not need to worry about cleaning your carpet for at least six months, if not longer.
How does the Mighty Pro x3 clean the carpet? It uses oxy steam solution combined with professional strength cleaning power. This allows it to dig very deep into any given carpet. This combination lets the Mighty Pro x3 eliminate any given blemish on any given carpet.
Most carpet cleaners struggle with removing older stains that have worked their way into the foundation of the carpet. The Mighty Pro x3 will remove these as well.
The Mighty Pro x3, however, is completely one-dimensional in its use. It is practically impossible to be carried around, seeing as it weighs a massive 55 pounds. There is no way you can use it if your home has multiple floors.
Because it uses oxy steam solution, you'll need to refill the Mighty Pro x3's tanks over and over while using it. That is another sacrifice you will need to make for all of its impressive power.
Nothing spells out the definition of "professional grade carpet cleaning" quite like a name like "Big Green." As silly as the name sounds, the Big Green carpet cleaner by Bissell promises serious performance when it comes to cleaning power.
And judging by its look and its attachments, the Big Green does what it claims to do in spades. It contains a brush that is much larger than the brushes that most other carpet cleaners contain. This brush reaches deep into any carpet and will remove any given stain.
Another nice thing that the Big Green contains is a spot cleaning tool with a hose that is much longer than the hoses of most other spot cleaning tools. The Big Green's spot cleaning tool extends to 9 feet, which is fantastic for areas that are difficult to reach.
The cord length of the unit itself is 25 feet, which makes the Big Green easy to use in any given large room. You won't need to have an extension cord or anything ready when you use the Big Green.
There are a couple of things that make the Big Green less than perfect. First, it is extremely heavy, weighing nearly 50 pounds. There is no way you'll be able to use the Big Green in multiple rooms, especially if your home has multiple floors.
Also, the Big Green is not pet friendly and doesn't use formulas that are pet friendly. If you do want to use this around pets, you'll need to separate them from the carpet you want to clean and then wait for the carpet to dry.
Anybody who needs a carpet steam cleaner for multiple rooms of multiple floors will get a lot out of Hoover's carpet steam cleaner. Possessing a 12 amp motor, a 20 foot cord, and a water capacity of 133 ounces, you won't need to worry about refilling the water when cleaning multiple rooms.
Another nice thing that Hoover's carpet steam cleaner possesses is the option to control the speed of the brushroll. With Hoover's steam cleaner, you won't be tied down to just one brushroll setting like with other carpet steam cleaners. The cleaner settings do not stop there. Hoover's carpet cleaner also has a surge control that can apply extra detergent to areas on your carpet that may need extra cleaning. Very few other carpet steam cleaners have this function.
You will not worry about all of the water and detergent being mixed into the same tank, either. Hoover's cleaner contains two separate tanks for clean and dirty water. This makes it easy to empty or fill each cup individually. Carrying Hoover's carpet cleaner around can be a chore. Between the separate tanks and all the settings, it is not really meant to be carried around to different floors of the house. The fact that it weighs 20 pounds speaks to this.
Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Max Clean Pet Pro Full-Size Carpet Cleaner, 1986, with - Walmart Link
McCulloch MC1385 Deluxe Canister Steam Cleaner with 23 Accessories, Chemical-Free - Walmart Link
Dupray One Steam Cleaner- Portable, All-Purpose, Disinfecting, Chemical-Free Floor - Walmart Link
Bissell, 15651 ProHeat 2X Lift Off Pet Carpet Cleaner - Walmart Link
Hoover Power Scrub Deluxe Carpet Cleaner Machine, Upright Shampooer, FH50150, Red - Walmart Link
Bissell Big Green Professional Carpet Cleaner - Walmart Link
Pure Enrichment PureClean XL Rolling Steam Cleaner - 1500-Watt Multi-Purpose Household - Walmart Link
McCulloch MC1275 Heavy-Duty Steam Cleaner with 18 Accessories, Extra-Long Power Cord, - Walmart Link
Hoover Smartwash Automatic Carpet Cleaner, FH52000, Turquoise - Walmart Link
Rug Doctor Mighty Pro X3 Commercial Carpet Cleaner, Pet Pack Out, Red - Walmart Link
Dupray Neat Steam Cleaner Multipurpose Heavy Duty Steamer for Floors, Cars, Home Use and - Walmart Link
Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Max Clean Pet Pro Full-Size Carpet Cleaner, 1986, with - eBay Link
McCulloch MC1385 Deluxe Canister Steam Cleaner with 23 Accessories, Chemical-Free - eBay Link
Dupray One Steam Cleaner- Portable, All-Purpose, Disinfecting, Chemical-Free Floor - eBay Link
Bissell, 15651 ProHeat 2X Lift Off Pet Carpet Cleaner - eBay Link
Hoover Power Scrub Deluxe Carpet Cleaner Machine, Upright Shampooer, FH50150, Red - eBay Link
Bissell Big Green Professional Carpet Cleaner - eBay Link
Pure Enrichment PureClean XL Rolling Steam Cleaner - 1500-Watt Multi-Purpose Household - eBay Link
McCulloch MC1275 Heavy-Duty Steam Cleaner with 18 Accessories, Extra-Long Power Cord, - eBay Link
Hoover Smartwash Automatic Carpet Cleaner, FH52000, Turquoise - eBay Link
Rug Doctor Mighty Pro X3 Commercial Carpet Cleaner, Pet Pack Out, Red - eBay Link
Dupray Neat Steam Cleaner Multipurpose Heavy Duty Steamer for Floors, Cars, Home Use and - eBay Link
Not all carpet cleaners are the same. Each one has different properties that are optimal for different kinds of situations and living arrangements.
However, this does not mean that some homes shouldn't have a carpet steam cleaner.
Every home should have a carpet steam cleaner. They make cleaning carpets much more convenient than vacuuming and shampooing them. The best thing to do is to compare all the available carpet cleaners that you come across and determine for yourself which one is best for your living situation.
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About Christopher Jones
Chris is a true globetrotter. He has been to many destinations and tried different types of food from all over the world, yet he still loves finding new places and tasting their specialties. Chris has always had an entrepreneurial spirit and so he decided to go back to school at age 24 for his MBA at University of San Francisco so that he could have a better understanding of business strategy in order to start his own company. His favorite motto is “how can one live well, travel well, and work well without having good food every time?”
Be with Chris: 
Kitchen Goodness
