Types

Homeowners who only occasionally clean their carpets may choose to hire a reputable professional or rent a carpet cleaner. But if you have a lot of carpeting and a house full of kids and pets, you might want to consider buying a machine. Here are the types of carpet cleaners to consider.

Rental deep cleaners

Often available at your local supermarket for about $20 a day, these upright machines combine a tank for dispensing cleaning solution, a second tank for holding dirty solution, a vacuum, and a fixed or moving brush into a single, heavy unit. As a result, they're cumbersome to push around. Performance and convenience vary from one machine to the next. In general, look for the cleanest, least-worn brushes on any machine that you're thinking of renting.

Vacuum-sized cleaners/extractors

Extractors for the home market are lighter and less bulky than typical rental machines. All work by scrubbing in a solution of water and detergent, then vacuuming up the water and dirt. They're expensive and take up a fair amount of broom-closet space. In our last tests, they produced mixed results, with some models harder than others to push. All those that we tested also required you to use the manufacturer's special detergent.

Scrubbing machines

These products, also for the home market, have no vacuum power. They simply work the solution or—as with a few models—a moist powder into the carpeting, and you pick up the loosened dirt with a regular vacuum cleaner. The advantage? They're typically lighter than extractors, and are easier to keep clean because you don't have to deal with a dirty solution tank or suction hose. They're also less bulky than other uprights, though they'll probably take up about the same amount of closet space. Note that few home vacuums are able to remove all of the moist powder and dirt.

See also:

Wet/dry vacs

Air purifiers

Dehumidifiers

Humidifiers