Spot On

Bissell

Face it: Deep cleaning a rug or carpet can be a real drag, literally. Whether you have to haul a heavy carpet cleaner across a rug or tote a dirty-water carpet-cleaner tank to the sink, you face a degree of toil to remove your carpet’s soil.

But in the past 3 years, manufacturers have tweaked existing models and introduced models that have features that are intended to shorten the cleaning time and make carpet cleaners easier to handle. You’ll notice a few more lightweight models than there were before. And you’ll find that the water tanks on some carpet cleaners have been improved, so they’re easier to fill and to empty.

CONVENIENT TRUTHS. One area where manufacturers have inched forward is in weight reduction. We found six models that weigh as little as 18 pounds. (The Kenmore Professional Carpet Shampooer/Hardfloor Cleaner was the lightest at 16 pounds.) This is twice as many as there were 3 years ago. Manufacturers tell us that that trend is part of an overall push to reduce carpet cleaners’ weight, although the fact remains that more than almost three-fourths of all carpet cleaners that are on the market still weigh at least 20 pounds.

“Consumers continue to tell us that a major frustration is weight,” says Hoover’s Kyle Wheaton. Both Wheaton and Jim Krzeminski of Bissell tell us that their company evaluates every part of the cleaner when deciding how to eliminate weight. (Between them, Bissell and Hoover make about 90 percent of the carpet-cleaner models that are on the market.)

Krzeminski wouldn’t tell us where Bissell shaves off weight, citing its proprietary design process, but Wheaton says Hoover models now have thinner plastic housings and tank walls. Both companies say their carpet cleaners pass a durability test before they hit the market, but neither would show us test results to back their claims.

We found in our evaluations that even 4 pounds’ difference is noticeable by the time that you’re done cleaning a carpet. Specifically, we found that lighter models were easier to maneuver around furniture and corners. We found that the lighter models were just as effective at cleaning as most of the heavier models were.

Manufacturers also have introduced models that let you clean your carpets more quickly. (That, of course, means that you’ll have more time to plan a party that’s like the one that prompted you to clean your carpets in the first place.) You’ll see four consumer models that start at about $180 that have water tanks that are slightly larger than the industry-standard 1-gallon capacity. Until now, models that broke the 1-gallon mark were those that focused on the rental market. (See “Crossing the Rental Lines.") Those pro-type models start at a hefty $599.

A bigger tank means that you’ll spend less time changing water, be able to clean more carpet on one tank of water and therefore finish sooner. That was the case when we tried both models in Hoover’s new MaxExtract line, which start at $230 and have 1.19-gallon tanks. You might not believe that that slight of an increase in tank size would make a big difference, but we found that it allowed us to clean carpets in two average-size rooms before we were required to change the water. Doing the same job when we used models that have a 1-gallon tank left us half of a room short.

WET WORK. Whatever the size of tank, manufacturers have made them easier to fill and empty than ever before. You can find at least two models that have dirty-water tanks that have a pour spout in the back and removable tank caps. Not only does the spout prevent water from sloshing out as you haul the tank to the sink, but it also makes it easy to pour the water out in a controlled stream, which reduces the risk of splashing.