Carpet and hard-floor cleaners · Comparison
Carpet cleaners for pet accidents: spot cleaner, full-size, or both
Your dog or cat has accidents on the carpet and you want a machine for them. Do you need a small spot cleaner, a full-size carpet cleaner, or both? This page compares six current models on the things that decide it: how big your usual mess is, how fast you can get the machine out, and how much cleanup the machine itself needs afterwards.
Quick picks
Who each model fits, judged on this page's criteria. Full figures and the reasons to skip each one are further down.
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BISSELL Little Green Max Pet (3860), portable
Fresh accidents on carpet, stairs and furniture, kept near the back door and grabbed as soon as you see the spot.
- Tank stated 32 oz*
- Hose stated 4.8 ft*
- Cord stated 15 ft*
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BISSELL Little Green Pet Deluxe (3353), portable
Occasional fresh accidents on carpet, stairs and furniture, with a portable machine you carry to the spot; check the table for whether a self-cleaning hose tool is marked.
- Self-cleaning named Yes
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BISSELL TurboClean Pet XL (3746), full-size
Whole-room cleaning in a home with pets, when you would rather refill less often.
- Tank stated 128 oz*
- Hose stated 7.0 ft*
- Cord stated 20 ft*
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Hoover Power Scrub Deluxe (Paws & Claws), full-size
Whole-room cleaning with a full-size upright, when most of your carpet work is room-wide rather than fresh spots.
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Hoover PowerDash Pet+ Compact (FH50704), full-size compact
Apartments where a full-size machine still has to fit in a closet.
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Shark CarpetXpert HairPro (EX251BRN), full-size
You want one machine for whole rooms that also has a built-in handheld tool for spots, as its listing names.
On this page
What we compared and why
- Size of the usual mess. A fresh accident covers a small patch; a whole room that needs a refresh covers a large one. Spot cleaners suit the first, full-size machines the second.
- Time to get it out. If a machine is quick to grab, it gets used when the spot is fresh. Portable models stored near where accidents happen win here.
- Tank. A bigger clean-water tank means fewer trips to the sink on a whole-room job. On a spot cleaner it matters less.
- Self-rinsing hose or tool. After pet messes you rinse the hose and tool. We mark it where the listing names a self-cleaning feature.
The models compared
| Model | Tank stated | Hose stated | Cord stated | Self-cleaning named | Amazon link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BISSELL Little Green Max Pet (3860), portable | 32 oz* | 4.8 ft* | 15 ft* | Yes* | See on Amazon |
| BISSELL Little Green Pet Deluxe (3353), portable | Not stated in listing | Not stated in listing | Not stated in listing | Yes | See on Amazon |
| BISSELL TurboClean Pet XL (3746), full-size | 128 oz* | 7.0 ft* | 20 ft* | Not stated in listing | See on Amazon |
| Hoover Power Scrub Deluxe (Paws & Claws), full-size | Not stated in listing | Not stated in listing | Not stated in listing | Not stated in listing | See on Amazon |
| Hoover PowerDash Pet+ Compact (FH50704), full-size compact | Not stated in listing | Not stated in listing | Not stated in listing | Not stated in listing | See on Amazon |
| Shark CarpetXpert HairPro (EX251BRN), full-size | Not stated in listing | Not stated in listing | Not stated in listing | Not stated in listing | See on Amazon |
Table values are read from each product's current Amazon listing at the time of this page's build and normalised to one unit by us. "Not stated in listing" means the listing does not give the figure; "Listing gives two values" means the listing states it two different ways, so we show neither. Values marked * come from the maker's own spec page, linked under Sources.
BISSELL Little Green Max Pet (3860), portable
Who it fits: Fresh accidents on carpet, stairs and furniture, kept near the back door and grabbed as soon as you see the spot.
Skip it if: You want to refresh whole rooms; a portable machine cleans one patch at a time.
BISSELL Little Green Pet Deluxe (3353), portable
Who it fits: Occasional fresh accidents on carpet, stairs and furniture, with a portable machine you carry to the spot; check the table for whether a self-cleaning hose tool is marked.
Skip it if: Accidents happen several times a week across the house; a full-size machine plus a spot cleaner may suit you better.
BISSELL TurboClean Pet XL (3746), full-size
Who it fits: Whole-room cleaning in a home with pets, when you would rather refill less often.
Skip it if: Most of your accidents are small fresh spots; a portable model is quicker to get out.
Hoover Power Scrub Deluxe (Paws & Claws), full-size
Who it fits: Whole-room cleaning with a full-size upright, when most of your carpet work is room-wide rather than fresh spots.
Skip it if: You want a self-rinsing hose and the table does not mark one for it.
Hoover PowerDash Pet+ Compact (FH50704), full-size compact
Who it fits: Apartments where a full-size machine still has to fit in a closet.
Skip it if: You clean large carpeted areas in one session; it is the compact machine in this list.
Shark CarpetXpert HairPro (EX251BRN), full-size
Who it fits: You want one machine for whole rooms that also has a built-in handheld tool for spots, as its listing names.
Skip it if: Your spots are mostly on furniture and stairs; a portable cleaner is lighter to carry there.
Spot cleaner, full-size, or both
If most of your pet's accidents are small and you find them while they are fresh, the machine that helps most is the one you can reach first: a portable spot cleaner that lives near where accidents happen. A full-size carpet cleaner is the tool for the room-wide clean you do every few months.
Many homes with pets end up with both. If you can buy only one, pick by the mess you see most often, not by the worst one you can imagine:
| Your usual situation | Start with |
|---|---|
| Small spots, found quickly, on carpet, stairs or a couch | A portable spot cleaner |
| Whole rooms of carpet you refresh a few times a year | A full-size carpet cleaner |
| Both, several times a month | A portable for spots plus a full-size machine, or a full-size machine with a built-in hand tool |
How fast it gets to the mess
A portable machine has one small tank and a short hose, and you can carry it in one hand. A full-size upright has to be filled, wheeled out and plugged in. If accidents tend to happen while you are out, that difference matters less; if you see them happen, a portable unit kept nearby is the one that gets used.
Formula
Each maker sells formulas for its own machines and says which ones its machines accept. Use the formula the maker names for your machine, and follow its label for how long to leave it before you extract. This page makes no claim about what any formula removes.
Reading the table
Portable models are listed first, then full-size ones. Figures with a mark come from BISSELL's own spec pages for the 3860 and the 3746, linked under Sources: the 3860 holds 32 ounces of clean water with a 4.8-foot hose and a 15-foot cord, and the 3746 holds one gallon (128 ounces) with a 7-foot hose and a 20-foot cord. That is four times the water in one fill, which is the difference between a spot machine and a room machine. BISSELL's site has no page for the 3353 sold in this listing, and the Hoover and Shark makers' sites have no page for these exact model numbers, so those rows hold listing figures only. Where a listing does not state a figure, the table says so. For whole-room full-size machines with tank, heater and hose figures from the makers' own spec pages, see full-size carpet cleaners compared.
What this page does not tell you
We have not used these machines on real accidents ourselves, and we do not rank them. The comparison is research-based: the fit and skip lines follow the criteria above and the table, not hands-on testing.