The Best Portable Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner

Drinks spill, kids and pets get sick—messes are inevitable. But a portable carpet and upholstery cleaner can make cleanup less of a disgusting hassle. We scoured hundreds of reviews to get information on the reliability of various models. And we tested six cleaners by staining a white rug with chili, wine, and chocolate—in addition to some real-life kid and pet accidents. The first model we recommend to most people is the Bissell Little Green Portable Carpet Cleaner 1400B.
With a combination of the handheld suction brush, hot tap water, and cleaning formula, the Bissell Little Green Portable Carpet Cleaner 1400B removed several tough stains in our tests. It’s a great tool if you have pets or kids who regularly puke, pee, or make other small messes on your stuff, or if you need to regularly clean other types of stains on carpets, furniture, or a car’s  interior. This cleaner won’t tackle a whole living room’s worth of carpets or rugs—you’d need an upright washer for that. Nor will it deep-clean and disinfect upholstery and carpeting.