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There’s still time for spring cleaning, so now is a great time to start checking off any last-minute tasks to spruce up your home. Decluttering your closets and organizing your kitchen cabinets is simple enough, but then there are the more overwhelming projects, like figuring out how to make dingy carpets look fresh or breathing new life into a stained couch. When it comes to deep cleaning upholstery, it’s common to hire a professional, but it’s also a job that you could do yourself with the proper tools, which will save you money in the long run.
Investing in an upholstery cleaner is more affordable than you’d think, and you can make your money back after using it in a single room. According to Yelp, a professional carpet cleaning company will charge $50 per room on average, so if you have a 1,600 to 2,000-square-foot house, Yelp estimates it would cost $250 for the entire home. Meanwhile, Amazon’s no. 1 bestseller in carpet and upholstery cleaning machines, the Bissell Little Green Mini Portable Carpet and Upholstery Deep Cleaner, costs just $100, and you can frequently find it on sale for even less — currently it’s just $87 with a limited-time deal. Since it’s constructed for convenience with a portable design, the unit is smaller, making it better for spot-cleaning and removing stains.
Bissell Little Green Mini Portable Carpet and Upholstery Deep Cleaner
Let’s go over the basics of upholstery cleaning to better understand how this cleaning tool could be a worthwhile investment for your home.
What is an upholstery cleaner?
Upholstery cleaners are versatile deep-cleaning machines used on fabric surfaces. Unlike an upright vacuum, which only uses suction and a roller brush to lift away dirt and debris, an upholstery cleaner sprays on a liquid solution that actually washes objects. Many times, this liquid formula includes Scotch Guard, so the fabric you’re cleaning is protected from future spills. Most upholstery cleaners have a scrubber brush at the end, so you can really get down into the grooves and crevices of whatever you’re cleaning.
What is an upholstery cleaner used for?
Carpet and upholstery cleaners can be used on most fabric surfaces, including carpeted floors, cloth-covered furniture, and car interiors. Most household cleaning tools aren’t engineered for washing these cloth surfaces, so an upholstery cleaner increases the potential of what you can do yourself and eliminates the need for hiring someone else to deep clean carpets and furniture, or detail your car (as long as it doesn’t have leather seats).
It’s recommended that you spot-test whatever you plan on cleaning, whether that’s the living room sofa or an upholstered seat in the dining room, so you will know if the material can tolerate the cleaning solution. I personally use a Bissell upholstery cleaner on my Joybird couch with light pink velvet fabric, and while the Scotch Guard cleaning solution made the material feel a little stiffer after drying, it otherwise has no noticeable changes in the color or texture. The stiffness also lessened over time. TheStreet editor, Carly Kulzer, has also used the Little Green cleaner for years to clean up after her six cats and two dogs. “This machine works like magic on our carpets and sofas,” she said. “We have pets with sensitive stomachs, and after using this, there’s never any trace of vomit left. It’s as if the accident never happened.”
Upholstery cleaners designed for at-home use are rarely as big as those used by professionals, so if you mainly want this to clean carpeted floors rather than upholstered furniture, we’d suggest looking for units with the largest brushes to cut back on your time spent cleaning. You can find options that take inspiration from an upright vacuum, like the Hoover PowerDash Pet Compact Carpet Cleaner Machine, but they won’t be efficient for removing stains from the sofa or car.
Hoover PowerDash Pet Compact Carpet Cleaner Machine
You can also use an upholstery cleaner for a variety of stains and spills. Many of Bissell’s portable cleaners are engineered for pet owners with improved ability to remove fur and eliminate odors. Other models, like the Shark StainForce Cordless Spot Cleaner, put convenience and portability at the forefront, making it perfect for busy parents wanting to clean up spilled juice in the car or muddy footprints on the front door rug.
Shark StainForce Cordless Spot Cleaner
What upholstery cleaner is right for me?
The main question to consider when investing in a new upholstery cleaner is how you plan to use it. Do you want to remove various stains from your living room couch and move on to the car seats with a portable machine? Or would you rather have something full-size and large enough to tackle several rooms’ worth of carpeted floors?
Also, think about how often you’ll use the deep cleaning machine. If you only plan to pull it out of the cleaning closet a few times a year, you’ll likely want to go for something more affordable and can find something for $100 or less. If you think it’s a tool you could use monthly, it’s worth it to splurge a little more for a unit with upgraded features, which can run around $250. Below, we’ve rounded up a few more highly rated upholstery and carpet cleaning machines that are tailored to various household needs.
Dirt Devil Portable Carpet and Upholstery Spot Cleaner
Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet Pro Plus Upright Deep Cleaner
Shark StainStriker Portable Carpet
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