Carpet cleaners: Features explained
Powered rotating brushes help pick up more dirt
Carpet washers
Carpet washing
Warm water and detergent are sprayed on to the carpet. Brushes scrub the carpet and a vacuum sucks away the dirty water. They can be upright or cylinder.
Brushes and rollers
Powered, static or roller brushes push water and detergent deep into the pile of the carpet and pick up dirt. Smaller motorised brushes for the end of the hose attachment are handy for cleaning upholstery and getting into the corners of rooms.
Hoses and nozzles
Better carpet washers come with an extendable hose and nozzles to clean upholstery and along the edges of a room.
Hard floor cleaning
Spin-scrub revolving brushes
Many machines can be used on hard floors such as lino and tiles. Some come with a lip attachment that clips on to the front to make this type of cleaning possible.
Track width
The wider the track width, the more of your carpet will be cleaned with each sweep of the cleaner or washer and the closer you’ll get to the wall.
Upright and cylinder
Most carpet washers are upright and look similar to traditional upright vacuum cleaners. But you can find cylinder models too – we've tested both types.
Multi-function cleaners
Carpet washing
Dirty water is sucked back into the tank
An attachment to the hose sprays the carpet with water and detergent. Carpets are cleaned with a dragging motion, as this kind of cleaner doesn’t come with powered brushes for wet cleaning. Dirty water is sucked back into the tank using the vacuum function.
Dry vacuuming
They can also be used as traditional vacuum cleaners, which is handy if cupboard space is tight. See also our test of traditional vacuum cleaners.
Switching between uses
One minute a dry vacuum cleaner the next a wet carpet washer – or is it? Not quite – switching between modes takes time in most cases, and performance at either task isn't exceptional. Some machines make this easier by having water tanks that are easy to remove. For other machines, you’ll need to remove the dust bag and attach a water pipe before you can wash your carpets.
Cylinder
All multi-function machines tested are cylinder models – this means that you pull the tank across the floor and clean the carpet with the extendable hose and cleaning head.