Maintaining your carpets and rugs at home is essential in order to preserve their appearance and service life. The truth is, most of us have what it takes to do so, but we often neglect cleaning our homes in general. We are here to remind you how important it is to keep your soft flooring hygienic and what tools are needed to do so.

What is the best vacuum for a carpet?

In everyday life, vacuum cleaners play a great role in maintaining our carpets clean. They remove the dirt, dust and hair stuck in between the fibres, which in turn improves indoor air quality. There are also vacuum cleaners which are able to wash carpets with almost the same effectiveness as professional gear.

We can easily separate vacuum cleaners into three main categories:

  • Canister Vacuum Cleaners
  • Wet and Dry Vacuum Cleaners
  • Robot Vacuum Cleaners

It's important to note the existence of handheld vacuums as well, although their main purpose is dusting of curtains and upholstery. Additionally, we are not putting the upright vacuum cleaner into a separate category, as that's just a design choice of vacuums.

Carpet Cleaning tools at home

What is the best canister vacuum cleaner?

Surprisingly, the answer to this question depends mostly on your budget. Most canister vacuums generally have the same functionality. The difference lies within the quality of life extras which more expensive vacuums have. In particular: a longer cord, a bigger bag, a quiet mode, a rotating head.

The most highly rated UK vacuum cleaner on Amazon is the Miele Complete C3. The main advertising point about it is its build quality. It's marketed to last you 20 years with proper use. While this may appear to be excessive, we won't know for certain until the time period has passed.

Our position is that you would be perfectly fine with a budget-friendly option, as even if it won't last you that long, you could always replace it. There is also the possibility to buy a separate attachment for hair removal, which can work on any vacuum. We are speaking about the turbo brush mini - an inexpensive pet hair removal tool.

The turbo brush mini is an excellent small tool which greatly eases the life of pet-owners. It has a built-in roller and wind wheel, which increase the suction power and entrap hair. They can easily be disassembled and cleaned, making them perfect for prolonged use. Additionally, with this attachment, you can also remove dust and hair from sofas, mattresses and other upholstered furniture.

Read also: What is Carpet Cleaning Powder?

Hoovering the carpets

What is the best wet and dry vacuum?

Clearly, wet and dry vacuums are made for those who have to deal with dry and wet waste removal. There are industrial ones which are suitable for workshops, and handheld ones which are suitable for carpet washing. Our particular recommendation here has to be the Bissell ProHeat Revolution Pet Pro. It's an excellent carpet and upholstery cleaner, which comes with three cleaning products in the box.

This machine has two separate water tanks - a clean and a dirty one. The dirty one is, unfortunately, somewhat small, so re-fills will be necessary to clean larger areas of carpets. Its "Cleanshot feature" pre-treats the area to be cleaned, which allows for easy removal of stubborn stains and odours. Additionally, this Bissell product can also function as a small portable spot cleaner.

Another great thing about this product are its dual rotating brushed, which akin to the turbo brush mini attachment catch pet hairs. The last noteworthy feature is its Express Clean Mode, which allows for light refreshing. In essence, only about 30 minutes would be needed to use the carpet after using this mode. The major downside to this vacuum has to be its inability to be used as a dry vacuum.

Before you wash your carpets, a standard canister hoover must be used to remove the build-up debris. Only after that would you would be able to deep clean your carpets. It's important to note as well that the removal of old wine stains, for example, will not be possible. Even professional gear struggles with stains which have already settled and discoloured your carpet.

What is the best robot vacuum cleaner?

Robot vacuums are pricey, but they also greatly ease the maintenance of our home carpets and hard floors. By far the best model available on the market right now is the Roomba S9+ robot vacuum. In various tests from YouTubers and official distributors, this robot manages to pick up 99% of small debris from the floor. Its rotating brush efficiently traps pet hairs and performs well when cleaning edges.

This robot also self cleans and self charges at its "Clean Base". Every 1 or 2 months, the dust bin has to be emptied out. Additionally, it has the ability to map out 10 different rooms, which can then be pointed out through a mobile app. This will speed up the cleaning process and save power.

It can also mop tiles and wood floors with its mop attachment. However, if you have a rug in the same room, the robot automatically lifts itself to avoid spreading dirt. It has a 3 manual modes as well as an automatic mode. We advise leaving it on automatic, as it can easily detect the surface underneath and decide on the best way to clean it.

The Roomba S9+ is ideal for those who can't keep up with their everyday chores. It's great for mopping of hard floors and vacuuming of carpets - it has it all! As mentioned, its only real downside is its price. Apart from that, it really couldn't get any better - it's a great cleaning assistant.

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Pet hair removal 2

What is the best handheld steam cleaner?

Handheld steam cleaners are great for those who often have to deal with stains from spillages or pet accidents. They're not ideal for cleaning of large areas, and they're also not suitable for all carpet types. Some carpet piles simply cannot withstand the heat and moisture, namely sisal and seagrass carpets.

The model which we recommend to deal with furniture and carpet stains is the Pet Portable Spot Cleaner by Rug Doctor. It has two water tanks, a 4 foot long hose and comes with a pet stain and odour cleaning solution. To use it, simply fill up the clean water tank and add a one measuring cup of the detergent. Then, go over the stained area and pull the trigger to spray the solution.

Once the stains are removed make sure to suck out as much of the moisture as possible. Leave the carpet or sofa to dry out and come back later to check the end results.

Handheld steam cleaners can be of great help to deal with stains on small areas, but they're not proper carpet cleaning machines. On the plus side, steam cleaners can be used not just on carpets and sofas, but on hard surfaces as well. They're a great tool to use to deal with accidents in between professional carpet cleaning sessions.

question mark

What are the best carpet cleaning brushes?

In order to deal with stubborn stains, the use of brushes and some elbow grease is necessary. Even professionals will struggle without their help, so if you don't yet own one, it's high time to go shopping.

Carpet and upholstery cleaning brushes can be soft or stiff. Soft brushes are ideal for treating stains and spreading pre-spray products. Stiff brushes have almost the same purpose, but they're also able to remove lint and hair from the edges of the carpet.

There are also rubber brushes, also known as squeegees, which are ideal tools for removing hair from carpets, sofas, mattresses and so on. Yes, their main purpose may be to clean windows and other flat surfaces, but you'd be surprised by the amount of hair they can pick up.

What are the best cloths for carpet cleaning?

Microfibre cloths are great not just for carpet spot cleaning, but for everything! They can be used while dry or damp. Even if you only use a microfibre cloth and water, you'll be able to remove most germs and bacteria from the respective surface. For optimal results, feel free to apply carpet cleaning products, such as Vax platinum.

We recommend using white microfibre cloths as there's a possibility of dye transfer if said cloth is low quality. They can be used to rub a solution in or to soak up excessive water. And in order to clean them, simply use water.

Check also: What are the Best Carpet Cleaning Solutions?

Final thoughts

The truth is, we can't rely only on professional carpet cleaners to maintain our carpets. We must hoover our carpets at least once or twice a week, and when spillages occur we must be prepared. Maybe you won't be able to deal with all stains, but that's perfectly fine. As long as you react on time and do your best, you should be able to deal with most issues over carpets.