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Carpet steamers offer a quick and effective way to lift stains without the use of harsh chemicals. Many models are also versatile enough to use on surfaces like hardwood and tile. To help you choose the best option for your home, the This Old House team reviewed the top-rated carpet steamers available on Amazon. Here are our five top recommendations.
Top 3 Carpet Steamers
- Best Accessories: Costway Steam Cleaner
- Best Steamer Head: Steam & Go Electric Carpet Steamer
- Best Design: Reliable Steam Floor Mop
Best Accessories
Costway Steam Cleaner
- $99.99
Prices taken at time of publishing.
This carpet steamer has several impressive safety features for peace of mind, including a child lock to prevent accidental operation and automatic shut-off to turn the machine off when its water supply is low. Additionally, it includes a built-in handle to increase mobility.
Best Steamer Head
Steam & Go Electric Carpet Steamer
- $69.99
Prices taken at time of publishing.
Other interesting features of this carpet steamer include its V-shaped head that pivots 360 degrees to help you reach tight spaces as well as its foldable handle that makes storage easy.
Best Design
Reliable Steam Floor Mop
- $139
Prices taken at time of publishing.
With a 25-minute steam time, this steamer is sure to last you through a full clean. It also has a built-in foot release that helps you quickly adjust its cleaning head to suit a variety of surfaces throughout your home.
Buyer’s Guide
Here are some of the most important factors to consider before purchasing a carpet steamer.
Steam Temperature
All carpet steamers heat water to at least 212 degrees Fahrenheit because that’s the temperature required for water to convert to steam. However, some high-powered models produce steam that’s hotter than that. For example, the Costway Steam Cleaner generates steam that reaches 226 degrees Fahrenheit to lift deeply embedded dirt and debris.
Water Tank Size
Carpet steamers have a built-in water tank that feeds into their heating mechanism to produce steam. The size of this tank varies from model to model. For example, the lightweight Reliable Steam Floor Mop has a 600-milliliter water tank, while the heavy-duty Costway Steam Cleaner has a 1.5-liter water tank. While smaller water tanks make carpet steamers easier to control, they have shorter runtimes.
Preheating Time
Before they’re ready to start cleaning, carpet steamers have to preheat to bring their water to a steam. The preheating process varies from model to model and can take anywhere from 10 seconds to over five minutes. A big factor in preheating time is the size of the steamer’s water tank, with larger water tanks requiring more time to preheat. For example, the Costway Steam Cleaner has a 1.5-liter water tank that needs five to six minutes to preheat, while the Moolan Steam Mop and its 450-milliliter water tank need just 20 seconds to preheat.
Accessories
Most carpet steamers include accessories to help users clean a variety of surfaces. Some of the most popular attachments include carpet gliders for maintaining carpeted surfaces, scrub brushes for addressing heavily soiled surfaces, and glass brushes for cleaning windows.
Other accessories help you maintain your carpet steamer or prepare it for cleaning. For example, many models come with a measuring cup and funnel to help you add water to your steamer’s tank.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between a carpet steamer and a carpet cleaner?
While carpet cleaners use heat and water to clean your carpets, they don’t heat water to a steam like carpet steamers do.
How often should I steam clean my carpets?
It varies depending on your carpeted area’s size, traffic, and material, but most carpets should be steam cleaned about twice a year.
How much do carpet steamers cost?
Carpet steamers are affordable cleaning tools that typically cost between $50 and $100.
Why Trust The This Old House Team
This Old House has empowered homeowners for more than four decades with top-notch home improvement content in the form of television programs, print media, and digital content on its website and social media platforms. The This Old House Team focuses on creating in-depth product and service review content to help inform your purchasing decision for just about any item or resource that you might need for your home. The This Old House Team has written over 1,000 reviews on products in the home space, from cordless drills to kitchen trash cans, lawn mowers, and dining room decorations.
We recommend products in each review using an intensive research process, spending hours combing through the best available models on Amazon. For a product to make our list of top picks, it must hold a solid sales record on Amazon, have consistently positive customer reviews, and offer unique features, among other factors. After narrowing down our list of recommendations, we conduct additional research and sometimes in-person testing to ensure that the products meet our standards. Once we conclude the research phase, we craft a well-rounded, user-friendly article that includes our recommended products and additional information to help homeowners like you make the right purchase.
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