BISSELL TurboClean PET, Upright Carpet & Upholstery Cleaner, 3948

Why it's worth it

The TurboClean PET is a compact full-size upright that's easy to carry and easy to store. It handles high-traffic lanes and pet messes across a few rooms, without the heft or the price tier of the ProHeat line.

At around 19 pounds, this is a full-size machine you can actually carry upstairs one-handed. Owners who downsized from rented Rug Doctors or older, heavier uprights consistently call out the weight as the reason they use it more. A machine that's easy to get out gets used; that's most of the battle with carpet cleaning.

The 4-row DeepReach PowerBrush plus the suction does real work on the paths through your house that get dirty first — hallways, the strip in front of the couch, the doorway everyone tracks in through. Owners report water coming out dark from carpet they thought was clean. It's a maintenance machine more than a restoration machine, and it's good at that job.

From our review of 6 bissell carpet cleaners

What we like

• +At around 19 pounds, this is a full-size machine you can actually carry upstairs one-handed
• +The 4-row DeepReach PowerBrush plus the suction does real work on the paths through your house that get dirty first — hallways,…
• +The tool kit is better than you'd expect at this size
• +Set one expectation now: it's built for stains, dirt and odors, not for pet hair

What to know

• –The tanks are small for a full-size unit
• –There's no heated cleaning and no pretreat sprayer
• –Compact also means a narrower cleaning head, so a big room takes more passes