The 5 Best Carpet Spray Cleaners for Removing Dirt, Pet Stains, and Wine Spills

When disaster strikes, you want to be prepared. One of the most stressful household disasters? Stains, especially stains on carpet. In order to act fast, you need to have the best carpet spray cleaner in your arsenal.

According to Claudia Meneses, CEO of Avanti Green Eco Cleaning, the most common household stains she sees are coffee, tea, and soda. Pet owners have more specific needs. “The pet might have an accident or come in after playing in the mud,” she says.

We put 27 different spray cleaners to the test, using them to treat mud, red wine, barbecue sauce, and pet stains on carpet and upholstery. Based on the results, we named four as the best carpet spray cleaners you can buy.

Top Picks:

The Bottom Line

Our vote for the best carpet spray cleaner is the OxiClean Carpet Stain Remover, which completely eliminated all four types of stains while testing, both fresh and set-in. This versatility allows you to be prepared for any stain that arises, without owning multiple products.

Our Testing Process

Our test involved four notoriously-tricky stains—barbecue sauce, animal urine, red wine, and mud. We applied a teaspoon of each to carpet and upholstery twice. The first time was the day before testing to create “set-in” stains; the second was 1-30 minutes prior to testing for “fresh” stains.

We timed how long it took to treat each stain, from the moment we applied the formula to when the carpet or upholstery was dry. We followed the manufacturer’s recommendation for how long we waited after applying to start agitating the fibers. If there were none, we waited five minutes.

After at least 15 minutes of drying, we ranked the cleaners by ease of use, effectiveness, scent, and value (based on the price) on a scale of 1-5. If a stain was still present, we repeated the process and evaluated if there was any change.

Your Questions, Answered

What ingredients should you avoid when cleaning carpet?

The number one ingredient Meneses recommends avoiding in carpet cleaners is bleach. “When you buy a home, you really don’t know what type of carpet you have, and there are some that are safe to use bleach on, but I still don’t like to take that risk,” she says. Meneses also says you should stay away from high-residue soaps, like dish soaps, if you’re into DIYing a cleaner.

Are spray carpet cleaners safe for pets?

Some spray carpet cleaners are safe for pets—it all depends on the formula. Luckily, according to Meneses, manufacturers make this obvious on the packaging. “You always want to check the label. It should say ‘nontoxic’ or ‘pet safe’ on it.” 

A potential pro to pet-safe cleaners? “These formulas usually don’t have a strong fragrance to them,” she says. No need to crack a window open after.