Rug Doctor Mighty Pro carpet cleaner This model was tested by our experts. The Rug Doctor Mighty Pro is part of the Carpet cleanerIn our lab tests, Carpet cleaner models like the Mighty Pro are rated on multiple criteria, such as those listed below. Cleaning: Shows how well each machine removed muddy topsoil from carpet. Dryness: Indicates how much solution was left behind. The best left a few ounces; the worst left over a pint in the area cleaned. Ease of use: Includes machine weight, cord length, and tank access, filling, and emptying.Vacuuming is a no-brainer. You flip the switch, clean out the filter every now and then, and go to work on that area rug your dog likes better than his bed... right? We aren't saying buying and using a vacuum is rocket science, but we do want to point out a few of the things you might have missed when, like most of us, you tossed your machine's owner's manual into a junk drawer. Here to help: Consumer Reports' Senior Home & Yard Editor, Ed Perratore, who shared some of the most common vacuum cleaner dos and don'ts with HuffPost Home.

DO: Keep in mind what you'll use your vacuum cleaner for the most. "The toughest job for a vacuum is deep-cleaning carpets, which is what our research says is the number-one job people want in their vacuum. Equally important is being lightweight enough that it's not hard to push, pull, lift and generally maneuver. DO: At least try and lift the vacuum before you leave the store. "Try, in the store, to push and pull it around. Can You Sell Becker Cpa BooksTry to turn it around tight corners and lift it from its intended handle. Houses For Sale Jacks Lane TorquayLook for a power switch that's mounted high on the unit to avoid bending.Bath Shower Mixer Taps Ebay DO: Check out the "minor" details. "If it's a bagless, compare its bin size to that of other models.

Look for a brush on/off switch if you have bare floors, suction control if you'll be vacuuming drapes. And before buying either a bagged or bagless model, look up the price of the bags and filters. Some filters just need washing out, not replacing, but there's often more than one." DO: Buy a vacuum that works with your lifestyle. "We test for pet-hair pickup and find that some models do very well at getting up what their pet sheds without the hair wrapping around the brush. Neither uprights nor canisters have the edge there. For apartment dwellers, the size of the unit matters a lot. If you have lots of carpets, we recommend bagged uprights since they tend to have the best airflow and suction. If you don't want to lug around an upright and also maybe vacuum stairs a lot, consider a canister. And for general pickup of spilled dry items and dust, many people also have hand, stick and even robotic vacs--though you can't count on them for deep-cleaning." DON'T: Get hung up on the pricey models.

"Our best models are often not the most expensive. And occasionally, a very inexpensive model scores highly, like the Hoover WindTunnel T-Series UH30300, priced at $140 and the Panasonic MC-CL935, which goes for $330. DON'T: Forget that it's all about HOW you use the vacuum. "There are a few ways to vacuum "wrong." Never vacuum water or even a wet floor; use a wet/dry vac instead. Change your bag or empty your bin promptly; it affects available airflow. Ditto for the filters; inspect them every couple of months. If you vacuum up something big like a sock, turn the vacuum off right away--besides blocking airflow, you could break the belt, which is there to protect the motor. And if you vacuum a bare floor like wood or laminate and don't turn off the brush (or don't have a brush on/off switch), you'll wear away that floor's finish over time." DO: Get to know your machine. "Usually there's at least a crevice tool (for edges and tight places), a bristled brush for furniture, and one or two extension wands.

Some vacuums also have rubber-bristled brushes for picking up pet hair from furniture without static." DON'T: Expect your vacuum to last forever. "We've seen recent EPA figures of 5-8 years, but we think people replace their vacuums more often than that." You know a vacuum is ready to be replaced "when it either will not start, or it starts, but no longer picks [anything] up. [Provided you've checked that] hoses and other points of airflow are neither damaged nor clogged, the brush roll is not jammed up or filters don't need replacing, and the bag or bin isn't full. In other words, if you're properly maintaining the vac and it still won't pick up, it's time to at least get it looked at--perhaps replaced. DO: Take note of these top models. Consumer Reports Vacuum Cleaner Carpet CleaningBefore I stumbled upon the Hoover Linx Stick……I wondered if there was a cordless vacuum that would be great on carpet but still fall under $200.I’m just starting off and there’s no way that I could afford a fancy $300 vacuum even though it has all the bells and whistles.

Living in a small home……I needed something that is cordless, cleans well, charges in just a few hours, has a wide enough cleaning head so that I don’t need go back and forth so many times and easy to empty.The Platinum Cordless Stick BH50010 is one of only two Hoover cordless vacuums in their Platinum collection that also includes corded uprights and canisters.This undoubtedly is one of the more popular models in their product line with over 6,500 reviews in Amazon alone and hundreds more in different shopping sites.It uses the same battery as the handheld Linx 50030 so this gives you incentive to buy both since they’ll complement one another.Only one of the few vacs in the market equipped a motorized brush roll AND edge cleaning brushes that’ll clean floors right up to the edges.Editor Rating Bare Floor  Carpet  Pet Hair Removal  Ease of Use  Overall  Price The Hoover Platinum Stick is a floor cleaner capable of cleaning both carpet and hard floor surfaces.It is equipped with a wide 11 inch base that covers a lot a lot of ground and it’ll pick up dirt even on the edges – an area where most stick vacuums struggle.

If you own the Linx Pet Handheld and looking for something to clean your floors then this is a logical choice because both of them use the same battery.Even if you don’t own the Linx 50030 it is still a good purchase because these features:This is surface where it’ll stand out – with Hoover claiming upright performance.Capable of picking up fine (powder) to medium (cereal, dog or cat food) sized chunks of dirt with relative ease, it’ll have some trouble with those larger ones – well most floor vacs will have trouble with larger chunks of dirt.Tip: Avoid large chunks because it can get stuck in the tube between the head and the canister.It has an opening for larger debris though it’s only a few inches wide but this acts as a funnel for those big chunks of dirt.Dirt that’ll not fit through the opening will be pushed around but you can try to tilt up the base a little bit to fit those in.One feature you’ll appreciate and thousands others have is the edge cleaning bristles that allow this to reach edges.

You don’t need to whip out a handheld or bend down and use your fingers just to clean dirt off the edges.This is an issue with a lot of floor cleaners and this feature makes this one of the best sellers.Just remember to check and clean the brushroll regularly because if it gets too dirty it can scratch floors and you don’t want that if you have wooden, laminate or tiled flooring.By the way Hoover doesn’t recommend turning it on when cleaning hard floors.Remember to switch it on to “II” before using this on carpet – this turns on the brushroll that’s needed to pick up dirt on this surface.Like on bare floor, it did a really decent job on low pile carpet, picking up dirt in one or two passes.On several video reviews I saw in Youtube, it picked up fine particles such as baking soda to bigger things like cat or dog food.It won’t deep clean carpets like an upright or canister or work well on really thick carpet but I don’t think any of the cordless does this well.I’ve already highlighted this in the intro – yes it picks up dirt even on edges because it is equipped with edge brushes.

A nice feature put in by Hoover that saves you time in cleaning floors. No need to get a handheld to pick up dirt left here.It’ll remove pet hair but take note that hair (human or pet) tends to get stuck on the brush roll and the baffle tube (the thing that spins inside the dust cup) and you’ll have to use your hands to pull it out.It can be used to clean out pet hair but keep a close eye on the dirt bin if it gets full. The red thing you see in the picture is the baffle tubeNo attachments or accessories included just the charger.It takes around 3 hours to charge.How do you know if it’s fully charged?Remember to remove the battery from the charger after charging – don’t leave it on there because it’ll shorten the service life.There was a suggestion about using an outlet timer so you can leave it on the charger overnight.Cleaning the filter will involve these steps:This unit comes with one foam filter located on top of the dirt cup – only wash in running water, don’t use any detergent or wash it in a dishwasher.

Also remember to always check the dirt tube and nozzle openings for any debris that might be left in there to ensure that this runs smoothly and efficiently.A majority of owners reported a battery life of around 15 minutes on hard floors and roughly 10 minutes on carpet.Reviews in different sites confirmed the fade free claim, it’ll run well throughout the charge cycle then at about the two minute mark before it’s empty it’ll slowly lose suction.Hoover claims that this battery will last for around 600 to 800 charge cycles.All platinum series vacuums come with a 2 year warranty.See how it performs on carpet… and on tiles… Just in case you’re interested how to change the belt… The Linx Stick cordless had way over 6,500 reviews from Amazon alone with a vast majority of them giving it a 5 star rating.This volume alone makes this the number one selling product in the stick vac category.More than a thousand gave this a 5 star rating and over 300 gave it 4 stars – a lot of them liked that it was lightweight, easy to use and has strong suction – strong enough to clog up the pathway in between the base and canister as mentioned in some reviews.

Pet owners also loved how it cleaned  hard floors and carpet but also mentioned that hair can get tangled up between the bristles of the brush roll and the baffle tube.One of the most common complaints about this product is the battery – either it didn’t last long enough or it prematurely broke.The first issue is related to user expectation so if you’re expecting this to last for an hour then you’ll be disappointed – especially if you’ll use it on carpet because the brush roll will eat up extra power.Second issue is more of a manufacturing concern – as with all electronic items, there will be bad batches that’ll come out and with this model it was kept to a minimum if you look at the ratio between positive and negative reviews. Hence that’s why we have warranty.For your information here are the other common issues and complaints I found in Amazon:Over 600 people left a review in Walmart and out that around 93% would recommend this product.The reasons why people loved this are quite similar to the consumers in Amazon.It performed well on both carpet and bare floors, it is lightweight and even though it can’t swivel users  still liked how easy it was to maneuver.

Pet owners also loved how it helps them clean off pet hair their dogs and cats shed.Battery life is around 15 to 20 minutes but there were complaints about lemon batteries that don’t work or didn’t last long.Another common problem here for consumers even in the 4 or 5 star ratings was the handle that has a tendency to break because it is held in place by a screw and plastic – let’s hope that they address this in future units that come out.Senior citizens also purchased this because it didn’t weigh a lot and this allowed them to clean their homes even at their advanced age.Over 170 left reviews and over 140 of them would recommend it to a friend.People loved that even though it has strong suction (with some using it as a commercial cleaner), it still managed to keep its weight down.Most of the complaints were related to the lack of run time, broken handle, and lemon units.BestBuy had around 76 reviews to date and 96% of them would recommend it to a friend – reviews were a bit mixed about battery life with some satisfied and some feeling that it’s a bit lacking and it needs at least 2 batteries.

There were also some complaints about not having any attachments and the dirt cup being small.Pet owners, small families, teens, brand conscious, everyday users were among the satisfied customers.18 people were kind enough to leave a personal review here, with 13 of them giving a 5 star rating.Most of them liked its suction power (with some comparing it to the Dyson) plus its compact and lightweight design. The common complaints here were run time and price.It is available in nearly every online retail outlet but the best deals I found was in Amazon and Walmart.You get free shipping if you purchase it in Amazon even without the joining their Prime Program and you get the top notched aftersales service that they have.This product is great for…Small to medium sized homes with bare floor or low pile carpet.It’ll do a good job on both types of surfaces, easily picking up fine to medium sized particles in just one or two passes and will clean up to the edges because it has edge cleaning bristles.

Don’t rely on this if you have thick carpets at home since it’ll not do as good a job on it as on thinner carpet.Because it is over 42 inches long, it can be tricky to use this cleaning stairs – you may want to use a handheld vacuum with a brushroll for this job.Take note that since dirt cup isn’t very large and because of its tendency to get hair stuck in the brush roll and baffle tube (the red thing that looks like a top inside the dirt cup) this isn’t designed to remove a lot of pet hair.Even though in some reviewers say you get a 6 year warranty on the vacuum – the manufacturer website states that it only comes with a 2 year warranty on the whole unit (vacuum, charger and battery), you can call them to verify.Also if you’re considering to use this as your primary cleaner, consider getting an extra battery to double the run time, remember though that this isn’t a deep cleaner on carpet so this advice only applies to homes with minimal carpeting.Overall a very good stick vac with good power and decent battery life, just don’t forget to clean the brush roll, baffle tube, edge bristles and tube in between the body and base regularly to maintain the performance and extend service life.