Rug Doctor Wherever They Occur Cleaner, Leading Portable Machine for Extracting Spots on Carpet, Rugs, Stairs, Upholstery and Auto Interiors, Removes Tough Stains and Neutralizes Odors, Small, Red

After calling around town and getting sticker shock on how much it costs to have upholstery professionally cleaned, I was very excited to snag this on a Black Friday sale over a year ago. It has paid for itself over and over again. I keep the cleaning solution in the reservoir ready to go so I can grab it when something liquid spills and standard cleaning methods prove to be insufficient. I even had an experience with paint on the carpet and I snagged this and it took it out immediately and completely. It does drip when the suction releases, so I put a small towel down to catch that. I usually spray items down for a “pretreat” and let them set for a few minutes. Then I carefully and slowly pull the nozzle over the upholstery or carpet. It’s satisfying watching the tinted liquid get sucked up. You can tell by the dirty reservoir that it’s doing it’s job! It takes a while to finish sofa cushions, because I’m careful to go back over them when the stain is still visible when wet. You can just barely see on our grey sofa it could probably use another go, but I’m too tired for now and it honestly looks GREAT to the naked eye. I let the cushions dry out overnight before putting them back. Not only are the stains mostly gone, but the cushions look refreshed. Be careful lifting the dirty reservoir out to dump it, I spilled it everywhere the first time, but haven’t again. I’m still on the first bottle of cleaning liquid it came with and I’ve done a BUNCH of items, stains, and spills this past year - I even took it to a friends house to help them out. It’s easy to carry and packs up well. I absolutely love it.

This is a longer review. But hopefully helpful. I had previous version of rug doctor for 10 years and it was amazing. It cleaned up after 2 new puppies and one who refuses to house train. It cleaned old and new stains and cleaned what competition could not as you can see in pictures. My old rug doctor got a crack in the dirty water tank which we sealed with a special glue and it lasted another few years of constant use until it started to leak internally. It had a motorized brush that never failed and bristles that stayed in good condition for again ten years. I loved it. It cleaned everything we could throw at it new and old. When it died I made mistake and bought the leading competition thinking it must be better. I was terribly wrong. That machine must be defective but good luck if you missed out on return window. After hours and hours of horrible customer service I am stuck with a defective machine that does not clean any stain whatsoever. I was without a carpet cleaner that would actually work for 2 months so wised up and I bought newer version of rug doctor that cleaned what the other couldn’t despite 3 different times trying to clean a fresh stain. The doctor cleaned that now old stain in one try. It sucked solution like mad and left carpet nearly dry too. Which is very important if you know about cleaning carpet.The prior rug doctor cleaned so well I was an idiot to not just save myself from the headache of having to deal with what I am going through now. The new version is much the same except it has rubber bristles and no motorized agitator which I did like - I don’t know why they would get rid of that functionality that put it ahead of any other spot cleaner. Regardless it worked beautifully to finally clean stains up and out for good. The new dirty water tank opens up more fully and it’s easier to clean. It’s not a particularly small machine and it packs a lot of power which means carpets dry faster. It does have wheels though and it’s not overly heavy. It’s a quality made machine that I hope lasts another ten years. I wish the cleaning head could be removed but it’s not a deal breaker. This is a power house of a cleaner and is made well to stand time. I hope the newer version lasts as long and since nothing about the main body of machine has changed it should. I never cleaned hose out after use with old one now I know better so just put some hot water in a bowl and suck it through hose and maybe that will keep it better so I’m told. I will never get another spot cleaner. It’s a ten out of ten. I’m still using this on every stain the other one couldn’t clean to save its life. It’s been 2 months with a dog that has cancer and vomits and the one that loves to mark on carpet. Some things about the competition brand new bad awful highly rated one- the cleaning head is small. Too small and it was defective so it didn’t suck appropriately. A huge bonus is I never had to contact rug Doctor customer service ever because both machines work amazing. Good luck if you have a problem with the other one - you will be frustrated out of your mind. I’m. Very pleased that all the stains that have accumulated are gone and my carpets do need a deep cleaning overall but for a spot cleaner that I use weekly if not byweekly this is the go to work horse. Bravo rug doctor. Thank you for making a superb top of line product.

I've had this spot cleaner for 11 months now. Up until a couple months ago I was thrilled -- suction was impressive, it cleaned really well. Yes, I read the reviews about the tank being inconvenient to fill because it won't stand on it's own when it's off the machine -- not that big a deal really, it's small enough to hold onto and fill and anyway it was a small price to pay for the performance of the machine. I also put up with one of the screws that hold the vibrating brush head in place breaking out because the place the screw attaches is a very weak plastic loop that cracks fairly soon after the suction head has much use (with the pressure and vibration it is exposed to). BUT... a couple months ago, the built-in sprayer started to fail. Pull the little lever to spray and nothing. No, it wasn't clogged, I got online and checked all the things for that -- it is the spray pump itself. I've cajoled it into kicking in and spraying a couple more times, but now it seems dead for good. I'm pretty good with machines and do my research, and short of tearing the whole machine apart, I've done all I can. Seems ridiculous to lose a major function of a fairly pricey machine in less than a year, despite careful use and meticulous cleaning, care, and maintenance. The return period was only a month, So if you take a chance on this machine, be prepared for it to live a short life, despite its price tag. I'm currently trying to contact the manufacturer, since it is supposed to have a 2-yr warranty. This will be the test of whether they stand behind their product or not (I'll update about that). Unfortunately I live in a small town and any service center will be nowhere nearby, but it would be better than nothing. In any case, what started out to be the anticipation of a good review has turned to disappointment.UPDATE (10/2018): The manufacturer 'sort of' stood behind the warranty on the above-reviewed machine (I'll call it Spot Cleaner #1) - they replaced it *after* I shipped the machine back to them at my own expense. The cost of shipping this fairly heavy machine was not much cheaper that buying a new one! Given this was equipment failure, not anything I had done, I don't find that acceptable.Nevertheless, that began this new chapter - Spot Cleaner #2: Right out of the box the sprayer had a problem. Yes, it sprayed, but afterward it continued to 'dribble,' leaking cleaning liquid when I didn't want it - when I was trying to use the suction. But at least it sprayed, and I wasn't about to go through the warranty process again, so I learned to keep one finger over the sprayer opening. It also seemed to leak from the joint where the main hose attached to the body of the cleaner, but I got used to putting a wad of paper towels under that spot after I'd cleaned out the machine following use. A few months ago, however, the sprayer stopped working, just like Spot Cleaner #1. I went through all the troubleshooting once again, no blockage - it had simply stopped taking in liquid from the cleaner reservoir. This time, with nothing to lose, I even tried to take the cleaner apart (the gray bottom and the red upper are separate parts), to see if there was a crimp or blockage in the 1/4" sprayer tubing somewhere inside. But - the way the cleaner is constructed, you can take out every single screw and still the unit won't open. Suspected culprits are 2 small recesses that probably contain hidden screws, but the possible screws are covered with a layer of something I can't get through or pull off. Also, the hose and spray tubing are both attached to connecting components with tiny zip-ties rather than removable hose clamps. This is a show-stopper with the main hose, as the zip tie is underneath a plastic cage-like bracket that then connects to the main body of the cleaner. No way to get to the zip tie, no way to get the other end out of the machine without being able to get the bottom off. This matters because the spray tubing runs *inside* the main hose (also would have been nice to find/fix the leakage problem at that location). I have spent enough time and frustration fighting with Spot Cleaner #2, and I can't pay a small fortune again to ship it back to Rug Doctor - it is going in the trash. I'm ordering a new spot cleaner that is NOT the Rug Doctor, and I would urge others to do the same. I wanted to like the Rug Doctor, really, but there are obviously some major problems with its construction, and the way the company handles the warranty makes it not worth the hassle. Learn from my pain...