Rug Doctor Portable Spot Cleaner Review

In this Rug Doctor portable carpet spot cleaner review, we’ll look at the pros and cons of this model. The Rug Doctor portable spot cleaner is the smaller sibling to the larger version often available for rent at the grocery store.

Pros of the Rug Doctor Portable Version

This spot remover has twice as much power relative to other stain and spot removing machines. You’ll get the job done faster with this model than its competitors.
The Rug Doctor model has wheels to allow you to roll it around behind you, instead of having to lug it around like a hand held vacuum cleaner. The wheels are even carpet friendly, so they won’t damage the carpet or leave ugly, dirty tracks on the floor you’re trying to clean.
The Rug Doctor stain remover has removable tanks that let you fill them up with spot remover in the sink and empty where you will, minimizing the risk of making a mess with the nasty chemicals or dirty water. However, you do have to be careful of the hole near the top side of the water tank or you’ll spill the dirty water onto the floor.
The portable carpet cleaner is a money saver if you have to clean up spilled food, spilled drinks and pet stains out of the floor more than six or seven times a year. At that point, the purchase price of the unit and cleaners starts to become cost effective compared to the ongoing rental price.
The Rug Doctor portable cleaner can be used to clean your car as well as your home. In fact, it will get out those nasty spilled juice stains for a fraction of the price of the cost of detailing the car several times a year.

Cons of the Rug Doctor Portable Version

These units are heavy, though they are lighter than the professional units in the rental section of the grocery store. This unit is not an option if you cannot lift it up stairs, pull it from room to room or reach down to empty and load the reservoirs. This portable spot cleaner is heavy at twenty pounds plus the weight of the liquid in the reservoir.
If you spot clean your floors only three or four times a year, it is cheaper to rent the unit when you need it. Conversely, this unit is not suitable if you have all the carpets in the house cleaned several times a year – trying to clean all the carpets yourself with this unit takes forever and more money in Rug Doctor soaps than it costs for someone to pull up in a steam cleaning truck and clean your house.
The motorized brush just vibrates, instead of actually doing a lot of heavy lifting like a vacuum head.

Observations about the Rug Doctor Portable Spot Cleaner

A 32 ounce bottle of the Rug Doctor cleaner for the Rug Doctor portable spot remover machine is around $10. Only a small amount is required if you use it to spot clean by hand, since the solution is mixed with water. You mix the solution to add to the spot cleaner machine as well, so 32 ounces will last weeks if not months. One caveat for pet owners is that the pet formula is about $20 to $22; this formula is what you’ll want to remove cat pee and dog poop residue out of the carpet.

You should not pour a lot of the cleaner into the machine and then let it sit in the machine for months. You do have to rinse out the spot cleaning machine periodically, even if you don’t let soap solidify in the machine sitting in the closet for six months. This is done by putting hot water in the detergent reservoir, running the spray head and letting it empty into a sink until the reservoir is empty. Then you can refill the detergent reservoir and continue working.

Only add as much cleaner as you think you’ll need. More than that wastes money and can slosh out when you empty out the tank.

The second generation of stain cleaner soap is foamier than the soaps that came out before. It smells more like a bath soap than a false “clean” scent or floral scent that caused problems for some with chemical sensitivity.

Comments

Daniel Euergetes says

September 23, 2014 at 11:41 pm

I read this review and am on the lookout for a unit. My particular case warrants that I should just continue renting a unit, but if you have kids or pets, or both, this is the way to go! I especially enjoyed the quality and honest approach in this review!

Daniel

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Mike Soekawa says

June 26, 2015 at 9:52 am

Thanks for a thorough review. I am currently trying to decide between this machine and the Bissell Spot Clean Pro. Both seem like they would do the job and the prices I have found seem similar. We have a staircase landing that gets constant use from all of us going up and down and now it is a favorite chill spot for our two dogs. We have noticed that the carpet there is now taking on dirt from being in such a heavily trafficked area and is becoming discolored and darker than the rest of the carpet. Your price info on the pet formula detergent is very helpful. Cheers!

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- James says
  
  March 18, 2018 at 2:28 pm
  
  I am just returning my Bissell used 3 times in 10 months no water comes out now– don’t recommend — James
  
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Julia David says

August 24, 2015 at 10:25 am

Perfect for spot cleaning! LOVE IT! I had several pet stains on my new carpet, and within a few minutes I had them all cleaned and the carpet was back to looking brand new! The cleaner was very easy to use, very easy to get up and down stairs, easy to clean – exactly what I had hoped it would be. It cleaned the spots like you would expect a rug doctor product to do I highly recommend this vacuum for all of you.

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Ann says

November 7, 2015 at 3:41 am

I have had this machine for several months. It is excellent for pet accidents. The suction is better than any I have seen before. It is easy to use and carry or roll around the house. I have only found one major flaw. That is it leaks threw the bottom of the machine like crazy. I have to set it on a rubber mat or dirty water leaks all over the floor.

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Carole says

March 30, 2016 at 1:34 pm

Surely the leaking problem can be resolved by Rug Doctor somehow. This problem is especially bothersome since the cleaner is heavy. We have 4 cats and use the rug Doctor regularly, which makes the leak problem especially frustrating. Help! Rug Doctors engineers!!

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kim says

May 4, 2016 at 4:36 pm

can you hire the rug doctor spot cleaner anywhere please

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- A. Simmons says
  
  May 4, 2016 at 4:59 pm
  
  Hi Kim, you can try the following link to find a rental location – http://www.rugdoctor.com/rent/find-a-location
  
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MG says

December 3, 2017 at 9:01 pm

I bought one after reading good reviews, and thought my review might help others. I really wonder if they even do customer testing during engineering these???

Pros: Good power and suction. Nice long hose. Love the wheels and telescoping handle.
Cons: For anyone with any kind of arthritis (mine is minor) in their hands beware. The area to hold the nozzle is larger, and my hand hurt after just a few minutes. The grips for the water tanks are not nearly deep enough to hold properly – even without arthritis. Cannot set the water storage tank down to pour in the shampoo – makes it VERY awkward to fill.

Bought this over replacing my Bissel Green Machine with a new one because of the reviews, but now having regrets.

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Daisy Abad says

June 23, 2018 at 1:49 am

Can you use this machine to clean your upholstery from your couches?

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Connie says

August 30, 2018 at 3:51 am

I have a very senior dog with potty issues. My portable rug doctor cleans the carpet just fine, but even after meticulous maintenance, my machine emits a very strong urine smell when I use it. I only use the Rug Doctor Pltinum Pet Formula cleaning solution in my machine and even suck clean water and solution through my hose when I’m finished using it.

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Albert says

February 24, 2020 at 7:00 pm

This machine is junk, the nozzle where the liquid comes out, keeps breaking, and you can’t replace it. I have had two machines, that have done this, and I don’t abuse the machines. Now I get the liquid coming out on one spot, because it can’t spray, because a piece broke off

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