Bissell Little Green

The Little Green doesn't fare as well as Bissell's pricier portable model, the SpotBot (*Est. $130) in reviews, but if you're looking to spend less than $100 for a lightweight carpet cleaner, owner reviews say this is a handy and effective moderately priced machine. The Little Green weighs just 13 pounds and has two small tanks for holding the cleaning solution and the dirty water. Unlike the SpotBot, a 17-pounder that scrubs the carpet itself wherever you park it, the Little Green has a manually operated, 5-foot hose attachment that both sprays the cleaner and suctions up the backflow. While many say it does a good job at tackling even tough stains, we found numerous complaints that the dirty-water reservoir is hard to clean; over time, users report, residue build-up in the tank can cause an unpleasant odor. Some also say the dirty water tank leaks. But many consumers were pleased with their Little Greens, especially those who used it to clean car interiors, upholstery or pet stains. And it fares much better in reviews than most of its competitors, including the Dirt Devil Spot Scrubber (*Est. $30) and the Bissell Cordless Spot Lifter Handheld Deep Cleaner (*Est. $50).

As with other portable carpet cleaners, we rely on user reviews because the little expert testing of carpet cleaners we found focuses on larger, upright models. We found dozens of reviews on consumer websites that gave us a strong sense of the Little Green's strengths and weaknesses.