Resolve® Spot and Stain Remover

Resolve® Spot and Stain Remover spray, a carpet and rug cleaner, features special stain-fighting ingredients that destroys tough messes the 1 st time and helps keep them from reappearing. Its specially designed formula begins working in just 30 seconds. Resolve® Spot and Stain Remover breaks down messes caused by red wine, food grease, mud, coffee and more. Its pleasant scent neutralizes odors to leave your carpet smelling fresh.

The Best Carpet Stain Removers of 2023

Recommendations are independently chosen by Reviewed’s editors. Purchases made through the links below may earn us and our publishing partners a commission.

Woolite InstaClean

The Woolite Instaclean Permanent Pet Stain Remover does a great job of removing all types of stains. Read More

Pros

• Excellent stain removal performance
• Safe for kids and pets

Cons

Biokleen Bac-Out Stain + Odor Remover

Looking for an eco-friendly carpet cleaning solution that still gets the job done? Look no further than Biokleen. Read More

Pros

• Excellent stain removal performance
• Eco-friendly

Cons

Bissell Pro Oxy Power Shot

This Bissell carpet spray is effective, easy to use, and safe for kids and pets. Read More

Pros

• Great stain removal performance
• Easy to use
• Safe for kids and pets

Cons

Angry Orange Odor Eliminator

Trying to get rid of carpet odors? Angry Orange is the way to go. Read More

Pros

Cons

• Some pets may be sensitive to certain ingredients

Hoover Oxy Tough Stain Remover

If you don’t mind waiting a few minutes for this carpet cleaner to work, you’ll love the results when you use the Hoover carpet cleaner spray. Read More

Pros

Cons

• Needs to sit for 10 minutes before being blotted

Updated May 17, 2023

While more and more homeowners are replacing their wall-to-wall carpeting with real or synthetic hardwood flooring, there are still many who prefer to cover their bare floors with luxurious-feeling carpeting. However, because carpets consist of a bunch of absorbent fibers, it is very easy for carpets to get visibly dirty or discolored.

While regular vacuuming helps to remove dust and debris, it’s a whole different ball game when it comes to cleaning the liquids or wet solids (hello, slime) that land on your carpeted floors. Those with kids, pets, or messy hobbies are very much aware that removing carpet stains requires special cleaners, a sponge or a clean cloth, and a whole lot of elbow grease.

The recommendations in this guide are based on thorough product and market research by our team of expert product reviewers. The picks are based on examining user reviews, product specifications, and, in some limited cases, our experience with the specific products named.

Woolite Instaclean is our pick for the best overall carpet stain remover.

When it comes to cleaning impossibly tough stains, Woolite Instaclean has your back. Out of all of the carpet stain removers we tested, this carpet spray had the best stain removal performance; it removed almost all chocolate stains and easily dispatched the rest of the stains we tried, including tomato sauce. Even better, it removed nearly all of the odors that accompanied each stain.

To apply this spot cleaner, you simply spray it on the stain, give it a few seconds to soak in, blot the stain with a clean cloth, and reapply as needed. After the stain is gone, dry the stain with a second, clean cloth.

Best of all, Woolite Instaclean is billed as safe for kids and pets. While you should obviously prevent small children and animals from ingesting any sort of cleaner, this carpet stain remover is safe as long as it is used (and dried) appropriately.

Pros

• Excellent stain removal performance
• Safe for kids and pets

Cons

Biokleen is our pick for the most eco-friendly (and effective) carpet stain remover.

As we become more aware of our impact on the environment, more people are looking for eco-friendly alternatives to the products we use every day. Biokleen Bac-Out Enzyme Stain Remover does a killer job of removing tough test stains; and only left behind a slightly darker-colored stain halo when it came to chocolate. Where the Biokleen was applied multiple times (i.e. on our two most difficult stains, chocolate sauce and tomato sauce), the stain odors were almost entirely eliminated and instead replaced by the light scent of lemon.

This spot cleaner doesn’t need to set in for any length of time; you just spray it, blot the stain, and repeat as necessary.

The Biokleen carpet spray is non-toxic, phosphate-free, and primarily consists of plant-derived ingredients.

Pros

• Excellent stain removal performance
• Eco-friendly

Cons

The Bissell Professional carpet stain remover does an outstanding job removing stains; after four rounds of cleaning, only faint hints of both chocolate sauce stains and tomato sauce stains remained. Smells related to the stains remained, but further applications of this product would likely remove those odors altogether.

Even better, this product comes in a spray can; those with limited hand strength will appreciate how much less effort it requires to aim and spray this cleaning solution onto a moderately-sized stain than it does when using a carpet stain remover in a normal spray bottle. As the cherry on top, this Bissell carpet spray is labeled as safe for kids and pets.

Pros

• Great stain removal performance
• Easy to use
• Safe for kids and pets

Cons

If you’re looking for a carpet cleaning spray that can tackle tough stains and smelly odors, Angry Orange is the way to go. This orange-scented cleaner doesn’t just cover up the odors accompanying the test stains, it removes them altogether (one of the only products we tested to do so).

While it’s excellent at odor removal, Angry Orange struggled a bit when it came to our tests stains. This spray managed to remove almost all of the tomato sauce stain, but there was still a distinct halo of chocolate sauce left behind after our scrubbing attempts.

One last thing to keep in mind: if you have pets at home, do your best to prevent them from accessing areas where you’re using the Angry Orange cleaner. A warning on the label states that “Cats and birds may be sensitive to concentrated levels of certain ingredients [in the Angry Orange carpet spray].”

Pros

Cons

• Some pets may be sensitive to certain ingredients

Hoover Oxy is one of the more effective carpet stain removers we tested. While the chocolate sauce stain was still visible, most of the darkest part of the stain had been removed. The tomato sauce stain was mostly removed as well. After multiple applications, only a slight scent of chocolate sauce remained.

One thing to note: The directions on this cleaning product recommend that you let the stain remover sit for 10 minutes after applying it to the carpet; we got pretty good results by following those directions. However, if the stain is in an area where it cannot be left unattended or blocked off from kids and pets, we instead recommend using one of the carpet stain removers that can be reapplied immediately.

Pros

Cons

• Needs to sit for 10 minutes before being blotted

Rocco and Roxie Professional Strength Stain and Odor Eliminator

While the Rocco and Roxie carpet cleaner wasn’t able to defeat the tomato stain on our test carpet, it was one of the few carpet cleaners we tested that almost entirely removed the chocolate sauce stain. Similarly, we were still able to smell the tomato sauce in the carpet fibers, but the scent of chocolate was almost gone.

Rocco and Roxie is safe to use around kids and pets, so you should be able to remove even the toughest set-in stains after a few applications.

Pros

Cons

Nature’s Miracle is a brand that pet owners have sworn by for years; as we found out during testing, that brand loyalty is well earned. This carpet cleaner removed almost all of our two toughest test stains: chocolate sauce and tomato sauce. It was mostly successful at removing the stain odors as well, although the tomato sauce smell lingered a bit.

This carpet spray has to sit for 15 minutes before you can start to blot it away. Furthermore, the directions on the back of the bottle say that after you blot the sprayed section of the carpet, that it should be left to dry for 24 hours. This could be fine, except that there’s a warning on the bottle that states that pets should be kept away from that section of the carpet while it’s drying. So, if you’re unable to keep your pets away from the stained area for 24 hours, it may make more sense to use a product that doesn’t have to dry for such a long period of time.

Pros

Cons

The Tests

The stains we used in our testing of carpet cleaning solutions include fox urine (U), chocolate sauce (CS), tomato sauce (TS), milk (M), red wine (RW), and dirt (D).

As you might expect, our testing of various carpet stain removers mostly focused on actually getting stains out of carpets. We applied five different stains to a gray, medium-pile carpet square: chocolate sauce, milk, tomato sauce, fox urine, and dirt. In this case, we used fox urine as a proxy for household pet urine (since there’s no easy way of getting our hands on cat or dog urine, while fox urine is often used to keep critters out of backyards, and can be purchased on Amazon).

Each carpet cleaner had its own stain-covered carpet square. After letting the stains sit on the carpet square for days untouched, we then followed the application directions on the label of each carpet stain remover.

For the carpet stain removers that are meant to be applied and reapplied continuously until the stain is gone, we sprayed and blotted the stain four times in a row. For those that need to sit undisturbed for more than 10 minutes before blotting and reapplication, we sprayed and blotted the stain three times.

After the carpet square had completely dried, we then vacuumed each carpet square and evaluated the stain and odor removal performance of each carpet stain remover. We also scored the cleaners on their ease of use, scent, and special features (e.g. safe for use around kids and pets, eco-friendliness, etc.).

What You Should Know About Carpet Stain Removers

How Do I Clean My Carpets?

Carpet cleaning solutions can help you get rid of tough or set-in carpet stains.

If you get a stain on your carpet, it’s always better to try to remove the stain as quickly as possible. The longer the stain sits in your carpet, the more the stain can be absorbed into the carpet fibers.

As soon as the stain lands on your carpet, the first thing to do is to wipe up what you can with a clean dry cloth. If the stain is wet or liquid-like, dampen the cloth before trying to swipe up the stain.

Once you’ve manually removed as much of the stain as possible, follow the directions on the bottle and apply the carpet cleaner to the carpet. Very recent stains should come up with one or two applications, but older or set-in stains may require many more applications of the carpet spray.

In general, the most effective way to clean something is to rely on both chemical (i.e. cleaning products) and mechanical (i.e. scrubbing) action. The cleaning products are typically made of chemicals that help to separate the stain from the surface, while the scrubbing physically lifts and removes the stain from the surface. With carpets, the same logic applies, but the scrubbing has to be done a bit more carefully that it would on a sealed floor surface.

The directions on most carpet cleaners tell you to blot the stain after applying the carpet spray; the term “blot” is often used in place of the word “scrub” because the word “blot” implies that you should be gently pressing the dry or damp cloth into the stain, rather than applying pressure to the carpet in a circular motion (e.g. scrubbing). While blotting is usually enough to remove a very recent stain from a carpet, it might not get the job done on older stains.

The “blot” vs. “scrub” language choice is important because if you apply a carpet cleaner to a stain and then scrub the stain with a sponge or a brush, you run the risk of increasing the footprint of the stain on your carpet, since there’s a chance the brush or sponge motion will actually push the stained material into the previously unstained carpet fibers surrounding the stain.

After you’re done removing the stain, it is best to either dry the carpet manually or to cordon off the area until the carpet dries. As with all cleaning supplies, it is best to do what you can to limit the likelihood of the carpet cleaner being ingested by a child or a pet.

If, however, you’d prefer to own a product that does a lot of the scrubbing for you, you can purchase a carpet cleaner. While vacuum cleaners are geared towards removing dry debris such as dirt and dust, carpet cleaners have built-in water tanks and shampoo dispensers and are meant to tackle liquid or wet stains on carpet surfaces.

When Should I Call a Professional Carpet Cleaning Service?

A professional carpet cleaner cleans a carpet in a home.

As long as it falls within your budget, time, and room constraints, it’s rarely a bad idea to use a professional carpet cleaning service. From a more practical perspective, though, most people tend to call in the professionals only when faced with very difficult stains or when the carpet discoloration is more widespread than a few spots. Carpets that experience heavy use, such as those at doorways or in hallways, can often take on a dingy appearance over time; this type of staining would be prohibitively time consuming for a normal person to take on with a bottle of carpet cleaning spray. Carpet cleaning services use professional-grade equipment to tackle the accumulated dirt that has been sitting in your carpet for months or years.

One thing to keep in mind is that professional carpet cleaning often requires that the room(s) with newly-cleaned carpet should be left to dry for a minimum of 6 hours; if you’re getting your carpets cleaned, be sure to figure out ahead of time how the traffic patterns in your home will change to accommodate one or more rooms being inaccessible for hours at a time.

For those who have an abundance of patience and want to save some cash, it is also possible to rent a carpet cleaner at most major home improvement stores. Again, though, once you’ve finished the carpet cleaning process, you’ll have to let the carpets dry for at least six hours.

How Often Should I Clean My Carpets?

Because carpets are fibrous, the amount of dust, pollen, and other smaller particles that collects in carpets is much higher than it is on sealed floor surfaces such as hardwood and tile. As such, it is recommended that you vacuum your carpets at least once a week, with more frequent vacuuming for high-traffic areas. While vacuuming helps to remove debris from your carpets, it also plays a key role in improving your air quality; this is especially important in households where residents have allergies, asthma, or other respiratory issues.

However, carpet manufacturers do not consider vacuuming to be enough when it comes to cleaning your carpets; they recommend that you have your carpets professionally cleaned once every 1-2 years in order properly maintain the integrity of your carpet and the cleanliness of your air.

Are Carpet Stain Removers Dangerous for Kids and Pets?

If you’re concerned about your pets or kids ingesting floor cleaning chemicals, it might make sense to choose a quick-drying hardwood floor cleaner that comes in a spray bottle.

Many cleaning solutions contain ingredients that are poisonous. If anyone or any pet in your household has ingested cleaning chemicals, call 911 or your regional Poison Control center immediately.

It can be difficult to protect kids and pets against carpet cleaning products because in addition to the danger of them accidentally being ingested, these products can linger on your carpet while they dry. While no floor cleaning product is ever 100% safe for kids and pets, certain cleaning solutions are billed as “pet safe,” which indicates that the number and/or amount of the toxic ingredients are much lower than they are in typical cleaners.

In general, if you’re concerned about carpet stain removers being ingested or licked by children and pets, we recommend that you avoid carpet cleaners that ask you to let the product dry over a period of hours. In this case, it is better to use carpet sprays that dry quickly or that can be blotted with a cloth until they are dry.

If you have more serious concerns about the ingredients in carpet stain removers, we recommend checking the EPA’s Safer Choice products database for household products (not just cleaners) that have to meet certain standards in terms of their ingredients, packaging, and performance.

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Resolve® Spot and Stain Remover

Resolve® Spot and Stain Remover spray, a carpet and rug cleaner, features special stain-fighting ingredients that destroys tough messes the 1 st time and helps keep them from reappearing. Its specially designed formula begins working in just 30 seconds. Resolve® Spot and Stain Remover breaks down messes caused by red wine, food grease, mud, coffee and more. Its pleasant scent neutralizes odors to leave your carpet smelling fresh.

Product feature

Powerful stain removal formula destroys tough messes the 1st time

Works on wine, coffee, food grease, and more

Helps keep stains from reappearing

Leaves carpets and rugs soft and smelling fresh

How to use

Before cleaning: Test a hidden section of carpet for colorfastness. Allow test area to dry completely and observe for any color change. If color is affected, do not use.

Directions:

1. Remove any loose dirt and blow wet soils with a clean absorbent cloth

2. Spray area with Resolve® Carpet and Rug Cleaner Spray Spot and Stain Remover

3. Wait five minutes

4. Blot or rub gently with a clean, damp, colorfast cloth or sponge

5. Rinse sponge or cloth and repeat as necessary

For best results: Treat stains immediately. Set in stains can be more difficult to remove. Note that certain stains may cause permanent discoloration even after cleaning.

DO NOT mix with bleach or in conjunction with other household products.