Car detailing doesn’t have to be a headache if you’ve got the right equipment – including the best car carpet cleaner. If you’ve conducted your own research on your way to stumbling upon this article, then you’ll likely have an idea of the sheer number of brands and car carpet cleaners that claim they can make your car’s old carpet look new again.
While many of these car carpet cleaners will work as advertised, some of them won’t. To save customers the time and hassle of thoroughly researching this type of product, our team members have pored through the top-rated car carpet cleaners on the web. Following this, we conducted a rigorous testing process to truly find the best of the best when it comes to car carpet cleaners. For removing serious car carpet stains, we recommend using one of the best steam cleaners for cars.
#1 Best Overall: Chemical Guys CWS20316
Designed for cleaning not only car carpets but also cloth, upholstery, and fabrics of all kinds, the Chemical Guys CWS20316 is our product testing team’s choice for the Best Overall car carpet cleaner. This car carpet cleaning solution is highly concentrated as it’s recommended to be used at a dilution of 20:1 with filtered water – however, this doesn’t mean this product is full of chemicals. This car carpet cleaner doesn’t feature any toxic chemicals, nor does it feature any bleach, ammonia, or color-damaging detergents.
For more professional auto detailing, this car carpet cleaner creates foaming bubbles to separate stains and dirt particles from deep within the fabric. This car carpet cleaner also comes with built-in odor remover in the form of Chemical Guys’ patented odor elimination enzymes being mixed into the cleaning formula.
Key Features
- Highly concentrated formula
- Built-in odor remover
- Doesn’t feature toxic chemicals
Our Experience
Our product testing team named the Chemical Guys CWS20316 as the Best Overall car carpet cleaner for its high scores in all of our testing categories.
Stain Removal: This car carpet cleaner worked quite well at removing stains from car carpet. This product instantly impacted tough stains showing clear signs of improvement as soon as we began scrubbing this product into our test vehicle’s carpet.
Odor: All of the members of our product testing team enjoyed the smell of this car carpet cleaner. Sticking our noses to our test vehicle’s carpet before and after using this product meant we could clearly tell that this car carpet cleaner not only eliminated prior odors but also left its own pleasant smelling odor.
Cleaning: Looking at the car carpet before and after using this product gave us a good idea of how effectively it can clean car carpets. We were impressed with how much cleaner our test vehicle’s carpet looked after using this product.
What Customers Are Saying
The Chemical Guys CWS20316 has a breadth of customer reviews on Amazon totaling over 16,000. A total of 90 percent of reviewers rate this product 4 stars or higher.
#2 Best Features: Turtle Wax T-244R1
The Turtle Wax T-244R1 is designed for cleaning both car carpets and car floor mats. Besides carpet cleaning, it will leave a soil repelling silicone shield for added protection. This car carpet cleaner is formulated with Turtle Wax’s Odor-X odor eliminator to remove odors from pets, food, mildew, and even cigarette smoke. Odor-X technology is formulated with oxygenated cleaners to allow it to eradicate odors at the molecular level and deodorize.
A removable brush cap is featured on this car carpet cleaner to allow you to get grime out of the tightest spots in your car interior. This micro scrub brush attachment allows for a deep cleaning of your carpet fibers into otherwise untouched areas. This car carpet cleaner is best used by evenly spraying it onto your car’s carpet, scrubbing the foam with the micro scrub brush, and then wiping the car carpet clean with a cloth.
Key Features
- Removable brush cap
- Odor-X technology
- Leaves behind a soil repelling silicone shield
Our Experience
The Turtle Wax T-244R1 was recognized by our team of experts as the car carpet cleaner with the Best Features mainly due to the fact that this product comes with a removable brush cap.
Stain Removal: This car carpet cleaner worked really well to remove stains that had soaked into our test vehicle’s car carpet years ago. The attached micro scrub brush meant we could really work this cleaning solution deep into the carpet’s fibers to properly affect stains.
Odor: This car carpet cleaner had quite an average smell to it, but it did successfully remove almost all of the already present odors emanating from the test vehicle’s carpet.
Cleaning: Our team members were quite pleased with the overall cleanliness of the interior of our test vehicle after using this cleaning kit. This aerosol canister works well for general car care due to its wide spray pattern as well as for spot cleaning.
What Customers Are Saying
The Turtle Wax T-244R1 has just shy of 1,800 customer reviews on Amazon. Most of these reviews are positive, with 84 percent of reviewers rating this carpet cleaner 4 stars or higher.
#3 Best Smell: Adam’s Carpet & Upholstery Cleaner
Designed for car carpet, fabric, cloth, car upholstery, and car seats, Adam’s Carpet & Upholstery Cleaner is an incredibly versatile car cleaning product. The cleaning solution used in this car carpet cleaner is non-toxic and hypoallergenic, even though it can clean up the toughest stains. It should be noted that though this car carpet cleaner has multi-surface capabilities, it won’t work as effectively on leather seats. For leather seats, you’ll need one of the best interior cleaners.
Most products from Adam’s Polishes include a nice color and leave a pleasant scent behind, but not this model of car carpet cleaner. This is because the manufacturer didn’t want to risk staining more lightly colored fabrics, meaning this cleaning formula is dye-free and perfume-free. Additionally, the cleaning formula is non-foaming. To apply, simply spray, agitate the cleaning solution, and wipe away to remove carpet stains.
Key Features
- Non-toxic and hypoallergenic
- Non-foaming cleaning formula
- Works on multiple surfaces
Our Experience
Our team members awarded the title of Best Smell to Adam’s Carpet & Upholstery Cleaner for its odor elimination and the pleasant aroma it left in our test vehicle.
Stain Removal: This car carpet cleaner isn’t the greatest for stain removal. While applying this product we noticed the stain slightly fading, but stubborn stains were still very much present after allowing the test vehicle’s carpet to dry.
Odor: This car carpet cleaner not only eliminated foul odors but left a pleasant lemon-smelling aroma around our test vehicle’s cabin. The aroma left by this car carpet cleaner wasn’t overpowering, but rather subtle and welcoming.
Cleaning: This car carpet cleaner worked well as a spot cleaner but also for carpet cleaning focused interior detailing. After using this product, our test vehicle’s carpet was noticeably cleaner and brighter than it was prior to using this car carpet cleaner.
What Customers Are Saying
About 500 customer reviews have been left on Amazon for Adam’s Carpet & Upholstery Cleaner. A whopping 80 percent of reviewers rate this multi-purpose cleaner a perfect 5 out of 5 stars. The vast majority of customers were happy with their purchase.
#4 Best Value: Chemical Guys SPI_191_16
The Chemical Guys SPI_191_16 is a heavy-duty carpet and upholstery stain extractor. By heavy-duty, we mean that the cleaning formula is highly concentrated and can be diluted up to a 20:1 ratio with distilled water. The innovative formula is tough on stains but gentle on sensitive carpet and upholstery. This car carpet cleaner is designed to release stains from the surface and restore the original appearance and feel of carpet.
This stain and spot cleaning formula can remove coffee, mud, juice, wine, grease, oil, and even pet stains from fabrics, upholstery, door panels, carpets, and headliners. This car carpet cleaner acts as two products in one, as it not only works to clean but also deodorizes simultaneously. Additionally, this car carpet cleaner helps resist future stains by reaching deep into the fabric to lift grease and dirt.
Key Features
- Cleans and deodorizes simultaneously
- Highly concentrated formula
- Works on multiple surfaces
Our Experience
The Chemical Guys SPI_191_16 was awarded the Best Value car carpet cleaner by our product testing team for its high quality and affordable price.
Stain Removal: Our team members were impressed with this car carpet cleaner’s ability to remove stains. We noticed an immediate improvement to the carpeted mats used in testing as stains began fading as soon as we began scrubbing the product into the carpet.
Odor: This car carpet cleaner had the worst aroma of any of the car carpet cleaners that we tested. It may have effectively removed already present foul odors, but it simply replaced those foul odors with an unappealing odor of its own. The carpeted floor mat that we used in testing overwhelmingly smelled of chemicals after using this product.
Cleaning: We noticed that this car carpet cleaner left our carpeted mats cleaner than they were before using this product. We felt that this car carpet cleaner worked effectively to clean car carpets in general as it certainly made the carpeted floor mat much brighter in color.
What Customers Are Saying
The Chemical Guys SPI_191 is one of the most well-reviewed car carpet cleaners on the market with over 15,000 reviews on Amazon. Nearly 75 percent of all reviewers rate this carpet cleaner a faultless 5 out of 5 stars. A massive amount of reviewers are happy with this product.
#5 Best For Rejuvenation: Armor All Oxi-Magic Carpet Cleaner
One of the best products to restore fabric to its original luxuriousness and plushness is the Armor All Oxi-Magic Carpet & Upholstery Cleaner. This car carpet cleaner acts as a breath of fresh air in cleaning technology as it uses oxygen action to get your fabric cleaner than ever before. Oxygen action means that this car carpet cleaner will begin dissolving stains upon first contact.
This car carpet cleaner penetrates deep into your carpet or upholstery’s fibers to break up ground-in dirt and grime for the most thorough fabric cleaning. This product is built to handle the toughest stains, including mud, coffee, cola, ink, and even motor oil. It should be noted that this car carpet cleaner is not recommended for use on instrument panels, clear plastic surfaces, leather, wood, and wool.
Key Features
- Restores fabric to its original state
- Dissolves stains upon first contact
- Uses oxygen action
Our Experience
Our team members awarded the Armor All Oxi-Magic Carpet & Upholstery Cleaner the honor of being the car carpet cleaner that’s Best for Rejuvenation.
Stain Removal: This car carpet cleaner had the joint lowest score in our stain removal testing category. Though this car carpet cleaner works well for cleaning car carpets, it’s relatively underwhelming in terms of its stain removal properties.
Odor: This car carpet cleaner almost entirely removed all foul odors from our test vehicle’s carpet. It worked well to remove bad smells and in its place leave a relatively pleasant-smelling aroma.
Cleaning: We awarded this car carpet cleaner the title of Best for Rejuvenation for what it did for our test vehicle’s carpet. This product noticeably improved the plushness of our car’s carpet and gave it back a lot of the car carpet’s original luxuriousness.
What Customers Are Saying
Over 1,000 customers have left reviews on Amazon for the Armor All Oxi-Magic Carpet & Upholstery Cleaner. An overwhelming majority of reviewers rate it 5.0 stars.
Car Carpet Cleaners Buyers Guide
After thoroughly researching and rigorously testing a multitude of car carpet cleaners, our team members have a few suggestions for things that we think you should look for in this type of product.
Application Process
When it comes to car carpet cleaners, there are two main application processes. The two most common applications of car carpet cleaner are via aerosol canister or via a spray bottle. Below are brief explanations of each including their pros and cons.
- Aerosol: This type of car carpet cleaner will give you the most possible foaming action. Most aerosol cleaners require you to shake before use, but will effectively tackle a large vehicle with ease due to the foaming capabilities of aerosol canisters.
- Spray Bottle: This type of car carpet cleaner may not have the foaming power of aerosol cleaners, but it can in some cases be more accurate. Some spray bottles have adjustable nozzles making hard-to-reach areas a little less difficult to reach.
Features
There are two main features of a car carpet cleaner that our team members felt truly made a difference in the car carpet cleaning process. These two features are deodorizing capabilities and attached brushes for application.
A car carpet cleaner that deodorizes makes all the difference. It’s no good adding smells on top of bad smells in an attempt to mask the original foul smells. Car carpet cleaners with deodorizing properties will eliminate negative odors while simultaneously adding their own fresh and pleasant smelling aroma in its place.
Car carpet cleaners with attached brushes simply make sense. At the end of the day, many of these car carpet cleaners require you to brush or agitate the solution into the car carpet to effectively clean it. This ultimately leaves you looking for a brush or microfiber cloth while simultaneously wishing the product came with everything you’d need to do the job properly.
Carpet Cleaning Tips
To get some added interior cleaning know-how we spoke with Mike Pennington, Sr. Manager of Global Training at Meguiar’s. He has over 30 years of car detailing experience and told us one of the best things someone can do is basic surface preparation before applying a cleaning solution. He carried on to say:
“A lot of people don’t realize you can actually brush a carpet prior to vacuuming, or while you’re vacuuming, to fluff those fibers up to get all that excess dirt out”
Our Review Standards
The car carpet cleaners in this article went through two rounds of reviews. We started by searching Amazon for top products, looking at factors like Prime shipping eligibility, customer ratings, Amazon superlatives, and price.
The five car carpet cleaners that best met these standards were ordered by our team for testing. A team member tested each product on a 2003 Ford Focus ZX3, taking note of how well the car carpet cleaner removed stains, how well it eliminated and masked odors, and its general cleaning abilities. Each car carpet cleaner was given a rating out of 5.0 stars based on this criteria.
Car Carpet Cleaner Testing Process
Our team tested each of the five car carpet cleaners against the following criteria:
- Stain Removal: The ability to remove stains is one of the most important traits of any car carpet cleaner. We tested this by utilizing the car carpet cleaner on one of the many stains in our nearly 20-year-old testing vehicle. After applying the car carpet cleaner, we observed how fully it removed the specific stain in question.
- Odor: It’s all well and good cleaning your carpet and removing stains, but what about the smells that are left behind? We tested this by observing if the car carpet cleaner will eliminate, mask, or overpower odors with its own scent. Car carpet cleaners that eliminate odors while simultaneously adding their own scent scored highest in this testing category.
- Cleaning: This is a more general testing category based on the overall cleaning that a car carpet cleaner provides. We tested for this by observing how thoroughly cleaned the car carpet looks compared to how it was prior to using a car carpet cleaner.
Best Car Carpet Cleaner: Bottom Line
After spending hours on end attempting to remove each and every stain from our testing vehicle’s carpet, our team ultimately decided the Chemical Guys CWS20316 is the Best Overall car carpet cleaner on the market in 2023. However, the SPI 191_16 from Chemical Guys is our Best Value pick while Adam’s left behind the nicest odor of the bunch.
*Data accurate at time of publication.
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