Are any home steam cleaners as good as the rental ones at eg Home Depot?

December 25, 2024 10:22 AM

Trying to clean cat-misfire odor out of another chair (cat does this every 6-12 months) and the Bissell "Little Green Machine" isn't doing the trick. Do I need to just keep renting the industrial ones from Home Depot or are any of the home models as good?

I cleaned one chair with the Home Depot machine and it had a really powerful vacuum and, if memory serves, heated the water. Had to do it a bunch of times because cat smell is nearly invincible, but it worked.

The next time, I thought "this is stupid to keep renting; I'll just buy one" and did so, the Bissell. It seems to have about as much vacuum strength as my regular vacuum cleaner. Just not great.

This time, I went on Amazon and ordered one with very high reviews and it is exactly the same. Hoping I can return it.

Do I need to just grit my teeth and rent one when this happens or are there any machines you can purchase that are really powerful? Alternately, is there some other kind of cleaner I should try? I have used all the enzyme sprays, which help a little but not a lot, so I'm asking more if there are other kind of machines that people use for this.

posted by less-of-course to Home & Garden (4 answers total)

The best thing ever for cat pee odors is Nature's Miracle spray. You can get it at pet stores. I thought we would have to replace our front hall flooring, but that stuff works really well. It might take 2 or 3 days, but I recommend trying it on your chair. I used a couple of sprays, a couple of days apart, and the smell is gone for good.
posted by Enid Lareg at 10:49 AM on December 25 [3 favorites]

I have a cat who goes litter box rogue every few months and thus I have tried ALL the cleaners. Can wholeheartedly recommend this line of products. I have used their LOE on an upholstered chair with success and KOE on hard surfaces.
posted by tinymojo at 11:10 AM on December 25 [1 favorite]

We’d also be soaking the chair in Nature’s Miracle spray. Works great.
posted by michaelh at 2:21 PM on December 25

Best answer: You can actually buy the same units you rent from Home Depot - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00450U6CS, for example.

They actually aren't too much more expensive and last way longer.
posted by coberh at 2:23 PM on December 25 [1 favorite]