Shark CarpetXpert Carpet Cleaner – my honest review

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I have been after a decent carpet cleaner for a while – we had new carpets fitted a few years back and whilst we keep on top of hoovering them and spot-stain removing where needed we haven’t ever given them a ‘deep clean’. We have a young toddler and cream rugs and carpets throughout the house – so whilst they look very clean and well looked after, I know how much spilt milk and grime must be lurking in there.

So, a few months back I took the plunge to purchase the CarpetXpert deep cleaner by Shark, I bought it primarily based on the ‘drying’ features and I generally trust Shark to make a good quality product. We have a Dyson vacuum but next time I do think about potentially getting one of the shark ones.

Below I’ll share my honest review of it after owning it for 6 months and using it 3x. I hope this helps, and any questions you have I’m happy to answer in the comments below! This review is 100% my own and I used my own money to purchase the cleaner. This post contains affiliate links and I may earn a small commission when you click on the links at no additional cost to you.

First impressions

I am really impressed with the shark carpet cleaner – it was simple to use, looks great, and is very ‘tidy’ as the leads and hose have clear places to go. I really enjoy using it and feel like the house is getting a really thorough clean when I do so.

It’s simple to store as it’s just upright like a vacuum, however is heavier and bulkier so you want to put it somewhere that you don’t need to ‘reach’ too much for.

Cleaning with it – carpets

The main reason we bought it was to clean the carpets and rugs throughout the house, so the ‘carpet’ upright feature is what we use most. It works quite simply – when you push it forward, it disperses the water, and when you pull it back over the same spot it vacuums it all up. This is called the ‘deep clean’ mode.

The most satisfying part of the clean is how dirty the water which it collects is – it’s honestly surprising, given that we hoover multiple times a day and keep on top of the carpets. It has really made our home smell much cleaner and given me peace of mind that it’s as clean as can be, really. This is what the water looked like from our master bedroom:

Drying the carpet after cleaning

There is also another mode which is ‘dry only’ which I go over the whole room with after, and it does as the title suggests – it just vacuums so it drys the carpet further. This is a really handy feature which is not available on all carpet cleaners.

I have only ever used the cleaner on a warm summers day, with the windows open and the dehumidifier also running on dry clothes setting to try and get the carpets dry as quickly as possible. For us, this works really well and I feel they dry within a couple of hours and leave no dampness behind.

If you have a higher humidity house or it is winter, I’d suggest putting the heating on too and using the ‘dry only’ mode a little longer to be sure (you don’t want much wetness leftover else it could smell sour in time).

Cleaning with it – sofas, headboards etc.

I needed to clean the sofa and headboards with it too, another reason why I chose this model is the handheld cleaner which comes with. The first time I used it, I couldn’t fully get the hang of it – you need to manually spray the liquid onto the fabric then use the handheld attachment to ‘scrub’ it (it has a little brush) and then suck the liquid back out.

The second and third time using it, I have enjoyed this feature more and got to grips with how it works – and it does work. However, it isn’t as easy as using the upright vacuum brush so I wouldn’t like to be trying to do a large area like this (E.g. if you had a very dirty sofa which you were trying to revive, I’m not sure this would be your best choice for it). It’s good for a quick freshen up.

Cleaning liquid

One thing to note is, the cleaner comes with a bottle of the Shark cleaning liquid – and all over the documentation and machine it says that’s the only cleaning solution you can/should use on the machine (presumably for warranty?).

Whilst the Shark cleaning solution smells lovely and did do a really good clean, it ran out quite quickly for me, too. On my first clean the bottle ran out before I’d finished doing the house (2 rugs downstairs, and 3 double bedrooms upstairs). I did repurchase the cleaning solution on Amazon, but it felt quite expensive for how far it goes (maybe I’m using too much?).

So, last time I cleaned I made up a mixture of fabric detergent, conditioner and The Pink Stuff stain remover with warm water and used that – and the carpets felt like they were clean and smelled great – I will be doing this with my cleans going forward generally, unless I feel the need to properly deep clean it.
I can’t of course comment or recommend you doing this – Shark may have a reason why you shouldn’t, but looking online, it seems quite a few people do the same! I used the ‘outdoorly’ range of fabric conditioner and the house smells amazing afterwards.

Cleaning the machine

So, the machine itself does need some maintenance after each clean – due to how strong the suction is, it sucks up quite a bit of fluff and hair which my hoover doesn’t catch. So, this needs wiping down and then I wash out the detergent bottles in the bath too so they’re clean for next time I use them – wouldn’t want any water going sour.

Is it worth the money?

I bought mine directly from electricshop as they had a good deal on. I did need to pay shipping, but this still worked out the cheapest option at the time. Since, I can see that there’s a deal on direct with Shark (which I’d assume would have good after care support too, if needed). Click here to see Sharks current price and shop directly with them.

For me, I think this is well worth the cost over time, I know it sounds silly – but I really enjoy using the machine and it gives me peace of mind that the house is truly being deep cleaned a few times a year (I’m aiming to do it every 4-6 weeks). I think it’ll help our carpets last and it feels it has revived the bedroom carpet where the pile had started to flatten a little too (guess because the suction is so strong!).

If you’ve been weighing up carpet cleaners, I think it’s fairly priced for the quality and what you’re getting. My only draw back is how quickly you go through the liquid, and the price of the replacement liquid – however, for me, I’m happy to continue to use washing machine detergent and fabric conditioner for my in-between type washes and I’m really happy.

If you enjoyed this review please check out more of my reviews here.