Recommendations for a Rug Cleaning Machine.

Its not in your price range, but when we had a house with almost white carpet and 4 kids, this was a life saver. It is just like the ones you rent in the stores and it works so so well. This probably won't be what you want for spot cleaning, but if you do you entire house/rooms often...this one is amazing!

http://www.kohls.com/product/prd-776882/rug-doctor-x3-val...

Don't even think about getting it without the 30% off coupon though that kohls almost always has :) But with the coupon, you're looking at about $300.

ETA: I don't think carpet cleaners and lightweight go together. They need to have water in them...so that makes it heavy...and I think some weight helps with the cleaning/suction. It is a workout no matter what the machine. The above one is super easy to clean and load with water though!

I have an older version of this Hoover (currrently $138) http://www.amazon.com/Hoover-SteamVac-Carpet-Cleaner-F591...

It does a fine job for surface cleaning, I use it when there is some kind of spill or a kid throws up.

If your carpets haven't had a good deep cleaning in a long while, I'd first hire a professional company to clean them. (The one I've use operates with the machinery in the van so only the hoses are brought into the house.) You can use a home machine to maintain areas if you're starting with a clean floor, but if you start with years of deep carpet residue the home machine won't do a good job.

We've been happy with our Bissel Pro Heat. I got it a few years ago and it does a good basic clean on our old carpets. I use the pet shampoo with it. Parts are easy to find, too, and when a part was damaged, I was able to easily and inexpensively fix it. I've only had to replace anything once in about 6 or 7 years. We may have gotten ours at Target or Best Buy.

I'd look on amazon. You'll see a LOT more reviews than you will here.

Bissell and Hoover have good machines. I've used both.

I've never seen one less than $200 and lightweight.

They run around $300 and I liked my Bissell Pro Heat the best.

I have a Hoover with the upholstery attachment, love it, use it all the time. I have pets and they tend to have oopisies when I'm at work.

I recently purchased a Hoover Power Scrub and it works great. I really like that all the parts come off for easy cleaning. My MIL had an older version and it was a pain to clean.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/hoover-power-scrub-deluxe-car...;