Russell Hobbs RHCC5001 Lightweight Carpet Cleaner review: our verdict on the best budget carpet cleaner out there

Price on writing: £80 | Buy now from Amazon

Our verdict

This Russell Hobbs carpet cleaner is a lightweight machine that cleans carpets and rugs quickly and effectively. Loose dirt and tough stains are tackled with ease, and the budget-friendly price is terrific.

Unlike some other cheaper machines, the drying power on the Russell Hobbs is impressive – it left soft flooring just slightly damp, and the carpet fibres looked lifted.

Setting up this machine is easy to do too - with just two pieces to assemble and two screws to fix them together, it's ready to use quickly. Tap water and correctly measured detergent are all you need to operate the 24cm wide jet spray and robust bristle brushes. The super long cord also means you can clean for longer without finding another plug.

When it comes to filling and emptying the tank, it's worth noting that you should only mix half or a quarter of a tank at a time, unless you're blitzing a whole home's worth of carpets. This is because the tank needs to be emptied straight away after use, or it will leak. You could store the diluted solution for next time, but that's a bit of a faff.

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How we tested

Mumsnet editor Poppy tested the carpet cleaner in her family home over the course of a month. She tried out all the features on a variety of carpets and rugs, taking detailed notes on how effective, user-friendly and comfortable it was to use.

Related: The best carpet cleaners for hygienic carpets and rugs

Russell Hobbs RHCC5001 Lightweight Carpet Cleaner: what's in the box?

In the box, you'll find just the carpet cleaner and a 1-litre bottle of Russell Hobbs carpet shampoo. The instructions say you should only use Russell Hobbs' own-brand carpet shampoo with the cleaner, which is currently available on Amazon for a reasonable price of £8.

Thinking about the carpet shampoo, just 20ml makes half a tank of cleaning solution, which is more than enough to clean one or two large carpeted rooms, so the 1l bottle will last a long time.

The Russell Hobbs RHC50001 Lightweight Carpet Cleaner is a budget, streamlined option and doesn't come with extra accessories or attachments. The carpet cleaner arrived in just two pieces, which screw together easily.

While its lack of accessories mean it's not suitable for cleaning furniture or carpeted stairs, its small size and minimal bells and whistles means it's easier to store.

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How easy is the Russell Hobbs RHCC5001 Lightweight Carpet Cleaner to set up and start using?

The carpet cleaner comes in just two pieces, with removable clean and dirty water tanks. Screws are included to quickly fix the handle to the main body of the cleaner. Once it's secured, you're ready to fill the clean water tank.

Half a cap of carpet shampoo mixed with tap water makes a litre of cleaning solution, which will be plenty to clean one or two large carpeted rooms. It's worth noting that you shouldn't make more solution than you need, as the tanks need to be emptied straight away after use to avoid leaking. The tank can hold up to 1.8l of cleaning solution.

The carpet cleaner comes with a generous 8m long power cord, so you can move around several rooms without having to find a different socket. Give the carpet a good once over with your best vacuum cleaner before you start, then once the tank is filled and it's plugged in, you're ready to clean your carpets.

What's the Russell Hobbs RHCC5001 Lightweight Carpet Cleaner like to use day-to-day?

Cleaning carpets isn't an everyday, or even every week job. the experts at Carpet Right recommend deep cleaning your carpets at least twice a year, and every 3 months if you have pets, kids with muddy shoes or anyone in your home smokes. So the compact size of this carpet cleaner is definitely a bonus for me, as it'll need to be stored away for long stretches of time.

I have 4 pets, 2 of whom often have muddy paws, so I ought to place myself firmly in the once-every-3-months camp. My carpets and rugs were in need of a refresh and the water extracted by the carpet cleaner was a suitably revolting colour - and let's face it, seeing the colour of the water is half the point of getting a carpet cleaner.

With a simple trigger and on/off switch, the Russell Hobbs RHCC5001 is very straightforward to use. The trigger releases cleaning solution when pulled, and otherwise the cleaner's powerful brush and suction work to dry and pull dirt from your carpet.

The instructions advise doing one pass with the trigger pulled, distributing cleaning solution as evenly as possible over your carpet, then go over it several times without the trigger, to dry the carpet and lift moisture and debris from its fibres. There's a foot-operated pedal to release the cleaner from its upright position, making it smooth and flexible to use, and allowing you to clean under tables with ease.

I found this carpet cleaner a little unintuitive to use - it's hard to see where the cleaning solution has been sprayed on your first pass, and if you're covering a large area it can get a little tiring on your finger to keep pulling and holding down the trigger. Once I'd got the hang of it and given the carpet a good covering of solution, drying was a breeze.

The instructions advise leaving the carpet for 4-12 hours so it can dry fully, and I was impressed by how dry the carpet cleaner managed to leave the carpet. Sure, it was lightly damp to the touch but that's to be expected from even the most premium carpet cleaner. I checked after a few hours and the carpet was fine to walk on, but to be on the safe side I left it for the full 12 hours.

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How easy is the Russell Hobbs RHCC5001 Lightweight Carpet Cleaner to clean?

As mentioned, you need to empty the clean and dirty water tanks straight away on this carpet cleaner. Leaving them on will mean a steady trickle of cleaning solution escapes through the head of the cleaner.

The tanks are easily released with chunky white handles that click in and out of place, and water can easily be emptied from the tanks into a bath or sink. I gave both tanks a good rinse with my shower, which easily removed any dirt from the dirty water tank. Unfortunately, the head of the carpet cleaner can't be removed for cleaning, so this part was trickier to access and remove dirt marks and hair from.

Is the Russell Hobbs RHCC5001 Lightweight Carpet Cleaner good value for money?

At £80, the Russell Hobbs RHC50001 is our pick for the best budget carpet cleaner you can buy. If you want to keep your carpets hygienic but don't want to splash out on a premium model like the Vax Smartwash, this is a great choice.

While it doesn't boast the same smart moisture sensors or extra accessories as the Vax, its small size and straightforward design make it easier to store and move up and down stairs than the heavier, more unwieldy Vax.

When compared to other budget options, the Russell Hobbs RHC5001's drying power impressed us, sucking up moisture and debris efficiently, and leaving your carpets without the need for excessive drying time.

About the author

Poppy O'Neill is a Content Editor at Mumsnet and a mother of two. She's been researching and reviewing baby and child products for 3 years, with a particular focus on home and cleaning essentials. From desk fans to washing machines and robot vacuum cleaners to washing lines, she loves to deep-dive into research and find the best products out there.

Poppy is also an award-winning, best-selling children's and parenting author of books such as Don't Worry, Be Happy, The Extraordinary Book That Makes You Feel Happy and Mother Power. She specialises in children's mental health and her books are used by therapists, teachers and SENCOs across the UK. She won a The Week Junior Book Award in 2023, her books have been translated into several languages and she's been featured in The Guardian, The Sunday Times and The Sun.

After earning a BA in Creative Writing from the University of Leeds and a PGCert in Fashion and Lifestyle Journalism from University of the Arts London, she worked in fashion for most of her 20s. When her children were young, she undertook an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Chichester and re-trained as an author and freelance writer.

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