I tried a new Shark carpet cleaner, what I discovered completely shocked me

Despite having children, endless guests arriving, and a pet cat, I'm constantly on a mission to keep my house looking spick and span. A big clean takes place once a week, the wooden flooring is often mopped, and the carpets are regularly vacuumed with the very latest and super-powerful Dyson. I’m no Hyacinth Bucket, but I'd hate to think there is any dirt hiding in my home.

That made what I discovered after using the latest gadget from Shark even more shocking.

The CarpetXpert HairPro Pet Deep Carpet Cleaner does exactly what it says on the tin. You simply fill up the washing container with warm water and some cleaning solution, switch it on and run it across the carpets just like a vacuum. It then uses a high-pressure spray and strong suction to give things a very deep scrub and wash.

Any muck and grime it finds is instantly collected in a separate chamber - which can easily be detached via the press of a button - and the mucky liquid then thrown straight down the drain. There's also another smaller collection area which keeps pet hair and other physical grime from ending up down the drain.

I ran the machine across all of my fabric-covered floors, and the results were horrifying and quite embarrassing.

After just a few minutes, a filthy brown soup of muck had appeared inside the CarpetXpert’s tank. Emptying it instantly made me realise I might be vacuuming, but that's clearly not getting rid of dirt that builds up over time.

Having whizzed it across my entire home, everything felt instantly cleaner.

There's no doubt that the CarpetXpert really does give things a very good wash and is also excellent at making stains vanish - I've tried it on numerous pet and child-related mishaps and it's worked really well with things looking good as new with very little effort.

It's also very simple to operate - there’s basically a power button and that’s it - and you'll see instant results with no fuss.

After just a few minutes, a filthy brown soup of grime had appeared inside the CarpetXpert’s tank.

It comes highly recommended if you hate the thought of filth, but I do have a few minor gripes.

Firstly, it won't vacuum your floors (in fact, you must use a standard vacuum before doing a wet clean). That means having enough room for two devices in the cupboard instead of just one.

The model I tested also doesn't come with a hose attachment, which is pretty annoying. That makes it impossible to clean stairs or give smaller furnishings a quick clean.

Shark does sell a more expensive version with StainStriker technology (£70 extra), which features that bonus cleaning option, and I would highly recommend spending a bit more if you live in a house with stairs and want the ability to clean all of the carpets.

It would be nice if the power cord was a bit longer and it’s pretty heavy when filled with water.

With a standard price of £229, it is also quite expensive. It's worth noting that Shark currently has a sale which drops things to just £149.99, which is far more reasonable

SEE THE DEAL HERE

Argos has also cut the price of the CarpetXpert HairPro Pet Deep Carpet Cleaner to just £140

SEE THE DEAL HERE

That said, renting a carpet machine isn’t exactly cheap (around £30 per day) and you are far less likely to give things a clean on a regular basis if you keep having to pop to the DIY shop to borrow it.

Having seen the filth in my carpets, I'm now going to give them a wash as part of my cleaning routine, and hopefully I'll be less shocked by what I find in the future.