Shark StainForce Cordless Portable Spot & Stain Cleaner Review

Design: A Cordless Stain-Destroying System

The design of the Shark StainForce Cordless Spot Cleaner is both well thought-out and convenient. Everything you need sits in the caddy, making it an ideal grab-and-go solution whenever stains happen. The vacuum itself sits on one side of the caddy, while the cleaning solution sits on the other side.  

Since the handheld vacuum is cordless, you don’t need to worry about the stain being located near a convenient outlet (something that I struggled with when using my Little Green Machine). You can think of it as a hand vac made for a liquid mess.

Performance: Stains Can’t Hide

Although I love dogs, I don’t actually have a pet of my own. However, I enjoy watching my friends’ pets when they’re out of town, but bringing them to my house usually means doggie anxiety and little accidents in my home, no matter how many times their owners tell me that they “never go in the house.”  Previously, I would have to grab my Little Green Machine from the garage, find where I put the cleaning solution bottle, add the solution to the tank with water, find an outlet for it, and begin the cleaning task.

Now, I feel better prepared to tackle messes and the occasional spill because the stain-fighting cleaning spray and spot cleaner vacuum are stored together in the convenient caddy. I can just use the spray bottle immediately without worrying about putting it in a tank first. I can then use the brush on the end of the Shark StainForce vacuum to scrub the stain loose and suck it up simultaneously.

The Shark StainForce is also self-cleaning. Simply fill up the insert in the caddy with water and run it through the vacuum.  This helps run clean water through the filters and tank and get a majority of the gunk out, but you’ll still need to wipe down the parts after an especially dirty job.

I tried the Shark StainForce cleaner on a dirt spot on our basement carpet that our full-size carpet cleaner hasn’t been able to lift. After two passes with the carpet cleaner spray and the spot cleaner vacuum, I’m definitely seeing an improvement in the 3 year old stain. Likely a few more passes will have significantly lifted the stain, if not have eliminated it completely.

In addition to the wide scrubber attachments, a more narrow crevice tool is also included to spills on the sofa, in tight corners, or if you simply need more suction power for the job at hand. The brush on the scrubber attachment can easily be removed to clean, and it can be flipped over to expose a more gentle rubber scrubber.

Shark StainForce Battery Life

I fully charged the battery and found that the new StainForce lasted at least 8 minutes which was long enough to clean the spot I was working on. The Shark StainForce still had plenty of suction power left to tackle the next stain. I believe the manufacturer states the battery can last about 15 minutes on a full charge.

My one gripe is that there is no place for the charging cord in the caddy. I have a feeling I’m going to misplace the charger in no time. Otherwise, the Shark StainForce spot cleaner did not disappoint me in both its ease-of-use and its effectiveness.