Quick Answer: The Bissell Little Green Max Pet (3860) and Hoover CleanSlate Pet (FH14000) are the two most popular portable spot cleaners under $150, and neither wins outright. Bissell’s edge is a bigger 32-oz dirty tank, a 3-year warranty, and a dedicated pet hair tool; Hoover’s edge is a lower price (~$110 vs. ~$120-150), a bigger 40-oz clean tank, and a wider 7-inch cleaning tool. Buy the Little Green Max Pet if you want the longer warranty and fewer dirty-tank trips; buy the CleanSlate Pet if price and solution capacity matter more than tank symmetry.
Portable spot cleaners don’t get the marketing spotlight that full-size uprights do, but Bissell’s Little Green and Hoover’s CleanSlate line are the two best-selling machines in the category — the ones people actually buy for stairs, car seats, and the couch after a pet accident. Both companies also make full-size versions of these products (Bissell’s ProHeat 2X, Hoover’s SmartWash+), so this comparison is specifically about the spot-cleaner tier, not the whole-room machines.
Head to head
| Feature | Bissell Little Green Max Pet (3860) | Hoover CleanSlate Pet (FH14000) |
|---|---|---|
| Clean water tank | 32 oz | 40 oz |
| Dirty water tank | 32 oz | 23 oz |
| Cord length | 15 ft | 15 ft |
| Hose length | 4.8 ft | Not published |
| Weight | 8.2 lbs | 9.4 lbs |
| Included tools | Self-Cleaning Tough Stain Tool, Pet Hair Removal Tool | 7" wide-path tool, tight spot tool, hose rinse tool |
| Warranty | 3-year parts and labor | 2-year limited |
| Typical price (July 2026) | ~$120-150 | $109.99 (list $129.99) |
Little Green vs CleanSlate by the numbers
- 32 oz vs. 23 oz — the dirty water tank capacity of the Little Green Max Pet vs. the CleanSlate Pet, per Bissell and Hoover’s published specs. The dirty tank fills first on a job, so this is the number that actually determines how often you stop to empty it.
- 40 oz vs. 32 oz — the clean water/solution tank on the CleanSlate Pet vs. the Little Green Max Pet, meaning Hoover’s machine can spray more solution per fill even though it holds less dirty water back.
- 3 years vs. 2 years — Bissell’s parts-and-labor warranty on the Little Green Max Pet against Hoover’s limited warranty on the CleanSlate Pet.
- $109.99 — the CleanSlate Pet’s typical street price against the Little Green Max Pet’s roughly $120-150 range, a gap of about $20-30 that holds even during sales on both machines.
Where Little Green wins: tank balance, warranty, pet tooling
Bissell Little Green Max Pet (3860)
- 32-oz dirty tank matches the 32-oz clean tank, so you're not stopping mid-job because one side fills before the other.
- 3-year parts-and-labor warranty — a full year longer than the CleanSlate Pet's coverage.
- Ships with a dedicated Pet Hair Removal Tool in addition to the Self-Cleaning Tough Stain Tool.
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The Little Green Max Pet’s biggest practical advantage is tank symmetry. A lot of portable cleaners fill their dirty tank well before the clean tank runs dry, forcing a sink trip mid-job even though you technically still have solution left. Bissell’s matched 32-oz/32-oz tanks avoid that mismatch. Combine that with a 3-year parts-and-labor warranty — a genuinely longer commitment than most machines in this price tier — and a Pet Hair Removal Tool built specifically for embedded fur rather than just liquid stains, and the case for Bissell is about long-term ownership and pet-specific coverage rather than raw price.
Where CleanSlate wins: price and solution capacity
Hoover CleanSlate Pet (FH14000)
- $109.99 typical price undercuts the Little Green Max Pet by roughly $20-30.
- 40-oz clean water tank is the largest in this comparison, holding more solution per fill.
- 7-inch wide-path tool covers more surface per pass than Bissell's narrower tools.
The CleanSlate Pet’s argument is simpler: it’s cheaper, and its 40-oz clean tank means fewer refill trips if you’re working through a big spot-cleaning session — a full flight of stairs or several upholstered pieces. The tradeoff is the smaller 23-oz dirty tank, which will hit its limit before the clean tank runs out on heavily soiled jobs, and the shorter 2-year warranty. The 7-inch wide-path tool is also genuinely wider than what ships with the Little Green, which matters if you’re covering open stretches of low-pile carpet rather than tight spots.
How to choose
- Want the longest warranty and matched tanks → Bissell Little Green Max Pet.
- Want the lowest price and the most solution per fill → Hoover CleanSlate Pet.
- Cleaning mostly pet hair, not just liquid stains → Little Green’s dedicated Pet Hair Removal Tool has the edge.
- Covering wide stretches of low-pile carpet rather than tight spots → CleanSlate’s 7-inch wide-path tool moves faster.
- Whole rooms, not just spots and stairs → neither is the right category — see our best portable carpet cleaner guide for the full field, or step up to a full-size machine in our best carpet cleaner roundup.
The bottom line
Neither the Little Green Max Pet nor the CleanSlate Pet is a clear upgrade over the other — they trade advantages. Bissell wins on tank balance, warranty length, and pet-hair tooling; Hoover wins on price and clean-solution capacity. For most pet owners planning to keep the machine for years, the Little Green Max Pet’s 3-year warranty and matched tanks make it the safer buy. For anyone who just wants the cheapest capable spot cleaner with a bigger solution tank, the CleanSlate Pet gets the job done for $20-30 less. For pet-specific whole-room buying advice, see our best carpet cleaner for pets guide, or compare full-size Bissell and Hoover machines in our Bissell vs Hoover comparison.