Ive been through 3 mid size carpet cleaners in 5 years; I should have just bought this one from the beginning! We have pets! The amount of dirty water I dumped out was insane! 5 years of dirt pulled out of my carpets!! My carpet is brown, so you cant really see a difference( except for the highly traveled/soiled was totally noticeable) I think the biggest difference I can tell is the way my carpet "feels". Its clean! My socks arent dark on the bottom from walking around inside. It looks and smells alot better! Glad I spent the extra money! Ill have it forever!