Whether you’re mopping up after pets or kids, or just want to be prepared for spillages, here are our favourite upright and standalone carpet cleaners for tackling grubby floors at home

• The best steam cleaners and mops for a sparkling home

I’ve tested a few carpet cleaners in my time, but I have to admit I learned new things putting these eight models through a series of punishing tests. My main takeaway is this: if you have light-coloured carpet, don’t eat curry over it. If you do, and the worst happens, clean it up as quickly as you can, because every second counts.

I also learned that no carpet cleaner in this group comes with a magic wand you can wave over a mess to make it disappear. I doubt there’s a machine on earth that can make a single pass over a dollop of tikka masala paste and leave no trace of it behind.

Steam through the laundry pile with our expert’s top picks for smoothing creases on cotton, linen, silk and more

• How to look after your knitwear

I grew up in a household where everything was ironed. And I mean everything: tea towels, pyjamas, bath mats. Perhaps as a result of watching my mother (and yes, it was always my mother) spend hours every week standing at an ironing board, I revolted. My heart sinks every time I have to go into battle with an iron. But how do we banish irons while still getting linen trousers to look crisp? I present the clothes steamer.

Clothes steamers use heat and moisture rather than pressure to smooth fabric. A small onboard tank heats water into a steady flow of steam, which you run over garments while they hang. Instead of pressing fibres flat like an iron, the steam causes them to swell and relax, releasing creases without the need for an ironing board.