Adam's Polishes Carpet & Upholstery Cleaner vs Meguiar's Carpet & Upholstery Cleaner (19 oz)

Adam's is the only non-foaming product here, which makes it the safe choice on the surfaces where trapped residue and soaking cause the damage. Meguiar's is the most self-contained, because the scrubbing brush is part of the can.

Adam's Polishes Carpet & Upholstery Cleaner

Buy it

The only non-foaming cleaner here, which is the whole argument for it.

• Non-foaming formula, so there is no suds layer to rinse back out and less risk of leaving soap in the fibre.
• Dye free and fragrance free, which matters in an enclosed cabin and on light-coloured fabric.
• Described as safe, non-toxic and hypoallergenic, and the page commits to that rather than hinting at it.
• Sold in 16 oz, gallon and 5 gallon, so the same formula scales from one interior to a working detail bay.

• Trigger spray only, with no brush supplied, so you are buying an agitation brush separately.
• No fragrance means no masking, so an odour you do not fully remove stays noticeable.
• Ready to use rather than concentrated, so cost per use is higher than a dilutable rival.

Check price

Meguiar's Carpet & Upholstery Cleaner (19 oz)

Buy it

An aerosol foam with the scrubbing brush built into the lid, so nothing else is required.

• The canister has a removable carpet scrubber top, so the agitation tool ships with the product.
• Fast-acting foam that penetrates and dissolves stains from the bottom up, which suits deep pile carpet.
• Rated by the maker for both carpet and upholstery, so seats are genuinely in scope.
• The page tells you to test for colour fastness on an inconspicuous area first, which is the right advice and often missing.

• Aerosol foam is harder to meter than a trigger spray, which makes a headliner a nervous job.
• New Car Scent is a strong added fragrance with no unscented option.
• The permanent odour removal claim is asterisked down to removing existing odours, so it is not protection against future ones.

Check price

Side by side

The bottom line

Our overall pick is the Adam's Polishes Carpet & Upholstery Cleaner - The only non-foaming cleaner here, which is the whole argument for it. Choose the Meguiar's Carpet & Upholstery Cleaner (19 oz) instead if floor carpet and seats in one pass, for someone who does not want to buy a separate brush.

Want the full picture, including the other options we compared and the popular one we'd skip? Read the complete The Best Carpet and Upholstery Cleaners: 4 Compared.