BISSELL® Big Green® PET PRO Carpet Cleaner, 3288
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Eric R.
> 3 dayIve had this machine for two weeks now and have really mixed feelings about it. It works well, with some quirks and some flaws. For quirks, it cleans really well, much like rental machines, but it leaves stripes. If you work from right to left, itll leave a 1 stripe. From left to right, itll leave about a 1 1/2 stripe. This is because the sprayer and vacuum area is wider than the brush bar by those amounts right and left. If your carpets are dirty and light colored, its really noticeable. You can go back over the areas, but the stripes will remain with each pass, but lighter until the carpet is so clean from repeated passes that its not noticeable. The beater should have been the same width as the sprayer and vacuum. Oh, and I found Zip Premium Carpet Shampoo. Its about half the price and worked better for me than the best Bissel stuff. For design flaws, I first want to say that unlike the home model cleaners made of clear plastics that harden and shatter with age, this machine is built to last. If you buy it with a credit card offering warranty extension, you get 5 years from Bissel and 2 more years. Its built to last to that level of service. Materials are good with service panels held with stainless screws allowing easy access for cleaning and repair. After every couple tanks, you do need to pick clear the bottom of carpet fiber debris as you would any machine. It doesnt require any disassembly, but you should also use some type of hooked tool to clean out the entrance to the vacuum to clear out debris clogs. No big deal. But for me, after cleaning 3 rooms, the machine started to squeal. I followed the manual and first checked the beater brush belt. There was some black, belt dust debris. The cogged belt pulleys were not aligned and the output shaft of the brush motor was making noise when rotated by hand. I corrected this by fully seating the cogged wheel bearing in its housing to properly align the belt and removed the motor to lubricate the shaft bearing which was making the noise. This should not have been required and really is beyond the scope of a typical buyer. The machine is very easy to work on, but you shouldnt be expected to do this type of service after a few hours. I like the machine, but am concerned that my fix is temporary and that damage may have already been done.. Ill probably return it in exchange for another. Despite the quirks, I like it and just hope that the motor problem was not a common occurrence. Edit: The motor noise came back so I called Bissel about getting a replacement motor. They said Id have to send in the entire machine for warranty repair. Since its still eligible for return to Amazon, Ill just do that and buy another instead.
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Flyer16
> 3 dayI have multiple dogs so there is always plenty of mud and dirt getting tracked into the house, along with the occasional accident. Ive been using the top rated rug cleaner for household use for years and have been happy with the results - until I decided to purchase the Bissell Big Green when my last carpet cleaner died. I am SO impressed. It is well worth the money. The first thing I did was clean a carpet I had deep cleaned just a few weeks prior with my old machine to see if it was as clean as I thought it was. I was stunned at the amount of dirt that came out of the carpet that I had thought was clean. I then tackled my master bedroom which has white carpets (I know, not a great choice with dogs but it was there when we bought the house). It had a bunch of stains and I was starting to think about replacing it because it was getting pretty bad, but I tried my Big Green on it and was blown away. First off, with my old machine, it would take me hours to do the bedroom and I had to go over areas repeatedly before I saw much difference. With my big Green I saw an immediate difference with just one pass. I kid you not. It took me a fraction of the time to do the bedroom and the carpet is clean enough that it looks almost new. I did use the pet stain treatment, which Ive always used, so Im sure that made a difference, but overall Im blown away with how well this machine cleans. The other thing I like about this machine is that it is really simply made. There arent a bunch of moving parts and there arent a bunch of things to remove to get rid of clogs. Its just a fresh water tank and a dirty water tank and scrubbers and thats pretty much it. With my old carpet cleaner I was always having to take it apart to track down clogs which could be in any number of spots which was a pain to do, but the Big Green is so simply designed that you wont be getting many clogs at all. The only drawback, and I knew this going in, is that its heavier and bulkier than the household carpet cleaners. This one is definitely industrial strength so its heavier to push and its a bit more awkward to haul it around. Thats not an issue for me because Im getting my carpets much cleaner and in a fraction of the time so its a trade off Im willing to make. If you are on the fence and wondering if the higher price (compared to the household level cleaners) is worth it, just climb down off that fence and hit Buy Now. You wont be sorry.
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Sidious
> 3 dayIt was the best of times. It was the worst of times. The carpets had seen better days of cleanliness. The old Hoover had died under warranty but they no longer make that model. So we had the purchase price in hand but no carpet cleaner. What to do? What to do? WHAT TO DO? Research and buy a different cleaner was the only recourse short of paying a service or renting - both so gauche and demeaning. As a self-made DIY amateur, the best bang for the buck based on good old Google searching and the fantastic fanatic reviews on amazing Amazon, led me to the BISSELL Big Green Deep Cleaning Machine Professional Grade Carpet Cleaner. The first drawback I experienced was sticker shock; I had never spent this much on a carpet cleaner before. The old favorite dead one was easily $100 less but alas it was no longer available to me - unrequited. Sticker shock be damned, on with the purchase after weeks of deliberation and ever-so-gentle prodding from my lovely wife. The order was placed. The dice was cast. Would it measure up to expectations? Would the detracting reviews be more correct? The mystery was afoot; only delivery and a test run would provide the answers. The BISSELL Big Green Deep Cleaning Machine Professional Grade Carpet Cleaner arrived. I could barely contain my excitement to unpack and test the beast. Unpacking and assembling for use was very simple. To my chagrin, in my zeal to start the test run, I failed to remove the two pieces of cardboard and the bottle of cleaning fluid stored in the recovery tank. The oversight became obvious on the run to the commode to empty the test collection. A bonehead move to be sure. How could I have completed a test run without using the provided fluid, you ask. Simple, I had other cleaning fluid on hand because I wasnt certain any came with the BISSELL Big Green Deep Cleaning Machine Professional Grade Carpet Cleaner. Despite the potential of being asked to surrender my MAN card, I admit I DO read instructions and manuals - just not all at once - and definitely not all (obviously) prior to operation. Sure enough, it was in there. So, here is the first bonus and positive point about the BISSELL Big Green Deep Cleaning Machine Professional Grade Carpet Cleaner - it comes with a small bottle of concentrated cleaning fluid - most likely enough for a once-over of several rooms. Other operational observations: The BISSELL Big Green Deep Cleaning Machine Professional Grade Carpet Cleaner delivers as described in most of the positive reviews. It does a good job cleaning the carpet. Dirty carpets will require more passes with it - the dirtier the more passes required - or perhaps more patience than I have in laying down a pre-treatment or applying the solution and waiting a bit before collecting. My carpets dried in good time; I didnt notice any excessive wet or damp spots. I measured the capacity of the dispensing and collection tanks on the BISSELL Big Green Deep Cleaning Machine Professional Grade Carpet Cleaner before use - perhaps a bit overly scientific or some might say anal. Then during use I observed that the collection level was just a little lower than what was dispensed. I am very happy with this. Multiple passes helped pick up water but only to a point. There is a small view port on top where you can observe the fluid collection; when it stops spotting youve picked up about as much as you can. On the negative side, it is a little loud. Im no audiologist but I dont think hearing protection is required. Your significant other will be able to sneak up on you while it is in operation. If you have a weak bladder or queasy bowels, appropriate adult protective garments may be in order. You can yodel, belt out opera, rock, or your favorite nursery rhymes whilst operating and probably not notice how bad or good you really are - but keep in mind that it isnt so loud as to drown out your voice so that others wont notice - they will - and they may comment. If you have thin skin keep this in mind. One must pay attention when seating the dispensing and collection tanks. Only once did I fail to do this. I almost immediately noticed the little observation port wasnt showing any incoming fluid. I stopped and checked - re-seated the tanks and went right back to work. The BISSELL Big Green Deep Cleaning Machine Professional Grade Carpet Cleaner is a tad cumbersome to move around but during operation I had no difficulties. During my initial marathon test run cleaning, my my back was negatively influenced - it started to ache. I attribute this to my extended test run time and my propensity to not take breaks. It is also cumbersome to carry up/down stairs for storage. I am an average male. Capet cleaning is my household duty; my wife has not had the opportunity to play with my toy yet. Overall, I LIKE it. Alas, I cannot love the BISSELL Big Green Deep Cleaning Machine Professional Grade Carpet Cleaner as my carpet cleaning heart love will always be with the no-longer-offered Hoover it replaced.
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Me
> 3 dayIve had these carpets for 17 years, but they are not in bad shape. Cats and children have taken their toll, but theyre still holding up. I have a Dyson Animal vacuum which removes large amounts of cat hair and my girls might lose more hair than the cats given how often I have to cut it out of the beater bar of the vacuum. A few points of note for this review. Ive only had the unit for one day and can not speak to the durability of the unit, but I can say that it feels solid and does a tremendous job cleaning carpets. Im also upgrading from a cheap carpet shampooer which now falls into the toy category. I started off by thoroughly vacuuming the carpets with the Dyson vacuum, removing bits of fuzz, cat hair, stuff like that. Then I loaded up the machine with hot water and the contents of one of the provided bottles, and went to town. It took me a few minutes to get the hang of maneuvering the machine, but I definitely got into a rhythm. It was hard to keep it slow as I wanted to see the results, but I was patient and kept going until the flow meter stopped spinning and I was out of water. I dumped the dirty water bin slowly into the toilet and I swear to God it looked like used motor oil coming out of there. These were carpets which were vacuumed weekly and shampooed a few times a year. Motor. Oil. Clumps of cat hair which must have been woven into the carpet fibers and held in too tightly for the Dyson poured out with the water. I ran out of time last night and was unable to test the hose attachment. This is needed for areas along the edges of the room since the shampooer cant reach that far. Pros: * Cleans very well * Its a good workout * The transformation is mesmerizing * Its heavy, so it is able to clean deeply by pressing on the carpet * Youll strike oil, right in your own living room! * Gave my carpets a few more years of life * The rooms smell better, but that might be the fragrance of the shampoo * It came with three small bottles of cleaner to get you started Cons: * $$$$, although cheaper than professional service in the long run * You will realize how disgusting carpet can be and consider replacing it with laminate, LVP, or hardwood * Its heavy, and cumbersome to carry up stairs * Supposedly the flow meters crack, but they are not expensive and are easy to replace * Why was there motor oil trapped in my carpet? * Its big and bulky, so storage can be tough even though the unit folds up
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Ratatouille
> 3 dayUPS delivered the Bissell Big Green cleaner last night and I put it to work immediately. Just to give you a little info, we do NOT have any pets and do not wear shoes in the house. I have a dyson, and vacuum my house at least once a week. As such, the condition of my carpet is above average compared to homes with shoes worn in the house and have pets running around. Before I get into the results, let me describe the packaging. The machine is per-assembled. The box is quite heavy and requires two adults to move it. You can tell this product is well constructed. In addition to the main machine, it also comes with a hose with a hand wand to clean furniture and staircase. As stated by other reviewers, Bissell included a bottle of deep cleaning solution in the compartment. So make sure you remove the cardboard and the bottle of cleaner from the machine. I dont see how people can start using the machine without remove the items, as you have to fill the container with the cleaning solution. DUH! I have steamed clean the carpets once in the last 8 years. This Big green puts that rented cleaner to shame. I was surprised how much dirt, dust and lint the big green pulls up. Every time I push the Big Green forward, I see a lump of black lint/dust/dirt trailing it. It is just amazing how powerful this machine is. The carpet looks and feels very clean after a single pass, and there is minimal dampness. I turn the fan on and the carpet dries up in about 15-20 minutes. My thermostat tells me the humidity in my house is about 39%...just in case you are wondering... As I mentioned at the top, this machine is quite heavy. Adding the cleaning solution to the container does not help ease the mobility of the machine. Pushing and pulling the machine is not a problem as the wheels are well constructed. However, if you are trying to change directions (side to side), youll need to put some muscles into it. I own a few rental properties. In the past, I have called professional cleaners and it normally cost me about $180+ to clean 3 rooms. I think this machine is going to save me a lot of money in the long run. I highly recommend getting the Bissell Big Green Deep Cleaning machine if you find yourself paying professional cleaners to clean your carpet and furniture more than once a year. I know I will be steam cleaning my carpet more often from now on... ***UPDATE*** I recently evicted tenants from my 3 bedroom rental property. These boys were practically as irresponsible as you can get. In in the six months they were there, they pretty much trashed up the apartment. The carpet took the brunt of the abuse. There were dark black patches on the carpet, and the stench from the carpet was almost unbearable. It amazes me how someone could live in such conditions. The condition of the carpet was so bad that my wife wanted to just replace it. I told her to give the big green a chance... So I bought a bottle of Bissell Professional Deep cleaning with Febreze Freshness and Renewal formula and went to work. Initially, I used a dyson vacuum to clean up whatever dirt we could see with our eyes. If you have ever used a Dyson, you know it does a phenomenal job on carpets. I filled up the Dyson canister twice just for the living room. After using the Dyson, the carpet looked like it had a glimmer of hope, but the stench was still overwhelming and the black dark spots were even more visible. I ran the big green through the ragged carpet, and I could practically see it pull up dirt and the liquid it was lifting off the carpet was black! I ran the big green back and forth in at an extremely slow pace with the spray trigger on all the time. The before and after was startling! Even my wife was extremely surprised by how effective the big green is. Even with the spray trigger on at every pass, the carpet was barely damp. The powerful suction and rotating brush pulled dirt out from the very bottom of the carpet. After letting the carpet air out for about 15 minutes, I made another pass with the Dyson. I then made another pass with the big green. This time, the extracted liquid was not as black, but it was still able to pull a lot of dirt out of the carpet fabric. I believe the first pass acted like a pre-treatment, and with the second pass, it was able to loosen and extract more dirt out of the carpet. After the second pass, the carpet looked fresh and very clean. It no longer had the stench, and the carpet lives to see another day! There is NO DOUBT in my mind, that a professional cleaner will NOT be able to do as good of a job as the big green given the condition of the carpet. Just by this job, the Bissell Big Green has paid for itself multiple times!!!
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Ben
> 3 dayFirstly, I have to say that I am -was- a huge fan of the Rug Doctor. Weve rented the Rug Doctor many times over the course of a few years after out carpet cleaning machine died. We did like the Rug Doctor, but when you add up the costs associated with it, $25-30 base rental + $7 for the hose, as well as the cost associated with running to the store to get it and return it, let alone the hazards associated with the last people who rented it and didnt clean it when they were done (pet hair EVERYWHERE). Either way, we certainly thought the Rug Doctor was good until we purchased this Bissell. As others have mentioned, it picks up to much more water and leaves your carpets much drier right after going over them. Its been about a year since we rented the Rug Doctor. We went over the carpets in one direction and just for kicks we went over it in the other direction (vertical and horizontal). We got so much more dirt out of our carpets than we would have ever gotten with the Rug Doctor! It was just as much gross as it was amazing! This Bissell Big Green is very easy to use and comes with everything you need to get going, including 2 small bottles of solution and a sizable hose for spot cleaning. I would HIGHLY suggest you purchase additional solution (I used the Bissell Deep Clean-dark blue bottle) if you have more than 1-2 rooms to do that have really dirty carpet. I did three moderately sized rooms and had to refill 5 times. This may seem like a lot, but I went over everything twice or even three times in high traffic areas. Even with the extra passes, the carpets were dry very quickly. After the carpet completely dried, the carpets look amazing! Before they were starting to look different colors across the carpets, and now they look uniform again. The carpets are soft, correctly colored, and vibrant. There even is a nice sheen to the carpet. I do think it pullet the carpet back up where it was more pushed down from excessive traffic because it looks better than it has in years! I do have two of my three rooms on a second story and had to move the carpet cleaner up the stairs. The machine is heavy! I took off the dirty and clean water tanks so you basically only have the machine itself and it was a slight bit heavy to haul up the stairs. I dont know if it would be doable for everyone without assistance. For the three rooms, it took 5 refills of water/solution and about three hours. Make sure you do read the directions! I was not holding the dispense button enough, which did cause for a little extra time because I redid that area. You are supposed to move forward holding the button and then move backward over the same area still holding the button in a slow manner to allow the spinning brush to do its job. Then release the button and go forward and backward to get the excess water sucked up. Reading the directions first will surely help cut down your time. Overall, if you are on the fence about purchasing this machine, just do it! I thought about it for a few hours and ended up just purchasing it. When you consider how much it costs over time to rent a not so great machine (now that I see how much better you can get with this machine) and time time and effort required to go get it and take it back, as well as the convenience of having your own machine if you need a quick cleanup, its totally worth the cost. I would HIGHLY recommend this carpet cleaner, it really DEEP DEEP cleans! Fair warning: I have only had this machine for about a week and used it once. I was just so amazed that I couldnt wait to write a review. If I do run into anything, I will be sure to update this review.
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Scott Hansen
> 3 day****UPDATE***** I rarely write updates to products I review but for this item I felt I had to. We have two cats and a dog and one of our cats has been having intestinal issues and is pooping on our downstairs carpet and hairballs appear there as well. Our dog eats grass and once in a while leaves us a little pile of green goodness. Needless to say, our house can sometimes get spotty on the carpets. When these things happen I use the Bissell spot pet cleaner in the can and try to get the spots out the best I can, which doesnt quite do the job. Yesterday I took out the Big Green Machine and tackled the issue head on and our carpet looks new again. This thing takes out stains that have been there for six months. It is amazing. I didnt think the small attachment brush would do much because the bristles are stationary, they do not rotate, but damn if it didnt thoroughly clean the stains as well. It is a phenomenal machine. And even though I vacuumed the house with my Shark, the Big Green Machine still picked up a ton of hair when cleaning. The suction power is amazing. When you are done, the carpet is moist, but not wet, and it dries quickly. My niece brought over a rug she was using as a runner for her hallway. My sister and her did everything they could to clean the thing, but it was a white rug and there were spots all over it and it looked dingy. I used my cleaner on her rug and it came out looking new. This product gets rave reviews and there is a good reason for that. It is one of the best designed products for cleaning floors I have ever used. It works better than any machine I have rented. It is awesome! ****ORIGINAL REVIEW**** I received my Bissell Big Green Deep Cleaning machine yesterday. I opened up the box and was cleaning my carpets within 15 minutes. I was so excited about this product I had to write the review before I finished cleaning all my carpets. Before I purchased this product I did a ton of research. Amazon knows me so well it put this item on a blitz sale and I bought it immediately. Knowing what I know now I would have paid regular price for it, but I am very happy I got it on sale for cheaper than listed. It comes pre-assembled. The handle folds down so that is how it is in the box. You lift it out, it is about 45 lbs., put the handle in the up position, empty out the dirty water tank which contains a bottle of cleaner and some cardboard, and then read the directions. We have four animals. Two dogs, one is a senior, and two cats. There have been several accidents on the carpet in one are where we have neglected it. Since we are hosting Christmas this year I decided I needed to get a new cleaner. Our other carpet on the main level was simply dirty and there was a spot where the cats knocked over a Christmas tree and spilled old, stale dirty tree water on the carpet. I thought there was no hope for this stain since a cleaning company that used enhanced water tried to clean it and had zero success. I have enclosed before and after pictures of this stain. It 100% removed it and the carpet looks like new. I also read other reviews and I did two things for the main stain caused by the pets. First I vacuumed every inch where I was going to clean. Next, I went over the carpet one time with no solution in the machine just to get the carpet wet. I heard this helps with cleaning. Next, I put in the solution and cleaned parts of my carpet. The parts without pet stains looked fantastic and it pulled out a ton of dirt and even more pet hair. Since it worked so good I ran to the local big box store and bought the pet stain and odor removal formula, the oxy-booster, and a spot stain remover. I then attacked the stain with a vengeance. Next I doubled the amount of cleaner I put in for the pet stain. Someone else mentioned this and it did seem to do a better job. I was very impressed with many things about this machine. First, it really and truly cleans better than professional carpet cleaners. I would never go back. Next, the machine weighs 45 lbs. or so but it is easy to move back and forth. It cleans in both directions. I went real slow over the heavily soiled areas and made many passes over them (usually four). The work was slow and steady but the water I dumped out was extremely dirty. Also, I took out several huge handfuls of pet hair from the sink strainer and pieces that the machine kicked out. No matter how good you vacuum you will pick up more pet hair. The suction is tremendous. When you are not pushing in the button to dispense the soap then it acts like a wet/dry vac and it takes the excess water out of the carpet. The carpets dried very fast compared to professional machines. The fresh water container and the dirty water container are easy to remove and easy to replace. It is one of the best designed and best working machines for what it is designed for, than most any other product I have used. The only con I can think of is that I told my mom about this machine and now she wants me to come over and clean her carpets.
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LH
Greater than one weekI have hired carpet cleaning companies and nothing cleans and gets up stains as good as the big green machine. I use to rent this machine from Lowe’s every 6 months but finally decided to buy one of my own. Best carpet cleaner for pets and high traffic area carpets. Love it
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K.Kahl
> 3 dayI have previously owned a Bissell but it wasnt a deep cleaner. After reading the reviews and Amazon running this on a lightning deal, I purchased it. After vacuuming all the carpets, I started this machine up. I have used a Rug Doctor and thought that it did a fair job. This machine BLOWS a Rug Doctor out of the water. It came already assembled, all I had to do was remove all of the packing material and lift the handle. My first impression: 1. While heavy, it maneuvers very easily. Much easier than the Rug Doctor. I attribute this to the fact that the handle pivots forward and back like a vacuum cleaner does rather than being stationary. 2. I liked that you didnt have to fill a bucket or other tank to fill the clean reservoir. The clean tank comes out of the machine to be filled. 3. This thing SUCKS! I mean that in a good way. When using the RD (rug doctor) the carpet always stayed wet for hours. With this machine, even with spraying in a forward motion and then again when pulling backwards (so 2 applications of solution with only one removal), on a second pass to remove the water, there was very little left in the carpet. 4. I LOVE that I can see the water that has been pulled out of the carpet. It lets me know just how much water is being put down and how much is being pulled back out. 5. The machine does tell you when you are out of solution and its easy to see the level by looking at the tank. Its similar to knowing how much milk is left in the carton thru a frosted surface. 6. Dumping the waste water is fairly easy. The only downside is that once you remove the top portion (where you see the water being sucked into the waste tank) there is nothing really to hold onto when dumping the tank since the handle is on the top part. 7. Even after thoroughly vacuuming the carpet, this machine found hair that my commercial vacuum did not get out of the carpet. 8. We do have a cat and dog. The dog is very stubborn and if anything hits the floor, she either will try to eat it or cover it up by peeing on it. There was a single spot that after treating with an enzyme solution and cleaning with the RD, there was still an odor. After a single pass with this machine, the odor was gone and there was no longer a strange feeling to that part of the carpet. 9. When using the RD, I felt that I had to go over the carpet several times, keeping in mind that all of our carpet is under 3 years old. With this machine, I could tell with my bare feet that there was a definite difference to how the carpet felt after just one pass. 10. The carpet was dry within 3 hours even in the areas that I had made a forward and backwards pass. Our carpet has a pretty deep pile as well. About 3/4 of an inch in length to give you an idea of what type it was used on. 11. The only problem that I had was operator error. When I filled the tank the second time, I did not get them lined up exactly right and it would put water down but nothing was being pulled back up. I unhooked the latch, reseated the top tank and viola! Back in business. So far I have not found any downsides to this machine but I will check back in after the next time I use it.