BISSELL® Big Green® PET PRO Carpet Cleaner, 3288

During the market fall of 2008 I decided to buy a house in Tampa, Florida. The house was in pretty good condition with the exception of the carpets. Before we moved in we had the whole house carpeted areas professionally cleaned but after we moved in the light cream carpets started looking grey. I have hired various pros the last 5 years only to be told that the carpets could never be cleaned completely and having to live with this or just change them. In between professional clean ups I have been using my Hoover Professional carpet cleaner I bought about 10 years ago (I do not remember the model but it was a SIX brush unit). It did a decent job cleaning but heavy traffic areas always looked greyer than the rest and so we decided to buy some rugs to cover them up. Nothing I would do or anyone else made those areas look better. Lately I started thinking seriously changing the carpets for good, a job easier said than done in my house if you could see the stuff I have collected over the years. Desperate for a solution I came across ads and started researching various carpet cleaners from 150 bucks all the way to several thousand (our of curiosity of course!). I saw the Bissell Big Green and read as many reviews as I could at amazon and other sites. Even saw videos in youtube. Half convinced I finally decided to take the plunge thinking that if this would not work I could send the machine back to amazon. The unit came and I was surprised by its size and heft. My Hoover was supposed to be a pro model and did cost me around 350 bucks 10 years ago if I remember well. Still, the Bissell is bigger and heavier by close to 20 lbs. Anyway, I prepared the machine and started working on the worst areas in the house. After working for about 15 minutes I was astonished to see that those got cleaned up like never before since I moved in this house. I had used my Hoover last weekend but the Bissell was cleaning areas that the Hoover could not even touch cleaning. The water extracted after clean up was black and filthy looking like I had never cleaned out these areas before. Even areas that looked clean now looked like new with my new machine. Another surprise was just how effective and superior the cleaning solution 2X Ultra that came with the machine is compared to competitive products. I run out of the Bissell cleaning solution and had to use some of the stuff I had on hand (two different brands). The difference was huge and the effort to get the same results was by far bigger. Go figure! I ordered a big bottle of the 2X Ultra which I received today. The carpet areas I have cleaned so far look like new and the carpet feels like it is rejuvenated somehow. All in all here are some observations and myth basters: 1. The Big Green is big and heavy. You will feel it in your arms and back after prolonged usage. Take your time and be careful. 2. The clean water and dirty water tanks are HUGE. This speeds up cleaning time by avoiding frequent stops for replenishing and clean up. 3. Clean up of the Big Green is a dream! The Hoover could never be cleaned completely due to its design. The Big Greens dirty water container comes in two pieces very easy to clean with tap water. Just do the clean up as soon as you get done using the unit. 4. Some people claim the machine to be made cheap! Nothing is further from the truth. The plastic used in this unit is heavy and the machine looks like it will last for a very long time. 5. This is not an easy unit to use in hard to reach areas. Open areas are best for this. I had to move many furniture for effective cleaning. 6. Use the Bissell 2X Ultra liquid for best results. My comparisons with two different and very well known brands were very educating. 7. The unit creates a lot of the fur balls digging lint form the carpet. You will have to pick those up by your hand. Also the brushes in the bottom get clogged after heavy use. Make sure you turn the machine over (after removing the liquid containers) and clean them regularly. This shows just how well the machine cleans your carpet. 8. I have used several brands of commercial rental cleaners. Also I have seen many other so called professional machines used in this house the last 5 years. The Bissell BEATS them ALL and by a long shot. I really works. 9. NO! I never managed to clean a heavily soiled area by one or two passes like in some videos. You have to work the machine to get results and this is what I did. Multiple passes and plenty of liquid. Dry thoroughly afterwards! Try the unit and you will see by yourself. Just follow the instructions and be amazed. If for any reason you do not like it then just send it back to amazon and get done with it. I am keeping this baby for good! My carpets never looked better. This has really saved me thousands in new carpet for the time being. Cheers

I loved my Hoover but decided rather than rent a commercial cleaner I’d just buy it and the price seemed reasonable. Did some research and the Bissell rated well. It cleans well and pulls the water out so the carpet is dry within 2 days. It will pay for itself. I’m pleased.

If youre like my husband and I, youve gone over and over buying this in your head. I get it, the price tag is a lot. But do it. We looked at so many reviews, so many shampooers, so many videos and everything led us back to this machine. We have a senior Great Dane and a senior Toy Fox Terrier, so accidents happen. After a single use, the difference in carpet feel and smell is phenomenal. Nothing humbles you quite like the first dirty water flush, Holy smokes. One or two passes has removed stains that we just became accustomed to, not even a professional cleaning crew could remove the stain, but this bad boy did. The three sample bottles of solution was super helpful and each one is the equivalent of two tanks. It is heavy to lift and push so please take this into consideration. Its hefty but for a good reason and Ive worked up a good sweat each round. Do read the directions and be prepared to do two cleanings of each carpet. (Not because its ineffective, but because I feel the first go round gets the surface grit up and then really deep cleans on the second go.)

I just got this last night and tried out a small high traffic area on my floor, we bought the house in June and was thinking about replacing the carpets. after just one pass, Im not sure if they look new but they look, feel and smell clean.!!!! good -This machine weights 50 lbs or so, you might think this is bad but it is very good, you dont have to push or pull up for the machine to clean or suck up the water, in short - no extra effort on your part. -it is very easy to push and pull, the large tires in the back really help with this - my wife is able to use it, and she has back issues - filling and emptying the water is very easy - floor is very dry even after 2 passes - attachment is easy to attach and use. - pulled up lot of hair out of the carpet, did leave strings on the floor but it sucked them up just fine - chocolate stain that was dried in for 3 months cam up in 2 passes could be better (nit picking here) - the trigger for the water is only on the right side of the handle I wish it was on both - some kind of laser grid to project on the floor, if carpets are dirty its easy if they are not so dirty you may have trouble seeing where you have cleaned already - wider clean path seems to only clean between the back wheels , the right side seem to clean closer to the edge then the left side - in a high traffic area where the padding has wore down, it will miss spots so you may have to go over this area at many different angles what to watch for make sure to follow the directions for cleaning, specially for your first time on your carpets to get them nice and clean pull in trigger and push, then still holding trigger pull back on the same path, then release trigger and push on the same path again, then pull on the same path. (that 4 pass on one path 2 with trigger and 2 without) When i read this i thought it would take forever, but it does no take that long and in heavy soiled area it does work much better, also the 2 passes with no trigger are the suction and drying passes they also do some cleaning too. I tried one pass of and it did not clean as well, for light areas or touch up one pass would be fine, the machine seems to do the most cleaning when you push with the trigger pulled. so if you just need to touch up i would say push with trigger in then push without the trigger to get the best results. if you need it to dry faster make an extra push or 2 with the dry pass Im very happy with this machine thus far and will update this if i find anything else out. the above is from only about one day of use. UPDATE: MAY2013 I have used this many times, in the high traffic areas its about 1 time every 3 weeks, then rest of the time is justs catch up before company comes over to knock out the pet dander in the house we have about 2500 sq feet of carpet and i can do all of it in about 1.5-2 hours, I have found if you just hold the trigger in a push down a path then pull back the same path, its still cleans 80% of what the above does, and you can get 100% if you just move slower. this floor is still very dry as long as you finish a path with a pull pass. It take 1.5-2 hours to dry and not get wet socks and 2.5-3.5 to dry where you feel with your hand its dry. IF you want an area to dry faster i just make one pass over the carpet to suck up more water (usually do this when it run out of clean water) if you put a fan on the damp area it will dry amazing fast. good luck and happy cleaning :P

If you want a clean, non-blotchy, carpet use the pretreat everywhere. They dont include the pretreat. Where I didnt pretreat initially, I ended up going back.

We finally bought the Big Green Machine after renting the PetSmart version several times. All in all, this is a nice, easy to use carpet cleaner and I recommend it. More Detail: Unboxing: The cleaner is practically assembled when it arrives in its sturdy box. If you have trouble lifting heavy objects, it might be best to cut the bottom off the box and lift the box off, rather than trying to lift the machine out of the box. The accessory hose is in the box in the space between the cleaner and the box. Packed inside the waste bin is a sample of soap that you must remove. There are also a couple of other pieces of shipping material that need to be removed. I also found that the drain plug for the clean water reservoir was loose, so I tightened that up. The unit arrived in great shape with no visible damage to the packaging or the unit itself. This is basically the same unit as the commercial version, from what I can tell. I cant speak to the motors themselves, but it sounds the same as the rental version. The only things different are that the directions for use are not stamped directly on the machine, and there is no rental motor counter, which records the number of hours on the machine. Otherwise, quality, fit, and finish is almost identical to what Ive seen from the PetSmart rentals. Setup for use: Setup is fairly straight forward and easy. The bottom reservoir is for warm water and the cleaning solution. The cap is large and easy to put on and remove. That unit nestles down in the bottom, with a nozzle that allows the liquid to be drawn out for spraying. On top of that goes the dirty water receptacle, followed by the clear lid, which locks in place. You can see the dirty water as it is sucked up via the clear lid. The cord is heavy duty and long enough for all the uses I have. The only thing it cant do is reach from one end of our upstair hallway to the other, but it runs the full length of the house, so it is a long hallway! Use and Cleaning: The unit is relatively easy to move around. The large rear wheels make it an easy roll from place to place when you tip it back onto the wheels. The low center of gravity from the handles connection point at the bottom of the unit keeps it steady and even as you push and pull it across the carpet. It is a bit heavy to pick up via deadlift, but my relatively small wife can pick it up if she does it carefully. Shes not going far with it, mind you, but she was able to load and unload it from our SUV when we rented these. It has a nice grab handle on the front and the rear. The cleaner does a good job of getting the carpets clean and removing most of the moisture from the carpet. Our drying times have been relatively quick, which is good. You really dont want soggy carpets. I am giving four stars, however, because our particular unit seems not to spray well on the forward motion, or at least not as consistently as the rental versions did. It is spraying the cleaning solution, but one pass does not seem to wet the carpet enough. I found myself doing a pass up and back with the trigger depressed, and then two additional passes to remove the liquid. Drying time was still good. But, because it doesnt seem as effective with one pass only, Im holding a star back. It may be something that will improve with us, or it may just be this unit. It still cleans well. This unit needs a little help with heavy stains, as you would expect. We pretreat spots with Resolve carpet cleaner and a little light scrubbing. Then, going over the spots with Big Green it does a great job removing the stains. I make extra passes over high traffic areas or tough stains and it does make a huge difference. Ive mostly used the carpet cleaning system that came with my Kirby in recent years, but this is a superior clean than that one. Depending on the pile of your carpet and the amount of pet hair in your home, you will notice clumps of fibers/hair under the unit and in the waste area. At times clumps will become large enough that they will fall off the machine during use. Its not a big problem, and not unique to this cleaner. If you have a carpet or pets that shed, you can stop and clean it off periodically during use. Cleanup: As with all cleaners, cleaning the unit is essential to its performance. This one is easy to clean. The dirty water receptacle has a large opening and is easy to dump (I dump into the toilet) and rinse The clear lid takes a little work at the sink to get al the crevices cleaned out. Any leftover cleaning solution can be drained easily by unscrewing the plug on the bottom. Wipe down the outside and bottom of the unit, being sure to get clumps of carpet fiber and hair from the roller area, and youre all done. The handle folds down to save space vertically, should you need it. Complaints: As to complaints about drips; yes, when you stop cleaning and park the unit, there will be some dirty water spots I dont think its a leak, per se, but rather the liquid that get caught up in the roller assembly when everything is spinning and working. When it stops it drips. I keep an old towel handy and back the machine up onto the towel when I stop using it - problem solved. Overall: We purchased this for ourself because we had been so pleased with the rentals. It does a good job cleaning our carpets and controlling the odors from three dogs who sometimes have accidents. It really does leave the carpets cleaner and reduces odors, and were very pleased. Had I not had a slightly different experience with the rentals units, I might have rated it 5 stars. After a few more uses I will update my review as needed.

I always rent the rug doctor to clean my carpets but figured i would just buy one so went Amazon.com to purchase a rug doctor but then i saw this bissel it had better reviews so thought i would give it a try. Well it had better reviews for a reason it cleans carpets better and destroys rug doctor on the length of time your carpet drys. I was renting a used machine so that might have a little something to do with it.

Well, we have cats, and cats as everyone knows, as well has other pets, do have accidents. Hair balls throwing up etc. Now humans are different our accidents involve spilled food, drinks, mud dragged thru the house on shoes etc. So we need a good machine that will do the job of cleaning carpets and removing stains. Did I mention cleaning upholstery? In the past we rented machines from different companies, 40/50 dollars a day +plus travel to and from rental. So figuring in travel time, cost of rental and needing a machine when ever a accident happens.. Well you can see a Rug scrubber fits the bill. So why Bissell and not rug doctor? Weve rented rug doctor in the past and wasnt impressed by it. We also rented Big green That we were impressed with the way it cleans and ease of operation. Vacuum to suck up water works great, Has a indicator to inform you when solution is gone, rug doctor..not so much, Big Green also has a hose attachment to use on you upholstery and use it on car seats and hard to rach carpeting spots. Works great all a round. Handle folds up when not in use, power cord is long. Draw backs? The machine is a little bulky and heavy. Other than that... no other draw backs. Big question would I buy again after using the machine .Yes I would. Did I look at other machines other than Rug Doctor And Bissell? Yes I did. Kept coming back to Big Green and bought that Best decision I made on a carpet cleaner

Ive 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

I 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.