Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)We struggled between buying this unit and the comperable Dirt Devil offering, when we saw them at the local discount stores. Liking the stiffer dual-rotating beater-bar style brushes on the Bissell better than the much softer brushes on the spinning disk the Dirt Devil had, we settled on the Bissell. At the store, the only negative factor for the Bissell appeared to be it's one-year warranty, versus the two-years offered with the Dirt Devil.
We did not consider a cordless model, presuming they would be less powerful. We also did not consider a model without scrub brushes.
I used our new Bissell briefly last night on a couple of recent pet stains, and it did a good job. Today, I used it on all the rest of the pet stains on our light living room carpet, many of which were old. Almost all of them lifted well.
The Bissell clean tank will hold a full 8 oz. (3-4 oz. cleaning product and 4 oz. water), compared to the Dirt Devil that only holds a total of 6 oz. It does a decent job of suctioning up liquid. Many with the Dirt Devil seem to complain that it's suction is inadequate, and we did test its suction at the store and agree that it is weak.
The manual doesn't document the total clean tank size, how many ounces the "Formula" fill line is at, or how many the "Water" fill line is at, but I measured them. This way I know the proper dilution, if I choose to mix some of the cleaning product into a regular spray bottle for pretreating convenience, without hauling the heavier unit around. (They suggest leaving the pretreat on for 3-5 minutes.)
Note that once you've filled the clean tank, if you have a lot left over you do not have to empty it. You can save it for next time. (The disadvantage to doing this is that you would no longer have warm water to help you clean better.)
The 20' cord was more than adequate for us to get to the areas we needed to clean. Others complain that the Dirt Devil's cord is too big, but I'm not sure if that means diameter or length. The cord on the Bissell flows nicely. It isn't stiff and doesn't stay too curled up to be able to be used easily. It even had a convenient velcro strap that stays attached, to help you manage the cord for storage.
The unit is really easy to fill, operate and clean. Both the clean tank and the dirty tank detach and reattach very easily. Even the beater brush cartridge removes easily for cleaning. It only took me a few minutes to have it ready for storage again. Dirt Devil users complain that reattaching a tank is not always easy.
This is not a full size steam cleaner and I don't think it's fair to expect it to behave like one. It's great for the purpose it's designed for. Be sure to vacuum your capet before using it, if you haven't done so recently. This will minimize the amount of hair etc. to clean out of the brushes when you are finished using the Bissell. I did not do this, and it still wasn't bad to clean out the brushes.
The unit has a solid and durable feel to it. Dirt Devil users seem to think that unit is flimsey and has an awkward manual solution/water sprayer.
I think the product works well and would recommend it over the Dirt Devil. I am happy with it
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Bissell Spotlifter Powerbrush Handheld Deep Cleaner, 1716BBissell Spotlifter Powerbrush Handheld Deep Cleaner - the quickest way to clean spots and spills
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