Off on holiday , how many reviews might I get in!!
Off on holiday , how many reviews might I get in!!
Member since:03.12.2002
Reviews:207
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So I have a nice house, the carpets are not that old (4 years in fact) but they are starting to look beyond their best. I also have got 2 Scottish Terriers who are now 18 months old, so they haven’t quite learnt to wipe their feet when they come in from the garden yet. A dusky pink carpet in the sitting room, dining room and stairs needs some serious work doing to it.
I use my trusty Dyson, and it looks like I have a new puppy in the container on the front of it! I scrub the carpet with carpet cleaner. No it is no good, I don’t want to be a domestic God anymore, I want something that will clean my carpets without too much trouble on my part.
** What did I get? **
The clearer I bought was the 7920E pro-heat, protech upright cleaner with Scotchguard protector. The reason I went for this, is it looked quite good! It has a grey and metallic gold finish! I also did some research on the web. (I had seen it in the Argos catalogue) I really wanted something to get deep into the carpet. The added bonus is that I can clean the two sofas (the dogs like a cuddle now and again!) and maybe even the car upholstery.
** Who are they?**
As a company, Bissell have been in existence for over 125. Apparently the first cleaner by them was patented in the US in the 1870’s. Bissell have been active in the UK for about 100 years. Even Queen Victoria insisted that her palaces be ‘Bisselled’ every day!
** What is it meant to do?
**
Deep clean your carpet! Basically the process of this cleaner loosens and removes dirt and ground-in grit, which is probably embedded in your rugs and carpets. It does this by using rotating brushes to get deep into the pile of your carpets.
** Opening the box**
The first thing you notice is that you need to put it all together. The instructions are very clear. You need to put the handle on, screw the tool holder on, and you are ready to go. To put it together you will need a cross-head screwdriver for the 4 screws! You need to thread the power cable through a slot in the tool holder – to my mind this is the one area they haven’t thought about. As Bissell is an American company, it was obviously designed with American plugs in mind, so it is a bit of a fiddle getting the standard UK 3-pin plug through. The power cable is quite long 30 feet, which I think is a good thing for any type of cleaner. There is also a built in hose, for use with the crevice tool, and the upholstery tools. This hose can be wrapped around the tool holder using the guides provided. The end (with trigger) then clips into the tool holder. Supplied with the cleaner are 3 upholstery/crevice tools, a Scotchgard applicator (complete with Scotchgard), a pre-treatment applicator, and 2 small bottles of the cleaning fluid, and a device to put on the bottom of the cleaner to allow you to clean hard floors such as cushion floor (my hall and kitchen)
** Using it **
I could go through the instruction book, and mention all the operations, but I’ll just mention what I did. That said the instruction book is very detailed, and includes a number of troubleshooting tips. The book is totally in English, so it is not that thick.
You do need to vacuum the carpet before you use this cleaner though (to get all the loose dirt out). So out came the Dyson, and the carpet was promptly vacuumed. The amount I got off the carpet wasn’t too much, but there was still quite a bit!
First thing you need to do with the Bissell is to fill up the water container with hot water. This container has a bladder in it which is where your water goes (it contains 1 gallon). The dirty water empties around the outside of this bladder. The cleaner heats the water up to 25’C. To get the container out, there is a handle release switch which you engage with your foot. This then allows the handle to be lowered. The water container is then lifted out. The handle needs to be moved forward to remove the lid to allow filling (there are labels saying “fill here”) This bucket also need to be emptied (more later) Also on the bucket is a filter, this will need to cleaned every so often of the things that collect there!
Next you have to put in the cleaning fluid. This goes into a separate container to the front of the machine. There is a switch near this, and you have to out this switch into a “water only” position to remove it. This switch also selects if you are treating a heavy or normal traffic area (it regulates the amount of cleaning fluid being dispersed)
You then turn the machine on. You are advised to leave it on for 2 minutes, to get the water to the correct temperature. While waiting the handle is in the upright position, what this does is to raise the cleaning brushes, so they don’t wear out your carpet.
Let’s get cleaning!
First thing I press the handle release switch with my foot, the handle is now released!
So I squeeze the trigger, and start to move forward. On the front of the cleaner are a series of small lamps. The more that are lit up the less efficient your cleaning action (you’re going too fast!) I tried to keep one lamp on (It says best cleaning). You push the cleaner forward, then back keeping the trigger squeezed, this then puts the water/cleaning fluid mix down, it also works it into the carpet. Next you release the trigger and make the same 2 passes forward and backwards,
Pictures
The beast
to remove excess water from the carpet. You look down at the head of the cleaner, and can see all sorts of dirt and gunge coming off of the carpet, the water coming out of the carpet looks black! (If the area you are cleaning still looks a bit dirty, then just repeat the process)I cleaned an area in strips; I made each strip about 3m long, and the width of the cleaner (12 inches). I found that if I did 3 strips I would need to empty the dirty bucket, and put fresh water in. Also the cleaning fluid needs replacing after a few strips (the time this lasts, depends on the setting you use – high traffic or normal traffic)
I found loads of hair (dog not carpet!) deposited on the carpet, this was then picked up and binned, I couldn’t believe the amount that was coming out of the carpet.
On the front of the cleaner is a rotating dial, this is to tell you that the there is still water and or cleaning fluid in the cleaner. If the dial stops rotating, then you either have to empty the bucket, or fill up the cleaning fluid.
I have used a VAX machine before, and found that this left the carpet quite damp. Using this Bissell I found the carpet was relatively dry.
** The Stairs **
Wow! I’m on a roll now, let’s get on with the stairs. I have a look into the tool holder, and find one of the tools, which I think will be suitable (a small brush type affair). On to the hose it goes. There is a switch at the bottom of the cleaner, to select you are using the tools (this then allows you too use the hose) So the cleaning process is the same. The hose has a trigger on it, you just follow the same pattern as the main cleaning. Each of the tools has a nozzle where the clearing fluid/water is squirted onto the carpet.
One word of warning here, although the power lead is long enough to get from bottom to top of the stairs, the hose is not. So you will actually need to balance the cleaner safely while you are cleaning the stairs.
** What’s the finish like? **
Well, where do I start? I only did one complete clean of my living room/dining room and stair carpets. The colour has come back; the pile of the carpet has been rejuvenated. In fact you could almost say I have got a new carpet. The whole carpet looks so much fresher. The fact that my carpet has been down for 4 years, so has a fair bit of ground in dirt, I think it could do with another clean.
I actually did my clean last thing at night, so if there was any dampness to the carpets they could be drying over night.
I also cleaned a rug that I have had for about 15 years, it was now a new rug, I couldn’t believe how much the dirt had dulled it down!
** Warning ** This beast is very heavy – when it comes there is a warning on the box that it weighs in at 17kg – remember this is without the full tank of water
** Other information **
You need to get the cleaning fluids, I bought the general fluid from Argos, a 1.5 litre container cost about £15. It is not cheap, but for the finish I got on my carpet I think it was well worth it. The other thing to bear in mind is that you will probably not be using this every week! They also do a “pet odour” cleaning fluid, and a “bare floor” cleaning fluid (£5.99) The Scotchgard cleaning fluid costs £24
The cleaner has 1200- 1400 watts of power, works on 240 volts, and comes with a 1 year warranty.
** Where did I get it? **
I bought mine Bissell from Argos (www.argos.com) it cost £269 (cat no 405/1914). I actually went to Argos through The mutual (www.themutual.net) this was because I earn 2.5% share back on my purchase. I also went for home delivery. Yes it did turn up when it was supposed to.
I would thoroughly recommend everybody get one of these (or a few families get together and get one between them) the difference it makes to the carpet is amazing, and I would assume it will make the carpet last a few years longer.
Thanks for reading this op, and if you want your carpets cleaned I’m sure I can negotiate a price :-)
Larry
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Handheld - Water Capacity:-1 - Max Boiler Wattage:1500 - Steam Pressure in Bars:-1 - without Vacuum Function - without Steam Iron Function - without Variable Steam Regulation
What an outstanding review! Many thanks, has been most helpful and has answered all of my questions! And provided my partner is prepared to use it for us (I won't be able to because of the weight of the machine) we'll be getting one tomorrow!
cazm17 14.01.2005 11:57
I really need to sort out my carpets, but I'm worried that the heated one might shrink them coz of the wool content. You also don't mention how long this takes, given your 3m strips this might take forever in my lounge, and I'm wondering whether to just get a firm in to do it and all the heavy lifting for me!!! Thanks :o)
Nar 25.10.2004 09:57
I couldnt have done this review any better myself! Everything has been covered in all details, which makes it a winner to read. Youve also gone to all the bother of adding photos too! I dont have this kind of machine, preferring my Vax cos I dont have that much carpet to fuss about and since we lost our cat a couple of months ago (maybe she went on holiday, got fed up of the Hoovers I guess!) we havent had that much hair to guff up. Nar
Jan 6th, 2004
(Oct 13th, 2004)
exceptional by (27%):
very helpful by (73%):
