Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
Lovely clean, deep clean carpets |
| Disadvantages: |
Is a bit temperamental . |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
A little over a year ago I had no money to spend on gadgets and rather grubby looking carpets. I was feeling very hard done by and wanted to do something about the carpets. Buying new ones was out of the question, but we had had a very wet winter and also shortly before that aquired an extra dog, so where one dog bringing muddy paws inside every time she went round the garden I could cope with two was one too many. Apart from the look of the carpets our house was begining to smell a little like a kennels. Now I know I could wash the dog's feet, brush them til they gleamed daily, and used carpet freshening powder each time I vacuumed but even that didn't solve the problem of the grubbiness that I already had.
I did what I usually do when feeling down, I browsed the internet, looked on the Lxdirect site, and then talked a lot about why I really needed one of these. After a couple of days I decided that I couldn't live without one and ordered it on my account. I know I could have got a similar model cheaper, or waited for the sales in the shops, but once I decide I need something I have to buy it there and then.
Delivery was quite quick, I have had a look and now they are selling them for £194.54 and offer a three week delivery. I added the url for the lxdirect page that the Bissell carpet cleaner is on but it was such a long one that it made the page go funny and the advert on the side blocked some of the rest of the review. A big thank you to SugarNSpice for letting me know that. I have got rid of the url but it can be found on Bissell's own site, just type the name into a search engine and it will come up or on any one of the sites for large electrical stores.
*****************************************************************
And the Box arrived.
First thing one morning on my day off, I opened it, I always have trouble opening large boxes so a sharp knife was involved with this task. I got it out and proceeded to put it together. There is a large piece of paper inside the box with picture instructions of how to do this. I followed them pretty much to the letter until it came to two large screws to hold the hose and toolholder onto the body of the machine. I didn't have a screwdriver so used a round ended knife for this job, it didn't work very well and sometime later these screws fell out and I haven't a clue where they are now but it hasn't fallen to bits yet!
I had a look at the instructions, which told me to locate the water holder. This has a sort of soft inner bladder and a hard outer shaped plastic box. Both of these are opaque so you can see how much water you put inside and when emptying you can see how much and how dirty the water is.
Then you fill the shampoo container and put it in place, fill the inner bladder with tap hot water and fix the lid on. This is a bit fiddly at first because the handle is what holds the lid on, so upright and you can lift it but flat and the lid falls off easily.
Put that in place, plug it in and turn it on. There is a button at the back to switch the machine on.
A light on the front tells you it is heating the water to the correct temperature, I think you should leave it running for a few minutes before starting your shampooing, but as out tap water is pretty hot I never bother waiting, I am an impatient soul.
******************************************************************
On the back of the handle there is a lever which you press to start the water and shampoo mix spraying onto the carpet. You just have to hold the lever on and push it across the carpet, backwards and forwards while it sprays the carpet with hot sudsy water and the underneath brush brushes the carpet dislodging the dirt. Once you have washed a patch you can let go of the lever and use it just like an ordinary upright vaccuum cleaner and it sucks up the dirty water leaving the carpet damp but not soaking wet.
Once the inner bladder of clean warm water is empty and the outer container is full of warm dirty water it stops working and you need to empty the dirty water out and start afresh with clean water. The way you know it is full is because on top of the base of the machine there is a screw top which is clear and inside this there is a red float that twirls round and round. When this float stops twirling it means that it is no longer spraying out water and shampoo and needs emptying.
****************************************************************
So, I cleaned my carpets, looked in wonder at the colours that they were, they really had got very dull and grubby looking. I took the machine round to my mums one morning and shampooed all of the carpets in her small bungalow and then my son's partner asked if she could borrow it to clean hers. I was happy for her to do so but had run out of the Bissell shampoo. She had some of another make left over in her cupboard and used this instead.
Now, the paperwork says to only use Bissell or it would invalidate the guarrentee. They also state that any other make could cause damage but we thought they would all be similar and it would work just as well. We actually thought that as a bottle of the Bissell shampoo is over a fiver then it was a sales thing and they wanted out money instead of us getting a cheaper make.
How wrong were we. The next time I used the Bissell it didn't work at all well and I couldn't understand why, very quickly the spinning float didn't spin and the shampooer didn't shampoo. I took it apart and found that the clean water from the inner bladder had leaked into the outer container indicating to the float that it was full. I emptied this and saw a sort of melted hole in the inner bladder. Now, I am not one hundred per cent sure that the other make of shampoo did this but I guessed that was probably what happened.
I was very upset, I hadn't had it long and it was quite a bit of money, it wasn't completely paid for and now it was broke. I looked on the Bissell site and found a place where you can order spare parts so for not too much money I ordered a new water container. That came free of post in a couple of days so top marks for Bissell's after sales service. I didn't call out their maintenance engineer purely because I knew we had violated the guarrentee by using the other shampoo and didn't want a huge bill.
*****************************************************************
The details, I have copied below from the website these details and am happy to say they are truthful ones with little sales pitch involved, what they say is what they do.
deep cleaner
£194.54
Model: "1698J". ProHeat plus power wash. Deep cleans ground-in dirt and grooms carpets. Ideal for pet hairs.
1400 watts. Compact, easy-to-use and to empty tank-in-tank. Heated solution deep cleaner for carpets, stains and upholstery. Ready tools switch instantly converts to tools and carpet pre-treat. Carpet shampoo. 30ft power cord. 8ft long reach hose. Weight 10.8kg. 2-year guarantee. (This is not a vacuum). Dark-blue. BISSELL helpline: 0870 225 0109.
**************************************************************
The disadvantages.
It is quite large and I don't have huge amounts of storage space, but it fits behind my vaccuum cleaner. It is quite heavy at over 10Kg. and I wouldn't want to carry it far although have loaded it into my car to take to mums when I did hers, it is heavier than the average upright vaccuum.
It is a bit temperamental, sometimes it will clean and brush and suck until the inner bladder is empty and the outer container is full of dirty water and sometimes it will give up before the inner one is half empty necessitating emptying it before it should be needed. Most of the time though it is fine.
It is quite noisy but no noisier than most upright cleaners.
*****************************************************************
The advantages.
These are many. It really does clean deep down, this morning I did the carpets in our bungalow, this job only took just over an hour, so quite quick too. First I vaccuumed and the carpets looked clean with no loose bits of dirt and no visible dog hairs or fluff. Once I have cleaned the carpets with the Bissell I have two large handfulls of fluff that this machine had picked up and once the carpets are completely dry I will vaccuum again and know from past experience what I get in my vaccuum cleaner will be very fine dust which is the last bit of dirt left. My house smells nice and slightly lemony fresh, and I am happy for my grandchildren to get down on their hands and knees and play knowing that the carpets are as clean and hygienic as I can make them.
Best of all is the doggy smell I got this morning when I sat on the floor is gone for now and I can do this job every so often to keep it away.
That is about all I can think of, my carpets are dry and it is time to run the vaccuum over it and go out.
Thanks for reading
Sue
*****************************************************************
| More Reviews |
 A BEAST IN THE BEDROOM
Review of Bissell Carpet Cleaner by
LICARUS
Advantages: Cleans - no really cleans carpets deep down.
Disadvantages: quite heavy to use, expensive for occasional usage
Bissel Carpet cleaner
After years of struggling to keep my carpets clean with an unwieldy two piece carpet cleaner I decided it was time for a new one! Imagine if you will my dusky rose pink carpets, only laid 3 years ago, and the incessant tramping of 16 assorted sized paws, 6 regular sized feet plus the visitors we have had over the years, plus the various spills and accidents that occur through everyday life with a 2 year old. All this adds up ...
...the old carpet cleaner at least once a month in the heaviest traffic areas, which used to take up to 2 hours PER ROOM! I thought the carpets were clean! Enter the beast……………….
The Bissel beast as I have affectionately named it, looks very similar to a regular upright vacuum cleaner, with the exception of the two-water/fluid tanks. It is incredibly easy to fill each tank. To fill with cleaning fluid (450ml supplied ...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful |
|
very helpful
22.06.2001
|
 MUSCLES LIKE ARNIE AND A FIGURE LIKE TWIGGIE
Review of Bissell Carpet Cleaner by
sue.51
Advantages: Does what it says on the tin
Disadvantages: Heavy, Cumbersome, expensive
...extolling the virtues of the Bissell machines, assuring me there was nothing better on the market, and that it coped admirably with the Ribena stains of her two under 5’s, with two models in the shop, one priced at £169, the other at £238.99, I bet it did.
But the young lady was sooooo convincing, Martin rolling his eyes at the prospect of me investing extortionate sums of money in something that might not work, and me erring towards the pricier ...
...• You can only use Bissell cleaning fluids, £6.59 for a bottle of fibre cleaner, £5.97 for a bottle of ceramic cleaner (otherwise Bissell advise your warranty will be invalidated - how they know is anyones guess)
• It is messy and fiddly to clean up
DO I REGRET IT?
I must admit I do begrudge paying this amount for a cleaner, and would far rather have spent the money on an XDA, a new TFT screen or some additional software, but needs must, and looking ...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful |
|
very helpful
12.09.2003
(26.09.2003)
|
cleanliness is next to Bisselliness.
Review of Bissell Carpet Cleaner by
Dixonjohnny
Advantages: Easy to use, quick, convenient.
Disadvantages: heavy and noisy.
...a great deal on a Bissell 'Power wash' Deluxe with rotating brush (approx £100), I was convinced, bought the thing and without delay, got it to work.
First impressions...very easy to fill with separate clean/dirty water tank both in one container. The 'self explanatory' cleaner got to work straight away with it's push button feature to apply the water and added Bissell solution, while you then release and 'vac' over the patch which sucks up the ...
...getting in to it. This Bissell is also very easy to clean afterwards too, an empty and rinse of the 'bucket container' and a wipe with a damp cloth and your done! Bliss!! It's worth mentioning that if used correctly, carpets (or hard floors too!) are left very nearly dry and those old whiffs are gone too!
Downs?? Well, I must admit, along with the dog and cat, I was a bit taken aback with the noise, a bit like an aircraft warming up...then again, ...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful |
|
very helpful
18.05.2003
|
Clean and fresh again
Review of Bissell Carpet Cleaner by
backstreetwoman
Advantages: Cleans the carpets effortlessly, with no more effort than using a vacuum cleaner.
Disadvantages: quite heavy, expensive
...I noticed the Bissell Pro Heat Cleaner in one of my catalogues first of all. It wasn't cheap at £240.00. I could have bought it cheaper through another outlet, such as QVC, but this suited me better as it was on a Buy Now Pay Later basis and also I would then be able to pay off for it monthly. I decided to order one to see if it was all it was cracked up to be. When it came, I spent a while putting it together - well, that is attaching the handle ...
...special conatiner bottle with the Bissell fibre cleaning formula, fill up the other bucket type container with warm water, put them back on the machine, set the right settings, then you're away. It's really as simple as that. Because it's an upright cleaner, you literally use it like a vacuum cleaner, going backwards and forwards slowly over the part of the carpet you want to clean. It washes the carpet with the solution, then sucks up the excess ...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful |
|
very helpful
18.01.2002
|
Mean Little Bissell Green
Review of Bissell Carpet Cleaner by
RainDance
Advantages: Small enough to go anywhere!
Disadvantages: Sometimes the dirty tank can leak.
Bissell Little Green Portable Deep Cleaner 17201
After just moving into brand new military housing, I was faced with the stress of keeping the house at 100 percent all the time. The first ones in new housing are always the ones who pay the most when they move out. So needless to say I didn’t want to pay. I went out and bought the Bissell portable deep cleaner from our local Army Air Force Exchange. I thought that this little guy would be easy enough ...
...imagined! I have used my Bissell cleaner on the stairs in my house, which I was amazed at the amount of dirt it had picked up and we had been in this house for little time. It appeared that the construction workers had a field day on the carpet. The next place I used it was on my sofa and loveseat. This furniture has never been cleaned since we first bought it. Now it looks almost brand new again and no longer smells of cigarette smoke. Then as a ...
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful |
|
helpful
18.05.2003
|
02.08.2007
