BISSELL® Big Green® PET PRO Carpet Cleaner, 3288

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.

First, I am an engineer .... which means I analyze everything. I was concerned about the hand tool portion of this product, but I neednt be. It worked very well. This product not only gets the carpet deep clean, it sucks out nearly all the moisture from the carpet and allows it to dry in no time. Seriously, by the time I got to the other end of my living room, the side I started on was already dry. The tanks (clean and dirty) are super easy to use. I prefer to fill and empty in my laundry room wash tub and these both work great in there. The unit has a little spin indicator when you are applying solution. This is great since you always know the moment you are out. The cord wrapping mechanism is the best I have ever seen in a product. Super easy and fast. Yes, it is more expensive than the typical cheap model, but it is worth it in spades. Additionally, the materials this thing are made out of are super durable. It is built like a tank and I expect many years of use. It is a bit heavy compared to the consumer models, but it is oh so much better at getting the job done. It is worth the little extra space it takes up in the closet and the fact that I have to move it up and down stairs for my wife to use on different floors (it is a bit much for her). At the end of the day, I am a consumer where the most important thing for me is does it work well and last a long time. Everything else is secondary.

Let me begin by saying that I am no expert when it comes to cleaning, but when my carpets reached a point of no return, I knew I needed a miracle. Enter the Bissell Big Green Professional Carpet Cleaner, a heavy-duty machine that promised to transform my dingy floors into a pristine oasis. Little did I know that this experience would turn into a comedy of errors that left me both astonished and laughing uncontrollably. Gather around, my friends, as I recount the tale of The Great Carpet Catastrophe. The Decision: It all started on a gloomy Saturday morning. With a mug of coffee in hand and determination in my heart, I made the bold decision to conquer the daunting task of carpet cleaning. The Bissell Big Green Professional Carpet Cleaner had caught my eye with its stellar reputation and rave reviews, making my choice clear. I headed to the store, feeling like a fearless warrior ready to battle the dust and grime lurking beneath my feet. The Assembly Fiasco: Unpacking the Bissell Big Green was like deciphering an ancient artifact. Every piece seemed to have its own mysterious purpose, and I found myself scratching my head in confusion. As I meticulously followed the instructions, I couldnt help but chuckle at my lack of mechanical prowess. Eventually, after some trial and error (and maybe a few swear words), I managed to assemble the machine. The Battle Begins: Armed with the Bissell Big Green, I approached my carpets with newfound confidence. I pressed the power button, and the machine roared to life. The suction was intense, and I felt like I was wielding a mighty vacuum sword. As I moved across the room, I reveled in the satisfaction of seeing dirt disappear before my eyes. It was a victorious moment, and I couldnt help but let out a triumphant laugh. The Soap Spill Spectacle: Just when I thought I had mastered the art of carpet cleaning, disaster struck. In my enthusiasm, I accidentally knocked over the bottle of soap, causing it to spill across the freshly cleaned carpet. Panic set in as I watched the soapy mess spread like a wildfire. I quickly switched off the machine, but the damage was done. Now I had a clean but incredibly foamy carpet, resembling a giant bubble bath. It was both frustrating and absurdly comical. I couldnt help but burst into laughter, accepting my fate as the clumsy carpet cleaner. The Epic Cleanup: With bubbles covering the carpet, I knew I had to act swiftly. Armed with a bucket and a mop, I dove headfirst into the sea of suds. As I battled the soapy tidal wave, my neighbors must have thought I had lost my mind. But amidst the chaos, a surprising realization hit me - the Bissell Big Green had not only deep-cleaned my carpet but also provided an excellent workout. Scrubbing vigorously, I discovered muscles I never knew existed. I chuckled at the unexpected silver lining while working tirelessly to restore my carpet to its former glory. The Happy Ending: After what felt like an eternity, I finally managed to clean up the soap spill fiasco. The carpet was pristine, the bubbles were gone, and I couldnt help but marvel at the power of the Bissell Big Green. It had transformed my carpets into soft, fresh havens. With a newfound appreciation for the machines capabilities and a heart full of laughter, I declared victory over the great carpet catastrophe. Conclusion: In the end, my experience with the Bissell Big Green Professional Carpet Cleaner was an adventure filled with unexpected twists and turns. From the initial assembly confusion to the soapy spill debacle, it was a journey that kept me on my toes and left me in stitches. Through it all, the Bissell Big Green proved to be a reliable and effective carpet cleaning companion, redeeming itself even after the hilarious mishaps. If youre looking for a machine that can tackle the toughest carpet challenges and provide some comic relief along the way, the Bissell Big Green Professional Carpet Cleaner is undoubtedly the one to choose.

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.

It really disgusts me how poorly made many of todays products are. I like to buy something for life. I prefer to spend more to get something that I wont have to replace in a few years time. Heck, I still drive a 17 year old car I bought new in 1997--it doesnt look so great anymore, but it gets me around, its cheap to own and maintain, and hasnt left me stranded! The Bissell carpet cleaners are a good example of this. In the late 90s, I had purchased one of the Bissell carpet cleaners. While I was using it maybe once per year, there was a span of a few years where I didnt use it at all. So it is not like I used it that often. Over the years, one by one, something else would break on it. Or it would leak. Or the bearings would start wailing like a banshee (which screams cheap imported bearings to me). The last straw was earlier this year when the container of detergent kept coming out steadily, and was completely drained after running the cleaner for 10 minutes. I was not alone either--I know a few friends/family personally who bought a similar machine and they, too, had it only last them a few years. Fed up with Bissell, I looked at the others. Yet here on Amazon, just about all of the cleaners (Hoover, Bissell, etc.) has similar reviews--cheap plastic, leaks, early failures, just total junk. Yet this Bissell 86T3 stood out as having a five-star rating, with hundreds of votes. The more I read, the more I realized that I needed to give this machine a try. I was going to rent one from Lowes, but a Warehouse Deal came along that made it irresistible. It showed up yesterday, courtesy of FedEx. In the evening, I tried it on a high-traffic area in the family room, which has an off-white low-pile carpeting. It still has a couple of streaks, but man, is it ever bright! I havent seen it this clean since I moved into this house four years ago. The old Bissell lightened it a bit, but this one totally took control and sucked up a lot of dirt. (One area is a run between the kitchen and back door, and the other is the area around my work desk.) I may go over a few spots again now that I am more used to the machine. Today I tackled a bedroom (including a mattress) and the living room. And again, it pulled up muck that poured out of the waste container in a dark grey color. And yes, its like the other reviews have said: the carpet does not take long at all to dry. This 86T3 has serious suction! (The other Bissell couldnt suck up a dead gnat.) Moving furniture around, I was able to use a large fan to dry off the carpet in about a half hour. The carpet isnt exactly new looking, but it looks way better now. It always amazes me how much gunk hides in our carpets! Construction--the plastic is thick and heavy, in the main body and in the tanks. Fully loaded, its a bear to lift. But like others say, cart it around or lift it without the tanks to make things easier. It is also a bit difficult to steer but you get used to moving it in longer strokes to make up for it. I tried the hand tool in the bedroom to get in some tight corners, and the hose is long and sturdy, with no worries about kinking it like the cheaper Bissell cleaners. I likely would not have paid full price for this, but even if I had to pay more than the Warehouse Deals price, at least I am more confident that this cleaner will last me a while.

I am amazed (and disgusted) with what came out of my carpet. I have been buying cheap ones from Walmart for years and they do not hold a candle to the amazing job this carpet shampooer did. Worth every penny.

This is the best carpet machine I have owned! Completely worth every last penny. Life with kids is messy, our living room rug was absolutely disgusting. A once over with this, and a few times over the really dirty spots, and the rug looks almost new. I highly recommend!

The most important adjetive for this machine is, AMAZING! First, Id like to recommend anyone researching this or any product... Read reviews. The good and the bad! Then, look for the trends in those reviews and from there, determine for YOU what is important versus what is not important. A handful of bad reviews that involve complaining about things that have nothing to do with the product specifically (i.e. packaging, delivery, etc) or a small percentage of reviews that have minor breaks or other minor problems versus the hundreds or better yet, thousands of great reviews on the same product, those bad reviews may need to be taken lightly. Unless, of course, those things are important to you. Do consider this. It doesnt matter how a product is made (assembly line or hand made), there will ALWAYS be faults. No matter the company or how good the product is overall. Obviously, the fewer problems the better but if you are seeing hundreds or thousands of good reviews to a few dozen or so negative, then that would be a reasonable percentage of errors with any good to great product. I know some people will have multiple bad experiences with the same product where others have no issues. There are a multitude of reasons that could happen but look for the overall, not just that one review. That said, I recommend and do this myself, but when looking for trends, if the bad reviews are all because something breaks but maybe its a different piece each time, then there may be an obvious trend. I would possibly take that into consideration. It may not make my decision for me, but the trend of what users say about the product is what Im looking for and its paid off for me quite well. Bottom line of what Im trying to say is, dont just look at one or two reviews and dont just look at the good or the bad, but rather review as best as you are comfortable with on both ends of the spectrum and decide what trends you find and how those trends impact your decisions. For me, reading actual buyers/users reviews are better in almost all circumstances then any lab testing or any company that does product reviewing. With that, I have started my research with company reviews, but in the end, WERE the end user! It is our perspective and experience that matters most. Id rather gain real world end user perspective then read an article that may or may not be paid for to make a statement one way or the other. On to my review. I have to say this first. When I was researching and reading reviews, my first thought, when I decided I was gonna make this purchase, was I hope my money doesnt go to waste, but if I get even one great cleaning, that is better than I could pay any over priced professional with a oversized vaccum in their van, that doesnt even lift out the dirt but just wets the floor and kinda cleans. Then ITS WORTH IT. I mean not to offended any professional out there but simple soaping the floor and suctioning it up isnt cleaning. Thats multiple experiences and eventually, history doesnt lie. Now, I did follow the recommendation of at least one reviewer in this review group that doubled up on the solution, and it worked. Im not recommending that for you. Just telling you my experience and what worked for me. Now I know you saw the pictures and probably felt ill just looking at that floor. Obviously, we thought so too. Its disgusting and thus we purchased the Big Green Machine. We can compare this unit to the many other ways weve tried to keep carpet clean in companies paid and products purchased and nothing else has come close to this. We have SEVERAL pets to which I wont mention how many but I will say I dont have enough fingers to count them all. We love our fur babies and other pets. We also like having a clean floor and clean house. The floor is the biggest battle in our household. Nothing is more off putting then walking into someones house and it wreaks of animal urine. But when its your own home and everytime you come home it smells. YUCK! Multiply that smell by 5 and and that is what anyone else coming into your home smells. Weve been there. We were just there. We didnt want to host anything because of the floors. But now, I can very happily and more than confidently say that weve found our cure. This machine is just straight up, Amazing. Ive never had a professional even come close to cleaning carpets as well as this BIG Green does. If I could find a professional to do this it would almost absolutely cost more than this machine, but I can get multiple uses out of this, as long as well cared for. You can see it for yourself in my posted pics. That dirty floor there is several months of pet stains because the moment we moved into this house my first dog discovered the location of the previous tenants dogs place within less than 5 minutes being in this home. We even waited outside with our dogs before going in to this house for the first time, while they all did their business and still she started this disgusting trend. So lets chalk it up to this. More than a handful of household free roaming pets and 11, thats right, ELEVEN months of this. So heres what we did. Machine arrived as quoted at time of purchase. That very next available day off, Saturday, I carefully went through the included manual and honestly, this machine looks like it could or should be difficult, but it truly isnt. Very easy to unpack, assemble, dis-assemble, and re-assemble again. Thats important as you will have to empty this unit and refill with clean solution every one gallon. VERY easy to push/pull. Dont leave solution in tank or in machine. Keep all parts clean and dry when in storage. Thats how Ive best kept any product that uses liquids with electrical devices. Never store liquids in the machine or attachments when not in use. Unfortunately sometimes that means tossing any leftover portions unless you wish to find another way to store the liquid. Diluted solution is not recommended to be put back in with concentrate as number one, it likely wont fit, and number two, youll ruin the concentration level of the original solvent. Next, I went to work on the floor. Now, I do have to say many people and these products suggest to pretreat. I did NOT pretreat. I wanted to see how this product (with double amount solution) would actually hold up. I started with a small space (4 x 4 landing) and immediately could see the difference. Then when I started the first trip down the hallway, my wife suggested to take before and after photos. Thats what you find above. My process with doing this was to make a forward pass (I divided the hallway into 3 sections. Moving side to side the up. Closest, middle, furthest). While moving forward, I moved the machine steady at about 1 inch a second or slower. I know that seems slow but look at it. It works well. Then on the backwards pass/pull, I moved at the same pace where the carpet was heavily soiled, but where it wasnt pet stained I went about 3 inches per second. This may sound slow but consider that you have to let the solution get into the carpet and let the machine do its job. No product can do that if you rush through it. And dont force it. Let it do it job. You just steer it and place solution accordingly. On the forward pass, I held the trigger to spray the entire distance, then on the backwards pull I only held the trigger where stains resided. The suction is at the very front of the unit and collects everything on the backwards pull. Where heavy solution was applied, another slow pass, without pulling the trigger, will gather up about 95% of the moisture. That said I did make 2-3 passes forward and back with applying solution where the stains were prominent. Which was a strong majority of the hallway. The first pass really did the job better then great but considering the nature of the stains, I wanted to be more than thorough. This hallway measures about 4 wide by 23 long and took about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. But, boy was it worth the time, money, and effort. The bedroom is my young daughters who struggles still with door knobs and thus her room is open for her, by which the pets in the house took full advantage. Still not good but they did keep most of there spotting to the hall way. Her room was just as, if not more important than the hallway to get cleaned for her benefit and sanitary health. Once I was done with the cleaning process, I emptied the dirty and clean water tanks and rinsed thoroughly. Then I put about 1/2 gallon of plain water (No solution) in the fresh water tank and ran that over the clean floor by spraying the water just as if I were cleaning the floor. I didnt use the full half gallon. I ran enough water through until I felt the solution was pretty well cleaned out. Probably a total of 1-2 minutes of total trigger squeeze. This was to allow fresh water to run through the machine to clear out the solvents in the lines that carry the solution from the clean tank to the sprayer nozzle. I cant confirm this was or was not long enough. Just going on experience to avoid damage of the unit while in storage. Once that was all done. The carpet was completely dry by the time we went to bed. So probably 4 hours or less. Its been 2 days since I did this and spots have NOT magically returned. This is a major win. I will try to update this post after a total 1 week has passed to see if it still holds. If so, Id call this an absolute winner, where other products have completed the job or professionals have left and within two days spots have returned. That has not yet occurred in this case. Also, to resolve the pet issue, we placed a very solid metal baby gate to block the dogs from going back upstairs without us, during the day, until its all our bed time. We work from home, so the dogs hang with us throughout the day. They sleep. We work. They have always and continue to go out at least 8 or more times daily or whenever they sit at the door and whine. Love em, but now we can live easier without never disappearing pet stains. Weve been renting in this house for almost a year and in our previous home we sold, we had hard floor, for a reason, and will do the same when we buy again in the next 6 months or less. Clean floor + landlord = No loss. Happy research hunting and good luck with your floors.

Worth the price. Best carpet cleaner I’ve ever owned. Comparatively speaking, it is a bit pricy, but worth every penny. Could not possibly recommend more.

I come from an old professional carpet cleaners family. Steam cleaning is the best way to clean carpets. So I was skeptical about the cost, quality, and would I be getting another machine which would probably fall apart in a year. I read all of the reviews and felt that that many people however, couldnt be wrong. I have owned 2 Bissells cleaners and each one spewed water out after about 1 year and the roller brush broke after 2 uses. The carpet cleaning wasnt great, it was bulky to store, the water tanks were small, cleaning chemicals by Bissell not that great with those machines. Both machines cost $300 EACH!!!. So understand that I was Leary of spending $400 for this machine. I took the Big Green for a test spin for the first time today. I picked the dirtiest walkways in my home. WOW!!!! I am impressed! My husband reloads ammunition and contently tracks filth in from the garage. After trying unsuccessfully to get him to take his shoes off I had had enough. Based on past Bissell cleaners I figured this was the last time around for a carpet cleaning machine before I called in a professional. While I found that the comments that the machine was bulky, hard to push, noisy, to name a few, this machine is nothing compared to the other machines Ive had. Try rental cleaners (Rug Doctor)and see what bulky, noisy etc. is, and you still wont get clean carpets. I found it was not hard to push at all (I have a really bad back too) and as for bulky, not at all! For the work this does and not having to continually having to fill and dump water tanks, I found that the larger tanks, which hold more, are much easier on my back. I also found that you dont waste as much cleaning products. I also liked the way the machine folds to store. Now for how it cleans. I will put this machine up against any professional job, any day. Not only did the filth from my husbands shoes come out but the carpet looked new, fresh, and best of all, clean. Smells nice too. I used Bissells products with this machine and found them to work much better and did great job. I would say that Bissell hit the bulls eye with this machine. There is a little back wash that is easily picked up with the Big Green. The backwash was onto my white floor (was only a very small amount) tile and I cant tell you how dirty the little water amount on the tile was. It certainly told me that this machine works fantastic. I touched the carpet right after cleaning to see how wet the carpet was. I was very surprised that the carpet was barely damp. while it would be best to let it completely dry, you would be able to walk on it in about 1 hour. The only problem now is that I have to do the whole carpet because the traffic areas I tested are so bright and clean that the rest looks dull. If you want a professional cleaning without the constant cost and hassle of calling a professional, this is it. Would I buy this again in years to come? Absolutely!!! Finally a product that really does what it says it will do. I highly recommend spending the money to have this quality of clean. Thanks Bissell!!!!!!!! I will try to update this review as the months go by. That way I can time test the equipment. I am a happy camper for now! We did the rest to the carpet today. OMG, I couldnt believe the filth that came out of a my supposed clean carpet with our Bissell up rights. It made me sick! There is no way you can fake that kind of dirt in the dirty water container. My carpet looks brand new. Maybe even brighter than new. The hardest part was moving the large 3 piece sectional sofa out of the way. But was very glad we did as even under there the carpet had accumulated a lot of dirt. We have a rental house that a professional had cleaned after the tenant moved. It looks awful after they were done. So I guess our Big Green goes on a trip to re-clean that house. The carpet there is the same color as our house so I expect great things from this machine. A few suggestions I have: 1. Watch the pilling in the ports of the machine. I thoroughly cleaned each one after each water dump to make sure there was no clogging. We checked the rollers underneath when we were totally finished to be sure that they were cleaned up too. Dont expect this machine to vacuum for you. Do that first and again once the carpet is thoroughly dry to get up the pilling left by the machine. Even professional cleaners leave pilling behind so dont think that the machine is not doing its job. 2. While extracting water from the carpet, if the water is still slightly grayish, go over the carpet area again as it still need a little work and fine tuning. When the water is clear is when you have gotten all of the dirt out. For the first time of use, you may have to do this as you are going to be very surprised at how much dirt was in your carpets. Get it clean this first time and the next time you use this machine, you wont have so much work to do. I do agree that this machine needs room to maneuver but for average rooms 9 x 12 or bigger it great. Doing small closets with closet door rails is not practical for this machine. You would have to use the upholstery hose for those areas. I would also recommend using Bissells Professional Cleaning Solution with the machine. Especially if your carpets are really bad. Dont be afraid to go over the really bad spots several times to get out all of the dirt. This machine extracts so much water that you dont over wet the carpet. Just extract several times more to be sure that you dont leave to much water behind. Watch the water flow over the top of the head to gauge how much water it is extracting. When you dont see much coming out of the carpet at this point, you should be able to move on to the next area. Drying time about 2-3 hours. Professionals put paper down and the carpet seems to be damp for 6 or more hours. So this is an improvement even over them. All in all, and after spending a total of $600 in machines (2) that dont do the job, this machine is well worth it. Besides you will pay at least that for a professional job, that may not even be as good, in just one cleaning.