BISSELL® Big Green® PET PRO Carpet Cleaner, 3288

When it came time to do the Spring Cleaning this year, I decided to purchase a new carpet cleaner. The Hoover Platinum had served me well, but keeping the machine clean was a pain, it left the carpets pretty wet and the resulting shampoo residue led to the carpet getting dirty much quicker. When I started researching new cleaners, the Bissell quickly rose to the top of the list. The primary reasons were the simple, easy to clean design, powerful motors and all of the excellent reviews from fellow shoppers at Amazon and across many sites on the Internet. I was not disappointed. The cleaner arrives in a large box, fully assembled. This model also includes an upholstery tool with a pretty long hose. Other than removing a few pieces of cardboard from the base and inside the dirty water tank, it comes ready to go. I love the overall design of the unit. It is manufactured of rubbermaid-like plastic that looks like it will hold up fine. Unlike other consumer cleaners, such as the Hoover Platinum, there are not a bunch of fancy lights and other bells and whistles on this one. It is simply the base cleaner, a clean water tank, dirty water tank and top that directs dirty water into the tank. The power cord is 25-feet long, enough for a large room without going back and forth to the wall to disconnect and reconnect it to other outlets. The machine is ugly when compared to the fancier consumer models, but I cared much less about that than how it worked and the simple design that makes it ugly also lets it work well and be easy to maintain. Using the unit could not be much simpler. Fill the water (bottom) tank with hot water from the faucet and the right amount of cleaner (water tank cap is also a measuring cup), re-attach the dirty water tank on top and you are ready to go. This unit dispenses water and cleaner while moving both forward and backward if the button on the right handle is depressed. The instructions advise you to make a forward and backward pass while dispensing water and a without pressing the button to suck up excess water and heat dry the floor. I followed the instructions, but made a second dry pass just to get the carpet as dry as possible...Im not at all convinced that second pass made a difference and it is absolutely not required. In my experience, the water tank is adequate to clean about 80-90 square feet of carpet, depending on the number of passes you make and how much you overlap. With a single pass and a 2 inch overlap, I got about 90 square feet between fills. Having used 5 or so different carpet cleaners from Bissell and Hoover, at all ranges of pricing, I am very impressed with the Big Green. It did a great job cleaning the carpet. Its strong suction led to the carpets being dryer after cleaning than any until I have ever used or seen used, rental and professional cleaners included. In fact, during the cleaning, the Bissell was regularly deposing small balls of hair and fur that 4 passed with my Dyson did not get out of the floor and the Dyson has excellent suction. The carpets took about 2 hours to dry in a 68 degree Fahrenheit room with the ceiling fan circulating air and the windows open. The Bissell also cleaned up several stains in the carpet that were left by my Hoover. That said, I am also using a new cleaner, the Bissell Pro brand so it is hard to say if that is due to the shampoo or the machine. There is a handy flow meter than is directly driven by water flowing past that lets you see when the tanks are empty or if there is still water in the carpet that needs extracting. This unit is heavy and bulky. It is not much heavier than my Hoover Platinum, but the extra bulk of the design makes it harder to carry up stairs. Doable but folks with less upper body strength might need help. Emptying the Bissell is easy. Pull the black handle on the cover forward, remove the cover (I tilted it off from the back to keep from dripping on the floor) and then carry the tank to the toilet for a dump. One thing to note here is that a significant portion of the top of the dirty water tank is exposed. While the water level in there is 1 1/2 or so from the top after using a full water tank, those who are balance challenged may want to push the machine close to where they plan to dump to avoid spilling on the way. After dumping the dirty water, it is a good time to fill the clean since it is on the base of the machine below the other tank. This process is simple as well. Lift the handle and pull the tank up from the machine, open the lid and use it to measure the amount of shampoo to add then fill the tank to the line, which is basically a completely full tank. One thing I appreciated is that water does not drip when the tank is removed, even though water is drawn from a valve at the bottom of the tank. The only downside to the design of this tank is that the bottom is not at all flat, so you cant just sit it in the sink and get a full tank. Not a big deal, but some may find it the weight of a full tank a little hard to hold below the faucet. The Upholstery nozzle and host is nothing special as far as design goes, but the suction from the Bissell motor lets it work like a champ. I used it to clean carpets and it worked very well. Would be nice if there was a way to mount it to the machine but the design does not allow that and it is something I am willing to deal with. Cleaning the unit when done is a snap. Rinse out the tanks and the top cover and then use a towel to wipe it all dry. The handle folds down to minimize the space this takes, but it is a bigger unit so plan on dedicating a spot for it. Overall, this gets a strong recommendation from me. Its roots as a commercial rental machine help this shine in the home. The design is simple and easy to learn to use. There are not a lot of bells and whistles to break down...the only indicator is a simple flow meter not some fancy electronic gadget. And it works and works very well. Exactly what you would expect if you shelled out $50+ dollars to rent one.

I would buy this product all over again. It is excellent on my carpets. I use it all the time with two large older dogs. Even the foot traffic makes the carpet dirty. PROS: ~This machine seems to put less water into the carpet than other machines Ive rented. ~The suction takes more water out of the carpet so the carpet dries faster ---even when I run over the same area time and time again to clean up a doggie accident. ~The machine works better than other carpet cleaners Ive rented/borrowed from family. I went over stains that Id previously cleaned with a rented Rug Doctor and it didnt get rid of them completely as they were old, but theyre quite noticeably better. ~The moving handle makes this comfortable for people of different heights to operate this. Other machines Ive used arent very comfortable. ~Filling the tank with water/solution is a lot less mess than other machines Ive used as the fill tank is removable. Machines Ive previously used you have to fill a bucket and then pour it into the machine and the suction fittings always got in the way which meant spilling (and solution is expensive!) ~The spinning dial makes it easy to see when youre out of water as it stops spinning. Yes, the sound the machine makes changes also, but if youre listening to music, or in the zone cleaning you may not notice that. The dial frequently catches my eye when it runs out as it is a spinning circle cut into quarters that are black/white/black/white. ~The clear tanks make it easy to see about how much of the cleaning solution tank youve used and how close to full the dirty tank is. ~I use my machine at least twice a week for spot cleaning. I clean my entire house, rotating rooms over a couple of days about every 3 weeks. The carpets do not appear to have any damage or wear from the machine. ~Dog hair is easy to remove from the bottom of the machine after using, and its easy to get out of the two parts to the dirty tank. Some of it also clumps on the floor when doing the cleaning so its easy to pick up while going. (Yes, I vacuum before, but even my Dyson doesnt get it all. We have large dogs who shed a lot year round.) ~The handle folding down makes it easy to store under shelves or hanging clothing in a garage/closet. ~It came assembled, well packed, and with a small bottle of original solution. Ready to go after removing a few cardboard inserts! Cons: ~Weight of machine is higher than that of the machines Ive rented in the past. HOWEVER, the tanks can be removed to transport it and its manageable. ~The dirty water tank can be a mess to empty. If you dont wait a few minutes for the water to settle when you lift it off it will drip dirty, water on you or your carpet/floor If you dont tilt it just right when dumping it, youll again have a bit of a mess on the bathroom floor and possibly yourself.. (I think Rug Doctors tanks from the machines Ive rented are easier to empty with less mess and theyre not in two pieces. The top piece here also drips when you remove it to dump the other tank, which means having to sit it in the tub or on the floor.) After cleaning the carpet I always clean the bathroom floor and tub as the dirty water gets on them. ~The dirty water tank, if not set just right, will not collect water. Once youve used the machine a few times its pretty easy to tell when you have it on right, but twice I emptied an entire tank without realizing it wasnt sucking up the water. (The dirty water tank handle when left up blocks part of my view at my height and I cant see if its sucking up the water.) This machine is well worth the price. I checked a LOT of sites and stores where it was available (including the Bissell site). Other than a no longer active Black Friday sale it was cheapest to purchase here on Amazon. I was very hesitant to spend this much money on a carpet shampooer. Its a LOT of money, but having used it a lot (two large elderly dogs create a lot of messes, not to mention foot traffic from humans and dogs alike.) I promise it is well worth the money. I would buy it even if it was $100 more knowing what I know now. I use it with the 2x Pet Stain & Odor Formula. Other people have said it was odorous or blue in color. It is clear and it does not smell at all. The only smell I ever have is when I go over a fresh urine/vomit spot and it only lasts a few seconds when you first go over it, and when you empty the dirty water tank. This cleaning solution works excellent. I have a small bottle of original formula that came with the machine, but I purchased the pet formula when I got the machine so I have not used it and compared. Id rather stick with what I know works. (The cleaning solution I found for the best price on Bissells site. Buy 1 solution get a second for 20% off, they frequently have % off codes which also give free shipping, and you get a 10% discount with a members points account, which is free. The discounts stack. I got 2 60oz bottles for $32 and some change today after tax and free shipping. Last time I bought them I had a slightly lower discount and paid $34.)

I wanted to take a moment to write a review, when I never do. This vacuum is an amazing new tool in the arsenal of removing dirt and stains from my near white Berber carpet. I am stickler when it comes to cleaning, have a Hoover deep cleaner, and use a service regularly to clean my carpets. In growing frustration I found the Big Green Bissell and did my research. There are great reviews here which I agree with, and others I do not. Here is my assessment of the unit. CONSTRUCTION: Nicely done compared to others. It is designed for frequent use, that is strong construction, ABS plastic, which does not have fragile parts that can break. The tanks easily load and remove locking together with a stack functionality which is terrific. The handle is sturdy and the unit is not large by carpet cleaner standards. Something I did not see mentioned elsewhere is the side profile of the unit is flat, meaning you can pull the unit along the baseboard of a wall because nothing protrudes (including) the handle to keep it from being tight as possible. The roller design is brilliant for removal and cleaning, it is simple to do. Also there whole vacuum has few small parts and screws exposed meaning on the long term serviceability will be easy and parts replacement easy. I especially like the ease to replace a broken belt. CLEANABILITY: The tanks are easy to remove and clean, easiest I have seen so far. The rollers are just as easy to clean and wipe down the unit. NOISE: Not any louder than my Hoover and not unbearable. It is a carpet cleaner so expect a bit louder than your vacuum. HOW WELL IT CLEANS: I give it 10 out of 10. It outperformed my Hoover and my commercial cleaning service which I swear by. I was truly amazed at how white the carpets are now. I did learn one trick which made it work perfect. Then you push and pull the vacuum, the pull stroke, is the stroke where the brush really digs in, cleans the dirt, and brushes up the pile of the carpet. Provided you do not pull to quick, it will be like an infomercial where your eyes do not believe how clean it comes out. Truly amazing. I did not upload pics, as to be honest I did not plan on writing a review, nor do I usually. STAIN REMOVAL: I had a 4 year old red wine stain and other stains which it all removed without pretreatment – I associate this with the sheer volume of cleaning solution it used. DO NOT LIKES: The vacuum cleaner hose. The hose does not have a swivel connection, and even at nine feet long it becomes a bit much when you are moving around a lot to hold it in the proper position to alight with what you are cleaning. RECOMMENDATION: This is a must buy unit. Well worth the dollars, and it will last for years to come. Incidentally, this unit used with the Pet Hair Eraser vacuum makes for a great team. I gave my Dyson canister after getting this other Bissell vacuum. Lastly there is YouTube video of comparison models and the Big Green and the guy has no clue what he is doing. The funny part is even when the vacuum is not working it still is. The handle must be extended, and the pull of the vacuum correct to get the maximum cleaning effect.

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.

****UPDATE***** I rarely write updates to products I review but for this item I felt I had to. We have two cats and a dog and one of our cats has been having intestinal issues and is pooping on our downstairs carpet and hairballs appear there as well. Our dog eats grass and once in a while leaves us a little pile of green goodness. Needless to say, our house can sometimes get spotty on the carpets. When these things happen I use the Bissell spot pet cleaner in the can and try to get the spots out the best I can, which doesnt quite do the job. Yesterday I took out the Big Green Machine and tackled the issue head on and our carpet looks new again. This thing takes out stains that have been there for six months. It is amazing. I didnt think the small attachment brush would do much because the bristles are stationary, they do not rotate, but damn if it didnt thoroughly clean the stains as well. It is a phenomenal machine. And even though I vacuumed the house with my Shark, the Big Green Machine still picked up a ton of hair when cleaning. The suction power is amazing. When you are done, the carpet is moist, but not wet, and it dries quickly. My niece brought over a rug she was using as a runner for her hallway. My sister and her did everything they could to clean the thing, but it was a white rug and there were spots all over it and it looked dingy. I used my cleaner on her rug and it came out looking new. This product gets rave reviews and there is a good reason for that. It is one of the best designed products for cleaning floors I have ever used. It works better than any machine I have rented. It is awesome! ****ORIGINAL REVIEW**** I received my Bissell Big Green Deep Cleaning machine yesterday. I opened up the box and was cleaning my carpets within 15 minutes. I was so excited about this product I had to write the review before I finished cleaning all my carpets. Before I purchased this product I did a ton of research. Amazon knows me so well it put this item on a blitz sale and I bought it immediately. Knowing what I know now I would have paid regular price for it, but I am very happy I got it on sale for cheaper than listed. It comes pre-assembled. The handle folds down so that is how it is in the box. You lift it out, it is about 45 lbs., put the handle in the up position, empty out the dirty water tank which contains a bottle of cleaner and some cardboard, and then read the directions. We have four animals. Two dogs, one is a senior, and two cats. There have been several accidents on the carpet in one are where we have neglected it. Since we are hosting Christmas this year I decided I needed to get a new cleaner. Our other carpet on the main level was simply dirty and there was a spot where the cats knocked over a Christmas tree and spilled old, stale dirty tree water on the carpet. I thought there was no hope for this stain since a cleaning company that used enhanced water tried to clean it and had zero success. I have enclosed before and after pictures of this stain. It 100% removed it and the carpet looks like new. I also read other reviews and I did two things for the main stain caused by the pets. First I vacuumed every inch where I was going to clean. Next, I went over the carpet one time with no solution in the machine just to get the carpet wet. I heard this helps with cleaning. Next, I put in the solution and cleaned parts of my carpet. The parts without pet stains looked fantastic and it pulled out a ton of dirt and even more pet hair. Since it worked so good I ran to the local big box store and bought the pet stain and odor removal formula, the oxy-booster, and a spot stain remover. I then attacked the stain with a vengeance. Next I doubled the amount of cleaner I put in for the pet stain. Someone else mentioned this and it did seem to do a better job. I was very impressed with many things about this machine. First, it really and truly cleans better than professional carpet cleaners. I would never go back. Next, the machine weighs 45 lbs. or so but it is easy to move back and forth. It cleans in both directions. I went real slow over the heavily soiled areas and made many passes over them (usually four). The work was slow and steady but the water I dumped out was extremely dirty. Also, I took out several huge handfuls of pet hair from the sink strainer and pieces that the machine kicked out. No matter how good you vacuum you will pick up more pet hair. The suction is tremendous. When you are not pushing in the button to dispense the soap then it acts like a wet/dry vac and it takes the excess water out of the carpet. The carpets dried very fast compared to professional machines. The fresh water container and the dirty water container are easy to remove and easy to replace. It is one of the best designed and best working machines for what it is designed for, than most any other product I have used. The only con I can think of is that I told my mom about this machine and now she wants me to come over and clean her carpets.

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.

Did very good on old carpet. Carpets had not been hard cleaned for many years. Carpets were only vacuumed. Carpets are sun faded but even 9 and 10 year old granddaughters were impressed.

Did a great job. Will try again next week with the pretreat. Even alone, worked great!

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.

Disclaimer: I live in a rented condominium and therefore cant change my carpet. That being said, I used to own another, less expensive Bissell Lift-Off Pet Pro (or something that sounds similar). My older carpet cleaner seemed to use quite a lot of cleaner solution and even after multiple passes, the carpet I have (thick, almost shag carpet) remained quite damp/wet. The Big Green supposedly has a motor thats double (or more) of the amps of their consumer models. I found that it didnt use as much carpet cleaning solution as my old one, and that I still needed to do multiple passes for it to suck up the solution. If youve got thinner carpet, this one might be amazing, but for my situation, I think I wasted money since it still cant seem to vacuum up the liquids as much as I assumed it would, especially given its reputation and price.