Good cleaning! My wife has a Little Green PROHeat machine (now made by Bissell as well) that must be at least 10 years old at this point and frankly, isn’t so great. So when this arrived, I wasn’t terribly impressed, since it pretty much looks a smaller version of the Little Green, so I figured it would clean the same. Boy was I wrong! This thing cleans like a maniac. It’s a bit clunky to use, but wow, it really cleans!My cat decided that she wanted to help me test this device, and created two “pet messes”: one on the carpeted floor of the basement, and one nearly at the top of the carpeted stairs. (It’s the same indoor/outdoor carpet on both.) I actually had already tried getting these out with the , but there were still a noticeable and yucky spots.Unboxing and assembly were not hard, but clunkier than I expected. I immediately noticed that the solutions included in the package were different than the ones I had traditionally used with our old Little Green. I filled the “Clean” side with hot tap water (it helped to not do it in the kitchen sink, where I couldn’t see the little markings, but instead do it on the counter with a cup), then added solution 1, and some solution 2, plugged everything in, and I was ready to go.The instructions had some nonsense about pre-treating, but I couldn’t figure out how. You can’t spray unless the device is on, and if the device is on, you’re treating.The Deep Reach tool was very aggressive about spraying the solution EVERYWHERE. Simply resting it on the carpet isn’t sufficient, you have to really press in. At this point I got fed up and decided to knock off a star. Btw, there’s another tool included, but if you paid for the Deep Reach tool, why would you ever want to use the shallow tool?Once things were rocking and rolling, the stain came off almost immediately. It was extremely impressive. The second stain went away nearly as quickly, but I had a hard time cramming the deep reach tool into the joint. With a bit of work, that stain disappeared too.I was very pleased to see that the electric cord was more than long enough to cross the room or go up the stairs. I could probably have made it across the room *and* up the stairs if I needed. It’s also light, so lugging it up the stairs shouldn’t be an issue for anyone.The motor is surprisingly quiet, as long as the device is on the ground. Lift it up, and it does a great impression of a jet engine.Getting rid of the dirty water did not go so well. I had a crazy hard time opening it, and while I was trying to, nasty liquid was leaking and running all over my hands. YUCK! Minus a star. Next time I’m wearing gloves, but Bissell should really take a page out of Dyson’s book and figure out some way to dispose of the dirty water in a more sanitary fashion.All in all, this is a pretty decent machine. I have to wonder why you would choose this and not the (a newer version of the one we already had). At the time I’m writing this review, both are the exact same price on Amazon, both are by Bissell, but the Little Green actually heats the water as opposed to this one which appears to just let it cool down if you don’t use it quickly. (I see some note about “Heatwave Technology” but I’m confused: if it heats the water, why did I have to add hot tapwater?) I’ve had the on my wishlist for quite a while: it appears to be the same thing as this but automated. Honestly, this was so quick that I would save the dough and just go with this.I tested this on two small messes, using the “Small Mess” setting. When I was done with the two (not even a minute each, excluding stair walking time), the clean side was empty, so I couldn’t go after a third mess. I was surprised to see that the dirty water tank had already reached the fill line, which tells me that if you tried using the large mess setting, you would end up having to empty the dirty tank quite a few times during the course of your work. With no heater, I would be worried that the water would get too cool and that by the end of your treatment, your cleaning would be less effective.[Update 2Mar2013] My 3 year old son developed a tummy virus and (sparing readers the details) we ended up with carrot juice on our nice new light den carpet. The carpet has a stainmaster coating and we blotted everything up almost immediately, but there were still bright orange stains. We know from our prior carpet that carrot juice is nearly…

Designed For Small, Infrequent Clean-Ups We used to have a full-size carpet cleaner that we used as needed but after we built a new house, sans carpet, we eventually relegated it to the Goodwill bin and did the small rug and upholstry touch-ups required by life with kids via traditional spray cleaners. (I’ve found works better than anything else we’ve tried.)Anyway, this came along at a great time as we recently got two puppies and, in the course of housebreaking, have had to clean up WAAY more messes than usual and it seems they prefer to use the various large area rugs, instead of the easily cleanable tile (of course). Anyway, we had plenty of things to immediately test the Bissell SpotClean out on.First, this is quite small which is good, in that it makes it easy to carry, but bad as it means you have to refill it frequently. Unlike their automated pet version (), this is simply a small, hand-tool cleaning unit, not a set-it-on-the-spot and walk away cleaner.I found it fairly easy to fill and the included solution–which won’t last very long–did a good job. Using the handheld wand was straightforward and it really worked, though it’s VERY loud and soapy water sprays everywhere if you forget to turn the unit off before lifting the wand (oops).It did a great job cleaning, leaving the carpet quite wet, but clean-smelling and standing tall (not soaked through).The biggest downside is that the unit runs for only a very small amount of time (>5 minutes) before running out of cleaning solution and filling with dirty water, requiring frequent emptying, which is cumbersome and messy (do it outside is my suggestion), if you’re trying to do an area of any size. For me to clean a 6×9 rug took about four refill trips, and that’s without painstakingly going over every inch.So, for the occasional spot, which is mostly what we need it for, it’s great. If you’re looking for a larger, more complete carpet cleaner, go with an upright, because it’s going to be a lot easier and come with, for the most part, the same hand tools as well.