BISSELL® Big Green® PET PRO Carpet Cleaner, 3288

I’d previously owned a Hoover carpet cleaner. The handle lock broke in the first couple months and it would spill nasty water whenever it was in use. It also just did a piss poor job. When I bought it, the reviews were positive. So, I was really skeptical when it came time to replace that crappy Hoover. From the very first seconds of use, I knew that this Bissell was money well spent. My carpets and rugs haven’t been this clean since they were new. I have two pre-teen kids and a black lab that make for some pretty gross messes at times. Now, muddy paws? no problem? Spilled juice? No problem! Kids didn’t let the dog outside in time? No problem. The only downsides are that I wish the spray button was a switch, and that the unit is pretty heavy. So pushing and pulling this thing around while having to keep your thumb on the button makes for a hand cramping experience after a few hours. But, the results are clearly worth it. This thing pulls out all the dirt and dog hair from the carpet. I went three passes with my Dyson before running the carpet cleaner and the Bissell pulled masses of hair up from deep in the pile. The pile beaters on this thing are impressive and make my vacuum’s look worthless. About that dog hair. No matter how much I ran into, the Bissell didn’t clog up and quit like my outgoing Hoover. Great unit, built stoutly, worth every penny.

Firstly, I have to say that I am -was- a huge fan of the Rug Doctor. Weve rented the Rug Doctor many times over the course of a few years after out carpet cleaning machine died. We did like the Rug Doctor, but when you add up the costs associated with it, $25-30 base rental + $7 for the hose, as well as the cost associated with running to the store to get it and return it, let alone the hazards associated with the last people who rented it and didnt clean it when they were done (pet hair EVERYWHERE). Either way, we certainly thought the Rug Doctor was good until we purchased this Bissell. As others have mentioned, it picks up to much more water and leaves your carpets much drier right after going over them. Its been about a year since we rented the Rug Doctor. We went over the carpets in one direction and just for kicks we went over it in the other direction (vertical and horizontal). We got so much more dirt out of our carpets than we would have ever gotten with the Rug Doctor! It was just as much gross as it was amazing! This Bissell Big Green is very easy to use and comes with everything you need to get going, including 2 small bottles of solution and a sizable hose for spot cleaning. I would HIGHLY suggest you purchase additional solution (I used the Bissell Deep Clean-dark blue bottle) if you have more than 1-2 rooms to do that have really dirty carpet. I did three moderately sized rooms and had to refill 5 times. This may seem like a lot, but I went over everything twice or even three times in high traffic areas. Even with the extra passes, the carpets were dry very quickly. After the carpet completely dried, the carpets look amazing! Before they were starting to look different colors across the carpets, and now they look uniform again. The carpets are soft, correctly colored, and vibrant. There even is a nice sheen to the carpet. I do think it pullet the carpet back up where it was more pushed down from excessive traffic because it looks better than it has in years! I do have two of my three rooms on a second story and had to move the carpet cleaner up the stairs. The machine is heavy! I took off the dirty and clean water tanks so you basically only have the machine itself and it was a slight bit heavy to haul up the stairs. I dont know if it would be doable for everyone without assistance. For the three rooms, it took 5 refills of water/solution and about three hours. Make sure you do read the directions! I was not holding the dispense button enough, which did cause for a little extra time because I redid that area. You are supposed to move forward holding the button and then move backward over the same area still holding the button in a slow manner to allow the spinning brush to do its job. Then release the button and go forward and backward to get the excess water sucked up. Reading the directions first will surely help cut down your time. Overall, if you are on the fence about purchasing this machine, just do it! I thought about it for a few hours and ended up just purchasing it. When you consider how much it costs over time to rent a not so great machine (now that I see how much better you can get with this machine) and time time and effort required to go get it and take it back, as well as the convenience of having your own machine if you need a quick cleanup, its totally worth the cost. I would HIGHLY recommend this carpet cleaner, it really DEEP DEEP cleans! Fair warning: I have only had this machine for about a week and used it once. I was just so amazed that I couldnt wait to write a review. If I do run into anything, I will be sure to update this review.

I started out using this machine because I was in a pinch when our carpet vendor had to cancel. My first experience was with a rental from a local hardware company, per the recommendation of our rep. The rental had clearly been used a lot, and not well cared for. I was skeptical. However, our $5000.00 commercial machine was heavy, hard to fill, rigorous to use, exhausting to use solo, and an inconvenience for those occupying apartments. With this machine, I was able to complete the job in a fraction of the time, had no interference with other occupants, had no fatigue, and the end result was a much cleaner and sanitary carpet. I was so pleased I bought 4. I have since bought nothing but this. The upholstery attachments work well for furniture and tight spaces. The stair tool sees no loss of suction. The machine is simple to use, can be used by a single person with ease. The suction is less than more expensive machines, but the scrubbing bristles penetrate deep into the carpet and in my opinion yield a better clean. The capacity is small, but that can be seen as a benefit. This is not a machine for water extraction, but for cleaning. The machine is easy to clean, and upon first use it will be evident how much this machine really pulls out of the carpet. There is a clear channel on the top of the collection bin and you will be able to see the hair, dirt, and grime as it is extracted. There is a multi color pinwheel on the top of the machine for flow, that will let you when when water is flowing or the tank is empty. For areas with pets, it does extremely well with hair and dander. Rather than flood and suck, this machine will excel with proper chemical treatment. Pre-treat stains properly ahead of time, and mix the proper fragrance and general carpet cleaning solution for your needs with the clean water tank for optimal performance. It’s a prefect option for single households. For commercial, I recently chose to use this product over a much more expensive machine. A larger complex with indoor, carpet hallways. Roughly 2 linear miles (4 buildings, 4 floors per building) and 6 foot wide. To make it work I prefilled a 30 gallon tote with water and treatment, and one empty tote. I was then able to fill the tank when needed, as well as empty the collection tank with ease. Pretreated the stains with a backpack sprayer, and the end result was great. My legs and back are still thankful. One caveat is that it is still pretty loud.

Ive tried a variety of carpet cleaning machines. I dread carpet/rug cleaning!!!! I finally decided I needed to invest in something that worked WELL so got this machine. Wow it works!!! Even on a shag rug. The key I think is to pretreat any very dirty areas with the solution (dilute in a spray bottle or even in a hand held compression spray container...the kind you mix fertilize/weed killer in). If the solution can sit on the carpet/rug even for 10min it makes a big difference in how clean the carpet/rug will get. Then use the cleaning machine. It takes a few passes but it gets it clean. Take a bit of time going over the area several times if you want it almost dry. I cleaned a shag rug a few hours before I had company and it was clean and dry in a very short period of time. I went over the rug very well with just suction and it was almost completely dry. To get the last bit of perfect cleaning... Do a final clean with just hot water in the machine. Leaves the carpet/rug soft with no cleaning residue left in the carpet/rug.

This review is for the Bissell Big Green. My carpets are old and very light in color. I live with three dogs. One of them is a senior and her bladder isn’t what it used to be. I’m not disciplined enough to wipe their paws before coming back inside, so my carpets take a bit of a beating in tracking in dirt and grime. This is the first “high end” carpet cleaner I’ve owned, but in my garage is a grave yard of floor cleaners that didn’t work too well. This machine exceeded my expectations. After purchasing MANY carpet cleaners (everywhere between the $130 to $250 range), the Big Green did its job quite well. THE PICTURES TELL IT ALL: 1 - See the picture with the white dresser to left. You can clearly see the difference in the carpet between the cleaned area (in front of the dresser) and the uncleaned area (toward the front of the picture). 2 - A few weeks prior to getting the Big Green, I cleaned my upstairs carpets with a Hoover Spin Scrub PressurePro Max Extract 60. In the photo with the loft rails in the background, you can see a line down the middle after cleaning half with the Big Green (left side uncleaned, right side cleaned). 3 – The four remaining photos consist of two sets of before and after pictures of old pet stains. The pet stains were several years old with multiple attempts to remove with a variety of cleaners over the years. The results were AWESOME! OTHER ODDS AND ENDS: 1. The buckets are clearly marked as to how to put them back in the machine. You can’t do it wrong (if it were possible, I would have done it) 2. The machine did well on my carved area rug. It’s a good, heavy rug – not sure I would use it on a light rug 3. No leaking!! Even when tipping it to remove debris from the brush roll (this is a problem I’ve had with almost every other cleaner I’ve owned) 4. Suctions up the water nicely for quick drying. My area rug seemed to hold moisture more than my wall to wall carpet and took longer to dry, but the pad under the rug was dry. 5. The cap on the clean water tank serves as a measuring cup for the shampoo, which is very convenient. 6. 5 year warranty 7. Easy to pull out the brush roll and clean behind it 8. Easy to empty dirty water tank and clean it (other carpet cleaners have a hole to dump the water through so it’s difficult to rinse out the tank and remove all of the sediment that accumulates) 9. The tanks are a milky color – I would prefer they be more transparent so that you can see where the water levels are and see the dirty water being suctioned up. 10. The machine is a bit clunky to maneuver to do another pass, but with practice it gets easier. Likewise, it’s awkward to get smaller areas. 11. One of the biggest points in negative reviews was water gushing out of the flow indicator and the location of authorized Bissell repair facilities. Before purchasing this machine, I located an authorized Bissell repair facility from the Bissell website and called the facility to ensure they were still in business and are still authorized to perform warranty services. I’m bringing this up because it is a large purchase and the machine is way too big and bulky to send it somewhere for repair. I’m not sure if the flow indicator is covered under the warranty, but replacing it is relatively inexpensive and I’m confident I have somewhere close to repair it. There are also UTUBE videos on how to replace it. In summary, I WAS AMAZED at what this machine picked up and am 100% satisfied with the purchase. If I encounter issues upon future uses, I will update this review. P.S. If you found this review helpful, please indicate. THANKS!

I always rent the rug doctor to clean my carpets but figured i would just buy one so went Amazon.com to purchase a rug doctor but then i saw this bissel it had better reviews so thought i would give it a try. Well it had better reviews for a reason it cleans carpets better and destroys rug doctor on the length of time your carpet drys. I was renting a used machine so that might have a little something to do with it.

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!

I purchased my Big Green in December of 2015. I have a home in the country where dirt is more likely to be tracked in, and I also have both dogs and cats. I use this shampooer around the whole house 2 or 3 times a year and use it for heavier traffic areas maybe 3 or 4 additional times within a year. It pulls an amazing amount of dirt and wads of pet hair out of the carpet, especially in high traffic areas, despite me regularly vacuuming. I follow manufacturers instructions and clean the Bissell thoroughly after each use, so it still looks and works like new. I use Bissells professional ultra shampoo which is what originally shipped with the shampooer. That shampoo leaves the carpet soft with a light clean fragrance. I have used the Big Green twice on upholstery, and it performed well for that task as well. I feel like I have truly gotten my moneys worth from this purchase, since the cost of a single professional cleaning was 75% the price I paid 7 years ago for a shampooer I have used at least 35 times!

Sure, it’s loud, it’s bulky, it’s annoying to have to stop and empty the bucket of nasty water/refill the clean water, it’s kind of a pain in the butt to get up and down the stairs. And yet, this carpet cleaner works SO much better than the cheap ones you can buy at Target/Walmart! I got tired of renting Rug Doctors and getting charged way too much because I kept it two or three hours past my return time and decided it was much more economical to buy my own (and less of a hassle). I initially planned on getting the rug doctor but decided to do a little research and ended up buying this one because it was about $100 cheaper and as far as I could tell they were really similar in function and results. I ended up being much happier with the Bissell when comparing both brands. Bissell vs. Rug Doctor: 1. The Bissell fits under the outer rim of my pool table (standard 9’ table), which the rug doctor did not. Believe it or not, this makes a huge difference in a room with a pool table! 2. The Bissell is easier to deal with the water containers - both the clean and the dirty buckets. 3. The attachment is easier to attach to the Bissell than the RD (granted, neither machine makes this task hard). 4. As loud as the Bissell is, it still seems a lot quieter than the RD. The rug doctor did a weird rumble when releasing the solution that made the entire room feel like it was vibrating - It felt like a loud bass on the first floor when the RD was being used upstairs! 5. Bissell will clean going both forward and backward. RD will not. This seems like a no-brainer, tbh. 6. This last one is a bit subjective, but it seems to me that the Bissell simply does a better job overall and gets the carpet cleaner than the RD. 7. Bissell feels lighter (I don’t remember the actual weight of either machine). Honestly the only advantage I can think of for the rug doctor would be a slightly larger water/waste tanks, meaning you have to refill and dump the tanks less often. However, I somehow seem to get more area cleaned with the Bissell amount of water than I did with RD. At the very least, I would say they are near even as far as area coverage per tank water refill. In conclusion, both products are far superior to the other options (non-commercial) on the market, but this one is the best of the two. TLDR: The Bissell is cheaper and (imo) works better in many ways than it’s main Rival, Rug Doctor. I highly recommend this product. *Pro Tip: DON’T pour your dirty waste water out into your bathtub! Especially if you live with pets. If you do dump it in the tub, you’ll be digging out the clumps of mystery hair gunk that stopped up your drain with a coat hanger shortly afterwards.* Your welcome. :)

Ive had this machine for two weeks now and have really mixed feelings about it. It works well, with some quirks and some flaws. For quirks, it cleans really well, much like rental machines, but it leaves stripes. If you work from right to left, itll leave a 1 stripe. From left to right, itll leave about a 1 1/2 stripe. This is because the sprayer and vacuum area is wider than the brush bar by those amounts right and left. If your carpets are dirty and light colored, its really noticeable. You can go back over the areas, but the stripes will remain with each pass, but lighter until the carpet is so clean from repeated passes that its not noticeable. The beater should have been the same width as the sprayer and vacuum. Oh, and I found Zip Premium Carpet Shampoo. Its about half the price and worked better for me than the best Bissel stuff. For design flaws, I first want to say that unlike the home model cleaners made of clear plastics that harden and shatter with age, this machine is built to last. If you buy it with a credit card offering warranty extension, you get 5 years from Bissel and 2 more years. Its built to last to that level of service. Materials are good with service panels held with stainless screws allowing easy access for cleaning and repair. After every couple tanks, you do need to pick clear the bottom of carpet fiber debris as you would any machine. It doesnt require any disassembly, but you should also use some type of hooked tool to clean out the entrance to the vacuum to clear out debris clogs. No big deal. But for me, after cleaning 3 rooms, the machine started to squeal. I followed the manual and first checked the beater brush belt. There was some black, belt dust debris. The cogged belt pulleys were not aligned and the output shaft of the brush motor was making noise when rotated by hand. I corrected this by fully seating the cogged wheel bearing in its housing to properly align the belt and removed the motor to lubricate the shaft bearing which was making the noise. This should not have been required and really is beyond the scope of a typical buyer. The machine is very easy to work on, but you shouldnt be expected to do this type of service after a few hours. I like the machine, but am concerned that my fix is temporary and that damage may have already been done.. Ill probably return it in exchange for another. Despite the quirks, I like it and just hope that the motor problem was not a common occurrence. Edit: The motor noise came back so I called Bissel about getting a replacement motor. They said Id have to send in the entire machine for warranty repair. Since its still eligible for return to Amazon, Ill just do that and buy another instead.