BISSELL® Big Green® PET PRO Carpet Cleaner, 3288

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!

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. The carpets had seen better days of cleanliness. The old Hoover had died under warranty but they no longer make that model. So we had the purchase price in hand but no carpet cleaner. What to do? What to do? WHAT TO DO? Research and buy a different cleaner was the only recourse short of paying a service or renting - both so gauche and demeaning. As a self-made DIY amateur, the best bang for the buck based on good old Google searching and the fantastic fanatic reviews on amazing Amazon, led me to the BISSELL Big Green Deep Cleaning Machine Professional Grade Carpet Cleaner. The first drawback I experienced was sticker shock; I had never spent this much on a carpet cleaner before. The old favorite dead one was easily $100 less but alas it was no longer available to me - unrequited. Sticker shock be damned, on with the purchase after weeks of deliberation and ever-so-gentle prodding from my lovely wife. The order was placed. The dice was cast. Would it measure up to expectations? Would the detracting reviews be more correct? The mystery was afoot; only delivery and a test run would provide the answers. The BISSELL Big Green Deep Cleaning Machine Professional Grade Carpet Cleaner arrived. I could barely contain my excitement to unpack and test the beast. Unpacking and assembling for use was very simple. To my chagrin, in my zeal to start the test run, I failed to remove the two pieces of cardboard and the bottle of cleaning fluid stored in the recovery tank. The oversight became obvious on the run to the commode to empty the test collection. A bonehead move to be sure. How could I have completed a test run without using the provided fluid, you ask. Simple, I had other cleaning fluid on hand because I wasnt certain any came with the BISSELL Big Green Deep Cleaning Machine Professional Grade Carpet Cleaner. Despite the potential of being asked to surrender my MAN card, I admit I DO read instructions and manuals - just not all at once - and definitely not all (obviously) prior to operation. Sure enough, it was in there. So, here is the first bonus and positive point about the BISSELL Big Green Deep Cleaning Machine Professional Grade Carpet Cleaner - it comes with a small bottle of concentrated cleaning fluid - most likely enough for a once-over of several rooms. Other operational observations: The BISSELL Big Green Deep Cleaning Machine Professional Grade Carpet Cleaner delivers as described in most of the positive reviews. It does a good job cleaning the carpet. Dirty carpets will require more passes with it - the dirtier the more passes required - or perhaps more patience than I have in laying down a pre-treatment or applying the solution and waiting a bit before collecting. My carpets dried in good time; I didnt notice any excessive wet or damp spots. I measured the capacity of the dispensing and collection tanks on the BISSELL Big Green Deep Cleaning Machine Professional Grade Carpet Cleaner before use - perhaps a bit overly scientific or some might say anal. Then during use I observed that the collection level was just a little lower than what was dispensed. I am very happy with this. Multiple passes helped pick up water but only to a point. There is a small view port on top where you can observe the fluid collection; when it stops spotting youve picked up about as much as you can. On the negative side, it is a little loud. Im no audiologist but I dont think hearing protection is required. Your significant other will be able to sneak up on you while it is in operation. If you have a weak bladder or queasy bowels, appropriate adult protective garments may be in order. You can yodel, belt out opera, rock, or your favorite nursery rhymes whilst operating and probably not notice how bad or good you really are - but keep in mind that it isnt so loud as to drown out your voice so that others wont notice - they will - and they may comment. If you have thin skin keep this in mind. One must pay attention when seating the dispensing and collection tanks. Only once did I fail to do this. I almost immediately noticed the little observation port wasnt showing any incoming fluid. I stopped and checked - re-seated the tanks and went right back to work. The BISSELL Big Green Deep Cleaning Machine Professional Grade Carpet Cleaner is a tad cumbersome to move around but during operation I had no difficulties. During my initial marathon test run cleaning, my my back was negatively influenced - it started to ache. I attribute this to my extended test run time and my propensity to not take breaks. It is also cumbersome to carry up/down stairs for storage. I am an average male. Capet cleaning is my household duty; my wife has not had the opportunity to play with my toy yet. Overall, I LIKE it. Alas, I cannot love the BISSELL Big Green Deep Cleaning Machine Professional Grade Carpet Cleaner as my carpet cleaning heart love will always be with the no-longer-offered Hoover it replaced.

I purchased this for the sole purpose of cleaning my Karastan rugs. Somewhere on line there was a comment (might have been Bissells site) that said this machine was intended for carpet and not rugs. Whatever the case, the Green Machine did an outstanding job on my Karastans. Last year, I paid $750 to have my 4 rugs cleaned. This included me having to roll them up and bringing to the cleaner. That was a major pain AND expensive. This year, we had a sick dog who did some serious work on two of our rugs. It was gross so we took the rugs down to the garage and fired up the Green Machine. The first 9x12 Karastan used a complete tank of cleaner for two complete passes. We ended up cleaning the rug 5 times till the water ran clean. Next rug was 5x8 and it needed 6 passes. And to be clear, the first 5 passes produced waste water that was like mud. My wife and I couldnt believe it nor could she believe how clean the rugs were. I reread the manual and saw the instructions on running passes till the water runs clear. That sure was right. Couple of points: The clean water tank is a little less than 2 gallons. No where could I find that stated so I measured it. The cleaning solution that came with the machine ((3) 8oz bottles) stated 2.5 oz per gallon of solution. The smart filler cap is a measuring cup as well and the fill line is 2.5 oz. Filled to the top, it is 4oz. So, the manual says to use two capfuls which I assumed to be capfuls to the fill line which would be 5oz of cleaning solution. I actually used a filled to the top (4oz) capful and added about 1.5 gallons of hot water (about a 1/2 inch below the full line) and that worked beautifully. The machine is easy to move and is very smartly engineered. However, under power it is a beast. The brush system and the suction make it fairly difficult to move consistently. My wife and I got the hang of it after the first 10 minutes but the work wore my wife out after 10 minutes or so. She needed a break (or she just wanted me to do it!). Either way, be prepared to get a workout if youre going to use for an extended period. In all, we are very glad we purchased this machine as it paid for itself immediately. I was a little hesitant after reading Consumer Reports but one needs to read those reviews carefully. For actual cleaning, this machine was tops in their tests but they ended up rating it towards the middle of the pile because sound and dryness scores knocked it down. To us, it is not deafening and we expected the rugs to be damp (about a third to half of the cleaning solution was extracted). And frankly the most important thing we wanted, by far, was a clean rug. And thats what we got. Great machine.

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.

I have a great Bissell shampooer that is a pet model. Also have the little green machine. The bigger one I have works great but leaves too much water in carpets and rugs. So I bought this model thinking this was a better choice. I’ve used it two days now. It’s very heavy. It’s very hard to maneuver. It doesn’t get up against walls so need to use the little green machine after. It sucks up the water better but not by much. I’m not over saturating! It’s exhausting to use this! My other one is like vacuuming. This is like moving your fridge! Pluses: long cord, long hose. Fairly easy to assemble after filling with water and cleaner. Very easy to clean dirt chambers. I’ll keep it but probably pay someone to use it next time. Think twice! I’m not frail. I have the strength but wasting energy on moving sofas and chairs to expend way too much more on using the shampooer is a deal breaker for me.

it will pay for itself in no time. Its expensive but youre getting a great cleaner that will last forever.

No issues

If youre like my husband and I, youve gone over and over buying this in your head. I get it, the price tag is a lot. But do it. We looked at so many reviews, so many shampooers, so many videos and everything led us back to this machine. We have a senior Great Dane and a senior Toy Fox Terrier, so accidents happen. After a single use, the difference in carpet feel and smell is phenomenal. Nothing humbles you quite like the first dirty water flush, Holy smokes. One or two passes has removed stains that we just became accustomed to, not even a professional cleaning crew could remove the stain, but this bad boy did. The three sample bottles of solution was super helpful and each one is the equivalent of two tanks. It is heavy to lift and push so please take this into consideration. Its hefty but for a good reason and Ive worked up a good sweat each round. Do read the directions and be prepared to do two cleanings of each carpet. (Not because its ineffective, but because I feel the first go round gets the surface grit up and then really deep cleans on the second go.)

Our carpet is 13 years old. It is a very high quality dense pile plush carpet. It’s light beige and had slowly become dirty enough that I was considering replacing it. We regularly vacuum and do not wear shoes in the house. At roughly 1500 sq feet of carpet, this was going to be quite expensive if replacing, so I decided to invest in this Bissell Big Green machine. Our Hoover Steamvac never seemed to get the carpet fully clean and it no longer could remove the traffic patterns no matter how hard I tried. I had about given up and the Bissell Big Green machine was our last hope. I’m happy to say that our carpet has been brought back to “almost” new. After shampooing with this new machine, if I asked someone about our carpet I’m sure they would think it’s new. This machine is amazing! I had to erase 13 years of use, and this is my procedure. Vacuum VERY well first. There is not need to make the machine pick up stuff that you could have gotten with the vacuum! Fill the tank with hot tap water and use the recommended Bissell PRO shampoo at the recommended dose. (two cups for a full tank) I pretreat the heavily soiled areas with the Bissell spray stain pretreatment and rub it into the carpet by hand. After 5 minutes of letting that soak, I pick a section of carpet roughly 6 feet wide by 10 feet long and do one forward pass and one backward pass over that whole section with the shampoo being dispensed. I do a row forward then back, then move over and do a row and so forth. I then go back over that area only sucking up the residual shampoo/water. without dispensing more shampoo. I then repeat with a second forward and reverse pass with shampoo and another pass to suck up the residual water. I then do a third and final forward and reverse pass with shampoo followed by sucking up the residual water. By this point the carpet has typically been fully cleaned. If not, I go over any areas as needed. Typically during the second to third pass is when you really see the magic happening. Typically, on the first pass with shampoo the machine will pickup and leave many dirty carpet balls in it’s wake. This is all the crud that the brushes are pulling out of the carpet. Im not sure why my vacuum cant get this stuff, but the Green Machine pulls up stuff that you didnt know existed in your carpet. In my case, these are NOT carpet fibers, but rather small hairs, dust, etc. and they are dark gray/black clumps. Normally I can suck these back up just by passing back over them with the machine. They end up in the dirty water bucket and get poured out when emptying the bucket. The machine works wonders and I’ve been able to completely remove traffic patterns. It takes some time, but be patient. This machine is head and shoulders above your typical home use carpet shampooer. I haven’t been more happy with a purchase in quite some time. This literally saved us thousands of dollars and our carpet looks practically BRAND NEW after 13 years of use. Attached are photos of some of our carpet just before using this machine, and about ½ way through cleaning this particular room. Even if this machine puked on me today, I’ve gotten my money’s worth. Couldn’t be happier. It’s about as loud as a vacuum cleaner. I haven’t tried any of the attachment, as I already have a hand held portable upholstery/stair cleaner. Highly recommnded.

We finally bought the Big Green Machine after renting the PetSmart version several times. All in all, this is a nice, easy to use carpet cleaner and I recommend it. More Detail: Unboxing: The cleaner is practically assembled when it arrives in its sturdy box. If you have trouble lifting heavy objects, it might be best to cut the bottom off the box and lift the box off, rather than trying to lift the machine out of the box. The accessory hose is in the box in the space between the cleaner and the box. Packed inside the waste bin is a sample of soap that you must remove. There are also a couple of other pieces of shipping material that need to be removed. I also found that the drain plug for the clean water reservoir was loose, so I tightened that up. The unit arrived in great shape with no visible damage to the packaging or the unit itself. This is basically the same unit as the commercial version, from what I can tell. I cant speak to the motors themselves, but it sounds the same as the rental version. The only things different are that the directions for use are not stamped directly on the machine, and there is no rental motor counter, which records the number of hours on the machine. Otherwise, quality, fit, and finish is almost identical to what Ive seen from the PetSmart rentals. Setup for use: Setup is fairly straight forward and easy. The bottom reservoir is for warm water and the cleaning solution. The cap is large and easy to put on and remove. That unit nestles down in the bottom, with a nozzle that allows the liquid to be drawn out for spraying. On top of that goes the dirty water receptacle, followed by the clear lid, which locks in place. You can see the dirty water as it is sucked up via the clear lid. The cord is heavy duty and long enough for all the uses I have. The only thing it cant do is reach from one end of our upstair hallway to the other, but it runs the full length of the house, so it is a long hallway! Use and Cleaning: The unit is relatively easy to move around. The large rear wheels make it an easy roll from place to place when you tip it back onto the wheels. The low center of gravity from the handles connection point at the bottom of the unit keeps it steady and even as you push and pull it across the carpet. It is a bit heavy to pick up via deadlift, but my relatively small wife can pick it up if she does it carefully. Shes not going far with it, mind you, but she was able to load and unload it from our SUV when we rented these. It has a nice grab handle on the front and the rear. The cleaner does a good job of getting the carpets clean and removing most of the moisture from the carpet. Our drying times have been relatively quick, which is good. You really dont want soggy carpets. I am giving four stars, however, because our particular unit seems not to spray well on the forward motion, or at least not as consistently as the rental versions did. It is spraying the cleaning solution, but one pass does not seem to wet the carpet enough. I found myself doing a pass up and back with the trigger depressed, and then two additional passes to remove the liquid. Drying time was still good. But, because it doesnt seem as effective with one pass only, Im holding a star back. It may be something that will improve with us, or it may just be this unit. It still cleans well. This unit needs a little help with heavy stains, as you would expect. We pretreat spots with Resolve carpet cleaner and a little light scrubbing. Then, going over the spots with Big Green it does a great job removing the stains. I make extra passes over high traffic areas or tough stains and it does make a huge difference. Ive mostly used the carpet cleaning system that came with my Kirby in recent years, but this is a superior clean than that one. Depending on the pile of your carpet and the amount of pet hair in your home, you will notice clumps of fibers/hair under the unit and in the waste area. At times clumps will become large enough that they will fall off the machine during use. Its not a big problem, and not unique to this cleaner. If you have a carpet or pets that shed, you can stop and clean it off periodically during use. Cleanup: As with all cleaners, cleaning the unit is essential to its performance. This one is easy to clean. The dirty water receptacle has a large opening and is easy to dump (I dump into the toilet) and rinse The clear lid takes a little work at the sink to get al the crevices cleaned out. Any leftover cleaning solution can be drained easily by unscrewing the plug on the bottom. Wipe down the outside and bottom of the unit, being sure to get clumps of carpet fiber and hair from the roller area, and youre all done. The handle folds down to save space vertically, should you need it. Complaints: As to complaints about drips; yes, when you stop cleaning and park the unit, there will be some dirty water spots I dont think its a leak, per se, but rather the liquid that get caught up in the roller assembly when everything is spinning and working. When it stops it drips. I keep an old towel handy and back the machine up onto the towel when I stop using it - problem solved. Overall: We purchased this for ourself because we had been so pleased with the rentals. It does a good job cleaning our carpets and controlling the odors from three dogs who sometimes have accidents. It really does leave the carpets cleaner and reduces odors, and were very pleased. Had I not had a slightly different experience with the rentals units, I might have rated it 5 stars. After a few more uses I will update my review as needed.