(ENDED) Bissell ProHeat 2X Select Pet Deep Cleaner review & giveaway

This giveaway has ended. The winner is #529 Melissa Lawrence.

I have a thing about having clean floors.  I like clean floors.  I hate dirt, stains and dog hair on my floors.  They drive me nuts.  It’s a sickness really.  If there are crumbs on my kitchen floor, I immediately vacuum them up.  It there is a clump of dog hair on my carpet, I feel compelled to vacuum the entire thing. I don’t let people in my house with shoes on.  For a long time I’ve been able to blame it on having small children who often eat off the floor, but that excuse is quickly coming to its useful end and I’m going to have to come up with a new one.  I shudder thinking about what is on the bottom of people’s shoes that could be tracked into my house.

But above and beyond the obvious loose dirt and hair that can be vacuumed up with a traditional vacuum, the stuff that could be IN my carpet that can’t be simply sucked up really creeps me out.  I used to have a carpet cleaner attachment that worked with my Kirby vacuum but I was never happy with what was involved in using it and eventually it stopped working.

So for the past few years I have had to live with dirty carpets.  I could clean up small stains with my Bissell Spot Lifter, but the rest of our tan carpet was obviously dirty with ground in debris.

Enter the Bissell ProHeat 2X Select Pet Deep Cleaner to the rescue!

About the Bissell ProHeat 2X Select Pet Deep Cleaner:

Removes stubborn pet stains, tracked-in dirt and tough pet odors

• 12 rows DirtLifter® PowerBrushes remove deep down dirt
• Built-In heater for maximum cleaning
• Includes special tools for cleaning pet messes

The Bissell ProHeat 2x Select Pet Deep Cleaner is an upright deep carpet cleaner that uses heat, water, cleansing formula and suction to remove stains and embedded debris from your carpets.

Additional Features:

• Four cleaning settings: light clean, normal, heavy traffic & water rinse
• Heat indicator light to show if the built-in heater is turned on or not
• 1 gallon two-in-one water tank that cleverly keeps clean water an dirty water separate
• Edge brushes
• 30 foot long power cord
• Cleans carpets, upholstery and stairs
• 12 amps of power
• 12″ wide cleaning path
• Microban protection
• Includes 4 specialty tools: Turbobrush, Spraying Crevice Tool, 6″ Pet Eraser Tool & 3″ Stain Tool

What’s in the box:

In addition to the vacuum and the accessories, there was a small bottle for 2X concentrated Pet Formula shampoo in the box as well.

The assembly was fairly straight forward.  The hardest part for me was figuring out which attachments went where…but it didn’t take too long.

Use:

[xrr rating=4.5/5]

The actual use of this cleaner is fairly simple.  You lift off the tank with the convenient handle, flip the latch on the back of it to remove the cover, and fill the bladder with water.  Replace the top, latch it, and set the tank back in place.  Then you remove the cleaning fluid tank, add the cleaner (and water if using 2X concentrated formula), and replace the tank.  Plug it in, set your desired cleaning level and you are ready to clean!

This isn’t a light machine (its 26lbs) but it was not too difficult to move and maneuver.  One thing I have learned when it comes to deep cleaners is that you want to move slow with them.  You want maximum exposure to the brushes AND you want to make sure as much water as possible gets sucked back up.

The first time I used it, I cleaned my living room and hallway and also quickly went over my kid’s rooms (but I didn’t move anything out of the way, just cleaned the center area) and a couple of my couch cushions.  First, you use the machine while depressing the spray button on the underside of the handle to wet the carpet with the heated water and cleaning solution.  Then you release the spray switch to work on letting the brush rollers do their job to clean the carpet and suck the dirty water back up.  I had to empty the dirty water once the whole time and refill the clean water once as well.  I had plenty of solution, I even had a bit left over from the first filling.

Effectiveness:

[xrr rating=4.5/5]

I had the cleaning level set on “normal clean” when I cleaned my carpets with the Bissell ProHeat 2X Select Pet Deep Cleaner.  I probably should have used the “heavy traffic” setting, but I wanted to see how well it cleaned on “normal”.

I think it’s fair to say it did a really good job.  I was also surprised by how much hair and fuzz it picked up as well as dirt.  I vacuumed ahead of time and didn’t expect so much of it to still be in the carpet.  I was disgusted, yet impressed!

There was also a visible difference in the carpet itself.  The middle of the floor is now the same color as the carpet under the couch, instead of being a couple of shades darker.  It also feels softer and cleaner on bare feet.  And best of all, I have the peace of mind that I have removed deep down dirt and my carpet is as clean as it can be for my family.

I noticed that we had a lot of small spots all over our carpet.  Dogs, kids, coffee…who knows what they were, but they all came up easily with the Bissell ProHeat.

I also used the Bissell Deep Cleaner to clean some stains off our couch and loveseat.  We bought microfiber a few years back without realizing what having kids and a dog can do to it, and it has gotten really stained.   This gave me an opportunity to try the specialized pet attachments.  The Turbobrush was really easy to use, with a moving brush and a sprayer acting much like a mini version of the main vacuum.  I didn’t spend a lot of time on the couch cushion focusing specifically on the center of two of the cushions where most of the staining was.

You can see a line on the clean photo at the edge of the cushion where I stopped cleaning.   I was very happy that it was that easy to clean the cushions, now I have to go back and finish the job.

Room for improvement:

[xrr rating=3.5/5]

Overall, the “pros” about this product heavily outweigh the “cons” for me.  But there are still some things that I would certainly improve if I could.

The first is the cord.  While super long (30′) it is mounted kind of low on the unit and it makes it a little more difficult to control while you are cleaning the floors.  If the cord is in the way, you have to bend down pretty low to grab it to move it out of the way.  I tend to hold the cord close to the machine as I clean, and this one just made it a little harder because it is not within easy reach.  This is a minor inconvenience that will likely just take some getting used to.

The other thing that I would change has to do with removing the front plastic part that sucks up the dirt and water out of the carpet.  It also sucks up hair and fuzz and had a tendency to get a lot of it built up inside so it needed to be cleaned out. It is removable, but you have to take out a screw to do it, and I also found that I had to remove the side pieces as well (2 screws each) to get all the hair out that built up on the sides of the brushes.  The screws are a little inconvenient, especially if you want to clean it out while you are still cleaning your carpets.  I’d love to see an easy-access clip of some sort so you could clean it out on-the-fly.

Summary:

Even with the improvement suggestions that I have, I think this is a solid product.  It cleans very well, is easy to use, has specialty attachments for versatility of use and does what it is designed to do.  The retail price is $249.99, but you can purchase it on Amazon right now for $223.66.  I’ve paid to have my carpet deep cleaned in the past and it is invasive and expensive.  The Bissell ProHeat 2X Select Pet Deep Cleaner does a fantastic job for a fraction of the cost of a professional cleaning.

Final overall rating:

[xrr rating=4.25/5]

ENTER TO WIN A BISSELL PROHEAT 2X SELECT PET DEEP CLEANER

HOW TO ENTER (required):

Visit Bissell.com and check out all of their cleaning products.  Then come back here and leave a comment telling me which of their products (besides the ProHeat 2x Select Pet Deep Cleaner) you have a need for in your home.

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Deep clean your carpets w/ the @wemeanclean Bissell ProHeat 2x Pet Deep Cleaner & enter to win 1 from @whatsthatsmell http://bit.ly/92Tzn0

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Please leave a separate comment for EACH extra entry.  Provide links to Tweets, Facebook wall, blog posts, etc. as required for the entry.

Giveaway is open to the USA and ends on July 3, 2010 at noon CST. Winner will be selected at random from all eligible entries using random.org and will be contacted by email. Winner will have 48 hrs to respond.  Please add kim@accidentalmommies.com to your trusted email filter.  If original winner does not claim their prize within 48 hrs, it is forfeit and a new winner will be selected promptly.

Note: I received a Bissell Proheat 2X Select Pet Deep Cleaner for no charge to evaluate in order to facilitate my review.  I was under no obligation to provide a positive review.  The opinions expressed are my own based upon my experiences and perspective.  Bissell has also provided the product for giveaway as well.

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