BISSELL® Big Green® PET PRO Carpet Cleaner, 3288

It really disgusts me how poorly made many of todays products are. I like to buy something for life. I prefer to spend more to get something that I wont have to replace in a few years time. Heck, I still drive a 17 year old car I bought new in 1997--it doesnt look so great anymore, but it gets me around, its cheap to own and maintain, and hasnt left me stranded! The Bissell carpet cleaners are a good example of this. In the late 90s, I had purchased one of the Bissell carpet cleaners. While I was using it maybe once per year, there was a span of a few years where I didnt use it at all. So it is not like I used it that often. Over the years, one by one, something else would break on it. Or it would leak. Or the bearings would start wailing like a banshee (which screams cheap imported bearings to me). The last straw was earlier this year when the container of detergent kept coming out steadily, and was completely drained after running the cleaner for 10 minutes. I was not alone either--I know a few friends/family personally who bought a similar machine and they, too, had it only last them a few years. Fed up with Bissell, I looked at the others. Yet here on Amazon, just about all of the cleaners (Hoover, Bissell, etc.) has similar reviews--cheap plastic, leaks, early failures, just total junk. Yet this Bissell 86T3 stood out as having a five-star rating, with hundreds of votes. The more I read, the more I realized that I needed to give this machine a try. I was going to rent one from Lowes, but a Warehouse Deal came along that made it irresistible. It showed up yesterday, courtesy of FedEx. In the evening, I tried it on a high-traffic area in the family room, which has an off-white low-pile carpeting. It still has a couple of streaks, but man, is it ever bright! I havent seen it this clean since I moved into this house four years ago. The old Bissell lightened it a bit, but this one totally took control and sucked up a lot of dirt. (One area is a run between the kitchen and back door, and the other is the area around my work desk.) I may go over a few spots again now that I am more used to the machine. Today I tackled a bedroom (including a mattress) and the living room. And again, it pulled up muck that poured out of the waste container in a dark grey color. And yes, its like the other reviews have said: the carpet does not take long at all to dry. This 86T3 has serious suction! (The other Bissell couldnt suck up a dead gnat.) Moving furniture around, I was able to use a large fan to dry off the carpet in about a half hour. The carpet isnt exactly new looking, but it looks way better now. It always amazes me how much gunk hides in our carpets! Construction--the plastic is thick and heavy, in the main body and in the tanks. Fully loaded, its a bear to lift. But like others say, cart it around or lift it without the tanks to make things easier. It is also a bit difficult to steer but you get used to moving it in longer strokes to make up for it. I tried the hand tool in the bedroom to get in some tight corners, and the hose is long and sturdy, with no worries about kinking it like the cheaper Bissell cleaners. I likely would not have paid full price for this, but even if I had to pay more than the Warehouse Deals price, at least I am more confident that this cleaner will last me a while.

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.

This machine is amazing, the answer to my clean carpet dreams! We have 3 German Shepherds and a Carolina dog in an almost 4,000 sq ft home where the entire upstairs is carpeted. I’m pretty OCD about cleanliness and every since we built this home 2 years ago I’ve been in a constant battle with all this carpet. I’ve been using the Bissell Pro Heat Revolution but was in desperate need for something with more cleaning power. After reading reviews, I decided to make the investment…and I am so thrilled that I did!! Yes this machine is big and heavy, but its a fair trade off for what you get in return. No more going over stains or puppy urine spots 4 and 5 times, this bad boy does the job the first time around. I still pre-treat tougher stains but I haven’t had one yet that this shampooer hasn’t worked on. Best investment I’ve made in a long time!!!

We had usually hired professional carpet cleaners for years, twice a year, each visit about the price of this cleaner, just to have the carpets dirty again in a matter of days or weeks. I made an executive decision, said enough, and looked for the machines with the top reviews, regardless of price. This one came out near the top despite not being the most expensive. My wife was skeptical but when she saw the results she was won over. Adapter for upholstery cleaning a big plus. And trial size cleaning solution bottles included makes it easy to use right out of the box. But water does need to be changed after every 20-30 mins (half a large room) of use. Other than that, well worth it!

Do not hesitate. This machine is spectacular. I just ran it over a living room pile carpet that I cleaned last week with a rented Rug Doctor Wide Path. My new Big Green actually did the job this time and, get this... with less than half the cleaning formula and water. Here are some things that you will like about the Bissell 86T3 (in no particular order...): 1) Easy to see flow indicator for clean water / fluid tank - gives you clear indication of tank status and when its time to dump and refill. 2) Cleaning brush rotates at all times and is motor driven - not only while cleaning fluid is being dispensed - and it does a very thorough job. 3) Because of #2 above, cleaning happens while machine is moving forward or backward. You have the option of working a heavily soiled spot back and forth a few times, sure. 4) Machine is easy to move in both directions - as comfortable as moving a (littler heavier than usual) vacuum cleaner. Handle is at comfortable height for my 6ft tall frame. Much easier to handle and heft around than Rug Doc. 5) Both tanks remove for SUPER EASY disposal and filling (and relocation of entire machine) 6) Cleaning water and formula is dispensed very sparingly so the +/- 1.75 gallon cleaning fluid / water tank lasts much longer than Rug Doc 7) Bissell cleaning formulae do a much better job than any others I have used and only small amounts are needed - really !! 8) Upholstery hose / brush is super easy to attach and detach (right on top - easy access), and it works very well. 9) Because fluid is applied sparingly (which it should be!!) - carpet is left much dryer when you are done. 10 ) I ran this over a (pre-treated with Bissell formula) barf spot that seemed to be stuck forever in my sons bedroom Berber carpet. Rug Doc did not touch it. Big Green vaporized it into new condition. Incredible!! 11) Big Green construction quality, ergonomic layout...everything.... is about as close to perfect as I can imagine. 12) Replacement parts for Big Green are very easy to obtain !!!!! 13) Suction power for carpet and upholstery brush hose is strong and effective. Very little water / formula left behind and drying time is short. 14) Air warmed by passing over vacuum motor is directed down towards carpet to aid in the drying process - very smart design. Here are some things that you *might* think are drawbacks... 1) Brush is narrower than Rug Doc. - Yeah, only a little bit and I thought it would annoy me, but I did not notice or care at all. 2) Machine is heavy. - ALL commercial quality carpet machines are heavy. This one is very easy to handle, however. To make this machine lighter and easier to move to another area - simply take out the clean and dirty water tanks and move them individually, then the vacuum base unit, to the new area. Cleaning your carpets is a great way to get s little exercise. 3) Cant clean right up to the edge. - True ! About 1 of the edge cannot be reached in upright mode. I have yet to see an *effective* upright machine that actually cleans carpet and goes right to the edge. Youll need to use the upholstery brush and some elbow grease for the edges - no matter which machine youre using as far as I know. 4) Machine leaves blobs of carpet fuzz - True ! Every so often a small (like 1/2 a teaspoon sized?) blob of carpet nap fuzz will be left behind when changing direction of travel in upright mode. This is to be expected when running a rotating brush head over pile carpet. In the course of cleaning a 20 x 20ft room, I received about 5 of these blobs. The blob can easily be picked up by hand and thrown away, or vacuumed up when the carpet is dry. This is a minor, minor issue and is far outweighed by the clean and fresh carpet result that you will achieve. And, contrary to what other reviews have said, these blobs do not create an additional stain / cleanup burden. 5) Some online reviewers have claimed that 86T3 has only one motor, where the BG10 has two. - I have not disassembled my own machine to investigate, but I believe this claim is false. My understanding is that the BG10 has an elapsed time meter and a slightly different power cord arrangement that lends itself to being a commercial rental machine - but is otherwise identical. I do really wish that Bissells online information on this subject were more definitive, but...marketing channels and all that. Its interesting to note that the 86T3 has a 5 year warranty, versus 1 year for the BG10. Definitely a head scratcher - but in my view its a non-issue. 6) I wish that Bissell had included a mesh storage bag for the upholstery hose / brush. - A teeny tiny pet peeve thats easy to remedy. I have used three different types of carpet cleaner: 1) Rug Doc (rental), 2) Hoover upright (owned), 3) my new Big Green. Big Green wins hands down and renders the other two as close to useless in my first-hand experience. I am giving away my hoover upright. Not one gram of buyers remorse for the Big Green. Got a question? Please feel free to ask. No - I do not work for Bissell, nor do I own their stock. Are they even publicly traded ??

Don’t regret spending the extra money for such a nice carpet cleaner works great for pets

I would have given this a five star review had it not been for the lame directions. With the exception of one wall to wall carpet in my bedroom, the rest of my rugs are rooms sized rugs and I have two dogs - one of which is old and has become incontinent. I have previously rented a rug shampooer from Lowes and after I buy the cleaner it usually costs over $80. After you pay to rent the machine, you still have the hassle of loading in your truck and then have to get it back on time not to mention you dont know what kind of filth it has been used on prior to you using it. As it turns out, the Big Green Machine is the exact same machine I have been renting. At the cost of $400 it more than pays for itself after four uses. Plus, I dont have to spot clean accidents and cringe between rentals thinking about the residual germs and dirt I wasnt able to get up. It really does do a fantastic job. I cannot stress the importance of vacuuming your rug immediately before you use it. I vacuumed my living room rug right before I used it but the bedroom rug had been vacuumed a couple of days earlier so I tried to cut corners and it was a mistake. The hair I couldnt see would collect into nasty wet globs and interfere with the suction of the machine. Even the rug I had vacuumed immediately before shampooing still had hair on it the shampooer pulled up but didnt interfere with its operation. It just goes to show how powerful the cleaning is. But as to the directions.... Since I had used the same machine several times before I was already familiar with the basics. The manual that came with the machine was limited (10 pages) in information. You would think for $400 you would get a little more detailed info. Just about everything I have ever brought will give you bold instructions on what you need to do before you use it the first time. This did but it was only safety instructions to keep from getting electrocuted or injured. The box said it included three trial size bottles of cleaner but I couldnt find them. Instead there was a random piece of packing cardboard in a plastic bag (picture attached) by itself so I assumed it was a factory mistake and that the bottles of cleaner were supposed to have been in that bag. I followed the directions in order and filled the tank with water and cleaning solution, put it on the machine and then put on the dirty water tank as it said on page 4. Page 5 told how to clean your carpet and gave tips. The first tip was to remove the cardboard cutout from the foot. I looked down and saw a little piece of cardboard sticking out from the foot area and pulled it and it came off. My thought process was it must be a small piece of cardboard since it wasnt mentioned in the directions until after it tells you how to fill the tank and put it together to start using and it, plus you cant turn the machine on its side after you fill the tank and, again, it was only mentioned as a TIP. So, after removing the cardboard I started cleaning my rug but after a while I looked at the dirty water tank and the amount of water in the tank didnt seem appropriate to the amount of solution I was applying. I continued to go over and over the rug trying to suck up water and after a good while stopped and looked up troubleshooting. It said check the rollers so I removed the tanks and turned the unit on it side and there was my problem - a LARGE piece of cardboard that stretched from one end of the base of the machine to the other. I would hardly call getting that thing out of there a TIP - It should have been clearly stated as BEFORE USING OR FILLING THE TANK BE SURE TO REMOVE THE BIG A*# PIECE OF CARDBOARD FROM THE FOOT OF THE MACHINE. But at least I had found out the problem and was now able to suck up dirty water. The dirty water tank filled and now it was time to go outside and empty the dirty water. Imagine my amazement - and embarrassment (neighbors were walking by) - when I poured out the water and out came the three bottles of cleaner AND a huge piece of cardboard. I definitely looked like the proverbial dumb blonde. It wasnt until later when I looked at the Whats in the box section that I saw the very last thing mentioned was the cleaner was in the dirty water tank. Who would have thought?! I had made the mistake of looking at the outside of the box to see what was in it and never bothered to look at that part of the manual. Plus, the manual showed pictures of what was inside the box and since I glanced over the pictures, I didnt think I needed to read a description of the very last thing mentioned which was the three bottles of cleaner. My advice to Bissell would to please change your manual and include: BEFORE YOU USE FOR THE FIRST TIME! 1. Turn the unit on its side and remove the large piece of cardboard from the foot of the machine. 2. Open the dirty water tank and remove the three small trial size bottles of cleaner and the large piece of cardboard from the tank. Like I said earlier, the machine works great but I could have been saved a lot of time and aggravation had those two small but important steps been included prominently as BEFORE YOU START items in the manual. But the machine does work great!

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’ve owned this product for 2.5 years now and have been very pleased with its high level of durability and strong suction ability despite nearly weekly usage over this time. I have learned a few tips that are worth sharing: Cleaning Solution: Don’t waste a ton on the cleaning solution. Do buy a bissell approved nonfoaming solution but you don’t need to add it each time you treat the carpet. I don’t notice any benefit having Febreeze in the Solution as opposed to spraying the carpet after treatment. Pre-treat Carpet: Don’t treat dirt laden carpet if you can help it. You’ll take twice as long and you’ll have thick mud at then bottom of your top bin to clean later. Instead, Vacuum thoroughly first before starting the green machine. Spray stains first and let them soak before taking a hand brush to them. Consider going over the carpet first with warm water in the machineand then use the bissell soap added with it and then go over a third time with water alone. Use soft or filtered water. You’ll notice the carpet is softer on your feet after treating it with water without the soap or very little soap. Stains: In areas with stains pretreat with Folex a nonfoaming stain remover or add folex to the water. Careful with the folex if it’s heavily soiled carpet. The solution will turn dirt and dust into neutral on contact. Therefore spot treating carpet you don’t intend to fully clean will leave unsightly lighter spots looking like stains. The folex website suggests adding folex:water 1:4 or 1:6 to the machine. For tough stains my suggestion is scrubbing with the Magic Stain Remover Stick and lifting with some warm water. Hot water by the way isn’t recommended as it can actually set some stains into carpet. Carpet Edges: The machine shouldn’t be driven straight over carpet edges for two reasons. One, the rollers might pull up the end of the carpet or on a rug edge cause it to curl. Or the machine will sound high pitched and stop suctioning. You can turn it off and then on to resume. I found that going over carpet edges at a very slight angle prevents both of these problems. Drying the carpet: I notice the House gets very muggy after a carpet treatment. Open the doors and windows. Then run the heater and AC alternately 3 times for an hour and sleep well the first night instead of waiting for the next day for the carpet to get dry. Spray position: Keep in mind the spray comes out the machine just in front of the rear wheels. This means you’d do better to spray driving forward and suctioning on the return pull back towards you. In heavily soiled areas I go slowly, there is no reason to do a whole lot of superficial sprays and vacuums when I can spend more time and do a deeper clean. I’ve had only one problem with the machine. It was a leak at the clean water indicator. I had it serviced under warranty by an approved repair shop with no hassle. I didn’t start using the hand wand until about a year in and found it very helpful for stained areas. It seems like a hassle to use but it gives you the ability to put some elbow grease in certain spots without wasting time on a whole area. You can buy the head attachments when they wear down pretty cheap 6.39 on Amazon. The other trick is using a steam iron just for the steam before scrubbing and vacuuming an area.

Work great Like described Good price