Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)The other night my dog got into the cat's litter box (I use Fresh Step crystals - those crystals don't sit well in a dogs stomach) and she must have had a real fancy feast. I awoke to her vomiting all over my freshly dry cleaned comforter, and when I got up saw piles of diarrhea and more vomit in two bedrooms and two bathrooms. I'm thinking to myself, "This girl planned this," because just three days ago I had my carpeting professionally cleaned.
I didn't have time to do anything more than wipe up as much of the diarrhea and vomit as I could (and to tend to Joon's stomach, of course), as I was running late for an appointment. While I was out, I remembered seeing a commercial for this product, so on the way home, I picked it up.
When I had finished collecting any of the refuse that had dried while I was out, I approached this with skepticism. After all, it is a little difficult to believe that all you have to do is set the unit down over the stain, press a button, and then walk away.
But that's all you have to do. I was amazed at the simplicity of the design, and how easy it is to disconnect the collection and solution tanks. On the solution tank, Bissell has two sets of markings: one for use with their OxyGen2 product (which I haven't used yet), water, and formula; and another for water and formula alone. Those markings are very clear, and are a welcome design. There are three buttons to press: one for regular surface stains; another for set-in stains, and another to allow for manual use with the hose. When I pressed the surface stain button, I watched for a while as the unit switched between spray, suction, and brush functions. I have to say that watching the product work through the "Hands Free Cleaning Window" was pretty, er, cool. (Yeah, so I'm a dork. )
I walked away for a moment, and then heard the unit beep, indicating that it was done. I'm hearing impaired, and have a difficult time with high tones. I wasn't expecting to hear this, but I did - as clear as a bell - and I was at the opposite end of the apartment. I approached the unit with skepticism, but when I lifted it off the spot, the stains were gone. I proceeded to set the unit down on all of the spots throughout the apartment, coming back to it every time it beeped. It cleaned every spot.
This was by far the most pleasant, and the least physically exhausting experience I've ever had with a so-called steam or deep cleaner - and that "least physically exhausting" part is a big one for me.
Still skeptical, though, I thought to myself: Just see when it dries; the stains won't really be gone. This morning, however, every single spot had dried, and there wasn't an issue with the carpet feeling stiff due to soapiness.
As an aside, and as a comment to another review: This unit wasn't built or designed to clean an ENTIRE area rug, or, of course, anything larger. That's the purvey of large steam cleaners. It's called "SpotBot" for a reason. And it executes perfectly.
EDIT 8/22/07: The same dog got into something else, and left a mess of vomit and diarrhea all over the apartment. Again. (No, I'm not trying to poison my dogs, and this doesn't happen often.) Some of the diarrhea had occurred in the night, and it was stiff and wouldn't rub out using the hand brush. But using the hands-free option got the job done.
I feel very badly for my dog, of course, but at the same time am thankful to have had this unit. It made a world of difference. Every pet owner should have one.
ALSO, 2 TIPS for those who don't think the hands-free option retrieves enough water during its cycle:
1) After using the hands-free, detach the manual hose and use that suction, or;
2) Empty the solution tank, and run the hands-free option again. No water/formula will eject, so you'll have a couple of minutes of "pure" suction.
EDIT 8/24: For those interested, my dog is now fine. :-)
Click Here to see more reviews about:
Bissell SpotBot Pet Hands-Free Compact Deep Cleaner, Blue Illusion, 1200ABISSELL SpotBot Pet Handsfree Compact Deep Cleaner-1200A. Revolutionary spot cleaner give you the freedom to WalkAway while it does the work for you.Handsfree Cleaning, set SpotBot Pet on the spot or stain,hit start and WalkWay-SpotBot Pet does the work for you. Manual Spot cleaning and unique spiral brushing removes pet stains and odors for good.
Click here for more information about Bissell SpotBot Pet Hands-Free Compact Deep Cleaner, Blue Illusion, 1200A
