BISSELL SpotBot Pet Hands-Free Compact Deep Cleaner, Blue Illusion, 1200A
by Bissell
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of BISSELL SpotBot Pet Hands-Free Compact Deep Cleaner, Blue Illusion, 1200A
Customer Review: The one thing everyone should know about carpet cleaners
Summary: 5 Stars
Though I don't own a Spotbot (yet), I am in the market for a new carpet cleaner. As a pet owner, I have owned several carpet cleaners of all different types ranging from the compact Little Green, to large, cumbersome upright units. The reason I end up replacing units is because after time and use they simply stop dispensing fluids. While it may be feesable to have them repaired once or twice, at some point there comes a time when it no longer makes sense to have them repaired because the accumulated repair costs will eventually exceed the purchase price of a new unit.
99% of the time my carpet cleaners are used to clean up pet vomit or urine and the one thing I have learned about carpet cleaners, and this applies to each and every one of them regardless of brand or type, is that they work best when used this way:
Step 1. You obviously want to clean up any solid pieces with paper towels so all you'll be using the carpet cleaner to clean up is liquid of some form. You don't want to be sucking up any solid pieces into your carpet cleaner.
Step 2. Use the hand attachment first WITHOUT applying any type of cleaning solution to get as much of the undesired liquid picked up. Applying cleaning solution to an area that's already saturated with urine only serves to create a diluted solution of urine.
Step 3. Once you've removed as much of the undesire liquid as possible, then apply your favorite carpet cleaning solution to the soiled area. DO NOT USE A CARPET CLEANING SOLUTION IN THE CARPET CLEANER ITSELF UNLESS IT HAS TWO SEPARATE SUPPLY TANKS, ONE FOR CLEANING SOLUTION, AND ONE FOR JUST PLAIN WATER. I know the instructions tell you to add cleaning solutions to the unit, but unless the unit has two separate tanks, applying cleaning solution to carpeting without rinsing it out ends up being a dirt magnet. If your carpet cleaner only has a supply tank and a pickup tank, then the only liquid you should be putting in the unit is plain, clean, HOT water.
Step 4. Now it's time to use whatever brushes are available on the unit (either on the unit itself, or on the hand-held attachment) to agitate the cleaning solution into the carpet. Make sure to vacuum up as much of the solution as you can get.
Step 5. Now you apply the plain, clean water you filled the unit with to rinse the cleaning solution from the carpet. Remember, if you only use cleaning solution and you don't rinse it out, the cleaning solution left in your carpet will actually ATTRACT dirt.
I know this is more work than simply following the instructions provided with the carpet cleaners, but I see so many people who aren't happy with the performance of their units, but it really isn't because the units themselves are poor performers. It all comes down to bad procedures. Then again, I'm the type of person who always says "if you're going to bother doing it in the first place, you might as well do it the right way". That certainly applies to carpet cleaning.
Customer Review: Automatically saves your sanity - one 8" circle at a time! Tips for use...,
Summary: 5 Stars
Summary: A real time saver for cleaning the numerous spills stains and messes from kids and pets. Semi-Automatically (see details) cleans vomit and other unpleasant messes.
We have 3 kids (ages 2, 4 and 7) and 2 cats. One of our cats (Pukey cat, AKA Natasha) is a Siamese and vomits regularly. Our youngest is potty trained but still doesn't fully comprehend the concept of wiping one's behind on toilet paper. Need I say more? We're using this thing perhaps three times a week.
This device is a bit larger than you'd expect. At approx 8"x16"x16 it's about as big as a small canister vacuum. The one we have is the more recent "Titanium" update with Microban plastic (prevents mold and mildew) and a different control layout, but otherwise basically identical
It cleans an 8" circle with each cycle. This is typically good enough, when a mess is just larger, I find that it's easier to use the hand attachment (which also has a sprayer) to clean the "outlier" than to run another cycle. With a fresh pot of cleaning solution and an empty collector, it will run 4 cycles. Although it has a "Surface stain" and a "Set-in Stain" cycles, I have yet to find an organic stain (Vomit and stuff from the other end) that needed the "Set-in stain" cycle (which scrubs for six minutes instead of three.) We're pretty good at keeping food on the tile and hardwood floors so far.
The carpet we've used it on are the very short berber (Basement) ~3/8" and 1/" nylon carpet, all light colored / off white. One is a "twist" carpet, the other a pretty standard style
Here are some tips for using it:
1) Use warm water to help soften dried on stains. This one doesn't have an automatic heater (there is a model that does)
2) Don't feel like you need a lot of cleaning solution. The warm water gets out most organic stains on the first try.
3) After each cycle the circle is pretty wet. Use the hand hose to suck out the excess water.
4) Rotate the upper cord stowage hook to quickly remove the cord all at once.
5) Don't leave water in it overnight - it will leak out slowly. I left about 1/4 tank of cleaning solution and in the morning perhaps 2 tablespoons had leaked out.
A couple of minor complaints:
1) The hand attachment isn't the easiest to remove and re-attach. It would be nicer if the button was larger.
2) The cleaning solution tank is no terribly stable. Be careful not to tip it over before putting the cap on - Don't ask me how I know this.
3) The unit is pretty big and storage is always tight
I received this through the Amazon Vine program, if you found this review helpful or have questions or comments, please let me know!
Customer Review: Wish I hadn't spent the money
Summary: 1 Stars
Pros: Handheld attachment works well
Cons: Lack of durability
Difficult to clean
LOUD beeping
Just plain doesn't do a good job
Recommends use of huge quantities of cleaning fluid that make your carpet feel crusty
I bought this product about a year ago, and the first couple times I used it I was fairly happy with the results aside from very crunchy, hard feeling carpet once it dried, though I didn't look too close and I have quite dark colored carpet. I was initially, and remain, extremely annoyed by the incredibly loud and repeated beeping when the clean cycle is finished with no option to disable it. It beeps every couple seconds until you physically go over and turn it off. I don't need that much reminding, and certainly not that loudly (and neither do my downstairs neighbors!)
After a few weeks, the brushes began to make loud grinding noises when operating. Took it apart to the extent I could, cleaned, reassembled. That corrected the issue for another few weeks, but started up again shortly. I decided to ignore it as it seemed to be cleaning still. It is very difficult to clean the machine thoroughly, with lots of little nooks for stuff to get stuck in. It does leave a lot of liquid in the carpet after use, and I quickly learned to avoid recently cleaned spots. However, in addition to leaving behind a lot of water and cleaning fluid, it also leaves behind a lot of the mess you were trying to clean up! While potty training my puppy, there were naturally a few 'accidents'. I found even after running the 'set in' cleaning cycle three or more times over a very fresh spot of urine (from a very small dog!), I could still blot up very obviously yellow urine from the spot. While the carpet looks visibly clean, I think the brushes are mostly just pushing it down into the carpet pad out of sight. Eventually, I gave up and went back to Nature's Miracle and blotting with a paper towel- it seems to get my carpets cleaner than this thing when dealing with pet messes, even if it does take more elbow grease. I kept it for an occassional other type of stain and because I found the hose attachment useful for cleaning upholstery stains.
1 year and about 1 month after purchase, it pretty much totally gave up. It almost entirely stopped spraying, it barely sucks, and it SMELLS despite my best efforts to clean after every use, including rinsing out the dirty water tank with diluted bleach after each use, rinsing the brushes after each use, etc. It is now in my trash can. I seriously regret not returning it shortly after purchase while it was under warranty.
Customer Review: Do Not Use as Directed
Summary: 4 Stars
This is my second SpotBot; I've been using one of these things for a couple of years now, repeatedly, so let me help you be most effective with it.
First let me explain my home. I have a 3-bedroom ranch inhabited by two adults, one adult cat, two geriatric cats with medical issues (stomach troubles), a Golden Retriever puppy and two small humans, ages 7 and 9.
My carpet is already trashed. The kids have spilled fingernail polish on it, the vacuum has eaten on it...it was low-grade contractor's carpet to begin with, and 11 years later, even the Stanley Steemer people are recommending to put money into replacing it, not cleaning it.
Nevertheless, we don't have the cash for that right now, so I need to clean the thing. I would estimate that the cats tend to barf on the carpet an average of 4 times a week; often more. So my SpotBot just lives on standby, and gets hauled out nearly every day.
If the stain you're working on is fresh, blot up what you can with paper towels first. Next, spray the concentrated cleaner directly onto the stain (did I mention my carpet was already trashed? I wouldn't do that with a nice, new carpet), fill the SpotBot with clean, clear water, place it on top of the stain and let it go.
If it's the spot where the cat barfed behind the couch a month ago and you didn't find it 'till now, pick up what you can with paper towel (if it's bile, nothing; if it's a pile of dried kibble barf, you can peel much of it off), and let the cleaner sit for five minutes.
Once the machine stops running, you will have a lovely, wet little "crop circle" in your carpet. Get three layers of paper towels, fold them over once, and place it over the crop circle. Stand on it for a bit to soak up as much as you can. Ruffle the nap of the carpet around a bit when you're done and it will dry good as new.
No barf.
No crunchy carpet.
Uses way less cleaner.
I generally get about six runs of the machines for every tank of water. If you leave it SITTING AND BEEPING, do be aware that the machine is happily peeing yet more water onto your carpet. It WILL leak! Our previous one didn't do that, but the newer models seem to have an incontinence problem. :-( Be sure you remove it promptly. I let mine sit in the bathtub while I empty the tanks and then while it dries off. Oh, and flush your dirty tank water. Much nicer to your sinks!
Customer Review: Great interface
Summary: 5 Stars
5 months into puppy ownership, the pads weren't filling up quite as rapidly as they once did and an area rug was starting to take on an ominous odor.... hmm.
Humane unwrapping experience. No shrink wrap, scissor-defying plastic encasing, industrial-strength glue/staples. A trial size of the formula and OxyGen were helpfully embedded into the Styrofoam bed with a coupon for reinforcements. This will tide you over for about 3 "set in" spots, but you'll probably want to stock up because the Spotbot is so easy to use, you'll quickly find more than a couple applications for it to tackle.
Spotbot is designed to be left unattended, but I found myself transfixed by it the first couple cycles. Bissell's ingenious use of clear plastic components achieves an experience similar to the board game Mouse Trap and a drive through car wash. Watch the cartridge of water and cleaning solution leisurely sluice its way around the clear hose wrapped around the unit. Watch the rotary bristles scrub it into the effected area. Watch the suction spew it into the disposal bin in a satisfyingly bracken color. In less than 5 minutes, the process is complete with no discernible wet spots.
OK, Spot has a couple limitations... It is pretty noisy. My puppy leaves the room while it works its magic. Living in an apartment complex, I try to shut the windows and abstain from using it in the middle of the night (unless there is a legitimate emergency). Its circular cleaning footprint is enough to tackle a targeted mess, but has its limitations. I'm not confident the hose application does as thorough of a job for straight carpet edges (plus babysitting it would be a hassle). Periodically, I'll hire a professional service for a holistic clean with special attention to the areas Spot can't reach.
That said, I'll save the big guns until puppy's housebreaking is less "spotty." In the intervening months, this tool is a life saver. With confidence I can reverse damage done outside my supervision, this product allowed me to liberate the pup from the inhospitable confines of the bathroom "kennel" and give her run of the house while I'm on errands. It's also allowed me to get past the guilt and embarrassment of living in puppy-generated squalor and allow guests over (who inevitably want to roll around roughhousing with the puppy on the carpet which is my SpotBot's second home).