We have two dogs and two boys. Our youngest dog is a 1 year old beagle, who has been very difficult to potty train! Needless to say, a carpet cleaner is a must-have for us. It is used many times during the week. Prior to the SpotBot, we used way to many paper towels for cleaning up messes that we didn't have time to clean with the large machine.
The fact that we already have a full-size carpet cleaner, that works well, is why we did not buy one of these sooner. I am betting that many others are in the same situation, or are debating between this or a full size cleaner, so this is where I will begin:
First, I will focus on the downfalls of using our full-size carpet cleaner for a small spot/stain-
1) Its size! With as much as we use it, it is not ideal to lug it up and down the stairs of our two floor house. This is especially the case when spots need cleaned both upstairs and downstairs at the same time.
2) The hose on the Hoover model we have is a royal pain. It takes several steps to switch the machine over to use the hand tool. It is a pain to clean. We avoid having to use it because of this. That means we usually end up scrubbing chairs and the stairs by hand, as it is less of a hassle. (If you go for a full-size model, consider looking for one where you do not need the extra steps to switch between the floor and hose modes!)
3) The dirty water holder is large. We usually use the bathtub to clean it. Going through all this trouble for a little stain sucks, especially when you have to do it as often as we do.
4) You should vacuum before using a carpet cleaner. This usually is not a problem for dry stains. However, you cannot vacuum over a wet pet accident! With the full-size cleaner, it is very difficult to just clean one area. We usually end up cleaning a 2'x3' area that surrounds the stain...an un-vacuumed 2'x3' area. This results in dog hair in parts of the carpet cleaner where it does not belong. Again, it is a pain to clean.
5) We cannot leave this machine sitting on a carpeted area. The left-over water from the brushes and such leave a wet spot. We usually move the machine to a hard floor before we even turn it off.
Now, onto the SpotBot-
1) The size is great. It is SOOO much easier to carry around the house and up and down the stairs.
2) It is very easy to switch from the automatic mode to the manual mode (where you use the hose.) Because of this, I do not hesitate to use it for quick clean-ups on the stairs, on our dining room chairs, or in the car. The hand tool is a cinch to clean when you are through, partly because it is not as long as the full-size models.
3) The dirty water bin is easily dumped and cleaned in the sink. It can be carried with one hand.
4) It is not always ideal to vacuum before cleaning. It is easy to clean just the stained area without involving the area around it.
5) We leave the SpotBot out of the way in our dining room for quick access. We have had no problems with it leaking.
Now that I have explained why this has been so much easier than our full-sized cleaner, here are some more observations of the SpotBot:
1. There are 3 models of the SpotBot. From what I can tell, they are all almost identical except the Pet model comes with pet cleaning solution and the ProHeat has a water heater. The original does not have Microban protection, whereas the Pet and ProHeat do. (Hint: Compare specs and the pictures of the lady using the machine on Bissell's website.)
--If you plan on getting fresh hot water every time you use the machine, I would pass on the ProHeat model. Consider if you want the Microban protection to decide between the green and pet models.
--If you have a pet, you can get the green model and buy your own pet solution. However, the green one does not have the Microban protection, so it may be worth getting the Pet model.
--If you plan on having the machine ready all the time, get the ProHeat (red) model. The water heater function will heat the water/cleaning solution that has been sitting in the tank since your last use. I have been happy with the heat function. It may not heat it to scorching hot, but warm water still is better than cold.
2. As others have noted, the automatic function does not do the best job at sucking up all the water. It is not much trouble to use the hose to suck up the remaining water. The only downside of this is the need to rinse out the hand attachment after you are through. Even that isn't a big deal and it only takes a second.
3. There are two cycles, plus the manual option. The surface stain cycle runs about 3 minutes, the set-in stain cycle runs about 6 minutes. The machine really does most of the work for you! It was not a primary reason for our purchase, but WOW...this machine has really saved us a ton of work!!! Because this machine is so simple and quick to use, every single pet stain has been properly cleaned. No paper towels have been wasted.
4. A full solution tank lasts about two of the longer 6 minute cycles. It lasts for about 4 of the shorter cycles.
5. The automatic function does an EXCELLENT job. It has gotten out ever spill and every old stain we have used it on. The hand tool does a decent job, though not as good of a job as the automatic function. This may be because I do not scrub one spot for 6 minutes. In fact, I don't think I ever went over the same spot with our full-sized machine for 6 minutes...LOL!
6. If your carpets have not been cleaned in a while, this machine may clean so well that you will have a ring of clean carpet. I noticed a slight ring when I used the SpotBot on a stain in a high-traffic area. For us, this is not a huge issue because we have our carpets professionally cleaned ever 6-12 months and use our full-sized machine in between.
7. This unit is only intended for cleaning small areas. The circle is 8" in diameter, and the area it cleans is approximately 6-7". A full-sized carpet cleaner will be your best bet for cleaning large areas. This machine is better than the full-sized unit for cleaning up individual stains.
8. We only use MAYBE half the recommended cleaner. The stains still come out! I recommend experimenting with this so that you are not using more cleaner than you actually need to.
Since we usually have this ready at all times, when an accident does happen it couldn't be easier! We just grab the machine, plug it in, set it on the stain, and push a button. We carry on with whatever we were doing until the cycle ends. Then, we attach the hand tool to the hose, suck up the excess water, dump and rinse the storage tank, and we are ready for next time!
I think I covered the questions I had before our purchase! I highly recommend this machine!
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I bought this on a friends recommendation. I have 3 cats one who just pukes everywhere. It is just great you don't have to do much. It is a good idea to pick up any solid matter then I just place to spotbot on the puke and use the surface stain cleaning cycle. I suspect that the O2 cleaing solution is quite strong and you will see where the spotbot has been as it will leave a circle of "clean" carpet, I have also read this in reviews. So unless you want to create your very own crop circles in your carpet just pick the little green cleaning solution or the pet stain one.
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My SpotBot was delivered today. It was still in the box when my cat threw up on the carpet. What great timing to try it out. She had just eaten(too fast & too much) so it was a mess. I wiped up what I could and then got the SpotBot out of the box. Quickly read thru the directions which were so simple. Filled the container with water and cleaner and set it to work. My cat actually sat with me and watched it. The carpet was totally clean afterwards. My husband came in and even said how fresh smelling the cleaner was. I really liked that this SpotBot heated the water itself.
I highly recommend this product. It is such an easy, quick way to clean up messes on your carpet. Products like this make cleaning a little more fun.
Honest reviews on BISSELL SpotBot ProHeat Hands-Free Compact Deep Cleaner, 12U9A
This unit does exactly what it claims to do it cleans small areas of your carpet that are soiled. We purchased it to take care of the inevitable cat-yak that three cats routinely provide. It make the cleanup process virtually painless in that we can place the unit over the soiled area and walk away. A few minutes later the job is done. This has proven to be far more effective that our old method of scraping and scrubbing the soiled area with water, vinegar, carpet spot cleaner, etc. and then trying to soak up the mess with numerous paper towels.
I believe one of the best features of the SpotBot is the fact that it wet-vacs the soiled area, effectively rinsing the soiled area and then removing the dirty water from the carpet. The color of the water you discard tells you what would have been leaving behind without this vacuum feature. One thing to keep in mind is that this is truly a spot cleaner it cleans a circular area of the carpet about 8 inches in diameter. It is not well suited for cleaning large areas of carpeting. Also, the unit does tend to leave the carpet a bit wetter than I would like. This is easily remedied by either using the manual hand wand attachment after the job is done or by simply pressing a couple of paper towels to the wet area to help with the drying process. Overall, it is a great unit and I would not want to face the cat-yak cleanup process without it. Highly recommended.
This is an update (June 6, 2010)
After having used this appliance regularly for 6 months (our cats gave us plenty of opportunities), I have only recently come to realize the incredible utility, versatility and efficiency of the manual hand-wand. Prior to this, I had pretty much relied exclusively on the automatic cycles to clean up the mess. I would use the automatic cycles on small spots as well as on larger more difficult spots. The automatic cycles do clean reasonably well but the limitations are (1) the carpet ends up a bit wetter than I would like, (2)if you are dealing with a large spot you may have to run two or more automatic cycles to cover the whole area, and (3) if you are dealing with a very small spot you are wasting cleaning solution since the automatic cycles draw a fair amount of cleaning solution for each cycle.
The manual hand-wand remedies all of this. It is very easy to use and leaves you in full control as to how much cleaning solution to dispense as well as how much water to draw out of the carpet. I can concentrate on the worst part of the soiled area and decide when it is clean enough. I can continue the vacuum operation until there is no more water coming out of the carpet. You can see the water being drawn through the transparent head on the wand. One tank of cleaning solution lasts a very long time when the SpotBot is used in this manner. The wand has become my preferred way of cleaning. For me, the SpotBot has become an indispensable part of pet ownership and discovering the manual hand wand has made it even more versatile and efficient.
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This little machine has proved its worth ten-fold. It does an amazing job cleaning and the heat action makes a big difference when cleaning up after a new puppy and their friends.
The only downside is if you have a carpet that is old (as mine is), you will see just how well this product cleans I now have crop circles on the lighter colored carpet in my house reminding me that I need to replace it as soon as the puppy is grown.
Well worth the money a great product!
