missjen's Full Review: Bissell 1200B Handheld Steam Cleaner
I debated over buying the SpotBot (now known as Rosey in our house, after the Jetson's maid who did everything for them!) for several weeks, and did as much research as I could before taking the plunge. I even went to the store intending to buy the less expensive little green machine, but my husband (if you can believe it!) wanted the SpotBot. I gave the machine her maiden run today on several set in stains of various origins that have grown lager over the last 6 months as they've attracted dirt. I was very impressed with the results. I used the "set in stain mode" and the Little Green Fluid only (no OxyGen), for the cleaning I've described in this review. Also, the instructions are unspecific about whether one is supposed to use distilled water or tap, warm or cold. I used warm tap water with no trouble.
The Spot Bot was pleasing from the moment I opened the box because it came already assembled, preventing me from having to do work in order to use a product that is supposed to do the work for you. The unit is entirely self contained-another plus! I was able to pull it out of the box, read the easy to understand, short instructions, and I was on my way within a matter of minutes. It even comes with a trial size of cleaning solution--enough to fill the tank once with the water/cleaning solution mixture.
I turned Rosey on and she was on her way. She is noisy, I suppose, but no more than any other carpet cleaner or vacuum I've ever used. I wouldn't list the noise among her faults--in fact I'd have been quite surprised if she wasn't noisy!
She cycled through, and given that I selected the "set in stain" option, she was completed in about 6 minutes. When I moved her to see the results, I was delighted to find that my carpet in the spot she had worked on looked as new! My carpet was clean and stain free, but thankfully not discolored or "bleached" looking. It was damp to the touch, but I don't think that it was excessively wet, and the moisture was definitely confined to the treated area. I'll know tomorrow how quickly the spots dry.
The water in the dirty tank was the color of coffee (and lacked in opacity like coffee, too)! And given that my carpet is light tan, I know that what I saw was dirt and not dye. I was quite pleased (and embarrassed!) to see how much grime it picked up.
I think one of the reasons this machine is so effective is that, on hands free cycle, it spends far more time on a spot than I in my impatience ever would, the set in stain cycle is about 6 minutes, and according to the manual, the surface stain mode is 3 minutes long. 3-6 minutes are spent cleaning one area, and the results look it!
Here is a "before" photo and an "after" photo of the worst stain I treated. I'm not even sure what this stain is--spilled, set in pop, I think. It may also be a pet stain. I had to run the spot bot twice to cover the entire stain, given its length. (Copy and paste the links in to a new browser window to see pictures).
My favorite feature is that, aside from the fact that you have to turn it on and off, it truly is hands free. However, it also offers the flexibility of a manual mode, which I also used, and which worked quite effectively. I used the manual mode to both clean and to suck up excess water from the hands-free treated areas. I was also pleased that the cleaning solution does not have a strong scent, as I am sensitive to them.
Filling the tank once treated 2 spots on automatic mode, in the "set in stains mode." I also had a little fluid left to manually treat a few areas (which uses less fluid because you can control the output). There was still a little liquid left in the tank but I wasn't sure if it would make it through an entire third cycle and so I refilled the tank to continue cleaning.
When I was done, I easily removed the solution tank and the dirty tank and rinsed them out in the sink. The manual does not specify whether or not the tanks are dishwasher safe, and thus I did not attempt it. However, cleaning them by hand was easy. As of yet, the brushes have not needed cleaning, and, aside from being wet, look new, even after 6 heavy cleanings.
If you are at the store buying this and plan to come home and use it to treat more than a few stains, be sure to buy a bottle of fluid (Bissell's Little Green Fluid for most stains, and OxyGen II for dye based stains) while you're there at the store.
In the same breath, if you only have one stain to clean, you may find some other minor spots you can clean or a way to mix only half the mixture required because treating only one stain will leave you with about half a tank of wasted cleaning solution. As I said, I was able to treat 2-3 stains, all on the "Set in Stain" mode, with one cleaning solution/water mixture.
The fact that, after the cycle is completed the unit beeps until turned off, is obnoxious, but hardly a flaw enough to shake a stick at when considering the unit's other virtues. My other critique is the amount of cleaning solution it consumes on automatic mode. Given that the fluid is about $5 per bottle, frequent usage could become costly.
I searched high and low for a good deal. Sears, Walmart, Amazon, LinensNThings, and Best Buy all wanted about $125 for it. I purchased it at LinensNThings with a 20% off coupon so I was able to save a little bit of money there.
Though I've only cleaned a total of about half a dozen stains, so far, I've been quite pleased with the results. The up-front cost is no small matter, but it is not so outrageous as to be prohibitive either, and is, in my opinion well worth the investment, especially when you combine the quality of the job done with the amount of labor saved.
UPDATE: I've now used the "surface stain" function several times. It removes the spot, but I do notice a difference in the effectiveness of the two modes. (Then again, I don't know what Bissell qualifies as a "surface stain" so it may be possible I was using the wrong mode on the wrong stain).
UPDATE 2: Be sure to empty the dirty tank when the water reaches the "Full" mark. Even though the tank looks like it still has plenty of room, it does not. The machine will leak and will stop sucking up water in both manual and automatic modes if the tank is full.
UPDATE 3: I wrote to Bissell about the Accessory Tray that is described in the manual. I informed them that my box did not contain an accessory tray and they mailed me a complimentary one within a week's time. Yay Bissell!
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