jefhatfield's Full Review: Bissell 9400 ProHeat Upright Wet/Dry Vacuum
I have a small shih-tzu puppy and for the first time, I needed a wet vacuum to clean up after him. On top of the new puppy, I spoil him and it took him some time to get housebroken.
So when it came time to buy a wet vacuum, I wanted to buy a rather strong one but not something too expensive. While there are many pro models which can work in a commercial environment, Bissell's 12 amp Pro Heat model was just big enough for my house. For a street price of $189.00 dollars, it was only slightly more expensive than what I wanted to spend.
Of course, this model came with rotating brushes as an extra and the ability to clean kitchen floors, and while that is nice, I didn't need those features.
What I needed was a wet vac that could take out urine stains and odor on carpet and this machine does the job. Included with the machine is a sample carpet shampoo which I found to be unnecessary for my house. With the shampoo, it would take two full trips around the carpets in the two rooms the dog resided in to fully take out the stains, odor, and shampoo residue.
What I do these days is to fill the water tank on the wet vac and use hot water and everything seems to work out better that way for me and it just takes one pass around the house.
I would give five stars for this machine, especially since it does come with a shampoo sample, a spot remover sample, both which have the cleaning ability to take on any stain. It also has the rotating brushes which could come in handy for some people.
I will shave a star off for two things I didn't like about the product.
First, I found the industrial design to be a little on the heavy and bulky side. Of course, when I was looking at wet vacs at twice the price or more, they were all lighter and smaller while still housing a 12 amp, or larger motor.
The second issue I didn't like was that the water tank, housed just under the handle, was hard to install and remove. In order to take it out or put it back in, one has to release the handle and lay it flat on the floor. And in a small house like mine, that is not always easy to do.
But once the vacuum is filled with water and ready to go, the motor kicks in and tackles the dirt, hair, and dust with ease. The motor is louder than the more expensive models and it vibrates somewhat more. The vibration has at times caused the screws which held in the vacuum hose holder to wiggle loose and they have to be tightened in occasionally. But that is mostly a minor inconvenience compared to the weight and hard to install water tank.
Sometimes when the house is dirtier than usual, the vacuum does suck up all the hair and it trails on the carpet. This is not an issue with the $2000 dollar rental wet vac I used to use before, but of course the bigger engine, quieter operation, and intense suction should not leave any debris behind for that price. But realizing that I paid less than a tenth of that, I am happy with what suction this vacuum does have.
Overall, I would recommend this vacuum for a house or small business but would instead rent a professional unit for a large business as this would be needed. It is very unlikely that most people would want to buy a very expensive professional unit unless their business was overflowing in cash.
Upright vacuum/carpet cleaner; 12 amps 12 rows of brushes rotating for deep cleaning/grooming Heats water and cleaning formula to remove tough stains ...More at Amazon
12 cleaning rows of DirtLifter PowerBrushes are tough enough to get the deepest dirt, yet gentle enough to leave your carpets beautifully groomed. 2X ...More at eBay
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