Bissell 1698-1 PowerSteamer ProHeat Plus Upright Vacuum

Pros: Did everything it said it would! I loved it!
Cons: Parts broke. Beater bar melted and spewed black plastic shavings.

I have kids and a large dog. I am fairly clean, but my family has taken its toll on our rugs and upholstery. We also entertain on holidays , so I finally convinced my husband that I was reluctant to use a rental machine on our new white $5,000 carpets...

Pros: Water is heated Power Rating is 12 amps vs. Competitor's 7.9 amps
Cons: multiple tanks to fiddle with noisier than other brand

After reading multiple reviews on carpet cleaning machines I knew little more than before. I decided to run my own test. I purchased the Bissell Proheat Clearview 1699/8900 series for $195 from Wal-Mart and the Hoover SteamVac Gold F5887-990 for $229 (it...

Pros: None that I observed
Cons: It leaked due to faulty gaskets. Heat doesn't work with hand tools.

This is our 3rd steam cleaner. The first was a great little Bissell that had to be hooked up to the water source...not great for cleaning a large home. So, we replaced it with a Hoover self contained unit. This was good except it was an early model...

Pros: Cleans well
Cons: Maintenance Nightmare, Poor Design

As with any steam cleaner, you will not have your carpets looking "just like a professional cleaner had cleaned them". The ProHeat does a fine job on carpets,stains and all. It easily outperforms a Hoover Cleaner we retired upon its purchase....

Pros: It worked really well while it worked
Cons: LITTLE LEAKY

The Decision
After much research on the subject of Carpet Cleaners and having owned a few in the past we settled on this one. Numerous Epinions articles and Consumer Reports and a special sale at a BIG BOX store convinced us that this was the best...

Pros: heats water, on-board tools, easily switches from floor to upholstery cleaning.
Cons: water tank too small, uses cleaning solution way too fast

My mom is a smoker and hasn't had her carpets cleaned in 10 years but didn't look that bad. This vac did a great job on main and traffic areas but not on smoke stained edges. Big tip is to rinse with plain water several times after using the cleaning ...

Pros: Cleans well, heats well, wonderful tools.
Cons: Not durable and could have better features.

We bought a newer model of this machine. After the hour or so of assembly and instruction reading, we used the machine with somewhat high expectations. Here is the lowdown

The Good:

It is easy enough to set up. Having the solution...

Pros: Super Suction and scrubbing, close to walls
Cons: Weight, uses more solution than most cleaners, hose doesn't attach nicely, out of the way.

We moved into our new home last October, only to smell the faint odor of dog urine. Nice, huh? Old owners didn't even clean the carpets before they moved. Anyway, I had been borrowing my friends Bissel Steam Cleaner, and the task of taking it back and...

Pros: Easy to use. Works well. Quiet for what it is.
Cons: Tank capacity is a tad small.

I have a puppy. And she loves to make a mess on the carpet -- she drags food from the kitchen to the living room, she tacks in mud from the outside, she barfs, she pees... you can see how things can get very bad very fast.

I have owned the...

Pros: Does pick up the dirt
Cons: Too many repairs-could have replaced machine 3 times.

By recomendation,I purchased the Bissell pro heat machine-only to be disappointed by costly and time consuming repairs. Initially I returned my first Bissell to costco because of faulty belts, leaking bladder, leaking soap dispenser, and broken pumps....

Pros: Cleans great with heated solution!
Cons: Only got less than a half-dozen uses and it quit working!

Update: I'm so mad I could just spit. I have used this less than a half dozen times. My cat knocked down a vase full of flowers. Being that I was going to clean the carpet anyway I thought I just use the Bissell and use it to do the rest of the ...

Pros: This is really the Dream Machine!
Cons: Hard to get the holder for the attachments mounted onto the unit.

I recently bought Bissell's PowerSteamer. It has been a God-send!! I spent two afternoons waiting for the carpet cleaning people to come, to no avail. That more than annoyed me. Finally, after seeing the commercial of the motorcycle gang on tv, I asked...

Pros: Fine job cleaning, fairly easy to maneuver. Good on board storage.
Cons: Turbo brush was underwhelming.

This was the product that brought me to epinions for the first time. Our old Bissell Green Machine had bit the dust and our newly built house has very, very light beige carpets (they seemed a lot darker in the carpet store!). With two kids, two cats...

Pros: Easy to load and run!! Very Good cleaning!!!
Cons: none

Ok Folks, I'll admit that I am not the most motivated person in the housework arena, BUT the carpets were begging to be cleaned and really good carpet cleaners are out there and I finally found one!

I had several criteria for...

Pros: Lots of tools, light weight
Cons: A bit of a soap user

I have had other cleaners by Bissell and the last one that I had was a Hoover. Being a high use item, I thought it was time to replace it. I know that the hotter the water the better the job it will do. I found the Pro Heat Plus model was the only one...