Well our 2 older cats (Lucy & Ethel) don''t get sick often at all. For that I am grateful since I (the husband) am retired, and stuck to face whatever disaster comes while the wife is at work. But I am squeamish when it even comes to scooping their "you know what" when it is time and actually wear a gas mask if forced to do that job. I may be a USMC Combat Veteran, but I draw the line at liter boxes & Diapers! I may be brave, but I AIN''T no HERO!
My wife just bought an upright steam cleaner from Eureka since all our carpet is now about 20 years old. It was expensive carpet and we have no kids so it has worn extremely well but is still getting tired. And since I retired I keep getting into trouble for bringing in grease or oil stains after working on our motorcycles or motor scooters. No matter what I do, I am always getting into trouble one way or the other. It''s kind of like I am a 62 year old Dennis The Menace according to the wife? Well her big & expensive steam cleaner is more trouble than I will EVER go to to use and when she is done with it we sometimes have a "fair" measure of success, most often not and it even seems to expand whatever the stain by spreading it around. NOT good and once that happens, nothing we try helps.
For the record, we used to just use Resolve or other similar cleaning chemicals & do the best we could by hand. At least this way we never, EVER made the stains worse. When I saw this to try on the Amazon Vine Program I knew it would just be another gadget that would stink, leak and aggravate me more than the LAST gimmick I tried....Before I get into my trial of this machine, here are a couple things you may or may not already know. It has 5 different buttons.
1 for Fresh Surface Stains.
1 for Set IN OLDER Stains.
1 for Pause & Resume
1 for Hose Attachment
1 for "STOP"
You choose whichever chemical you desire and add water also. Press the button for whatever type stain you have after placing the cleaner over your stain. The computer on-board will do the rest! 2 different brushes move in a weird way I can only describe as a motion similar to the motion of a car motor with a rotary engine. It''s actually kind of hypnotic to watch but I was afraid to just LEAVE IT since the wife''s steam cleaner can cause so much damage...I also have to admit this is designed for smaller "spot" type stains, NOT cleaning an entire carpet so just understand while it may work well for your different type stains, NOT just pet stains, it is for localized areas, not large sections of carpet. I also have to admit that since I don''t have any pet stains but had 8 grease stains, that is what I tried this on. And it was so simple I didn''t wait for my wife to get home and tell me I am "doing it wrong!) as usual either. I had 6 of the stains that were very OLD stains. I mean over 10 years old. The other 2 fresher (maybe a month old) from the latest motorcycle servicing....
This little unit actually worked. I mean it got out ALL of the stains, all 8. I have no idea how? More important, how it does so much better than a high priced steam cleaner. Maybe it it the chemicals used (provided with this unit)? Maybe the design of the brushes, or probably the combination? I don''t know, I don''t care. I used the "tough stain'' setting which took 6 minutes to cycle through. (Easier "surface stains" only require a 3 minute cycle to clean.) I also used the hand manual cleaner to soak up some more of the wetness left after it finished. How can I NOT give this 5 stars? I never ever do until I have owned it over a year to verify it''s durability. But this surpassed our other efforts by SO much I am beginning with a full 5 stars this time. If anything changes, I always update and will do so again with this & lower my rating if needed. But given the amazing job this did on such a wide variety of stains (old & new alike), I doubt this 5 stars will ever get downgraded? Short of blowing up, or leaking & stinking like all before it, it will deserve every bit of my 5 star rating.
A couple of thing maybe worth adding?
-It has a 7 Inch brush area
-Has a NICE 16 foot cord!
-Tank holds 32 ounces
-LOVE that it has a carry handle
-Includes BOTH the Oxy Gen 2 cleaner (16 ounces) AND 2X Ultra Pet Stain & Oder Chemical (8 ounces) TRIAL sizes however!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1st Update:
-Oh SHOCK! My wife is home and pointed out 2 more stains I missed. She says I "never see them, never will" whatever that means? Worked again on both and these are about 4-6 weeks old per my mean old wife....And I need to also point out a very important item. Even on these stains we could never get out using ANYTHING we ever tried? ALL we used was the single chemical provided called "2X Pet Stain"! Now I did set the computer at the full "SET IN OLDER STAINS" Program but never even added any of the so called Oxy Gen 2 cleaner they ask you to use for that setting. Never even needed it. This machine just keeps surprising me to no end. The cats sneak up on it to attack when it goes into it''s quiet mode. But when that mode changes and the vacuum parts comes on? They are 2 20 pounds (EACH) old lady cats on a new quest to break the sound barrier in their retreat! Fun for the whole family.....
UPDATE Much later on December 17 2011: OK, still working like a charm. I just spilled 4 beers I had just opened and not yet touched (Please, just don''t even ASK!) and knocked them all over when moving a pile of Amazon deliveries that just arrived. Spilled full 48 ounces of beer on an expensive carpet under the bar table (pub table actually). Thank God my 2 cats Lucy & Ethel LOVE beer.... They both came running from their afternoon coma''s and dove in to help. I guess they just don''t know if there will be a new treat of new disaster to enjoy when I scramble to save myself. So I dig this thing out and here we are, so much later and it still works 100% as well as always. Just need to tell you this little jewel is STILL as reliable at cleaning up as I am at making a mess. If you don''t hear from me till next year it''s probably ciz the old woman locked me in the garage again......
UPDATE, March 23 2012: Well the plot thickens. I took up home brewing with 2 new Coopers DIY 6 gallons (each) home beer brewing kits. Now i know what you must be thinking....OK, you''re right. But stuff just happens I tell ya. I mean, with all the work & transfer of fluids going on it is simply flat impossible to not spill. And I have to keep it all inside due to temperature control. Anyway, this little Bissell Spotbot may just end up in Court. No, not what you thing this time. THIS time my wife is considering legal adoption of the thing. I know it doesn''t get used every single day. Well MOST days anyway. But it does get used every week. And I have to say the old wife would never even know anything has gone wrong if it weren''t for the 2 cats ( Lucy & Ethel) who ALWAYS lead her to whatever spot I have cleaned and flat out rat me out. The fat lazy cats won''t even get up to play in their old age but they damned well LOVE to watch fireworks when they show go sniffing around whatever it is I have cleaned and then act all "innocent". Bottom line is this thing may outlive me? And according to my wife, it better....
UPDATE Jan 7 2013:
Well this is STILL used weekly and not a single failure. Now I fail daily, my 2 cats Lucy & Ethel are old and ALSO fail daily (but the mean old wife never beats them like she does me!), and this device has saved me from continual mayhem by the wife. I am so grateful to this device. I figure I must feel the same level of gratitude that some husbands must feel when they need Viagra at this point?
I was drawn to this product because of its promise to effortlessly tackle set-in stains, of which there are several in my often-used den thanks to my cat and two-year-old. The Spotbot was pretty easy to set up right out of the box, and it came with two solution bottles. Once I started to use it on the first problematic area, I realized the limitations. It is, indeed, a SPOT bot, meaning that it can only handle a very small circular area, about six inches in diameter, during one five-minute cleaning cycle. For small stains, this is fine and the product works well. But for those of us with a larger area, or several small stains, it will take a great deal of time and effort to use the Spotbot. The two bottles that came with the product were completely used up after three cleaning cycles.
I last used the Spotbot about two weeks ago, and before writing this review, I revisited the spots since, according to the paperwork, it could take as long as 72 hours for the cleaning fluid to work its magic. While those three circular areas were much cleaner than before, I noticed that the circular pattern in my carpet was still there two weeks later and the carpet was pretty hard and crusty in those spots. And this was after I followed all of the instructions, including an initial vacuum pass before starting the cleaning cycle.
Buy BISSELL Spotbot Pet Handsfree Spot and Stain Cleaner Now
I was very happy to recieve the Bissel Spotbot cleaner as I''ve had some extremely stubborn organic BUT not pet-based stains in my carpet.
(Though I''m glad I do have it for when we do get a dog in the near future.)
The stairs and the area around our TV are the most difficult areas to keep up with spot cleaning due to foot traffic, frequency food and drink spills, and awkwardness of reaching many of the stains.
I normally use an Earth-friendly spot spray that generaaly does a good job if I get to the stain quick enough, but as I said I have some very stubborn areas.
The day the Spotbot arrived, I immediately set it to work on an area on the stairs.
NOTE: read ALL of the instructions before starting AND make sure the cap on the HOT water tank is secured properly before putting the tank in place or you''ll have a spillout like I did.
The Spotbot is super easy to use, but not brainless.
Back to the stairs...
I considered using the hands-free option, but given the location of the spots I couldn''t. The manual option worked very well, though.
So well in fact, I got moving around to every annoying stain area that came to mind (including stuff that was here when we moved in 5 years ago) and the Spot Bot dealt with it all.
I have to add that I think it''s rather user friendly if you use it mindfully while you have a baby crawling around. And though I think the solutions are pet and kid fiendly as they say, I woyldn''t use this in an area where baby will soon play.
Overall I was EXTREMELY pleased with my experience (except for how darn noisy the thing is...like ten times more than my hair dryer). So much so that when some red wine was spilled on our cream carpet over the weekend I didn''t spring up to deal with.
"Meh," I told my husband. "I''ll Spotbot it tomorrow."
Read Best Reviews of BISSELL Spotbot Pet Handsfree Spot and Stain Cleaner Here
Seems Bissell made design changes to the SpotBot Pet and this is the NEW listing on Amazon. I am copying over my original review from ASIN B000NNZ2WU. If you go there you will see my review and it shows I am someone who did buy it. I feel this review can be placed here because in the end I ended up with the unit in this listing. You really ought to read the full review below anhd see why I do not like this unit and suggest you not buy it...
---COPY OF REVIEW FROM ASIN B000NNZ2WU----
It pains me to have to give this product only 2 stars.
I originally bought the Pet Spot Bot in 2003 I believe (may have been 2004) at a Linens and Things. I loved the unit. It was a miracle come true for one who owned 7 cats at the time. The unit cleaned perfect, worked great and I had no complaints. Over the years our extremely hard water here (for those of you who know how to rate hardness, we are about 112 grains! YES for real. With the softener we have we end up with about 15, but that is still exceedingly hard) destroyed the unit. It was caked with buildup and clogging from the calcium and iron. It finally died in the spring and I decided I had to get another. I bought the next on Amazon. When it arrived I noted it had undergone a few changes. Namely it felt a lot cheaper and the unit look cheaper. The plastic was all thinner and more flexible and the containers were a lot thinner and I noted that the new units are made in China, unlike my original unit. I shrugged it off and decided that with the new unit I would ONLY use distilled water. The first use was good, and it cleaned very well. In fact it seemed to clean well each time, except not the unit was leaking from the bottom somewhere. So I exchanged it. The next unit did the same. It would clean well, but leave a good sized puddle behind, and God forbid you leave the cleaning fluid dispenser in the unit as it leaked ALL the liquid out in less than 24 hours. So I contacted Bissell about the problem and they said they never had this issue before. (I have a hard time believing that) They exchanged it for me again and I received the new unit a couple months ago. Initially it worked fine and no leaking, but every time I use it it leaks more and more. This morning I had to use it to clean up a spot where one of our (now 5) cats (who is ill right now) threw up on the carpet. It cleaned it very well, but when I lifted the unit up when it finished there was a 4 inch wet spot where the back of the unit sat. I used a rag and the unit itself to suck the liquid from the carpet. It has also been leaking when it sits in the utility room between uses, so now I take the cleaning fluid tank out of the unit and place it in the utility sink when not in use. I also clean out the waste tank every time I use it.
Generally it still works well, you simply need to clean up the pebbles it leaves behind.
Bissell, if you guys actually read the reviews here, how about fixing the new version of this unit? Why did you have to make it so cheaply now? If/when I find another brand unit that cleans well and does not leak, the Spot Bot will end up in the garbage. Till then, the benefits of it out weight the bad points.
---UPDATE FROM NOVEMBER 30th 2010---
Well, the replacement Bissell had given us is officially going back to them again for replacement! If you use the hose and manual mode, the unit decides it will empty the entire water/cleaner chamber out of the automatic nossle under the unit. The ENTIRE tank just empties into the carpet, leaving a huge soppiung wet area on the carpet! I am very angry with Bissell at this point. Speaking with them I explained how many complaints are on Amazon for a leaking issue and wanted to know why they do this. They avoided the question, so I reasked. They avoided it again, so I reasked. THey avoided it and I said "Please stop refusing to answer my question... A lot of Amazon Reviews claim the same issues. There is obviously a problem. Are you aware of the quantity of reviews and is there a known issue?" Finally she said "We know of no problems with this product. It functions well." What a load. Well, my 3rd unit will be replaced by them now. *sigh* If you are looking at this product to buy, carefully read the reviews and give it a lot of thought.
---UPDATE FROM January 17th 2011---
I received the replacement in late December, but had not had a chance to use it till this weekend. This time they did not send me a new one, but a referbished unit. Okay, I suppose I could live with that, but thought the original purchase was 6 months ago, we have spent the entire time fighting eith broken units. The issye I had was that they sent me a referbished Green Unit, not the Pet. Beyond that, the referbished unit was also broken. The ONLY button on the unit that works is the "manual start" button! So I called them again this morning and this time requested to speak to a manager. When I questioned why I received a referbished unit I was told that it is policy if the unit was bought over 3 months ago. I explained that the original was bout, then 2 months later they had to send a new unit to replace it and then 2.5 months later this unit. I was told it is 3 months from the "original purchase date". I explained I have yet to get more than a few uses out of it and I wanted a NEW unit. They decided to do this for me. I then asked why I recieved the "Green" machine not the Pet and I was told that they are actually the same unit, just a different color and wording on the unit. (What the hell? So bissell charges MORE for the same unit if you get the ''Pet'' unit???)
So now I wait for the shipping tags again so I can send in this "green" unit and get a NEW Pet unit (which by admission is the same as the Green except for the name and color). Once I get it I''ll add to this review again.
March 22 2011
I have had the NEW replacement unit for 2 months now. THey have done a complete overhaul on the unit and it is different in shape and size now. I like the new look more. It worked great through 12 cleanings. Today our senior cat has a problem and I had to do a lot of cleaning on the carpet. After 7 continuous cleanings this morning, the unit made an odd "pop" sound and no more suction. If you turn it off and then back on you get suction again, but after 20 to 45 seconds it makes a "pop" sound and loses all suction.
That is it. I have had it with the Bissell SpotBot. The original unit from 8 or 9 years ago was great and well build and worked like a champ. The new and cheaper made units are just not worth it. I''ll call Bissell again in a few days and get ANOTHER replacement, but I''ll sell it on eBay right away. I need to find a DIFFERENT manufacturer who makes a hand held cleaner or unit like the SpotBot now. I have given up. If I could give it ZERO stars out of 100 I would.
Want BISSELL Spotbot Pet Handsfree Spot and Stain Cleaner Discount?
I have never written a review on anything before, but this machine is AMAZING. I have an older cat who has "intestinal issues". I use this thing every day sometimes up to 5 or 6 times a day (to get all the big and little "issue" spots). At first I would clean/scrub it by hand using OxyPro carpet cleaner but mostly all that did was spread it around. I got tired of that and just used the Spot Bot from the start. It completely cleans the carpet and doesn''t leave a stain on my light carpet even from darkest accidents. HINT: Instead of buying the expensive OxyGen additive for tough stains, use a tiny scoop of the OxyClean OxiClean Versatile Stain Remover, Powder 24 oz (680 g) powder in the tank with the detergent and water. Also, I had one of these previously when I didn''t need it too often. I left a tank still filled with water on the unit for some time (b/c the OxyGen and detergent aren''t that cheap) and when I went to use it sometime later, it wouldn''t work. Always take the detergent tank off and empty the waste tank after using. It''s amazing! COULDN''T LIVE WITHOUT IT!
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