Bissell Pet Stain Eraser: Redefining Pet Stain Cleaning
Even our beloved pets may make us mad when they leave a mess in our house, especially on a beautiful carpet. This is something every owner has to consider and deal with when they decide to have a pet. Instead of taking it out on them, you should think about getting a carpet cleaner, like the Bissell Pet Stain Eraser - A popular choice among handheld models on the market. But why exactly is this compact machine the go to choice of so many customers? Let's find out right in this in-depth review.
How To Choose A Carpet Cleaner
Size
Hoover and Bissell are the two most popular names in the carpet cleaner industry. But even when looking at only these two brands the results provide a legion of choices that may cause confusion.
Some carpet cleaners are full-sized machines, providing strong suction and a larger water tank capacity. They are suitable for heavy-duty tasks, such as a big, fully-carpeted house.
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On the other hand, many models are available in smaller sizes, even in handheld form. This allows you to carry them anywhere in your house, but with a limitation on its suction power and cleaning capacity.
Attachments
Some full-sized carpet cleaners come with many attachments for different surfaces. This is usually not the case for handheld units.
Brush
Compact models usually use a non-spinning brush, meaning you have to do the scrubbing manually without assistance from any motorized tool. Moving brushes on regular carpet cleaners can help you with that and provide a more aggressive scrub to agitate dirt in the carpet better.
Overview of Bissell Pet Stain Eraser
The Bissell Pet Stain Eraser is a handheld carpet cleaner designed with small stains in mind. It's a cordless machine, so you can carry it anywhere to get rid of any stains and dirt spots on carpeted surfaces like rugs, upholstery, and even your car's interior. The Bissell cordless carpet cleaner uses a combination of cleaning solution and suction power to lift the grime away. It’s the cheaper version of the Bissell Pet Stain Eraser PowerBrush.
Pros
- Extremely lightweight and compact
- Effective when dealing with small stains
- Quiet
- Can deal with both stains and odors
- Ready-to-use formula
Cons
- Need to scrub manually
- Limited space for cleaning solution and dirty water
- Tend to leak
Bissell Pet Stain Eraser Review
Sprayer
There are stains that need a greater amount of cleaning solution than others. So it's ideal that a good carpet cleaner has a mechanism to control how much of the formula it pours out. To get this done, Bissell has designed a spray button where you can push to limit the amount of cleaning fluid you need before scrubbing.
This is much better than using a bottle directly, which usually doesn't end up with the same level of accuracy. If you need more information about the volume of cleaning solutions for different types of stains, refer to the official manual.
The formula used in this Bissell handheld carpet cleaner has a trial size of Professional Spot & Stain + Oxy cleaning solution, which Bissell claims is good at removing both tough stains and odors permanently. It works safely and effectively on carpets, rugs, upholstery, and car interiors. This cleaning formula isn't only designed for pet messes but also drink spills, motor oil, and makeup, among others.
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Tanks
The Bissell Pet Stain Eraser uses two separate tanks to hold the cleaning solution and the dirty water. These tanks are both see-through and together have a capacity of 8 ounces. You can easily keep an eye on how much cleaning solution you have left and whether you're running out of space for the filthy water.
Cleaning formula Via: Amazon
Brush
This carpet cleaner has a small, non-spinning brush on the bottom of the head. After pouring the cleaning formula onto the surface, you can use this brush to scrub and scrape off tough spots before the machine sucks all of them up.
This brush is removable, so you can take it off and rinse it separately. It is a simple process as you can just hold it under running water to get rid of all the dirt. You should do this between uses to keep it as clean as possible.
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Suction
As a spot cleaner for pet stains, it needs a pretty strong suction to do the job. However, this portable carpet cleaner sometimes falls short of our expectations. The suction isn't bad, but there are times it's not enough to remove all the water and formula from the carpet.
You may need to tilt the machine to some angle to help it suck up as much of the mess as possible. Tough stains and discolorations may need more than just one go. This is a big hassle that many customers may not want to have to deal with, especially when they are in a hurry.
It's not really surprising given the size of the Bissell Pet Stain Eraser. It's a trade-off you must accept to get the convenience this small machine provides.
The working principle of the Bissell Pet Stain Eraser Via: Amazon
Battery
Bissell has decided to go without a power cord, which may trip you over while cleaning. It is powered by a lithium-ion battery, which needs around 4 hours for a full charge with the included charger. The Bissell Pet Stain Eraser cordless cleaner’s battery gives about 15 minutes of run time, not too bad for a spot cleaner unless you have a huge mess to deal with on your carpet. There is a light indicator showing how much power you have left.
Build quality
You must be aware that this inexpensive carpet cleaner is mostly made of plastic, so don't expect a top tier durability. But this doesn't mean it will break every time you touch it. The plastic is still thick enough for regular use with some decent care. Just don't drop it on a hard surface, and you'll be fine. The removable tank should also be handled carefully.
The brush has a decent build quality, however. It has stiff bristles, so you can scrub them hard on carpets without issue. This is a dealbreaker as the brush doesn't spin, and you must rely on yourself to agitate the dirt imprinted in the fibers of carpets.
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Range of use
Even with an average suction power and small size, the Bissell Pet Stain Eraser still provides a wide range of applications. You can deal with the mess you and your pet have left on most carpeted surfaces, including rugs, interiors, and upholstery. With a combination of spraying, scrubbing, and suction, the machine can get rid of most types of stains, such as vomit, coffee, food grease, makeup, mud, and urine. Thanks to the strong formula and easy-to-scrub brush, the Bissell Pet Stain Eraser also helps remove foul smells.
You can use it on many surfaces, including your car’s interior Via: Amazon
Usability
One of the biggest selling points of this handheld machine is how easy it is for everyone to use it. The Bissell Pet Stain Eraser is cordless, meaning you can take it out of your closet and start it immediately within seconds. No need to untangle a power cord and plug it in before you can actually quickly deal with a small mess on your carpet.
This freedom also allows you to use it everywhere without worrying about whether you have a power outlet within reach. Spill some coffee on your car mat? Not a problem anymore.
The convenience of this stain remover also comes from its formula, which doesn't require any mixing with water. It's ready to use, and you can just store it inside the cleaner. When something happens with your carpets, there is nothing to stop you from just grabbing this machine and cleaning immediately.
Cleaning and maintaining this carpet cleaner is also not complicated at all. The nozzle of this Bissell pet stain remover is easy to remove, so you can get rid of any dirt and pet hair stuck in it after many uses. Other parts like the brush and water tanks are also removable.
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Performance
For most common stains, this Bissell carpet cleaner just needs a small amount of cleaning fluid, which you should leave on your carpet for at least 5 minutes before actually scrubbing. The brush loosens the dirty spots to help the suction power take them off the carpet. If you see the stain only goes off to a limited extent on the first go, keep doing it again to completely remove it. This should be enough, even for the toughest spills.
The cleaner works great with pet stains Via: Amazon
However, the cleaning performance will fall off when you use it for a larger mess as this carpet cleaner is only designed for small common stains.
Common Issues
While the Bissell Pet Stain Erase is a decent choice for many common cleaning needs relating to carpeted surfaces, this is indeed not a perfect solution. In addition to the many drawbacks we have mentioned above, there are some other issues many customers have talked about after trying it for some time.
The non-spinning brush
This Bissell portable carpet cleaner uses only a stationary brush, meaning it relies entirely on manual labor to agitate dirty spots without any motorized mechanism. The brush doesn't spin like many vacuum cleaners, so the cleaning task does look like what you usually do manually on your hands and knees. This is not what many people prefer, especially when they need to handle a big mess in a large area.
Leaks
One of the most common issues with the Bissell Pet Stain Erase is its tendency to leak cleaning solution out of the tank. The most plausible explanation for this problem is some design flaws in these containers. This may lead to a huge mess when the dirty water can be all over your carpet. And the worst part is it's unlikely you can do anything about it.
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The sprayer
The Bissell Pet Stain Eraser uses a sprayer to release cleaning solution onto the carpet, but it doesn't always work well. Bissell could have made the formula coming out of the tank in a wider shape to make it pour out more evenly on the cleaning surface. But when you press the trigger, it just has a single stream, which requires more effort to spread it on top of the dirty stains.
Alternative Choices
#1- Bissell Spotbot Pet
Bissell Spotbot Pet Via: Amazon
The name of this carpet cleaner should you give an idea how it works. When you need to use the Bissell Spotbot Pet to remove any mess caused by your pet, point it over the dirty spot and press the cleaning mode you need, such as Normal or Deep Clean. The brush of this compact machine will move around at various speeds, applying the cleaning solution before sucking it up. After a few minutes, the Spotbot Pet will make a beep sound to notify you that it is done.
The result will be a clean spot where there has previously been vomit, drink spills, or even crayon marks. The Bissell Spotbot Pet works great with all of them. It's a small machine that allows you to quickly tackle small incidents happening in your house without having to rely on a full-sized carpet cleaner. Despite its size, the Spotbot Pet still works great as a deep clean machine.
Like the Pet Stain Erase, you should use the Spotbot Pet with only a cleaning solution from Bissell, per this manufacturer's recommendation. It's something to consider as they are not particularly cheap, and you must buy it directly from Bissell or a handful of other retailers. To save cost, you can store the cleaning solution inside the reservoir if you haven't added the Oxy Boost. But this isn't recommended for a long period of time as the final solution may result in more wear and tear in your machine.
#2- Steamfast SF-370
Steamfast SF-370 Via: Amazon
Unlike the Bissell models, this Steamfast steam cleaner can deal with heavy-duty cleaning tasks on top of its spot cleaning ability. The Sf-370 is also able to work on hard surfaces like tiles and comes with plenty of attachments. However, it doesn't have any dedicated tools to clean upholstery, so if your house has a lot of fabric upholstery, this is not the best choice.
#3- Hoover ONEPWR
Hoover ONEPWR Via: Amazon
If you need something a bit more powerful to deep clean your carpets without losing the convenience of a cordless unit, consider the Hoover ONEPWR upright vacuum. As one of the best rated vacuum cleaners, it's a compact and lightweight machine that doesn't require much more effort compared to regular handheld machines. It's the ideal choice if you often face bigger messes, especially on carpeted stairs and other hard-to-reach spots.
Final Verdict
The Bissell Pet Stain Eraser is an inexpensive compact carpet cleaner that allows you to tackle any messes caused by your pet as soon as possible. It's not a solution for a large area of carpeted surface (you will need a bigger and more powerful model for that), but this machine is a decent companion that every pet owner should consider.
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