Stop Calling The Professionals — Bissell Is Here! - Bissell 1699-1 ProHeat Clear View Plus Upright Vacuum
my regretful purchase - Bissell 1699-1 ProHeat Clear View Plus Upright Vacuum I bought this carpet cleaner thinking that if I spent a couple hundred dollars that it would be a great investment...
Works good when it’s not breaking! Pretty Frustrating to use. - Bissell 1699-1 ProHeat Clear View Plus Upright Vacuum I've had Model 1699-1 for about 3 years. It was great the 1st time. Thereafter, it's been pretty frustrating to ...
When you have cats who tend to be a bit, shall we say, “finicky” about using their litter boxes, you find yourself constantly in need of professional carpet cleaning. So I’d call up a professional once every three months or so, and spend over a hundred dollars getting the carpets steam cleaned. Besides being expensive, it was also inconvenient - someone had to arrange to be home when they came. My husband finally got tired of this routine and bought the Bissell ProHeat Clearview Heated Formula Deep Cleaner. He bought it at Walmart for around $200. Besides the on-board attachments (a 4” and a 6” small area or upholstery tool), our set also came with a bare floor tool, a 16 oz. Fiber Cleansing Formula, a 16 oz. Floor Cleansing Formula, and a 16 oz. Tough Stain PreCleaner.
Assembly was super-easy. A Phillips head screwdriver was the only tool needed. Once assembled, the cord and flexible hose both wrap around the back of the machine so it all stays together neatly.
Basic Concept
The system includes a lightweight, removable tank. The tank is separated into two compartments. You fill one compartment with clean, hot tap water. There is also a bottle attachment, into which you pour your carpet cleaning formula. You turn the machine on, and use it just like a regular vacuum cleaner, except that there’s a trigger button. Pressing the trigger causes an outward spray of the cleaning solution mixed with the water. You can control the ratio of cleaning solution to water that gets sprayed by setting the SmartMix dial to “water only” (NO cleaning solution), “normal”, or “high traffic” (extra cleaning solution). Using the optional heating element increases the cleaning solution/water mixture up to 25 degrees, to a maximum temperature of 180 degrees F. Running the machine without pressing the trigger reverses the airflow, so that the water, cleaning solution, and dirt are sucked up from the carpets. The dirty solution goes into the second compartment in the tank.
For normal cleaning, you make one forward and one backward wet (trigger pressed) pass over a small area. Release the trigger and make a forward and backward pass over the same area to remove the dirty solution. Repeat the process until the solution being pulled up appears clean. (The front of the machine is clear so you can watch the solution as it pulls back up).
For heavily soiled areas or high traffic areas, pre-treatment is recommended. You first spray the area with Tough Stain PreCleaner solution, then make several wet passes with the machine. Let the wet carpet sit for a few minutes before making your dry passes.
For small areas, edges, and upholstery, use one of the small tools. My system came with the 4” tool and the 6” tool. You could also use the Crevice tool or Tough Stain Brush (sold separately). The tools all connect to the end of the flexible hose. There’s a dial on the side of the machine that you can set to “Tools or PreTreat”. In this setting, pressing the trigger causes the water/cleaning solution to come out of the tool rather than the main unit. Similarly, the suction when you’re not pressing the trigger is through the tool.
After cleaning, you can choose to give your carpets a final water rinse. This will help ensure that all remnants of the cleaning solution are removed. This is important if you have children (or pets) crawling around on the carpets, or if you are sensitive to the chemicals in the cleaning solution. It’s easy to do this final rinse… you turn the SmartMix dial to “water only” and make some wet passes over the carpet.
OK, I get the general idea… but DOES IT DO A GOOD JOB???
The machine works GREAT. I am amazed at the job it does. Not only does it remove any stains and odors that the cats leave behind, but it has also removed mascara (don’t you hate carelessly dropping the wand?), coffee, food stains, and mud. The high traffic areas get a whole new-again look to them. I’m always shocked when I go to empty the dirty water from the tank at just how dirty that water is! It also is amazing (and a little scary) to notice just how much cat hair is mixed in with that dirty water. Obviously my every-other-week regular vacuuming job (which I always thought was doing an adequate job of cleaning) is leaving a lot of leftover cat hair embedded deep down in the carpets.
So what are the drawbacks?
In my opinion, this machine requires two people to use. The machine, itself, is heavy and bulky. It’s a bit difficult to maneuver around the furniture. It can not get near the edges of the floors so you’re forced to constantly switch between using the main unit, and the small tools. In order to use the small tools, you have to unravel the flexible hose. But moving the main unit while the hose is unraveled is difficult. I find it works best when one person maneuvers the main unit, and the other person carries the flexible hose, operates the small tools, and keeps the power cord out of the main unit’s way.
You need to stop what you’re doing, and empty/re-fill the water tank whenever the dirty side is full. This happens fairly frequently. You can clean a room without changing the water, but will need to change the water a few times if you’re doing your whole house. The good news is that you don’t have to worry about checking the water… when the dirty water compartment is full, a high-pitched sound will alert you.
The cleaning solution bottle is pretty small, thus you run out of solution pretty quick. Once the solution runs out, the machine will no longer spray, and you’ll again have to stop what you’re doing and re-fill the solution.
In the end, I do recommend this machine. It does a spectacular job of cleaning, and pays for itself in just a few uses since you’ll no longer need the professionals. I’ve used mine several times, and have not had any problems - the machine seems to be durable. Cleaning a few stains or a single room is a fairly simple task - especially if you have two people doing it. However, cleaning an entire house is a quite an undertaking and will prove to be too big a task for some.
For dry vacuuming, I recommend the Bissell Cleanview Bagless 3595.
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Tags: and upholstery, chemicals, dry, machine, notice, professional, professional carpet cleaning, professionals, solution, upholstery
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