Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I've been wanting to steam clean our carpets in our house for a number of years now. We had them professionally cleaned before moving in (8 1/2 years ago!!). Three kids, a dog, and a cat later have reduced our carpets to what I thought, was their last legs. The carpets are probably 12 years old (they were not new when we moved in, I am guessing here). We have carpeting in our kitchen, our kitchen table rests on the carpet. You can imagine how dirty they look(ed) after years of spilled milk, cereal, wine, ketchup, etc... We had planned on ripping them up and putting in tile or Pergo in the next few years. So this past week our dog gets sick and really puts me over the edge here. I decide to rent one of those "Rug Doctors" at the grocery store. However, I realize that it will take days for me to clean all the carpets and I really don't want to have to shuttle the Rug Doctor back and forth to the grocery store (about 15 - 20 mins away). On a whim, I check out the reviews on Amazon and find that the Bissell 9400 is the real deal. There is even a reviewer mentioning his sick dog. So I decide to go with the Bissell. It was very well packaged, little boxes for all the accessories (there are a ton of them). There is even a mesh bag full of various cleaners (wish I knew that before I bought $60 worth of cleaners!!). The Bissell goes together in about 10 minutes (including the time it took to locate my screwdriver). I used the Bissell "Pet Strength" cleaner, taking two bottles to do two rooms (wayyy more than is required, but these were dirty carpets!!). It is a slow process, you have to push the cleaner forward, depressing the trigger. Move slowly, then pull back with the trigger depressed. A few passes more will remove the moisture. I didn't count the number of times I had to empty the resovoir and fill the water & cleaner. It certainly was a breeze to do. This first pass took me some 3 hours to do, but was well worth it. I am willing to bet that this will go faster now that they have been recently cleaned! I noticed a huge difference before they even dried!! The carpets were no longer soiled, almost all the food stains had been removed, the nap was much fluffier. I pulled out about a large handfull of cat/dog/human hair that the brushes spit up( This is normal and nothing to worry about, its much better in the trash than ground back into the carpet). Once they dried (overnight) and after a pass with our Kirby, they looked incredible!! My daughter walked barefoot on the cleaned carpet and on one in our family room (that is scheduled for next week). She said the clean one was a lot more cushier. When I walk in the house now, I am greeted by a nice scent (there is a scent in the pet-strength cleaner) and a very clean-looking carpet! I intend to clean our furniture as well as the rest of all the carpets. I'm beginning to believe that this will help with our allergies too.... If you are on the fence about this, go for it! You will not be sorry. Oh, I mentioned above and will restate it. Do NOT use this like a vacuum cleaner, pushing and pulling at a fast clip. Go slow!! You will reap the benefits.. Update: 8 Apr 2006 Still very happy that we got this. Last weekend I completed the cleaning of all the original carpets in our home. I had to do all of our Master Bedroom in 3 passes (moved furniture around) because the pets loved to sleep under the bed, beside the dresser, etc). Before last weekend, the only "Original Carpet" uncleaned was the Master BR. The difference in smell when walking into the Bedroom was noticeable. (Before cleaning). We never noticed the pet odor because we were 'used' to it throughout the house. Once I cleaned the rest of the house, the odor in the remaining room stood out. After cleaning the Bedroom, I've noticed a very signifigant impact (for the better) on my allergies. Cleaning the carpets under the bed where we sleep made a huge difference. On another note, I cleaned a pet stain (from where our dog was sick) in my daughter's room. The carpet in there is only 6 months old. I couldn't believe the hair it picked up! I originally thought I could bypass all the new carpeting, but am in the process of cleaning all the new carpeting too! OK, in case you haven't guessed it... This was by far the best $250 I've ever spent!