Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This is the third and best Bissell carpet cleaner I have bought. The other two were a pro heat self propelled and a similar single brush model. Neither cleaned as well as this one. However, like the others, this fails to vacuum up more than a third of the applied solution, no matter how long one vacuums - the main reason I will not rate it higher. I figure if it only extracts a third of the liquid, it only gets a third of the dirt on any given cleaning. An advantage of this model is having separate tanks for clean and dirty water. It is easy to see the levels and to easily confirm that a second, third or fourth cleaning still removes dirt left by previous attempts, as well as the percentage of fluid extracted. The combined tank of the older pro heat model made those observations difficult because dirty and clean water had to be dumped out together, discouraging such a test. I think of that model as being designed to be deceptive. This one is not. This model is excellent at quickly spraying enough fluid to attempt cleaning - easily the fastest of the three. The dual brushes must certainly do a better job of dislodging dirt than a single brush as well. The carpet does look clean, even if there is dirt left deeper down. I also like the removable front pickup. It will tend to clog with fibers and have to be cleaned - about every gallon of fluid applied, in my experience. Being able to snap it off and rinse it in the sink is far easier than having to remove screws and partially disassemble the older pro heat model. The cleaning tool supplied does help, but it still takes more time than I would have hoped for to unclog it. I also like that the hose is completely detachable - unlike the older pro heat model - whose hose was constantly falling off, unless tied on. I attempted to clean four carpeted stairway steps with the hose and larger brush attachment and was completly dissatisfied with its vacuuming ability. The larger brush is so poorly designed with multiple air leaks that there is negligible vacuum and only a trivial amount of solution pickup. Fortunately the smaller brush does not suffer from the same problem and does a good job of vacuuming up the liquid. I plan to never use the larger brush again because even taping over all the seams, including the absurd vacuum "release" button, does little to make this thoroughly incompetent attachment useful. A minor complaint is that the "in service" cord holder is unable to secure the cord unless one adds about seven large rubber bands around it so it provides some friction to prevent the unused cord from simply falling off. Doesn't Bissel even test their design? In use I can clean about 60 square feet of carpet with the filled gallon supply container. As clumps of fibers are spit out, usually on the first pass, I just pick them up to prevent them from possibly clogging the pickup. By the time the fluid is gone the repeated back and forth of trying to get the water out will also have taken its toll on my back and it is time to set up a box fan to finish drying the carpet. Do the rest another day. I would buy this model again, despite its problems, because other models have been and probably still are worse. It certainly does remove dirt from carpets every time I use it.