Vacuum Reviews

We received this vacuum about a month ago after moving into an apartment with new carpets (hence, they pilled a lot, at first and needed to be frequently vacuumed). Pulling it out of the box, I found the assembly to be easy and intuitive.

The vacuum comes with a number of attachments that are helpful for various surfaces, it has five settings for different thicknesses of carpet and a built in HEPA filter. We've used it and been quite happy thus far with its performance. I personally LOVE the fact that it has no bags to replace.

That said, I can see that some people might not like the bagless feature as it involves dumping out the canister probably a bit more frequently. Since it is transparent and easy to see when filled, and quite simple to remove, dump out and replace, I don't see that as a problem. If anything it might help lengthen the life of the vacuum since so many people often forget to replace their bags in other vacuums as often as they should.

Finally, we did have one instance when the denseness of the carpet pilling blocked the tube into the canister. I noticed that the canister was not filling up (again, the transparency helps) and it was very easy to clean it out. This has only happened once, and to be honest, it was easily solved by just being alert and using common sense. No appliance is perfect, after all.

I was nervous about the vacuum being "factory-reconditioned", but mine arrived in 3 business days looking and working as if it were a brand-new vacuum. Although I'm technically challenged, I was able to put it together in a few minutes and test it out right away. This vacuum proved that it was time to ditch my old one: the canister (no bags--yippee!) filled up before I finished the room and it was freaky yet fascinating to see everything my old vacuum had missed. Remotely negative features: Aside from the extension wand, there are only 2 on-board tools (duster/brush, crevice) and the hose to do above-the-floor cleaning is a bit heavy. And although I love that it's bagless, the canister needs to be emptied more frequently (than a bag vacuum) and it's a dirty process. Overall I'm really happy with this vacuum and would recommend it to anyone that is looking for a great vacuum for a great price.

I like everything about this vacuum except that it's a little heavy to lift up stairs but I chalk that up to good excercise. I've had this vacuum for over a year now and I'm very pleased with it. Nothing has broken, stopped working, cracked etc. It definitely sucks up the dirt and then some and is so EASY to empty. I'll never be without a bagless vacuum again! This one has all the gadgets I need to keep my carpets clean.

... After only two years my Pro Heat Bissell's water pump just stopped pumping the water/cleaner solution. I would expect more from a model this expensive. We only have a few carpeted rooms in the house, most are hardwood, and we did not use the cleaner THAT much. I would look at other brands for better reliability. Also: When it DID work, it leaked on the floor when not in use! Steer clear of this lemon.

After renting carpet cleaners, and paying a large sum of money to have my carpet cleaned. I had purchased one several years ago, but, it did not do the work that this Bissell carpet cleaner has done for us. We have 2 dogs and have had problems with stains etc. This cleaner really does the job. and it is light, The bucket is really easy to fill, and empty, also the cleaning agent container, and with the attachments it is something that I can do spot cleaning when necessary without asking my husband to CLEAN THE CARPET. I also like the fact that I can just use the rinse cycle to go over any places that I feel might have some cleaning agent, or some from before which we also found. My husband also used it in the car and was really amazed at how well it covered and really cleaned the carpet which we could never do with any other carpet cleaner. His comment was when we first used it. Now we have it here all the time, instead of having to go and rent one and return it in a few hours. I can clean the carpet at my own leisure. Thanks again Bissell and also your engineering staff that designed such a wonderful machine which has made our life so much easier.

Two retired folks from Northern California.

We bought this carpet cleaner because it was necessary for out warranty on our 1 year old carpet. Either clean with this cleaner once a year, or have it professionally done every two years. I had used the Hoover deep cleaner before, so was a little leary about buying this one. Assembly was easy, 4 screws and that was it. How's that for simple?? Did my 3 younger kids bedroom first, ages 4, 3, and 9 mths. It was a breeze. Not having to "measure" the cleaning solution was great, pour it in the reservoir, and your done. Did my stairs next with the hand attachment. Really easy, flip the switch for the hand tools, and it prevents it from running the roller bar. I next used it on my living room. I was going to wait until the kids went to bed that night, but my 3 year old took his ravioli in the living room, and the 9mth old ground it into the carpet. Used a little pretreatment solution, let it sit for 5 minutes, and whalla, it was gone. I was hesitant that the floors would be wet for quite a while. This machine is great with sucking the water out of the carpet. It was dry in less that 2 hours!! WOW. I also liked the water only feature. If you do happen to get to much foaming in the carpet, just switch to the water only, to dilute it, and suck it up. You do have to empty the cleaning solution from the reservoir and replace with water to use that feature, but over all very very simple and fast to use. Did all these rooms in less that 2 1/2 hours!! One little con, it does leave a little puddle of water if left on the floor not being used, and full of water, but I haven't seen a deep carpet cleaner that doesn't do this yet. Wish I would have bought this one sooner!!

The water bladder tank leaked and the brush assembly hopped. I called Bissell, they apologized and sent out another tank. The second tank arrived 10 days later, it leaked also; so I returned the cleaner where I purchased it.

The dual tank seemed a good idea until I used it. I was dumping a lot of clean hot water down the drain. It was nearly impossible to get the carpet shed/fuzz out of the tank because you cannot remove the clean water bladder. I also was not fond of the idea that the brushes did not rotate without the suction. Some spots need to be scrubbed more than others and I found that I used more cleaning solution and water than was necessary because I could not just brush the area without removing the cleaning solution.

Extremely frustrating. I am searching for a cleaner without belts and separate tanks.

I love how well this machine cleans. We have two dogs and three cats and the Bissell gets the carpets spotless, but the water pumpt breaks down every six months or so. Other people have said the same thing.

The idea of a self-propelled carpet cleaner made me laugh at first, but now that I have one I am amazed that I got by so long without one...it just makes the job of cleaning your carpet such a breeze.

I have a lot of animals in my house, and when I clean the carpets, I really need to clean the carpets. This cleaner will pull probably about 90% of the grime in the carpet (it doesn't look like it should have that much dirt in it...) out on the first pass over it. This is one of those few products out there that really works like the commercials show it does as long as you follow the directions:

You need to make sure that heater is finished heating the water before you begin or you'll just be making a mess until it is hot enough to actually do some cleaning--this is probably the number one complaint I hear about this cleaner and its because they are not waiting for the heating to finish. The next things that people always do wrong is the the settings need to be switched back to the Water Only setting while the machine is not in use or the soap lines will clog up. As long as you store the cleaner properly it works like a dream (or a commercial) everytime no matter how bad the mess is.

Also, for anyone who has long-haired pets: this cleaner will clean up the giant clumps of wet hair tangled in the carpet with no problems at all. The biggest drawback is that the self-propel feature is kind of worthless is tight spaces because you have to have quite a bit of room to swing the cleaner around and get all the angles. You won't be able to run this around the furniture--you'll actually have to move the furniture out of the way if you want to do a decent job cleaning.

...DON'T!

I have been very patient with this product. I have had it for weeks, but waited to use it in different environments before 'judging' it. It makes a lot of noise like it's doing work, but when you look (even in direct contact with the rug) the dirt doesn't move. Air just blows out the sides. I feel like I really wasted my money. I'm told it can't be returned, and that just upsets me.

I bought it primarily for use in my car. Before I got around to my car, I tried it on my rug/carpet - even hard surfaces. I still have to go over with my upright vacuum, hence, it's of no use to me. I have it permanently plugged into the wall behind a chair in my dining area. I'm going to have to move it, because when I see it I get upset.

I finally tried it in my car last weekend, I ended up literally picking up after it. Yes, I cleaned my car by hand. Picked up all the little pieces by hand, which was about 90% of the dirt that was there before I vacuumed. A brush and dust pan will do MUCH MUCH more than this product does. Anybody want to guess how much a brush and dust pan will cost them as opposed to this?

At that price, I wasn't expecting a powerhouse. I just needed something decent to keep my car looking alright, and get into little corners my upright can't. But to have virtually no sucking power, be it $5 or $25 - it's a waste. I'm really, really disappointed. I'll give it one star - for turning on and coming with its own charger.

I BOUGHT THIS VACUUM BECAUSE IT HAD GOOD REVIEWS, WELL MAYBE I JUST GOT A DUD, BUT MINE DOESN'T WORK VERY WELL. IT'S BRAND NEW AND THE BATTERY DIES DURING THE SMALLEST JOBS. IT STARTS PULSATING AND THEN DIES. I FOLLOWED ALL DIRECTIONS IN CHARGING THE VACUUM, SO IT SHOULDN'T HAVE ANY PROBLEMS, BUT UNFORTUNATLY IT DOESN'T WORK. I WOULDN'T RECOMMEND THIS TO ANYONE.

I went through 3 Dustbusters before getting this one, and it has lasted way longer than any other hand vac I've ever owned. The long nozzle is a nice touch for under the kitchen cabinets, sand in the corners of the stroller seat, and for vaccuuming my kids' belly buttons, which they clamor for every time I turn the thing on. Easy to clean, and a good price-- you need one!

We bought this product as a roach-picker-upper. We were tired of using paper towels to pick up bugs. It works GREAT. Also works great for sand, dirt, sugar spills, vacuuming drawers, and even water. It was a GREAT value for the price $20 becausee it's wet/dry and its battery life is good. The filter tends to get a lot of junk in it, and some stuff can get lodged in the end of the vac, requiring some banging to dislodge, but otherwoise, no complaints.

The appeal of this easy-to-store, lightweight hand vac is that it's great for wet or dry messes, which makes it ideal for a family with babies or toddlers. It's also easy to empty the collected lint, pet hair, or Cheerios from this small appliance. I highly recommend this affordable and user-friendly cordless hand vac.

I bought this to clean up after my bird and I love it! The suction level is not super high, but this is good for my needs as a higher suction would rip my rugs up. This model does not have a brush and is not intended to remove stains or ground in stuff. It's just for spills and messes. I use it strictly to pick up little bits of bird food scattered under his playpen and shreds of paper. It also does a dandy job to get up cat hair from the couch. I was surprised at the size of some of the items it picked up. The wet feature makes it safe for sucking up bits of fruit and other wet messes like bird poo. I love the little filter in there, as it cleans the air before blowing it back out. (Huge plus for a bird owner.) It empties easily once you figure out that you must remove the filter THEN the cup. The charge lasts long enough for me to clean all around the cage, pen, and 3 couches. One thing I will warn is that it looks like there is more room when it is in fact full, so if you notice it's not sucking, empty it. I think I got my money's worth. It was misery cleaning up after my bird before I got it!

This vac worked fine for about a year and then the battery went dead. Now it will only work for a max of 5 seconds. Not a good investment.

Since we have a dog, and got her as a pup, this product has saved the carpet sooooooo many times. I would not be with out it. One of my better purchases

I have had one of these for six years now. The batteries lasted fine until last year. I changed the batteries by soldering in ones I purchased at Radio Shack. They are type Sub C. Anyway my dog chewed the filter and the gasket so I am going to buy another one.

Did not appear at all sturdy right out of the box- I should have sent it back right away - cheaply made -good only for edge work w/o the head on the wand. With wand on, low suction. I pick stuff up more efficiently by hand. Tough to carry around - tougher to use as drag around canister floor unit. I really hate the thing. Sad waste of $99 . This thing is a real dog no matter what you see on TV demos or what anyone else says.

I selected this vacuum not even seeing a picture on the website, but it had the features I wanted and the price was right. When I received it, I was surprised at how light the box was. It's a nice, compact canister that moves around easily due to it's light weight and small size. You can even use the included strap to carry it on your shoulder. It does an excellent job on my hardwood floors and berber carpets! I love that it's bagless. The instructions say to tap the filter on the side of the trash can to get all the dust out, but i recommend doing this outside or all the dust will be airborn in the house. The HEPA filter is great, especially since I think my old vac blew as much dust into the air as it was taking in! Didn't sneeze once, which would've been typical before!

I have owned this vacuum cleaner for about two months now. I live in a 1 bedroom apt (~600 sq ft). about half of our floors are loop berber and the other half are hardwood. The vacuum works well on both floor types. It has great suction power and is easy to use (i.e. haul around, turn, pull, push etc). It comes with a bare floor and a "self propelled" carpet brush attachment which work adequately. The vacuum is neatly designed. Futuristic looking almost, and the silver plastic and blue look very industrial and modern to me.

Details:
The top of the vacuum cleaner lifts to reveal the dust collection canister, and two small attachments for upholstery and for corners/hard to reach places. The small attachments are somewhat difficult to use since they are very small and do not cover a large enough area of the upholstery or furniture you are cleaning... this has not been a problem for me thus far since all the cloth covered surfaces in my house are washable. I estimate with practice you could meticulously vacuum a whole couch in about 20 minutes (???).

The filters are the only part of the vacuum cleaner that are both a blessing and a curse. They are HEPA filters which is great for allergy sufferers (like myself). There are three filters, which WILL get clogged relatively soon depending on your conditions. When we were doing some repairs in a wall collecting the drywall dust clogged the vacuum cleaner in one day, but this is not what it was designed for anyway. Tapping the filters can be annoying as small dust specs inevitably escape. Washing them is very easy. I reccomend buying an extra set of filters which you can wash and have ready while the others are in use... you can then just switch and replace. Nothing is more annoying than finding out your vacuum cleaner has no power when you have mustered teh will power to clean.

All in all a great buy at this price. From other products I have seen it should be pretty durable.

I was pretty excited about my Westinghouse vacuum especially since the previous reviewers compared it to the Dyson and this cost a lot less. I've been using for about a week, and I am very disappointed. I was somewhat pleased with its performance on carpet; it picked up lots of dust that my old Hoover left behind although the suction wasn't as powerful as I had expected. It did a good job of picking up hair/dust but left behind larger things like crumbs or tiny bits of paper. I had to run the vacuum over the same area over and over to pick up everything. It was HORRIBLE on bare floors, it couldn't even pick up a few crumbs and it missed all the dirt on the edges of my floor. The worst part is it left a long deep scratch on my hardwood floors. The hose feature is disappointing as well, because there's no suction! I tried using the hose to vacuum above the floor, and I kept thinking I was doing it wrong..it just didn't suck. Also another thing is the bulbs for the headlight (including the replacement bulb) burned out on the same day I received the vacuum. Needless to say I'm sending it back. I advise you to look elsewhere.

Got a great deal so ordered. I didn't realize that the trimming wand and the handle that you use to manuever the vaccuum were one and the same. Kind of grossed me out. Also, it doesn't slide back together easily once you try to use the trimming wand. The hose has to be completely stretched out to replace the cleaning pipe. I bought it for that feature (easy access for attatchments). It also is very heavy. And last but not least, the inside filter clogged about the third time I used it. This caused the suction to completely stop on the attatchments. It took me a while to figure out why it wouldn't pick up any more. I'll stick with my old vac.

This review refers to the Westinghouse WST1551 Wire Deluxe Vacuum....

I was truly in need of a new vacuum. My windtunnel seemed like it was just pushing everything around, leaving a line of dirt and dog hair wherever it finished.When this one popped up in my gold box I jumped on it. So even though I had just vacummed the day before, I tried this one out within minutes of it's arrival. I was stunned at the amount of dust, AND dog hair I immediately saw in the clear roomy collection bin..and that was just one room!

The vacuum , besides being very powerful, has several other nice features. The collection bin, removes easily,and is well sealed so no dirt comes out until you open and empty it into the trash.And no messy bags to buy anymore! The tool storage has a nice little compartment that closes, so they are on board but not falling off all the time. The tools attach to a wand which is released right from the upper handle. It pulls out with the hose already attached. Attachments include a dusting brush, a bare floor nozzle(you can adjust the vacuum for this), a crevice tool, and a universal cleaning tool that is nice for cleaning upholstered furniture.There are 4 carpet height adjustments, a 25ft power cord(which coils up nicely on the side), and extra hose extension making it easy to move up stairs or reach high places(especially for us short people), and a HEPA filter with instructions for cleaning it about every 3 months.And once you get used to how to release and attach all these items, it's a breeze.There are also 2 headlights(came with a spare as well), and it gets along the edges beautifully.Of course there is also a pedal to release it from an upright position to get underneath things(it didn't quite fit under everything though).

The vacuum is a litle on the heavy side though. I found this to be a little bit of a problem when I was using the extension hose. Because the hose and the upper handle are all one piece,when you use it, there is no handle to hold.Although the hose is quite long, I found it difficult to have the vacuum follow me around without having to pick it up and move it occasionally. It has a carry handle, but like I said, it is a bit heavy.

The instruction booklet is very detailed and clear for use and care. It includes some useful tips(like the best way to empty the bin if you have allergies).There's a question and answer section, an 800 number and an e-mail for questions, an accessory order form,warranties(1 year on the unit and 7 years on the HEPA filter). There is even an address to return if there is a problem(I noticed one person said, their's was not working well).

One review mentions that this vacuum needs to be charged. This is not cordless vacuum and there is no way to charge it that I know of.

I highly recommend this unit, if you are in the market for a new vacuum. After using it for several weeks now, I just feel better after seeing what it cleaned out of my carpets and upholstry!

Go For It... and really clean up.....Laurie

The suction on this vacuum is terrible! If you only need it for
very light cleaning its usable but thats about it.

This is just an awesome little vacuum. It's small, the bags are hard to find and the hose sometimes is extremely uncooperative but overall it's a great little vacuum. I live in an apartment with hardwood floors and it works great. If you are looking for just a low cost little vacuum this is the one. I can put up with only being able to get the bags on the Eureka website (they are really inexpensive) just so I don't have to try and empty out a container with cat fur and other funk into the garbage can.

This is probably the best general-purpose vacuum cleaner I've owned. I live in a large two-story house in the woods with several carpeted rooms and a lot of bare hardwood floor. The carpet needs occasional vacuuming with a heavy-duty upright, but the Mini-Mite takes care of everything else as well as quick once-over cleaning of the carpeted area; its floor tool is well designed to work on both types of surface. Previously I had a bagless Dirt Devil lightweight to use for quick cleaning, sucking up spiders and ladybugs, etc., but when you have pet hair to deal with you discover that the "labor-saving" bagless design is anything but--cleaning hair off the filter is a real chore. The Mini-Mite handles the pet hair fine, and is light enough so that the overhead jobs are easy. For large-area use you'll need an extension cord (yes, the manual says not to; use common sense and a good cord) or the optional extra hose. If you have high ceilings, invest in an extra plastic wand or two. This model doesn't come with a dusting tool or bare floor brush, but ones for larger Eurekas will fit, or you can order them from Eureka.

While the sweeper does do an excellent job of sweeping up everything on the kitchen floor, the next time you use it it dumps most of the debris back on the floor. I have tried emptying the containers, rolling and using the comb to clean the bottom. No luck. It still dumps dirt on the floor at the beginning of each use. You then have to sweep over the pile several times to get it picked up again. The handle also has come apart but that I can live with. The base of the unit is a large square and even though I have a large floor it would be more useful if it was smaller and more rectangular. If you have a small kitchen floor that is not an open rectangle for cleaning the size may be a problem. I should probably have sent it back since it is more work to clean with it. But I keep hoping I can figure out why it is dumping debris. If I could get it to stop doing it it would be useful.

I've had this sweeper for a few years now and have found this to be a usefull product for quick pick up after meals in the dining room(with a messy pre-schooler and toddler) and as a good quick brush up between vacuumings. While this doesn't replace a vacuum cleaner by any means, it does a decent job for it's purpose. The pockets in which mess is deposited are easy to flip to dump in the trash. This pickes up rice, cheerios, bits of paper, some dirt, cracker crumbs, ect prety well. Don't expect it to get anything *in* the carpet fibers.

However, it has not stood up well with use. The two roller brushes which pick up stuff fall out often now since the plastic sides of the sweeper have become warped. The rollers are held in by a simple tab in hole design, and this is rather flimsy. Because of this, I haven't been able to use it much since it developed this problem.

It still has it's use as a fun cleaning toy for my kids though. While I vacuum my 3yo son likes to use the sweeper to imitate me vacuuming. It's light enough that he can push it around with ease and practice saying "'scuse me peese" lol :-). So, for the investment which isn't too much, I got a usefull sweeper which held up for about a year, which could be graduated to a toy after it wore out.

THIS SWEEPER IS WONDERFUL.
I HAVE A VERY HAIRY DOG THAT SHEDS ALOT.IT'S WONDERFUL ON CARPET AND TILE. GREAT FOR THE MESSES DONE BY THE HUSBAND WHO INSISTS ON WHEARING HIS DIRTY OLD WORK BOOTS AND TRACK DIRT AND MUD ALL OVER THE HOUSE, AND EVEN GREAT FOR KIDS WHO LOVE EATING WHILE THEY'RE WALKING ALL AROUND THE HOUSE. BOTH MY KIDS 3 & 5 LOVE SEEING CRUMBS ON THE FLOOR, AND CLEANING THEIR OWN MESSES. I LOVE IT. GREAT CHRISTMAS PRESENTS.