Little Bissell owners chime in please

[Preachers Sheets]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2313964296&category=20611#BID1



50.00 and free shipping.



I hope it can handle the minor jobs I have, 90% of the cars I get have nice interiors already, it`s just the darn mats that are wicked dirty. I`ll just tell the customer there is only so much I can do with the mats. The carpets seems to be clean already, maybe some dirt here and there but the machine has hot water and it`s 12 amps so it can`t be THAT weak........ at least I hope not :(



How about a little comfort from you Little Bissell users.

[imported_RIC]

If you are buying it for occasional use on your own vehicle it is ok. It is a weak machine.



If you plan on using it on several customers cars I would not consider buying thhis machine.



I have used it on my own vehicle and it never completely removed the suds areas even after spraying them with clean water.

[imported_Solution Finish]

Totally agree with RIC, I`ve given up on it and let my wife take it over to clean dog vomit.:) And it doesn`t even do a good job at that.

[C. Charles Hahn]

for THAT particular unit, its not worth it. I have a little green which also has the turbobrush and proheat features (built in heater and powered brush thing) which I actually picked up for $40 locally. It does do a wonderful job at removing all the suds and such from the carpet.



Only thing is I don`t care for their included solution, I just use my own mixture with APC+ and distilled water, along with a little tide and oxiclean (always make sure all the granules are dissolved before using the machine!)



when the weather gets nicer I`ll do a how-to on my wife`s car interior (what a friggin mess!) to post here.

[Accumulator]

joed1228- Not sure I can offer you any comfort..I`ve tried two (different generations) of the Little Green Machine and numerous other small extractors. The little, homeowner-level extractors just don`t work that well. Bigger machines work a lot better. The last Little Green I had looked JUST like the one you linked to and it DID NOT have heated water/solution. Its pump-style sprayer didn`t work well and its suction was weak. I gave ours to a friend to use on pet messes.



Keep in mind that these extractors are BASICALLY just wet/dry vacs with solution sprayers, heaters, "turbo brushes" (which never worked well for me) added on.



You might consider just getting a good wet/dry vac. It would have a lot of uses and if you REALLY want the solution sprayer (the trigger-pump-style ones aren`t very good, you want it to SPRAY under power) and the triangular "carpet nozzle", you can get "carpet extractor" kits to fit most models (or simply adapt Bissel parts, these things are all very similar). The (generally) more powerful motors can offer better suction.



Oh, BTW, consider a carpet brush attachment for your PC/random orbital. It can be a big help with filthy floormats.

[imported_Smoker]

I use the new Little Green all the time.



Its perfect for getting out all the tough stain spots on auto interiors.



Cant speak for the model you posted, mines the one with the heater etc.



I too use my own cleaning solution however.



I guess if your dealing with really nasty interiors all the time youll want something a little bigger, but the $1500 hot water extractors being bandied around are for professional domestic carpet cleaning and WAYYYY over the top for auto use.

[shaf]

Originally posted by Shiny Lil Detlr

for THAT particular unit, its not worth it. I have a little green which also has the turbobrush and proheat features (built in heater and powered brush thing) which I actually picked up for $40 locally. I agree. The Bissell Little Green comes in 3 flavours: Plain Jane (like the one you`re looking at), Proheat (heats the water), and Proheat Turbobrush (heats water and has a vacuum-powered rotating scrubber brush). I got the latter model because I figure I could use it around the home too.



From what I read about from the Search (it helps to misspell "Bissell" :p ) it seems to be good for casual detailers like me, but definitely not enough for pro detailers.



btw SLD, I still haven`t had the chance to use mine! :(

[thevolvoguy]

I have the Proheat model and it seems to work well on soiled mats and carpet. I did the interior of a `94 Lexus which had a 32oz jug of cofee spilled all over the backseat about 2 months prior to my detailing. The Bissell worked exceptionaly well and took out every trace of the stains and even the horrible smell.



I would not rely on it for anything more than floor mats, and carpet. Its not powerful enough to suck the water out of cloth seats (found this out the hard way). It also wouldnt touch wine stains in my living room burber white carpet.



But, all in all you made a good purchase. :xyxthumbs

[aljo]

Its a neat little machine. I purchased the very first model when it came out and it did the trick. The carpet came out rather nice. However I have some complaints:



1) Clean up is a hassle

2) Suction is not strong enough



Other than that, the machine is great. Just expect to dry your carpet (in the car) over night, or for two days if you want to be safe.



For those without the built in heater. What I do is boil some water with the kettle and directly pour that into the green machine with the soap. This way I am cleaning with hot water.

[Preachers Sheets]

Wow, what a lot of post`s, thanks guys!



For example, the seats of one of the worse cars is tan, with a little dirt it`s a darker tan, seems like the machine I bought is good enough for that type of job but nothing worse.



CMA has a wicked wicked nice one, looks like it can take the black out of black carpet. I just don`t want to front 600.00 and have a small customer base that needs their carpet cleaned.



For now I`ll need to make due with the Bissell but hopefully I can justify a reason for the CMA cleaner, that thing is so nice, I like having monster detailing machines.

[Ed Hartman]

I have my own carpet cleaning business and clean lots of carpet. To be blunt, I wouldn`t waste my time with a Bissell cleaner. To me, if you are going to offer interior carpet or upholstery cleaning for people, you need to have the right equipment. People can get these lil steamers from Wal-Mart, you`re supposed to be the proffessional here. Again, do you want to build cheerleaders for you`re business or do you want to be ho hum. Will people tell there friends how good you are after they see there carpet interior? Thats the goal. They will not in my humble opinion if you use a Bissell. If you are going to effectively clean carpet, you need atleast 100 psi to do it correctly. Again, if you are going to offer this service, pay the money to get the right equipment or your business will suffer long term. Most of the lil extrtactors I have seen on car detailing websites only offer 55 psi, which is not enough. Plus, the vacuum motors are good for about 2 years and then they go. Trust me. Here are some web sites for good carpet extractors. www.crossamerican.com, click on "Mitey One". I use this lil extractor for small stains and such and will work great on interior carpet and upholstery. Also www.jondon.com and www.cleaningequipment.com. Need any tips on how to properly clean interior carpet and upholstery. Email me.

[Preachers Sheets]

I hear what your saying, you do make perfect sense but it seems like a nice extractor is going to cost me at least 600.00



Right now I am only detailing cars on the side, it`s not a 40+ hours a week job, just weekends and very very very few people want me to detail their interior, nevermind shampoo the interior. I don`t know if I would use the machine once every three months.



If someone was to give me 600.00 I would buy one but I can`t justify it right now for that "once in a while" carpet detail.

[Preachers Sheets]

Ed Hartman -



What do you think about this machine, the links you sent me are for some serious carpet cleaning, the machines would need a van to get them around. I`m only detailing car rugs.



http://www.properautocare.com/porho````ex.html



The small extractor you were talking about is too large for me and it cost 814.00. If you want the 100 p.s.i. upgrade it cost an extra 100.00 not to mention if I have to buy the smaller handle.

[Ed Hartman]

#1 The unit is way overpriced. You could find a unit similar to this atleast $100.00 cheaper if not more. One site that comes to mind is www.powrflite.com model PS25..$429.00



#2 Depends on how much carpet you clean. If its once a week or so, it would probobly work.



#3 Any time you clean carpet, you need a good pre-spray to loosen the soil for extraction. www.jondon.com has the proffessional grade cleaning agents that carpet cleaners use. These are often called "traffic lane cleaners". Prochem, Chemspec, Matrix all have good ones at the above site.



Here is steps to take to get carpet as clean as possible.



#1 Vacuum the carpet. Dry soil removal is critical.

#2 Apply a good pre-spray to the carpet. Let dwell 10-15 minuts

#3 Agitate the prespray into the carpet with a brush

#4 Extract with the hottest water you can get. Hot water only.

[Preachers Sheets]

The PS25 model looks awesome! All I need is the small hand held device to detail cars and I would be all set.



How much do you charge for a complete interior detail?