Bissell SpotClean Pro

For the majority, a full-on carpet cleaner wouldn’t be a worthwhile buy, but a spot cleaner for clearing the occasional bit of mess could prove useful. The Bissell SpotClean Pro is one of the most powerful such units I’ve tested, easily sucking up even the toughest of stains.

Coming with large detergent and water tanks, it will allows you to clean decent-sized areas without having to constantly stop to refill. However, in operation the Bissell SpotClean Pro is loud, and the detergent tank lacks any clear markers. These small issues aside, this is a powerful spot cleaner that can cope with any mess, often without the need for additional stain remover.

Bissell SpotClean Pro design and features – Small enough to store easily, but it could be easier to fill

As with most spot cleaners, the Bissell SpotClean Pro looks much like a cylinder vacuum cleaner where someone has removed the wheels. It’s quite a lump (356 x 360 x 250mm, 5.9kg), although once you’ve carried the cleaner where you need it, you shouldn’t have to move it around much, as the 1.5m hose will let you reach into the areas you need to clean.

A 6.5m power cable also makes it easy to cover a decent area without having to stop and replug the cleaner in a different socket.

The hose wraps around one side of the cleaner and clips into place, while the power cord has its own tidy, so it’s pretty easy to make the SpotClean Pro neat for storage. In fact, it’s one of the neatest spot cleaners that I’ve reviewed, with the hose staying clipped out of the way.

Bissell provides two brushes in the box: one large, one small. You don’t get any other cleaning heads, such as a squeegee for dealing with hard floors. It’s a shame that there’s no storage on board for these tools, either.

There are two large lift-out water tanks. The first is a 2.9-litre detergent tank, which takes a mixture of water and detergent. A starter bottle is provided in the box to get you through the first few cleans.

The manual states that there are two fill lines on the detergent tank: one for water and the second for detergent. Sadly, there’s only one mark on the actual tank, which makes it more difficult to work out how much water and cleaning fluid to add. In the end, I added water to the bottom of the text and topped up with cleaning fluid. If you wanted to do it more neatly, then the bottle says it takes 2 ounces of formula, which is 60ml of cleaning fluid if you want to use proper measurements.

Once done, the detergent tank drops into the main slot. The second 3.5-litre tank at the rear is for dirty water. It’s nice to have such a big tank, as it means you can deal with wet stains, as well as dry ones, without constantly having to empty it.

There’s a mark on the tank, which tells you when it’s full. Pay attention to this carefully. Although there’s a float inside the tank, which is designed to rise and block the input when the tank is full, I found that it didn’t work that well, and water started to leak out of the side at one point. For safety, then, keep an eye on the fill line and empty it when water reaches this level.

It’s easy to pull out the tank, slipping the handle over the back to remove the lid and pour out the dirty water. Just give this tank a wash when you’re done to keep it clean, and clean out the internal filter, too.

Using the SpotClean Pro couldn’t be easier. Just press the power button to turn it on (there’s only one mode), then squeeze the handle on the trigger to spray detergent on any marks and stains. You then just rub your chosen brush over the affected area and dirt and water will be sucked up and away.

Bissell SpotClean Pro Performance – It’s loud, but it cleans quickly

I started by measuring the SpotClean Pro’s suction power and airflow, calculating that this model has a figure of 96.35AW – that’s more powerful than most cordless vacuum cleaners.

To test out the SpotClean Pro’s performance, I took a carpet sample and put two stains on it: dried mud and dried ketchup. Starting out with the mud stain, I sprayed the area with detergent and left it to settle for a few seconds. Slowly working the large brush over the area, I could see dirty water being lifted up.

It took less than a minute to remove most of the stain, with a second treatment lifting up what was left, leaving perfectly clean carpet that didn’t feel too wet. The powerful suction at work clearly helps remove dirt from the carpet.

Moving on to the ketchup stain, it was a similar story. One treatment was enough to pull out most of the dirt, requiring very little agitation. A second treatment was enough to finish the job and leave the carpet feeling relatively dry.

Impressively, I didn’t have to turn to any stain pre-treatment sprays; the power of the spot cleaner alone was enough to clean both stains.

Should you buy the Bissell SpotClean Pro?

The main competition at this price is the Vax ONEPWR Cordless Go, which is a battery-powered model. Vax’s spot cleaner is a little lighter and easier to store, plus it comes with a squeegee so that you can tackle spills on hard floors. It isn’t as powerful as the Bissell, requiring more grunt work and agitation to clean up any mess. It’s still a good choice, particularly if you have other ONEPWR products.

Then there’s the Vax SpotWash Home Duo, which isn’t quite as neat as the Bissell SpotClean Pro or quite as powerful, but it comes with two sets of brushes (one for ‘clean’ spills and one for ‘dirty’ messes, such as from pets), making it a good choice if you’ve got pets and regular have icky messes to deal with.

What you get with the Bissell SpotClean Pro is excellent power, top performance and the ability to tackle larger areas. If you have a few rugs to look after and, perhaps, carpeted stairs and upholstery that frequently gets soiled, you’ll appreciate the fast performance and excellent cleaning the SpotClean Pro offers. To cover entire rooms, you’ll likely need to invest in a full carpet cleaner – but for cleaning fairly large areas the SpotClean Pro does an excellent job.