It's a blog, so you know there's a story! I had been borrowing my mom's little quick steamer off and on for years. When we got a puppy in October of 2020 (yup we got a Covid shutdown pup), I found myself cleaning up a lot more messes. I actually burned up mom's little cleaner and I felt terrible. I knew I needed to get a better machine to replace it. Since mom didn't mind if the new cleaner lived her (she's next door), I went to work doing research. There are a LOT of carpet cleaning machines out there that claim to do a lot of things.
So, I saved up my Amazon rewards points and found the machine with the best ratings for pets in my price point. In August of 2021, the Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Max Clean Pet Pro Full-Size Carpet Cleaner was listed for $249.99 (it's since become more expensive like everything else). I wanted it because it came with attachments to clean smaller areas, my steps, the couch, etc. It came with a couple bottles of cleaning solution (which I found out later were super expensive).
I went to work and spent a couple of days cleaning everything. Although it was an expensive new tool, I knew it would pay for itself in just a few uses. The last time I called on having the couch professionally cleaned, I was quoted $200 just for the couch! I was pretty happy with the results after the first go round, but the bottles of cleaning solution were getting ridiculous. One bottle of pet cleaning solution was about $22 and I only got enough liquid to supply 3 tanks per bottle. My living room alone was taking me 3-4 tanks! Yikes!
I needed to find a better solution (pun intended). During an online Norwex party, I saw a demo where a little scoop of the powdered laundry detergent was used in cleaning jobs around the house. They used it in their steam cleaner! I've been using the Norwex powder ever since and both my mom and I feel like it cleans much better than the Bissell brand cleaning solution. When you compare the price, it's a no brainer. A bag of Norwex laundry detergent with about 60 scoops is $30. Considering I use about a quarter scoop per cleaning tank, that's only $0.13 per tank. The brand name solution was about $7 per tank.
Cleaning up pet messes has kept this machine busy. We have tackled just about anything you can think of that comes out of a dog. It took care of some INK (when the dog ate an ink pen), muddy paws and general dirt and grime around the house. We also used it to clean carpets at our rental house and it got out stains that had been there for years.
If you get this machine, you'll be amazed at the color of the waste water tank after each use. I'm pretty sure my family is tired of me yelling, "Just LOOK at this nasty water! Can you believe this?!" We may have a dog, but we don't wear shoes in the house and it's still dirty.
Some tips if you do purchase this machine:
- Don't overdo it on the cleaning solution/soap. Too many bubbles can clog the machine
- Pick the right setting for the job. The quick clean takes 30 minutes to dry, the heavy duty may take all day to dry
- Use hot water to start with in the tank
- Go slowly when you're sucking up water. If you don't get the water out of the carpet, the dirt stays with it!
- Rinse the waste water tank after every use-it does get pretty nasty
- Pre-treat areas with the spot shot tool
- If you use the hose and attachments, use the basic tool. We didn't find the pet cleaning tool to be helpful at all, but the basic one did the job well.
- Take the front housing apart and clean it after every use. This is super easy to snap off and back on. I removed tons of hair from the cover and brushes (even though I did vacuum before steam cleaning)
thank you for this info! Do you use this cleaner on your hard surfaces as well, or just carpets/upholstery?
ReplyDeleteI do not use the cleaner on my hard surfaces. I used to use a steam mop for my wood and tile floors, but now I use just water and my Norwex mop. If I have a tough spot, I would use a diluted spray bottle with the detergent in it, for sure! Thanks for the comment!
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