Bissell SpotClean Pro

Update: The unit lasted about a year before the plastic tube ripped in half.  The replacement hose attachment cost almost as much as a new unit, so it went into the trash.  Based on its "life span" we've revised the review down to three paws.

When you have pets, you have accidents in the house.  Happens with kids and adults too, so having a handy, portable steam cleaner is probably a must in all homes, and a necessity in pet homes.

We've reviewed the Little Green Steam Machine, and will be reviewing the SpotBot soon.

This review is for the Bissell SpotClean Pro and compare it to the Little Green Steam Machine.

I just wanted to throw in that we seem to be reviewing a lot of Bissell products and no, we aren't receiving kickbacks (although if they want to throw in some free liquid, hey, we're all about that), it's just that the other companies really don't have spot cleaners, and if they do, they are REALLY expensive.

Now that we've covered that, while my husband likes the convenience of the SpotBot (set it and walk away while it does its thing) I prefer having more control over cleaning up an accident.

Who hasn't had a dog pee and walk?  Or firehose diarrhea with a mad dash through the house.  No, it's not something you'd admit to at a party or anything, but I can see you nodding your head.

Cleaning that up with a SpotBot would take FOREVER.

So I was all about to buy a Little Green Steam Machine (had one years ago until it finally gave up the ghost, that's when we bought the spot bot), when I happened upon the SpotClean Pro.

Ok, I'm interrupting again because I can hear all of you say "but.... but... the SpotBot has a hose and spray attachment thing so you can use it like the LGSM or SCP".  Yes, but it's a pain in the butt and I don't think it works well at all.  The suction isn't as good, you get the funk on your hands while you're putting the hose away too.  Now stop interrupting me!

The SCP claims to be a "pro" version.  Ok, that sounds impressive.  When I hear "pro" I'm thinking this thing would suck a gopher out of its hole.  Ya know what?  I'm pretty sure it could (but don't do this at home, the gophers aren't amused).

The tanks are absolutely HUGE compared to the LGSM and the best part... they sit flat!  This is a huge deal when you are filling them.  The LGSM tanks you have to hold to fill.  Yes, yes, first world problems, but I can just imagine you getting all angry as you stand there and fill the tanks, then your hands get a bit of the cleaner on them and get slippery, then you try to screw the tank cap on them... don't curse, I warned you.

Another bonus is that the dump tank where all of the ick goes into, the lid opens up and there's a large mouth to dump the ick out and actually get in there and clean it out if you need to.  With the LGSM there's only a small hole in the opening, so easy to dump out, but if you need to clean it, that means shoving a bottle brush or something in there and trying to swish it around... oh, and did I mention that you'll have to hold it to do that?  Yep, because the bottom isn't flat... but the SCP has a flat bottom.  Easy clean up without holding it.  You can even shove your whole arm in there (if you have reasonably sized arms).

Does it suck?  Heck yeah it sucks!  It is loud, but no louder than the LGSM but it sucks up a lot more gunk.  I noticed that it has a small tube inside the hose.  the LGSM I had back in the day didn't have that little tube in it, so all of the gunk was sucked into the hose... and tended to drip back down when you turned it off.  Don't know if they fixed that or not, but that seems to make the unit less stinky and have more suction power.

One thing I don't like is that the air vent seems to pick up the stench of the drain container.  If you don't clean that out once in a while, you'll get a lovely aroma of funk filling your house.  You can stop that from happening by just spraying the cleaner liquid on the spot and then sucking it up, or by keeping your drain container pristine clean. UPDATE: The fool proof way to keep the funk from blowing out is to dump it, rinse it, then spray some Febreze in the tank and put the lid on.

The hose is pretty long, the power cord is very long.  It comes with two types of wands (there isn't a storage spot on the SCP to store the one not in use, which is aways an issue in my house because I put them someplace and can never find them).

This unit takes the liquid for the large steam cleaners, and it only takes a little bit of that fluid.

So, you can add a lot of cleaner for multiple jobs without having to fill it up all the time.  The tanks have flat bottoms, making it easy to clean, fill, dump.  The hose is long, the cord is long, it's pretty lightweight.

The SCP is about $40 more than a LGSM, but honestly, it is worth it.  Just the flat bottom large tanks alone make it worth spending more, and the extra suction and the fact that you seem to spend less time dealing with filling, dumping, and using it.

I give the Bissell SpotClean Pro 3 paws up based on its life span of a year.