Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat for cleaning pet hair from carpet
Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 2021
Other reviews have mentioned, this vacuum does not work well for cleaning pet hair off hard surfaces, and I can see where that can be the case, as the device is smallish and blows air out the sides, which could create havoc on hardwood stairs and similar surfaces.
However, I bought it specifically to clean a lot of hair from 2 cats off of the carpeted stairs in our 3-story townhome. For that, the vacuum works great. There was a lot of cat hair on the steps that my regular vac was too bulky to get, and even the accessories for my full-sized vac did a poor job of getting to most of the hair.
The pinkish nose on the Bissell vac, though, appears designed for just this job. Start at the 90 degree vertex angle of each step and slowly pull the vac toward you. Repeat until you've covered the width of the step, and then go back to the 90 degree vertex and move up to get the vertical side of the stair. It took me a while (which depends on the number of stairs and the amount of hair), but wow this thing pulled out a LOT of hair. Very impressive for its price range. It being corded was actually a good thing because no handheld vac would be able to have as much suction as this one and last as long as needed to clean the stairs.
If you're not using it for stairs, there's another nozzle for furniture. I haven't tried that one yet. HOWEVER, I should note that the circular spring button that holds the nozzle in place is very easy to dislodge. When I was using the vac on my second step and pulling it up the vertical side of the step, the button popped off and the nozzle fell off. For a minute I thought the darn thing had broken, but I was able to snap it back in place. This did, though, happen a half dozen more times, which was frustrating. I found the key to help prevent this is to move slowly and don't press against the step too hard when moving up against the vertical faces (pulling back against the horizontal faces doesn't have this issue).
But for that one caveat, this vac is perfect for its designed purpose- getting pet hair off carpet, especially for the low price. It also works well for carpet not on stairs, but it would take forever to vacuum a carpeted room floor; just use a standing vac for that. It works pretty well at getting cat hair off our carpeted cat towers as well.
One more thing- make sure you PULL the vac slowly back toward you. Pulling is how it's designed to snag and suck up the pet hair. I watched a youtube video of a clueless guy reviewing this product who was desperately trying to PUSH the vac against his carpet for several minutes to little success and then declaring it was too strenuous to operate. I immediately thought of those people who keep pushing at a door to no effect when the sign on the door says pull. PULL, don't push.
Overall, 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5.
