Bissell 3576 Bagless Upright Vacuum

Running a family daycare in my home can reek havoc on my carpets. Small children spill and make messes and that is just a fact of life.

I'm fortunate to have some wonderful daycare parents that have given me some very generous gifts. Last year for Christmas Sammi and Jake's mom gave me a new vacuum cleaner. I was so surprised and loved the idea of using a bagless vacuum. Kay bought me the Bissell CleanView II, Bagless Vacuum.


The Vacuum

This vacuum is mostly black and stands about 47 inches tall from floor to tip of the handle. It has three handle positions, upright, normal cleaning and low cleaning so that you can get under things easily with it.

As I said, I really liked the idea of bagless vacuum and I also love that the stretch hose is attached to the vacuum and includes an extension wand for those times when I want to use the crevice tool or the combination dusting brush/upholstery tool.

Everything attaches to this vacuum so it is handy when I want to change from regular upright vacuuming to spot cleaning either the edges of the floor, cobwebs from the ceiling or blinds and furniture. Using the 4 ? foot reach hose is simple by just holding on to the Quick Reach Handle and pulling the hose up from the Hose Wand Base. You can attach the extension wand and any tool that you may want to use.

There is a small TurboBrush that attaches to the front of the cleaner and is helpful in cleaning stairs, although the users manual warns that you have to be careful not too push down on it too hard. Because it doesn't have a swivel connection I haven't really used this additional cleaning tool very often.

There is a 12 amp motor, and yes, I have no idea what that means. I'm guessing the higher the amps the more suction power a vacuum has. This one works well and cleans my floors, so that is all I really need to know. There is a 14.75 inch wide cleaning path, which I like. This vacuum is neither too narrow nor too wide. There are also 7 height adjustments, starting at Bare Floor up to High Carpet.

The attached plug and power cord on this vacuum is about 30 feet, which keeps me from having to unplug it and replug it in very often. In fact in my small home I only have to unplug it once and can reach all of the rooms in my home.


My Feelings

I hate having to clean, cleaning tools. It just seems wrong to use something to clean with and then have to clean that as well. While bagless sounded good, I think I would prefer to just take a bag off and replace it. With this vacuum you empty the Dirt Container Cup whenever it reaches the full line. It unlocks easily and is easy to just dump into the trash but then you need to check and clean the Filter Cup that is located at the bottom of the Dirt Container. Occasionally you also need to reach up and remove the Pre-Motor filter and clean it as well. By the time I've just wiped them down with a damp paper towel, my hands are covered in dirt. It is also recommended that occasionally you wash all of these parts in warm soapy water. I don't know, I just think unzipping the outer bag, removing a paper bag and replacing it is much easier.

The suction on this vacuum is good, so long as all of the filters and cups are empty, but they fill up quickly so I try to empty them after each use. It has been great at picking up Play-doh, peas, bread and all of the things my daycare children seem to drop on the floor. I do like that it has the low cleaning position as well, so that I can easily clean under the children's table and not have to move it out of the way.

The headlamp on this vacuum is very strong and I do appreciate that. Being able to really see the carpet that I'm cleaning helps me in being sure that I've covered the entire area.

I especially like that while this vacuum is a bit heavy, it has a handy carrying handle cutout on the base of it that makes it easy to transport up and down the stairs or over raised door thresholds. It also has rear wheels that makes it easy to just tilt and roll on the floor when moving it on flat surfaces from one area to another.

I love that the hose is attached, my other vacuum you have to attach the cleaning hose when you want to use it. The only problem is that the hose is rather short with only a 4.5 foot reach and there is only one extension wand that is only 11 inches long. I would love for there to be a bit more of a reach when using this option or at least another extension wand.

Would I recommend this vacuum? Well, that depends. If you are in need of an inexpensive vacuum, that does a pretty good job then I would say yes. But if you hate short hoses and dirt flying everywhere when you try to empty the cup and having to wash vacuum filters then I'd say no. I am however, very grateful to have received it as a gift from a wonderful lady.


Nuts & Bolts

Bissell CleanView II, Bagless Upright Vacuum has many features including:

*Bagless
*Wire reinforced Stretch Hose
*Extension Wand
*Crevice Tool
*Dusting brush / Upholstery tool
*Furniture Guard
*Carrying handle on vacuum
*Quick release cord wrap
*Height adjustment
*TurboBrush
*Headlight
*Long cord

While this vacuum was a gift, I have seen it at Wal*Mart on sale for right around $60.00. Not a bad price for a vacuum.