Bissell 1867 Steam MOP Stick Vacuum

We have a rather large kitchen and hallway with about 300 square feet of light beige textured vinyl flooring. We chose the vinyl for several reasons: cost vs. ceramic tile; the lighter color to brighten up the room; and the color and texture to hide everyday dirt tracked into the house. By the way, a great tiebreaker when selecting a flooring color is to sweep up the existing floor, put the sweepings into a plastic bag, and sprinkle said debris over the candidates. It's likely one of your finalists will hide the dirt better than the others. (Even if it doesn't help you to decide, it's worth it to see the salesperson's reaction when you pour dirt and whatnot over those nice pristine sample books. . . .) Of course, this strategy only works to a certain point, because as we all know, there are two kinds of dirt: light-colored dirt, that is attracted to dark objects; and dark-colored dirt, that is attracted to light objects. That means sooner or later, the floor must be cleaned, and even the most faithful frequent cleaning can only delay the need for a thorough deep cleaning to get every last bit of dirt up. We've tried the quick brooms with spray and disposable paper cleaning heads. We've tried the combination brush/vacuum with cleaning solution that sucks up all of the spent cleaner and leaves the floor dry and generally cleaner, judging from the looks of the dirty water. Neither, however, compare to the ease of use and performance of this Bissell. I know a hands-and-knees scrubbing will eventually be required, but it will be a long time coming.

Our beige floor is a good testbed for solid surface floor cleaners. In addition to the color, our kitchen, like most, is the most used room in our home. We make traffic from the basement, from a garage housing our cars in upstate New York winters, and all of the mess that comes from cooking, cleaning, and eating. Then there's our 11 year old yellow Lab, who eats and begs there. Since he's gone on cortisone, he's more ravenous than ever, so drool, spilled dog food, and gob are a large part of the mix. It is a stern test for any floor cleaner.

The Bissell is undefeated by any of this except for one small bit of tar that I had to remove by hand with citrus cleaner. The Bissell is simplicity. Fill the tank with water, attach the cloth head with the drawstring, plug it in, and go. It is quick, easy, and green. No detergents and such to worry about - just good old steam. The dirt and residues come up quickly and completely.

Here's how I rate the approaches we've used. The stick cleaner with the spray solution and replaceable nonwoven head gets a 9 (of 10) for speed - I can finish the floor to a decent clean in 10 minutes; a 6 for ease of use - there's a fair amount of elbow grease required; and a 6 for cleanliness - it's pretty good, but it's obvious it's been a quick clean. The brush/vac combo gets a 5 for speed - it's a 45 minute job, nearly as long as a scrub brush and bucket; a 4 for ease of use - it requires a lot of repeat passes over stubborn dirt, the dirty tank fills up quickly, and a clean refill and dirty drain are mandatory each time; and even then, the cleanliness is an 8 - most of the dirt is up (it's in the tank, but many, many deposits and buildups (read: dog drool) resist the entreaties of the brush. The Bissell gets an 8 for speed (15 minutes for the dirtiest floor we've had in many years, and 15 minutes for a relatively clean floor); a 9 for ease of use - I don't have to refill the tank, I don't have to apply extra pressure on stubborn spots, and it's really, really quick; and a 9.5 for cleanliness (I could give it a 10 if I weren't such a perfectionist) - the cloth head seems to catch all of the dirt, and there's no post-cleaning tell-tale "I didn't remove the dirt , I just redistributed it more evenly" film.

I agree with other reviewers about the steam trigger. It does get a little tiring to hold it down constantly. I suggest Bissell either redesign the trigger to make it a push-button action (push to activate; push again to release) or put the handle at a different angle so as to make holding the button less tiring.

And as for the latte comment - I couldn't find anything else bad here, and I looked.