Bissell Little Green HydroSteam Pet Portable Carpet Cleaner review

We've known about the power of steam, even before the Bissell Little Green HydroSteam Pet Portable Carpet Cleaner was invented.  Water alone can lift stains, disinfect, and refresh a multitude of surfaces. 

Combine this with all the magic that a carpet cleaner has to offer, and you have some pretty potent stain removal on your hands. Living in a household where carpets, floors, walls, and shoes, are subjected to mud, cat muck, and spilled drinks, I welcomed the chance to try and review Bissell's SpotClean HydroSteam.

Putting it through its paces, I tried this upholstery cleaner around my home to see how it fared against coffee stains, dull surfaces, and tough mud from post-winter walking trainers. Was I impressed? Let's see.

Bissell Little Green Hydrosteam Pet Portable Carpet Cleaner review

What I thought of the Bissell Little Green Hydrosteam Pet Portable Carpet Cleaner

I thought this device was pretty neat. I loved the steam function, and it was very quick at lifting coffee stains and refreshing tired carpet, which can make all the difference to a room. 

Compared to the Bissel SpotClean pro carpet cleaner we reviewed I have, there was a stark difference in how quick it was to tackle marks. Although it didn't perform incredibly well on upholstery for our home personally, I think it is a pretty reliable carpet cleaner to keep around a house where spills happen often. The three tools I received seemed like enough to cover most jobs, including my favorite, restoring my very muddy sneakers to their former clean selves in a matter of minutes. 

Testing the Bissell Little Green Hydrosteam Pet Portable Carpet Cleaner

Camille Dubuis-Welch

Camille is the former deputy editor of Real Homes where she covered a broad range of topics, including house tours, small space design, and gardens. She studied English language and Italian at the University of Manchester and during a year abroad studying linguistics and history of art in Bologna, Italy she started documenting her adventures and observations in a blog. Post-university Camille got more hands-on experience writing for websites, regional magazines, and PR companies, typically covering fashion, beauty, healthcare, and local events. Some years later, she launched into SEO and copywriting before focusing on more journalistic content.

Bissell Little Green Hydrosteam Pet Portable Carpet Cleaner specifications

• Weight: 5.9kg
• Noise level: 73dB
• Wattage: 1000W 
• Capacity: 1.9L (clean water tank) 1.5; (dirty water tank)
• Cord length: 1.5m
• Warranty: 3 years
• Includes: Machine, 3" tool, 5" tool, multi-surface tool, Bissell Spot and Stain Pro Oxy solution, and wheels. 

Unboxing and setting up the Bissell Little Green Hydrosteam Pet Portable Carpet Cleaner

The box is pretty compact, with some basic instructions on the side, alongside inspirational photos of the appliance in use as you can see. At this stage, I was raring to go and looking for stains, everywhere.

On opening, you find a manual on top which is clearly illustrated and really simple to follow. Though the tools were individually wrapped in plastic, this didn't seem excessive. In the box you get the machine, a variety of tools, I was given the Bissell Spot and Stain Pro Oxy solution (available to buy separately from Amazon), and the wheels. Note that Bissell highlights in the manual that this can change depending on the model. I got the 3" tool "for smaller stains and difficult areas to reach, a 5" tool ideal for upholstery, carpet, car floors, and stains that cover more surface area, and the multi-surface tool to use on areas like wall tile and, my favorite, sneakers...

Using the Bissell Little Green Hydrosteam Pet Portable Carpet Cleaner

You first need to turn the machine on its slide and pop the wheels on, it is clear which way they go in, no screwing them in or anything too fumbly is required here.

Next, you remove the clean water tank, and fill it to the very clearly indicated markers of your choice. I only needed to cover small areas individually, but to get around the house and try a variety of surfaces, I chose the large area option. You simply add water to the water droplet stencil, then top it up with solution until you reach the filled-in droplet.

Cleaning and refreshing the carpet

For this, as I had cleaned many of the deep-set stains in a recent review of the Shark StainStriker, I did 'spill' coffee from a French press coffee maker onto the carpet, hopeful that the Bissell SpotClean HydroSteam would work as it said. 

There are three modes on the machine: SteamWash Max Clean Mode (the big guns), Steam Mode (for a polite and robust refresh), and Wash Mode (for a traditional rinse). Bissell recommends the tools and cleaning settings to use with different stains and surfaces — I found this very useful. From this, I decided that I wanted to use the pure 'Steam Mode' first, with the recommended 5" tool, to see whether that would be strong enough. 

You need to let the machine warm up for about 30 seconds if you want to use the steam function, so I turned the nozzle to the clearly indicated 'Steam Mode.' The machine was a little loud, but expected. When the light came on to indicate the machine was ready, I gently pulled the trigger with the head over an empty bowl at first in case an excess of water came out (as they warn it might on the first instance). It didn't on this first occasion and the steam came through quite quickly, I blasted the area at a slight distance, then using small motions, scrubbed the stain with the bristles. 

It had already lifted the stain almost entirely, even still, I turned it to the 'SteamWash Max Clean Mode' just to give it some welly. 

It was pretty effortless.

To try the wash mode, I chose an area of tired and slightly grubby-looking carpet, I used wash mode with the 5" tool again, before finishing it off with Steam Mode and I could see that it looked fresher. You want to make sure you go over the space with the suction mode here to suck up as much moisture (and dirt) as you can.

Cleaning very muddy sneakers

With no children in the house, you can still rely on yours truly to bring a little mud in, and I can't say that I clean my sneakers all that often. Though the Bissell SpotClean HydroSteam would genuinely tempt me to de-grub my footwear after every muddy run. It was so quick, simple, and effective. 

You use the multi-surface tool and I put it into Steam Mode first, which did a pretty good job. I also didn't want to get them too wet although I did go in a little with the full ham SteamWash Max Clean Mode.

Parents and fellow wannabe trail runners rejoice, this worked a treat, and it meant that I didn't risk washing my sneakers in the washing machine (nor wait for them to dry).

Cleaning wall and floor tile

To clean tile grout, lift watermarks, and general grub I found the Bissell SpotClean HydroSteam worked nicely to clean our bathroom floor and wall tiles. You use it in Steam mode, which still does get a little splashy, but I suppose this is somewhat expected. And it was more important to get the space clean which I felt it did adequately. For really stuck on dirt I would perhaps have gone over it again the following day.

Cleaning and maintaining the Bissell Little Green Hydrosteam Pet Portable Carpet Cleaner

As you clean, you want to make sure that the dirty water tank doesn't reach full capacity and make sure you empty it after each use. Yes, this does mean cleaning your cleaning supplies, which is always hard to get one's head around.

This is easy to do by unlocking it, flipping up the lid, and taking it to a disposal area. It can go down the sink. I gave it a rinse which Bissell recommends before putting it back in place.

Next, you want to clear out the main crevice tool. To do this, attach the HydroRinse Self-Cleaning Hose tool until it clicks. Then switch the machine to SteamWash Max Clean Mode and hold the trigger down for 30 seconds, with the hose in an upright position. 

You will see water swishing around and it should remove any stuck debris in there. I did this over the sink. I then emptied the dirty water tank and rinsed it again.

Then just leave the tools out to air dry, unplug the machine, and wrap the cord around, clipping the nozzle back in on the side which makes it nice and compact as you can see.

Is the Bissell Little Green Hydrosteam Pet Portable Carpet Cleaner right for you?

I think this makes a handy little cleaning addition to every household, especially one with kids, pets, or just slightly clumsy, coffee-drinking humans. I thought it excelled at cleaning dirty shoes and everyday stains like coffee, but it didn't do so well on old stains we had on upholstery. The lesson here is to tackle stains fast! 

It is easy to use, clean, and compact to pack away. You could probably pack it in the car if you felt like you needed this on the go. All I will say is that it is a little leaky so when I was steaming the bathroom tiles, it was a splashy job but this is expected. I found that after using the steam function for a while it would run out of gas, but eventually, it would come back and it does do what it says on the tin.

Alternatively, here are three other options to consider:

Where to buy the Bissell Little Green Hydrosteam Pet Portable Carpet Cleaner

As well as going direct, the Bissell Little Green Hydrosteam Pet Portable Carpet Cleaner is available at all good retailers including Amazon, Best Buy, Kohl's, and, Target.

How we test upholstery cleaners

We test solutions and machines in our own homes, to clean real-life day-to-day messes that we're faced with. We don't go spilling red wine on our carpets and rugs on purpose, because that would be counter-productive. Instead, we keep them underneath our sink and in our cleaning closet and use them when necessary, while snapping photos as we go.

Here are some of the things we look out for:

• Price: How does it compare to similar models on the market
• How efficiently does it get rid of the stain? We look at how many passes it takes to remove the mess in question.
• Accessories: How useful are the additional parts provided in cleaning?
• Nozzle dimensions: Is it long enough to extend to the area you want to target, and is it thin enough to get to hard-to-reach areas?
• Weight: Is it hard to carry upstairs or outside?
• Water tank: How easy is it to fill and empty? Does it detach?