Bissell Big Green Machine Review

Analysis

A step by step breakdown of the Big Green Machine's performance.

The Big Green Machine has low to average suction at the base and at the hose, but exceptionally high suction at the nozzle. It has the highest suction at the nozzle (3.72 kPa) of any carpet cleaner we tested.

The table above lists the number of passes it took the Big Green Machine to clean each stain in our upright stain test.

For example, it took 7 back and forth passes to clean the tomato sauce stain. This was the best result of any carpet cleaner we tested. Every other model we tested left some light staining after 10 passes which is denoted by a score of “11” or more (darker stains are scored 12, 13, etc.).

The Big Green Machine also cleaned all of the other stains faster than average. It was especially impressive cleaning the peanut butter, ice cream, and pet urine stains.

Overall, the Big Green Machine was the best performer in this test of any carpet cleaner we’ve tested so far.

After the stain test we measured the moisture level of the carpet that was cleaned. The reading for the Big Green Machine was 24%. This was the lowest reading of any carpet cleaner we tested.

Next we pushed and pulled the carpet cleaner over the same strip of carpet three more times without dispensing any liquid or soap to wash the carpet. So these are three additional “dry” passes during which the carpet cleaner only extracts on the forward push and on the backward pull.

After these three “dry” passes we measured the moisture level of the carpet in exactly the same spot we measured before. The reading for the Big Green Machine this time was 23% which tied it for the driest result with the Hoover PowerScrub Deluxe.

The bottom line – the Big Green Machine leaves carpet drier after regular cleaning (dispensing soap and water on the forward push and extracting on the backward pull) than any other carpet cleaner we tested. It ties for leaving the carpet the driest after additional “dry” non-cleaning passes (extracting on the forward push and the backward pull).

The Big Green Machine doesn’t use a lot of water to clean and it has very large water tanks, and so it shouldn’t be surprising that it can cover a very large area before you need to refill its clean tank (with soap and water) or empty its dirty water tank (of dirty water).

Cleaning the Big Green Machine after washing carpet isn’t very difficult.

It does have very large parts to clean (a larger brushroll, a larger compartment around its brushroll, etc.) but there isn’t anything else about the design of these parts that makes them more difficult to clean than average.

The only real negative is that you cannot remove this cleaner’s brushroll without a screwdriver. Many more consumer grade cleaners allow you to remove their brushrolls for cleaning very easily, without using a screwdriver, and you cannot do so with the Big Green Machine.

The Big Green Machine comes with a 9 ft. long hose and one spot cleaning tool – a 6 inch “stair tool”. Most competitors come with an 8 ft. long hose and multiple spot cleaning tools (most of which are redundant though – you’ll likely only use one of the included tools with most competitors as well).

With the 6” stair tool, the Big Green Machine was a slightly above average performer in our spot cleaning test.

Other Notes and Features

This cleaner really doesn’t have any unique features. The only real “unique” thing about it is that it’s much larger and heavier than most competitors.

Verdict

Our bottom line recommendations.

The Big Green Machine is the best carpet cleaner we’ve tested overall.

It’s big, heavy, and expensive, but it cleaned the stains in our upright stain test faster than any other carpet cleaner we tested. It was also the only cleaner we tested that could completely clean up the tomato sauce stain.

The Big Green Machine also leaves carpet drier than competitors and it can cover a much larger area than most competitors before you need to refill or empty its water tanks.

If you have the space for it and you want the best carpet cleaner money can buy, the Big Green Machine is highly recommended. For a complete list of all of the carpet cleaners we recommend see here.