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43 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Good for specialized uses only, December 20, 2008
This review is from: BISSELL PROdry Fast-Drying Carpet Cleaner, 7350 (Kitchen)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I'm a big fan of Bissell products. I have their HealthyHome upright vac and absolutely love it. Also have their SpotBot (for spot carpet cleaning) and their FlipIt (for hard floor cleaning) and put both to use regularly (when you have multiple cats, you need lots of cleaning equipment!). So I was expecting another home run from the ProDry. Big disappointment! While it has some merits, the bottom line is that it is not nearly as effective as a traditional carpet cleaner. The unit assembles easily. Just four screws and you're good to go. You fill the clean water tank (located in the rear) with hot water and cleaning fluid, just like a conventional carpet cleaner. The dirty water tank is the front. What's different about the ProDry is the roller bar. Rather than spray water on the carpet and then suck it back up, the ProDry wets a roller bar that, in turn, rubs on the carpet and (in theory) cleans it. The roller bar looks just like a long nap paint roller (e.g., the type you would use to paint a textured wall). The benefit of this approach is that the carpet is not soaked with cleaning fluid, thus cutting down on the dry time. Also, it's good for area rugs, since the cleaning fluid won't soak into the carpet and damage the floor below. That all sounds good, but the be-all and end-all of a carpet cleaner is whether it actually cleans the carpet. The ProDry did a very poor job on a thick pile carpet (a 10 by 15 area rug). While it was barely damp when I was done, it was also barely clean. I've had much better results with a conventional carpet cleaner. Even the SpotBot did a better job! (Yes you can use a SpotBot to clean a large rug -- use the hose and set aside a LOT of time!) It did a bit better on a loose nap rug but again, the results were significantly below what I would consider to be acceptable. The roller bar can be cleaned and should last (according to Bissell) for six months. The problem is that removing it for cleaning is a real bear -- you have to remove several screws to get it off the machine. I was surprised by this design issue given the thought Bissell has put into their other products to make them easy to use. It also has a spray nozzle and hose system for cleaning stairs, furniture, etc. That worked well - just turn the dial on the front to switch to the hose, and it dispensed the fluid and sucked it back up with minimal fuss. It also has a rather unique cleaning head (in addition to the regular one) that can be filled with the Bissell OxyGen cleaning fluid. That was a bit messy in terms of leaks, but a nice idea. I'm a bit concerned about the build quality of the hose assembly - seems rather flimsy. I'll use this mainly as a stair cleaner using the hose and nozzle. I've been using my SpotBot for that, and the longer hose and bigger tanks will make that job easier. Other than that, I can't see much benefit to this model, and I don't feel it is worth the cost charged. I'd recommend the ProDry only if you have nothing but area rugs that are brand new and need only the most gentle of cleaning. For anything else, I think you can do a lot better with a more conventional carpet cleaner from Bissell or Hoover.
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent for Hardwood Floors - Good for Rugs - Ok for carpet, January 4, 2009
This review is from: BISSELL PROdry Fast-Drying Carpet Cleaner, 7350 (Kitchen)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Length:: 6:59 Mins
In the video review I compare the Bissell ProDry with the Bissell 1200B SpotBot Hands-Free Compact Deep Cleaner Carpet Cleaner and the Bissell 9400 ProHeat 2X Select Upright Deep Carpet Cleaner While the review references all models only the Bissell ProDry is seen in action. he Bissell ProDry has a very novel approach to cleaning surfaces. Instead of using a large amount of water/solution and scrubbing the Bissell ProDry uses a motion that is similar to a paint roller that dabs and swabs the surface. This helps to keep the surface drier and helps to keep the fibers in carpet from being damaged. Advantages to the ProDry - The paint rolling motion is easier on your carpet - this is especially true to berber carpets and area rugs. The more aggressive ProHeat 2x has a tendency to snag on coarser fibers. - Works great at cleaning hardwood floors. The Bissell ProDry does not overly soak the wood and it the cleaning motion is excellent at removing dirt. - A solid choice for area rugs since the Bissell ProDry does not soak the rug through. The gentle rolling action is also preferred to aggressive scrubbing action. - Easy set-up. You can go from stop to cleaning in less than 5 minutes. - Lighter than the ProHeat 2x Areas for improvement - - Can't tell that it is very effective on standard carpets. The carpet barely becomes damp, and without the scrubbing action it doesn't appear to be effective at removing stains. - Replacement rolling pads are expensive - a two-pack will cost you between $40-50. This seems to be excessively expensive for something that is basically a paint roller. - While the Bissell ProDry is great for Hardwood floors and area rugs - I am not sure that is enough functionality to justify the purchase price. Final Tally - If you need a carpet cleaner for your homes carpets investigate the Bissell 9400 ProHeat 2X Select Upright Deep Carpet CleanerIf you need a carpet cleaner to remove occasional spills and stains you may want to investigate Bissell 1200B SpotBot Hands-Free Compact Deep Cleaner Carpet CleanerHowever, if you have a minimal amount of carpet but have hardwood floors and area rugs the Bissell ProDry may just be the carpet cleaner for you .... Overall 4 stars Carpet - 2 1/2 stars Hardwood floors - 5 stars Area Rugs - 4 Stars
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
I'm surprised this is from Bissell, December 24, 2008
This review is from: BISSELL PROdry Fast-Drying Carpet Cleaner, 7350 (Kitchen)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I was very enthused to try the Bissell 7350 out. I have always adored carpet cleaners and greatly treasure their usefulness. We have between 2-4 cats and we both work from our home, so the quality of our air is very important to us. We have tried out many carpet cleaners over the years, from several manufacturers, with varying levels of success. The one we use currently is the Bissell ProHeat Select 9400M, so a similar shaped model but with actual brushes on the front instead of this "paint roller" gadget. I was curious to see how this 7350 compared with our ProHeat. We assembled the 7350 very quickly and set it up to give it a try. First we thoroughly vacuumed the carpet - a nice, low berber carpet, ideal (one would think) for use with this non-scrubby system. After the vacuuming we thoroughly went over the carpet with the 7350. The water that came up was only the mildest color. There was pretty much no "dirt" or such in the resulting liquid. Stains on the carpet seemed completely untouched. Then I waited a day so that the carpet could dry thoroughly - and I went over the exact same carpet with our regular Bissell ProHeat. The water came up VERY dark with a lot of dirt in it. It was clear that the 7350 had done nothing at all on the carpet. Even the second pass with the ProHeat - with water only - brought up a darker color water than the Bissell 7350 had done on its very first pass. Remember, this was on a low carpet. The "paint roller" front couldn't get into that low carpet to get the dirt out. If someone was using this on a thicker carpet, I doubt it would do much of anything at all. We then tried the 7350 on our linoleum kitchen floor. The thought being that the floor was nice and flat and the paint roller front might have at least half a chance cleaning that surface. The 7350 did actually do reasonably well on the floor, taking up some light mud but failing if the mud was anything clingy. Also, because it is so "high" as a unit it doesn't fit underneath the standard overhang of the cabinet bottoms, so you would have to do all of those lower areas by hand. These are areas our Scooba fits into very nicely without any issue. As bad as this all was, it really wasn't the worst part. The worst part was by far the noise. We have a Scooba and Roomba which we love, and those are about 80db. Our BissellProHeat is louder, at about 90db. However, this Bissell 7350 is not only an ear-shattering 110db but has a high pitched shriek to it which is nasty. Anyone who uses this in their home should not only be wearing ear protection but ensure that any young kids or pets are far away. Their ears are far more sensitive to damage than adults' ears are. There's also a leakage problem with the tank, but really in the end that is the least of your worries. And while it has a "power wheel driver" which is supposed to make it easier to push, Instead, it yanks the unit out of your hand at too quick a pace, meaning you actually have to "pull back" on the 7350 so that it goes at a good, slow pace to clean the carpet. It makes it hard to control what you are doing. In fact, in playing with the unit it doesn't seem like it even actually "vacuums" the carpet. What it seems to do is spray water onto the roller - then roll the soft, wet paint roller over the carpet to "mop at it" like you might do with a wet towel. Then it vacuums the *paint roller* to get the water or dirt off the roller that might have gotten picked up on its pass. Which pretty much explains why it can't get in-deep dirt or do much at all. Add onto all of this that you are supposed to replace the roller every six months - probably having to buy a special item directly from them. So if they stop making that roller, you're out of luck. Also, because you pre-mix the solution into the water from the beginning, you can't do a "rinse pass" as you do with other units. You can only do a soapy pass and then hope you've gotten it all up. I would definitely NOT recommend buying this unit. I would recommend their ProHeat 9400M as being awesome, and it is really odd to me that the same manufacturer came out with two such different ends of the spectrum. I can't even think of who I would give this to, between it working so poorly and its eardrum-damaging noise.
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