Customer Reviews

Bissell PROdry Fast-Drying Carpet Cleaner, 7350

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

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.

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 Cleaner

If 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 Cleaner

However, 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

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.

There are aspects of this product that I like, and aspects that I don't. In general, though, I would suggest the Hoover SteamVac instead.

Pros:
* Very easy to assemble. The handle bar slides into the unit, you screw it in and screw in a holder, and you are finished.
* As advertised, the carpets do dry very quickly. Much faster than those cleaned with the Hoover.
* It is motorized, so it is less effort to push because the wheels just go on their own.
* Quiet

Cons:
* The power button is located down the back base of the handle. It is awkward to find and too small. It is much nicer when the power button is on the top of the handle where your fingers are. With this unit you have to put the handle into the vertical position so that you don't have to fight the motorized wheels, and then look to find the button to turn it off.
* There isn't a measuring unit for the cleaner. It tells you to put in 3oz, but you have to guess at what that is. By contrast, the Hoover has the measuring unit built in to the water tank.
* The dirty tank drains through an opening that is about 1-1.5 inches in diameter. This drains fine, but it means that if any dirt is collected in the tank you can't clean it out easily. You also have to shift the unit around a bit to get the water out.

When I cleaned the carpet, I did not get much, if any, dirt into the dirty water tank. This could be because it goes through a lint filter first. But I have a feeling that it is because the unit doesn't clean as aggressively as my other carpet cleaner. When I clean with the Hoover the dirty tank comes out filled with dark liquid letting me know I've really gotten a lot of dirt out.

This could be a difference in technology, in that the Bissel says that unlike other carpet cleaners, the liquid is mostly on the brush and thus the carpet does not get as wet and drys faster. This certainly is true, in that with the Hoover it can take a few hours to get fully dry and with the Bissel the carpets were dry in about 20 minutes.

Regardless, I don't feel like it got nearly as much dirt out of the carpets.

The Bissell PRODry carpet cleaner's unique feature is the TLR (for Traps, Lifts, Removes) Power Roller on the unit. Instead of having a traditional beater bar or rotating brushes it uses a spinning roller. The Power Roller is very similar to a paintbrush roller, just that the Power Roller is thicker. The advantage is that the carpets dry in less than 30 minutes since instead of spraying the cleaner directly onto the carpet it is sprayed on the roller. My carpets were dry within 30 minutes, and I was able to put the furniture back and vacuum them much quicker than usual. My Hoover SpinBrush carpet cleaner saturated the carpets a lot more, and took over 2 hours to dry completely in some spots. Advantage: Bissell.

As far as actual cleaning ability, the PRODry disappoints. Now, my carpets are never particularly dirty to begin with, but when I dumped out the Bissell's dirty water tank it was just slightly gray. In comparison, whenever I use the Hoover SpinBrush the dirty water comes out almost black. If I did not have the Hoover to compare it with, I would say that the Bissell works well, however, since I know how much more dirt the Hoover extracts I can't say that. The Bissell seems to clean just the very top of the carpet while the Hoover cleans down much deeper. I guess that's the disadvantage to the quick drying time, so little cleaner is put down that not much dirt comes up. Advantage: Hoover.

The machine itself is very easy to use and come with two hand tools, and has a switch to easily go from the carpet to the tools. It's very easy to assemble, nicely constructed, does not drip or leak much water, and the tanks are very easy to fill and place on the machine. It's also fairly quiet in operation. It's no louder than a regular upright vacuum.

All in all... carpets dry very quickly, but it's at the expense of deep cleaning. For really deep cleaning your carpets look into a Hoover SpinBrush machine (you can check my reviews for the Hoover I use).

The good things about this product are that it is relatively lightweight for a carpet cleaner, it is easy to fill with soap and water, and it leaves the carpet looking nice when done.

However, if you get stains in your carpet frequently, this will not be the product for you....and it wasn't for me. If there is something to spill on my carpet, I will spill it. I also have pets - enough said. I tried this out on the soda stain and what was left when my furball left me a furball on my bedroom carpet. I went over it with this machine several times and it did not get the stains out. They were still clearly visible when I was done. I have had a Bissell ProHeat for about a year now and I absolutely love it (so much that I bought my mom one a few months ago). When I finished earlier with this carpet cleaner, I thought to myself, "These stains would be nothing for my Bissell ProHeat 2X." Later I had to prove it to myself so I went ahead and pulled out my ProHeat and the stains came right out. The brushes work so much better. I hate to compare the machines like this, but for just a few extra dollars, you can get a really fantastic machine and I think it is worth it to guide you to that. If you are concerned about the carpet being wet, there is a ProHeat model that comes with dryers as well. This carpet cleaner is easy to maneuver but the water tank is so small. I just think there aren't enough advantages to this machine to recommend it, but I also think the Bissell ProHeat 2X is a true 5-star machine and highly recommend it if you need to deep clean your carpet and get rid of some yucky stains.

I have a Bissell Spot Bot and I purchased a Bissell 9400 ProHeat 2X Select Upright Deep Carpet Cleaner for my boyfriend; both are superb products! However, I cannot phathom what Bissell was thinking when they produced this carpet cleaner. I tried it on an area of carpet that was only slightly dirty; but the results were very disappointing.

What they got right:
- Easy assembly
- Sleek vacuum design
- Useable power tools (power nozzle is good)
- Easy carry handle
- Excellent power cord holder
- Nice power cord release mechanism (no need to unwind cord from power cord wrap because you can just release the latch to drop the cord to the floor)
- Vacuum powers itself nicely along the carpet so there is hardly any pushing action required by the user

What they got terribly wrong:
- The soft PowerRoller doesn't clean; it's excellent on hardwood floors but that is not what this vacuum was designed for.
- The carpet does not dry in 30 minutes as stated UNLESS you hardly use any solution. Without using much solution, you might as well blow on the carpet with your mouth to try to dislodge the dirt because the results would probably be the same--which is no cleaning.
- The solution tank leaks around the cap when filled appropriately. I tried several times to reseal the cap but there was always some solution seepage.
- The dirty water collector tank also has water seepage even if you don't go above the fill line.
- I tried for 45 minutes to clean about a 6 x 7 area of carpet and it still looked as dirty as when I started. I then used the power tool and some elbow grease and tried again which gave me better results but still not good enough. My Bissell spot bot can clean the same area wonderfully but not this vacuum.
- By the time the hot water reaches the carpet it is either lukewarm or too cold to be of any cleaning use.

In summary, if the Bissell didn't leak all over, this vacuum would be excellent (but perhaps overkill) for cleaning a wood floor because the cleaning pad buffs up things nicely (I tried it my wood floor). However as a carpet cleaner, you would get better results by wetting a washcloth with warm water, applying some soap, getting down on your hands and knees and using some elbow grease to clean your carpet.

Did not clean the carpets at all. Does dry quick, but if the carpet is not clean you have wasted your time.

This unit did not work the second time I used it. Called the company and they had me take it apart and fix it while on the phone.

It's a piece of junk. Don't waste your money.

This carpet cleaner is useful if you want to do a bit more than vaccumm and give rid of light stains and patches. It boasts "quick drying" done by using a roller pad to soak up the water which works amazingly well. The carpet cleaner is extremely light (you can lift it with one hand) and the water reservoir is enough for 1 average size room. If you have deeply set stains or need to really do a thorough cleaning of your carpets, this is probably not the carpet cleaner for you. This is good for refreshing the carpet and making a subtle difference in stains and dirty spots.

This machine is okay enough for hard floors but too bulky to really use regularly. On carpet it's absolutely useless. It doesn't even remove small stains. It does remove the water quickly but that's because none of it ever touches the floor for cleaning. I would stay away from this product.