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This is a fantastic machine. It has served us well for the past 2-3 years over all types of kid and animal messes. It died though so I am buying its replacement right now Oct 2016. Bissell could have made this machine more durable because there is a terrible flaw with the hose. I have attached a photo of my new machine. Notice when the handheld brush is installed in the machine for storage, the hose becomes very bent and kinks right at the point where it goes into the plastic tool. This kink is where the hose will wear out and crack over time. The crack began small but grew quickly. Attached is a picture of my current Bissell with hose break. Bissell should have designed the holder to put less stress on this area, but since they haven’t you should do as I am going to do and DO NOT PUT THE HANDHELD BRUSH IN THE HOLDER EVER! To avoid this kink problem I affixed two wire ties to the handheld brush that allow me to still hold the tool for storage. One wire tie is taunt and the other is loose and hooks over the lever of the machine, a picture of this is attached.

Again, great machine overall. One final note, don’t bother with the Bissell SpotBot handsfree machines that you sit on a stain and their circular brush agitates the carpet automatically for you for like 5 minutes. You end up with a “circle” on your carpet where the stain was that you have to “blend in” using the hand tool so they disappear into the larger area rug. I lived with one of those machines too long. Your much better off doing all the work carefully by hand with the SpotClean Professional.

My couch ottoman was disgusting after 6 years of kids, pets, and general living. Final straw was when the cranky old cat decided to puke twice in one night while we were out on it. Ordered the Bissell 3624 and it took care of it with no problem… even after waiting 2 days for it to arrive. Not surprisingly, the dirty water was disgusting… It didn’t leak, as long as you kept the unit level. It did take me a couple of minutes to figure out how to prime the water for the first time, but once it started flowing, it was very easy to use.

I’ve had this vacuum just a little over 1 year and I loved it. Very handy. It was working great and did a pretty decent job at cleaning up messes. And then the hose breaks at the handle… Not cool. Especially considering the price of this. The hose wasn’t handled roughly either and it was put back into position when we were done with it. I guess It’s a design flaw. I’m hoping duct tape and some caulk or something will get me a few more uses out of it. 🙁

Update: If your hose breaks at the handle area, try using silicone tape. Wrap quite a bit around the hose and handle and it should work. Haven’t had any leaks and vacuum is working great!

We used to have a Bissell SpotBot, and used it frequently, due to two young children constantly making messes. However, after the first few uses, we stopped using the automated feature of the SpotBot, because it uses a TON of shampoo, and cleaning up spills and stains with the hand tool took a fraction of the time anyway.

The SpotClean Pro has a more compact footprint than the SpotBot, which is nice for storage. It also has more suction, which seems to do a better job of sucking all of the solution out of the carpet or upholstery, so everything dries faster. This also means that it should suck more of the stains out.

I also much prefer the hose storage of the SpotClean Pro, compared to the SpotBot, which required wrapping the hose around the base of the unit, which inevitably caused tangles with the cord while trying to put it away.

One of my favorite features though is the ability to thoroughly clean the recovery tank. The recovery tank on the SpotBot got NASTY…and there is no way to clean it out, because the only way to get to the inside is through the dump hole in the bottom. On the SpotClean Pro, the whole lid comes off, and there aren’t really any nooks or crannies for gunk to hide in. Also, both the solution storage tank and the recovery tanks are MUCH larger than on the SpotBot, so you can get more cleaned with fewer trips to the bathroom to dump and refill.

I do have a couple complaints about this unit though…it’s rather heavy to lug around, and it’s so loud that I have started wearing ear plugs while cleaning spots to prevent hearing damage. If you can get beyond that though, it gets an A+ for performance.

General comment on carpet shampooing: Carpet shampoo attracts dirt, which causes stains. Use half of the manufacturer’s recommended concentration of shampoo and you should notice less recurring stains, with little or no loss of cleaning power. Better yet, do a rinse step after shampooing to remove the shampoo from the carpet.