There’s something you should know about me.  I mean, we’ve known each other over two years, now, so I think it’s okay to tell you….I spend the majority of my life barefoot.  Now granted, if company is coming over, I’ll put some socks on, but normally; if I’m at home, I am not wearing shoes.  And though my husband does not suffer from this condition (He rolls out of the bed and into his shoes each morning and they never leave his feet.), our kids and grandkids are mostly barefoot-types, as well.  If it’s raining, I might slip on some flip-flops to head out to the garden, but otherwise, even outside (and some will say, “even in the snow”), I don’t usually waste time putting on shoes if I need to run outdoors for something.  I don’t have a problem with this.  As a matter of fact, I think I probably have some of the happiest feet, I’ve ever known.    It does, however, create a bit of a dilemma when it comes to carpet.

The soiled area of the carpet, in front of the sofa, where feet rub when we sit. Tell me you get this, too, so I don't feel like a TOTAL slug. Thanks!

Even if we never tracked anything in, (and even shoes can do that, right?), the natural oils in skin are deposited in carpeting as we walk back and forth.  That attracts and holds dust and those areas are naturally soiled more quickly than other areas in the room.  The other spot that seems to show wear and dirt more quickly than others is right in front of a piece of furniture, where feet hit the floor as we’re sitting.  As a matter of fact, that was probably the dirtiest area I noted in our living room carpet.

All the pieces from the box. My son had this together in minutes!

I hate renting, lugging and returning carpet cleaners and I’m not a fan of having to pay someone else to do what I can do myself and on my own schedule, so when I received the opportunity to test Bissell’s Lift Off Deep Cleaner, I was thrilled!  When the box arrived I unloaded it immediately and had my son assemble it.  Since the handle was the only piece detached (so it would fit in the box), he had it together in minutes and I was ready to do some carpet cleaning magic.

Fully assembled and ready to tackle the soiled carpet in front of the couch. My husband says it's very "space age" looking.

The easy lift off water and cleaning solution tank goes right to the sink to be filled. Simple!

Filled and ready to go back in the machine.

The carpet in our living room is that loopy stuff, that I don’t care for, (I’m more of a deep pile, plushy kind of girl.) but it was what was here when we bought the house and it does the job.  Day-to-day it appears to wear well and so it wasn’t high on the list of things I HAD to replace when we bought the house (like the pure WHITE, deep pile plushy carpet in the DINING room, in the parlor and on the stairs and hallway leading to every bedroom – oy!).  Anyway, though I don’t find the loopy carpet aesthetically pleasing, it’s doing it’s job.  I have been noticing those tell-tale dark spots on it,  in front of our couch, though.  My new carpet cleaner had arrived in just the nick of time and so I set out to show you what a fine job it did of lifting the stains and getting my carpet back to normal.  I was just going to snap the picture of the “before” stain, quickly clean that area and a couple spots on the stairs  to demonstrate the cool lift-off canister feature, then snap the “after” pictures and write my post.  When I used this whiz-bang marvel of a machine to clean the single-wide strip in front of our sofa, however: I discovered what is difficult to admit, but I have often suspected — I live with pigs and animals.  Just sayin’!  Not only did this fantastic carpet cleaner lift the dirty foot stains from in front of our sofa, it cleaned the strip so well, that I could see just how dirty the ENTIRE carpet, actually is.  Guess who’s moving furniture and shampooing her whole house over Memorial weekend?

The clean stripe in front of my sofa is something to celebrate. Foot prints are completely gone and I'm ecstatic. Problem is, now I can see how dirty the whole carpet actually is! I'm happy and grossed out all at the same time!

I’m not complaining, though.  What a blessing the Bissell Lift Off Deep Cleaner will be to have around the house!  It’s much more light-weight than I expected so it’s easy to move it, anywhere I need, to do a thorough cleaning of whole rooms.  Plus, it has that awesome lift off canister feature, that makes cleaning stairs, upholstery and hard to reach areas a cinch!  Our car upholstery and floors will be the next project I tackle and that should be simple, thanks to the lift off canister.  I’m pleased with the results and I’m pleased with the quality of the machine, as well as the features it has to offer.

1. Built-in hot water heater for maximum cleaning power on your carpets (The heat feature does not function when using the lift off canister, but comes on automatically when the canister is seated in the carpet cleaner .)
2. I love that it has very powerful suction, so my carpets aren’t left wringing wet, but only damp, when I’m done cleaning.  Bissell calls it Surround Suction and it gives edge-to-edge cleaning, the full width of the machine.
3. There are twelve rows of heavy-duty brushes on the two (That’s right!  Not just one.) rollers under the carpet cleaner.  (Bissell calls them 2X Dirtlifter Powerbrushes.) The brushes scrubbed stains out of my carpet and lifted the pile, meaning not only is it clean; my carpet is no longer matted and crushed down, even in the heavy traffic areas!
4. It includes an on-board hand-tool with a long, flexible hose that can be used while the lift off canister is attached to the machine or being used on it’s own.  The Tough Stain Tool attachment that came with my cleaner, snaps right into place at the end of the hose and worked beautifully on both carpet stains and upholstery.

I used the Tough Stain Tool attachment to clean grandbaby fingerprints off the upholstery on the arm of the sofa. It has tough brushes for scrubbing and a button for spraying cleaning solution on the spot. Then, it just sucks the solution right back out of the fabric, bringing the dirty stain with it.

I lifted the portable canister off the carpet cleaner and carried it over to our well-used stairs, next.  I made quick work of the spots that had been deposited there and again, lifted the pile in the most worn areas so that it looked fresh and new!  Love this machine!

A stair step "before".

Same stair step "after".

At the end of my cleaning tests, I lifted the reservoir from the machine that catches all the dirty water as the carpet cleaner sucks it back in.  It has a handle that allows you to easily lift it straight up and off the cleaner.  In case you were wondering did the machine actually pull any dirt out of my test areas….

Holy mud slick, Batman! Gross -- I know. Please, please do not dump this down your drain and clog up your pipes and put your marriage in jeopardy. Dump it over the side of the deck, behind those rosebushes, where no one ever looks! Seriously, though - outside is better.

Handle in the front means the lid is locked and sealed tight.

Handle in the back, breaks the gasketed seal and allows the lid to come off for easy cleaning.

Once the tank is empty and cleaned out, replace the lid and snap the tank back into the machine. So simple. Love it, love it, love it! Everything about this carpet cleaner makes me happy.

Right now, Bissell has a fantastic sweepstakes running, called the White Sock Test and all of you can get in on the fun.  Just take the White Sock Test to enter:  Get a clean white sock and wet it.  Then find the most “lived upon” area of your carpet and do “The Twist” for 30 seconds.  Give it some attitude!  What does your sock look like now?   Someone will win a $15,000 home makeover for submitting their “white sock photo”.   Many others can play the Instant Win game (no photo required) for chances at cleaning products from BISSELL, like their Lift-Off Deep Cleaner, SpotBot Pet and more.  Like Bissell on Facebook and then sign in every day through June 10, to play, and have your chance to win great prizes.  Hurry over and check out the contest!  I would love it if a Busy-at-Home reader could win!

I’m very excited to be able to have the economical option of cleaning my own carpets with a machine I own, instead of having to rent and haul one; and more than that, I’m thrilled that the Lift Off Deep Cleaner has proven it can do that job so effectively.  I anticipate using it for many years to come!  And woohoo!  No shoes!

I received a Bissell Lift Off Deep Cleaner in order to test the product in my own home and gather information for this review.  No monetary compensation was received and a positive review was not required.  As with all Busy-at-Home reviews, the views and opinions expressed are wholly my own and based on my personal experience with the product.