Messes are inevitable, and the best cleaning products are essential. The Bissell Little Green Machine is our favorite.
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The Bissell Little Green Machine Is the Best Cleaning Appliance of 2024
Published on Dec. 05, 2024
Building your arsenal of cleaning tools is vital to keeping your home looking great. The best cleaning products make housework more manageable and help preserve household items like your favorite accent rug and new white sofa.
Since cleaning is an integral part of home maintenance, we spend much of our time reviewing cleaning products at Family Handyman. In 2024 alone, we performed hundreds of tests, collected thousands of data points and tried dozens of brands. From vacuums for pet hair and stain removers to stick vacuums and steam cleaners, we spent countless hours ensuring the top cleaning tools were worth the money.
At the top of our list is the Bissell Little Green Machine—which we’re officially declaring the best cleaning product of 2024. Here’s what you need to know about this little machine.
What’s so special about the Bissell Little Green Machine?
The Bissell Little Green is a portable carpet and upholstery cleaner that weighs less than ten pounds. It can be carried around to tackle any mess in any corner of the house, and its footprint is compact, too. It’s a little over 17 inches wide and 12.5 inches tall, and it has a depth of about eight inches, so it easily slips into a cabinet or hall closet when not in use.
Similar to a wet vacuum, this handy machine has a 48-ounce tank to hold cleaning solutions and a dirty water receptacle; the machine sucks up the liquid as you clean. The handle has a trigger-activated spray nozzle that releases the cleaning solution and a soft brush tool that rubs away tough stains. Much like an upholstery brush, the soft bristles are gentle on fabrics.
Bissell’s Little Green Machine has a 15-foot power cord and a 4-foot hose that accommodates a variety of detachable cleaning tools. You’ll also get a 32-ounce bottle of Bissell Pet & Stain cleaner and an 8-ounce trial bottle of Spot & Stain cleaner with Febreze, so you can use the machine immediately after opening it. Simply add the Bissell formula to the formula fill line, then add water to the water line, and you’re set.
How We Tested It
Product Tester Sheri Kaz used the machine to treat virtually every stain in her house for her in-depth Bissell Little Green Machine review. From a coffee stain on her new, cream-color sofa to set-in stains on her carpet, the Little Green Machine faced all of Sheri’s messes.
The results? Fresh spills and stains were no match for the Little Green Machine; even hot coffee on a cream sofa was quickly lifted. However, long-standing stains were tougher to remove.
After testing the Little Green Machine on five-year-old shag carpet stains, Sheri noticed that the rug was brightened, but the stains were stubborn and did not come out completely. On other light-colored hallway runners, Sheri spot-treated several mystery stains that were six months old or less. With patience, all stains were lifted except for a few tar-like marks.
Our advice? Get close to the stain, and don’t overspray. A little goes a long way. It’s best to deep clean spills on fibers when they’re fresh.
Where to Buy It
SHERI KAZ/FAMILY HANDYMAN
Best Cleaning Product
Bissell Little Green Machine
With the Bissell Little Green Machine, you can clean messes before the stains set in. Shop our favorite little cleaning machine at Walmart, Bissell, Wayfair and Amazon. It retails for about $120, but you can often score it on sale.
And for more tested recommendations, don’t miss our release of the best home products of 2024.
