All right, so you know I told you I bought a floor cleaner for the carpet upstairs because the kids wanted their carpet cleaned before our son’s big Peanut Party in a few weeks.  And really, I couldn’t blame them.

I used to be a very meticulously clean housekeeper.  Even when my son was little, I was as adept as a monkey at picking up toys of various shapes off the of the floor, carrying them with MY FEET, and putting them away – pulling open drawers, sliding doors, scaling walls (well, not exactly)….allow me to reiterate –  WITH MY FEET.  This gave me the opportunity to completely vacuum the floor after my teeny buddy fell asleep.

Well, somewhere between the move to this house and the condo, my super sanitary alter got left behind.  Now, I don’t want to give the impression that I belong on an episode of Hoarders or anything, but I’m definitely not a clean freak anymore.  I can’t be.  I’ve got tasmanian devils spinning all around me 24/7, and it’s impossible to chase them around with a Swiffer.  I mean, one of them might think it’s cotton candy and eat it…or give it to the dog….or use it as a Barbie blanket.    I don’t even think they can properly identify a Swiffer, and that’s my GO-TO DUSTER.  It’s sad.

So you know we have this puppy, Charles Albert.  Yes, that is his name.  Charles Albert, aka Charlie, is too cute to leave baby gated downstairs in the uncarpeted region of the home because he cries and whines like he’s so very lonely and abused.   The kids proceed to scurry downstairs, dognap him, and protect him from the dreaded silence…in their carpeted bedrooms.  Now, my son has blue carpeting.  My daughter’s carpeting is white.  Yes, white.  I have a small child with white carpet.  It was nearly free and so was the installation.  You’d have bought it, too.

The problem?  Charles has a small bladder.  Did I say small?  I meant microscopic.

Let’s explore the Alice in Wonderland version of the color wheel for a moment and discuss what happens when we mix yellow + white.  It equals…you guessed it, yellow.   Nothing is out of the ordinary.  Yet.

Now, let’s mix blue + yellow.  Yep, we still have yellow.  It’s like a magic trick.  Yellow + Blue does not equal green.  It equals yellow.  Blue carpet with varying shades of yellow based on Charles Albert’s level of hydration.

OK, so we now have polka dot carpet upstairs.  Is it that bad?  No.  I’m horribly prone to exaggeration.  However, to a type A clean freak who used to admire vacuum lines in the carpet, it spontaneously forces me to get another eye exam for a stronger prescription thanks to the horror induced blindness.

I decided that, despite our serious shortage of funds, I needed to buy a carpet cleaner.    I won’t rent one because I don’t know who has used it and for what.  Yep, I’m like that.  I apologize in advance.

Now, I had something similar to the Bissell ProHeat Cleaning System  (around $240ish in 2002) with the hand tool when I lived at the condo.  I moved in with my mother for a year when she had cancer and rented out the condo for that length of time.  When I got back, it was definitely not kept to my crazy standard of cleanliness, so I bought this cleaner for the floor and my furniture –  which had been in storage for that year.  I was really less than impressed – particularly with the hand tool.  It sprayed cleaning solution right from the hand tool. It got all over my hand, and saturated my furniture.  When it dried, the white squares in my blue and white plaid couch were yellowish.   And yes, I used this cleaner as instructed.  As for the floor, well, it seemed to tear up bits of carpet.  I had plush carpet and it just shredded the pile.  I had tons of fuzzy carpet in the tank after each emptying.  Again, I used it as instructed.

Remembering all of this, I was very hesitant to buy a similar product or even one from Bissell.    I also figured that it has been well over 10 years since that happened, and surely products have improved.

This is what I bought – Bissell PowerForce PowerBrush Deep Cleaning System for $89.92.  It also has a $10 rebate through 6/30/13.  That definitely made it more attractive.    I was also impressed with the 272 reviews averaging 4 & 1/2 stars.

I ordered it online, and my husband picked it up in Walmart about an hour later.  He brought it home and I had it put together in about 15 minutes.  It only takes 3 screws to put the handle on and you’re ready to go.

Just fill up the teensiest portion of the clean water tank with the cleaning solution (came with an 8oz trial size bottle), and fill up the rest with hot water and you’re ready to clean the floor.

I am not kidding when I say this did a beautiful job on both of the kids bedroom carpet.  As you can see from the picture above,  it looks brand new.   It’s 5 years old.

In addition to the lovely shade of yellow sprinkled throughout my daughter’s room, she also had several teeny spots of red where a Nik-L-Nip had spilled on the floor.  In my mind, it may as well have been Kool-Aid.  I was sure it would never come out.  It’s gone.  GONE.  Everything is gone.

Remnants of Oreo Ice Cream in my son’s room – GONE.  Yes, even the tiniest black granules that seemed to grind in more as I cleaned it last year.  GONE.

Applesauce stain, again, in my son’s room – GONE.

Other various unidentifiable sticky and/or ooey gooey type stains resembling either glue or caramel – GONE.

Now, I will say that their carpet wasn’t unbelievably filthy going in.  It wasn’t, but it was definitely dirty.  I think I’ve made that painfully clear.

If you’re looking for a carpet cleaner, I can’t recommend this more.  It’s lightweight, easy to use, and does what it’s supposed to do in a short amount of time, as well as extracts the solution easily, and dries very quickly.  I had their ceiling fans on for about an hour to two hours before it was completely dry.  I also did it on  a 75 degree day, and their bedrooms are upstairs.  Add on those factors as well.

Oh, and if I hadn’t been so impatient, I’d have ordered this bundle.   It’s the same vacuum, Bissell PowerForce PowerBrush Deep Cleaning System,  only it comes with a Bissell 3-in-1 Stick Vac for $10 more vs. the $19.88 you’d pay for the 3-in-1- vac alone – $99.92 total.  This particular set says it will arrive in a week, so that’s why I opted for the single unit.    I wanted it asap because getting things done around here is not always easy.  If you do buy this one, it still qualifies for the rebate, so be sure and print your form here.

Note: I received nothing from either Walmart or Bissell regarding this product.  Even if I did, all thoughts and opinions are always my own.  Ahem, you may recall my Scrubbing Bubbles review.  If not, here’s a replay for ya.  It’s an oldie but goodie.