The Bissell Little Green. If the first thing that pops to mind are the LGMs from Toy Story, you are with me already. In the cleaning world, the Little Green is considered a cult classic – the gold medal standard for portable spot cleaners.
Lucky me gets to test it out to see if it lives up to the hype.
Design and First Impressions: A Retro Cleaning Icon
The Little Green is … very green. Not a sickly green. I suck at describing colours, it’s a real pain point with my partner. So I asked Gemini to describe this green. (No AI was harmed in the production of this review).
Gemini says it’s a Sage Green, leaning slightly towards a muted pistachio or celadon. Hilariously it also says “It’s essentially the “millennial pink” of the appliance world—designed to look good sitting out on a laundry room shelf rather than being hidden away in a dark closet.”
The machinery is in the center part, with rounded water tanks on either side. The over aesthetics is very retro Dome Satchel from the late 40s and early 50s.
There is a small amount of assembly required – a couple of brackets to keep the hose in check. It only takes a few minutes to get started.
Performance Test: Putting the Little Green to Work
Facing the Little Green, the left side of the unit is the fresh water tank. The right side is the dirty water tank.
There are max lines in the tanks – pay attention those!
On the fresh water side, there are two max lines – one for the cleaning solution. The other for the warm clean water. Don’t do what I did and just fill it to the top.
Secondly. Pro tip. Make sure when you screw the cap back on, it’s on tight. Unless you enjoy mopping up puddles. Finger tight, then give it a little more.
In the box, it comes with a 236ml bottle of Spot & Stain cleaning solution (or more officially, Bissell calls it formula). It is also compatible with the Pet PRO Oxy Spot & Stain, PRO Oxy Spot & Stain and Little Green Formula
Nozzle Attachments and Cleaning Formula
The big decision after that is, which nozzle should you use? It comes with the 4″ Tough Stain Tool, and a Crevice Tool.
The latter should be familiar to anyone who has every used a vacuum cleaner before. I don’t make assumptions since I have teenagers who are completely baffled by something like this. It’s the narrow head that you use to get into awkward and tight spaces. The difference is that this one has a tiny nozzle for the cleaning formula to come out.
The other one – the Tough Stain Tool – does a combine spray, scrub and suction. Notably it does not have a motorised head – the scrub there will need some elbow grease from you.
To use it effectively, you trigger the spray onto the stain. Then scrub over it with the tool and suction it up at the same time.
Is it a good way to clean? Yes and no.
Ideally you want to soak the stain a little first, give the chemicals a chance to work it’s wonder, then go for the scrub and suction. Also with the Little Green, you want to have the tool right over the stain area before you pull the trigger for the formula release. It helps to aim it onto the right spot rather than aim like a stormtrooper.
Does it work well? It is important to remember that the Little Green is a spot cleaner. It is absolutely NOT a full room carpet cleaner. I supposed if you want to be on your hands and knees scrubbing for a few days, it will do the job. But highly not recommended for many reasons.
Portability and Ease of Use
Working with the Little Green, given that it is a portable unit, comes with some caveats.
It does not have the motor power of a full size device. You do need to be mindful of not saturating the area you are cleaning with water and the suction does not pull all of that water out. So expect some residue dampness that should dry up in a few hours.
There is a bit of a morbid but you can’t look away factor. Having a transparent nozzle and translucent waste water tank gives you a front row seat to the sludge that is being pulled out of your upholstery. It’s gross but also like an impending trainwreck, you can’t look away from.
Is it effective? Mostly. It is not a miracle worker, but it does pretty decent job overall. It is handy to clean up little spills and messes. It will take multiple passes for a really deep clean if something hasn’t seen a cleaner in years. That is no different to using a full size cleaner. Embedded grime in couches are a nightmare.
A positive thing to note is the generous 4.5m power cord length, and a 1.5m hose length. That should get you into most places.
The Downsides: Noise and Maintenance
For a small machine, the Little Green is surprisingly noisy when running. I am so glad I didn’t first test it out in the middle of the night when the kids are asleep. It was on par with the full size wet/dry vacs I have at home running at full power.
The hose outlet at the back of the unit has a fixed orientation. It does not swivel and is something to watch out for. Don’t yank at it too hard.
This one isn’t a complaint but something of note. There is no self cleaning function because it does not have a heating mechanism. The good part is, you can easily pull apart the tough stain tool to clean it. Gunk and grime can quickly accumulate there and it is quite disgusting to see it there in the clear window.
A little basic maintenance goes a long way.
Final Verdict: Is the Bissell Little Green Worth It?
Fully loaded, the Bissell Little Green weighs in about 6kg, which includes 1.4L of clean water.
It’s an impressive little machine that is great for small jobs, and then put away again and not take up too much space. Although the retro design begs for it to be put on display rather than hidden somewhere.
Like any wet / dry machine, you do need to be careful about how much you saturate an area. As I noted earlier, it does leave the area damp after cleaning.
It has a RRP A$259 but right now it is on sale for A$159 on their website, or A$148.99 on their Amazon store.
It’s a great little tool for life’s little mishaps, especially if you have little ones at home.
DRN would like to thank Bissell for providing the review unit.
