UPDATE **REVIEW** Bissell Cleanview Bagless Upright Vacuum (Model 95956)

UPDATE:
My wonderful vacuum broke the other day just when I needed it most. 

Don't ask because I don't know...

Of course, the automatic Amazon warranty expired in July. Of. Course. That broken spring up there is on the MAIN part of the vac - the canister. So weird that it just popped out when I was getting ready to empty the thing and check the filter. Anyway, I decided to see if I could buy a replacement for the handle - or spring, or whatever - and I contacted Bissell online. They told me that there is no replacement for the handle; the entire cannister has to be replaced. Before I could have a mini nervous breakdown wondering what that might cost, I was told Bissell would ship one out as soon as I verified my address. At no cost. Not even shipping fees. Wow. So my new canister will be here day after tomorrow. How awesome is that? And they even emailed me a coupon for a percentage off any online purchase I make. Yay, Bissell. I just wanted to make this note about the wonderful customer service. Now, when I start looking for a carpet shampooer, I know who to check out first. Oh, and I guess I should mention that this is all because I made sure to register my vacuum with Bissell even though I made the purchase on Amazon.


**Before I even start the review, let me do a service to anyone who, like me, might be confused about the model numbers of Bissell's Cleanview 9595 series of vacuums. Apparently, the 95956 (the model I have) and the 9595A are the same in every way except for the colors. My model is in Teal and the other is in Purple. I could not clarify this except to contact Bissell and Amazon. On Amazon (where I made my purchase) the 9595A has 11k+ reviews while the 95956 has only 105 reviews at the time of this post. Out of all the answered questions and reviews (and I dragged through just about every single one of them), I only recall seeing a single comment about the color difference. The reason this was so important to me is that I wanted the vacuum for its "OnePass" feature that Bissell seems so proud of. I could not tell clearly from the product info whether or not the 95956 had the feature. My brain does not retain information long enough to keep track when comparing items. I was afraid I had ordered the wrong one...**



Okay. So with that cleared up, let's take a look at why I wanted this particular vacuum.

1. The price tag = $79.99 + $5.22 for a protection plan. Perfect for my sad budget. The poor little Dirt Devil that I got at Dollar General (and paid, I think, less than $25 for) when I moved here a year ago has been limping along. It picks up the obvious debris but my carpet is very neglected looking from what the DD leaves behind. I've been saving up for about 3 months for a better vacuum but could only afford something under $100. I watched videos and read hundreds of reviews for at least 10 vacuums (and had to take notes so I wouldn't get confused) before I settled on the Cleanview 9595 model. I wanted to go cheaper but...
2. The suction power. Reviewers rave about the cleaning power of this model. You should see some of the photos of what people seemed to have sucked out of their carpets. At least 10 people mentioned this model having suction at least almost as good as $200 and $400 machines. That part may be little scam-ish, but the photos don't seem to be lying. Reviews that complained about the loudness of the vacuum still gave a thumbs up for the suction. And I need to really clean out all the residue of the spot cleaners I used all winter.
3. The lightweight design. Lord knows I can barely work up the energy to vacuum at all so I sure don't want some heavy, clunky machine to drag around even such a small apartment
4. The added bonuses are the attachments, a decent length cord, and a washable filter. The Dirt Devil has a washable filter and that saves money big time. It's also cool that this has an easy-empty cannister.

Keep in mind that this is why I wanted this machine and was hoping it would live up to the hype. The only thing I was bothered by from the product photos is that the power button is placed so far down on the machine. Why not on the handle? That may seem like a petty thing but I've been having back problems the past couple of months and I try not to bend if I don't have to. But whatever. Everything else about this vacuum sounded like my dream product.

So, let's now see how it all worked out. In addition to what I mentioned above, I would also be looking to see how easy it would be to assemble this machine. This is what it looks like when you remove everything from the box:

Once I stuck on the handle, everything else was easy. I have cognitive issues and it only took me around 22 minutes to have it all done and get to vacuuming. And I really did need to get to vacuuming...

I'm going to show this photo of what my carpet looks like pre-vacuuming. I do vacuum at least a couple of times a week with the Dirt Devil and I ran it over the high traffic area right inside the front door - pictured here - about 3 times just so you could see how awful the dirt and buildup of cleaner is. Pretty nasty, right? (By the way, now that I have a good decent machine, I can scrub with some spot cleaner and re-vacuum to see if it improves. For now, I want to see what this does with no spot cleaner.)

Remember, I went over this carpet more than once with the Dirt Devil for this photo:

BEFORE - lot of silty dirt

 This is what the carpet looks like after having been vacuumed pretty thoroughly with the Bissell:

AFTER still needs spot cleaning but MUCH better

This is what the Bissel cannister looked like after a couple of trips over this small area. UGH!

I feel so ashamed. It's as if I haven't vacuumed but a couple of times a season since I moved in!

So, Pros and Cons:

CON - Using the vacuum would be a lot of fun if it were not for that Power Button being placed so low down on the machine. Thankfully, the vacuum is not super heavy and I didn't get too worn out even after vacuuming and re-vacuuming off and on all day. (I'm determined to un-gross these floors!)

PRO - If I didn't appreciate the suction power while using this machine as an upright, I sure did once I used the attachments. I used the rotating attachment to freshen up the sofa. Man! This thing got all the little tiny particles of crumbs and dirt out the of very crevices of the couch. I could actually feel the suction power as I held the attachment and ran it over the fabric. That's awesome, but I will have to be really careful when trying to clean out window sills and such. I can see this thing snatching a pull cord right out of place.

PRO - The dust canister is SO easy to empty and I don't really have to touch the icky-ness. The canister pops open with the push of a button (so make sure to hold it over the trash can!), and any clumps of dust that gets stuck can be dislodged with a wooden skewer. Or that's what I do.

PRO - While this isn't the quietest machine, for the suction power, it sure isn't much louder than the Dirt Devil.

CON - The hose tends to fall off the holder and dangle. Also, the arrangement of the hose and the power cord is just awkward. This is a very minor issue though.

CON - If using the attachments, you need to use two hands so you can sort of stretch out the hose because the suction keeps contracting it. On the other hand...

PRO - The hose is a decent length - if you can keep it stretched out.

Overall, I am 5-starring this vacuum. It's not outrageously expensive and is doing a great job so far. I have told friends that I'll be more than happy if this lasts a year before I have to use the Protection Plan.


Peace
--Free


DISCLAIMER: I was not paid or in any way compensated for this review.