KAR120C's Full Review: Bissell 1867 Steam MOP Stick Vacuum
Cleaning floors isn’t anyone’s idea of a good time. The bending and stooping alone makes floor cleaning a physical challenge at best. The last decade has witnessed the advent of electric steam mops. You see them advertised on those hilariously phony infomercials and peddled here and there. With so much attention being paid (and money being spent) on such steam floor cleaners there must be something to them. This was my thinking as I looked for a solution to clean our floors better and more quickly. After about 30 minutes of online research and a trip to Epinions, it was apparent the Bissell 1867 was the big boy on the block. It’s price was generally lower than the much hyped competition so selecting the Bissell was a no brainer.
We ordered the Bissell 1867 from Amazon as it was 30 dollars cheaper there than at our local retailer. (I like to spend money locally, but come on, 30 dollars more made this item 40% cheaper at Amazon!) The Bissell arrived and it was immediately apparent; this thing is no toy. It is built like a tank, with heavy gauge plastic housings and quality construction throughout. It feels like a substantial piece of gear. Assembly was a snap involving one Philips head screw to affix the mop head to the body and one screw to afix the handle. Literally this took about 60 seconds. The perfection of the construction and close tolerances mean that the parts fit together like a glove. This unit was 72.00 dollars at Amazon (2/2009)! Amazing that such quality can be had for such a low price. It weighs about 7 pounds and its power cord is roughly 14 feet long. While the cord could be longer, long cords make it more cumbersome to stow away. You can unplug the unit for 10 seconds with no loss of heat while you move to another outlet.
To use the mop, just fill up the water reservoir and plug it in. A red light will indicate when the mop is ready. This takes a mere 60-120 seconds! The instructions recommend using distilled or demineralized water. As I had no such article on hand, I used filter tap water. I will purchase distilled water in the future as it does make sense to use the purest water possible in such a steam unit. The mop itself has a changeable water filter on board. These filters must be changed when the green filter granules turn blue. The filter cost 12.00 dollars on Amazon. I do not yet know how long the filters last. I will post an update to report on the filter life.
The mop uses microfiber mop covers which are secured to the mop head with a heavy gauge elastic cord and a barrel type fastener. The covers are a little awkward to change, but offers no real challenge. On first start up it takes a few seconds for water to circulate through the unit. This is accompanied by a slightly harsh sound which lasts about 10 seconds. When the red light signals that the unit is ready just press the button on the handle and steam will be forced through the mop head and into the pad. The mop head is on a swivel type attachment which makes it easy to maneuver. By moving the mop slowly in a long strip you can cover a large floor in a matter of minutes!
We use the mop on sealed/varnished maples floors, porcelain tile and travertine tile. The floors feel and smell clean. Although we had kept our floors pretty clean, we could see some dirt on the mop heads. I suspect that much of the residue removed from our floors was floor cleaning chemicals and film left by our previous floor cleaning measures. The floors now feel truly clean.
The unit comes with one filter and 2 mop heads. We ordered two additional mop heads (20.00 dollars) and an extra filter when we purchased. It appears that overall this is a fairly expense way to clean floors, however the time saved and the results gained easily make this a good idea. Clean floors in no time = a good deal. Add to this the well built nature of the Bissell and you have a real winner!
UPDATE: 3/2/09 This unit continues to work very well. The head cover affixes well and I learned to tuck the thick elastic securing cord into the lip of the cover head, keeping it out of the way while in use. I am still using filtered water as I keep forgetting to buy distilled water. So far no problems; but I will remember to get distilled water. The unit is easy enough to use for quick clean ups and light enough to make major cleaning easy and almost fun. The speed at which it warms up is impressive and I would estimate the warm up time from 30 to 60 seconds. This is was a solid purchase and a small investment in home care!
Update: 5/6/09 I hadn't used the Bissel for about 3 or 4 weeks. I just used it and it leaks water apparently at the point wear the filter cartridge meets the housing. The leak makes the floor twice as wet as before. The filter can't be clogged as I have only used the unit maybe 10 times. I used distilled water the past few times. Maybe a bad filter or the unit took a fall? I am reluctant to use the replacement cartridge I got along with my unit as they are quite expensive. I will suffer with the leak and hope that when I replace the cartridge the leak will stop.
Update: 7/12/09 This unit still leaks. I recommend having a towel or paper towels handy to clean up after using this mop. This kind of defeats the reason for using a steam mop. It makes me feel a little silly cleaning the floor AFTER cleaning the floor. But frankly, you shouldn't leave this amount of standing water on any floor. So...don't stop buying paper towels just yet!
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