Bissell Little Green Cordless Cleaner Review: For Quick Clean-Ups

Spot cleaners can be handy around the home but also heavy and bulky. If you’re looking for one that’s easy to carry, this cleaner from Bissell could fit the bill. In the US, it’s called the Little Green Cordless Portable Carpet Cleaner, in the UK it’s the SpotClean Cordless. The difference between the two models lies with their attachments: as well as the Tough Stain tool and the HydroRinse tool (for self-cleaning), the UK model also comes with a two-in-one sliding crevice tool.

Not only is this Bissell’s lightest model, but it’s cordless so it can be used to clean your car’s interior, and it’s small enough to stash under a sink or in a utility cupboard. This, plus two modes – Turbo and Eco – and versatile tools, mean you can clean multiple soft surfaces around your home, from carpet and rugs to upholstery, without hauling out a larger cleaner.

Design and Build

• Dimensions in inches: 13.46 x 13.31 x 9.09
• Dimensions in cm: 28 x 30 x 20
• Capacious clean and dirty water tanks

For those short on space, Bissell’s Little Green/SpotClean Cordless will appeal. Not only is it light at 7.2lbs/3.4kg, it’s compact as well. The overall design prizes functionality over all other things, with a practical black and grey plastic exterior, detachable 1.7m hose (which clips at the back when stored) and chunky carry handle at the top.

A removable 33.8oz/900ml clean water/solution tank sits at one side while there’s a larger dirty water tank opposite, so there’s capacity for sucking up liquids as well as cleaning fluid.

Rachel Ogden / Foundry

Rachel Ogden / Foundry

Rachel Ogden / Foundry

The controls are pleasingly simple, with one button for on/off, one button to switch between Eco and Turbo modes, and a battery indicator with three illuminated sections.

Rachel Ogden / Foundry

Rachel Ogden / Foundry

Rachel Ogden / Foundry

However, it’s worth noting that the battery size (25.9v) could limit your cleaning ambitions: it’ll take three to four hours to charge from flat, but the Turbo mode will only run for up to 20 minutes. For longer sessions, you’ll need to stick to Eco, which provides up to 35 minutes.

Performance and Features

• Two cleaning heads (plus crevice tool in UK)
• Debris can be caught in bristles
• Turbo mode better for spills

While the cordless cleaner doesn’t come with tons of kit, what it does come with is a balance of flexible and practical. There’s a 10cm Tough Stain tool with bristles, which has been tweaked design-wise from previous spot cleaner models.

Rachel Ogden / Foundry

Rachel Ogden / Foundry

Rachel Ogden / Foundry

There’s also a 2-in-1 crevice tool with optional bristles for cleaning hard-to-reach places, such as stairs. Note that you won’t get this second tool in the US bundle.

We used the cordless to clean two soft surfaces: a velvet sofa and a mid-pile carpet, using cat food to represent pet mess, and brown sauce as a spill. These were left to sit for around 15 minutes and any solid debris was removed before cleaning up what remained with the Tough Stain tool.

The trigger for cleaning solution is on the hose itself, and easy to reach with a thumb. This means that you can douse the mess with solution while scrubbing with the bristles on the tool if applicable. However, sucking up solution and liquid mess proved more difficult.

We found that we had to press down firmly to thoroughly suck liquid up, as relying on the hose’s suction power alone left both the sofa and carpet saturated. A small amount of dirty water was retained in the tool itself, while the solution spray had a tendency to drip slightly as we cleaned. In addition, some small particles of debris remained on the bristles from scrubbing, meaning that we had to be careful not to drag these across the cleaned surface, making it dirty again.

We had to use Turbo mode for both messes, as Eco wasn’t as effective for pulling liquid from the soft surfaces. We felt Eco would be better for everyday cleaning rather than spills. Overall, it cleaned well, and left no mess behind, but required more effort than we expected. It was also noisier – while billed as a quieter spot cleaner with 65dB of noise in Eco mode, Turbo mode is louder – we were unable to carry on a conversation while using it.

What we did like was its HydroRinse self-cleaning tool – ideal for those who find washing appliances after use a chore. This clips onto the end of the hose to flush out any debris using cleaning solution – great for making sure your spot cleaner doesn’t harbour smells or bacteria. We found this especially useful for getting rid of lingering hair stuck inside the hose after cleaning. All the other removable parts could simply be rinsed under a running tap, making maintenance a breeze.

Price and Availability

In the US, the Little Green Cordless Portable Carpet Cleaner is available from the Bissell website or from Amazon. Its usual price is $199.99 but at the time of writing, you can buy it for $175.44 from Amazon.

In the UK, it’s £269.99, and you can buy it from Bissell or Argos. This does make it more of an investment but if you need to deep-clean your car, carpets or sofa regularly, it’ll be worth it.

For more buying options, have a look at our round-up of the best wet and dry vacuums and the best vacuum cleaners we’ve tested overall.

Should you buy the Bissell Little Green Cordless/SpotClean Cordless cleaner?

There are a lot of pluses to Bissell’s cordless cleaner. It’s easy to set-up, store and maintain, plus with some pressure, it does a good job cleaning up mess. However, while it’s more convenient than corded Bissell spot cleaners, it’s pricier than most, making it more of a considered buy.

The limited run time in Turbo could also be an issue – being light and cordless means it’s suitable for cleaning a car or caravan interior, but you’ll only have 20 minutes if you need to use the higher power mode. Battery power aside, if you have a busy household, messy pets or a family, this low-maintenance compact cleaner will be a handy addition.