The Bissell Little Green has been on sale in roughly the same form since 2008. Eighteen years later, the 1400B model still sits at #1 on Amazon in Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning Machines and pulls 20,000+ units sold per month — numbers no other portable spot cleaner gets close to. It currently sells for $99.99, down from a $129.99 list price, and the rating is 4.5 stars across 92,921 verified reviews.
We focused on the 1400B as the main product in this review. Bissell now sells a half-dozen variants of the same machine — Mini, Deluxe, Pet Pro, Cordless, HydroSteam, Max Pet SmartMix — and the Max Pet SmartMix sits in this review as a sanity check, since pet owners cross-shop both. Between the two, there are 94,491 reviews total, and the picture they paint is consistent enough to give a useful answer.
Here's what the Amazon data says, what owners quietly disagree on, and whether the Little Green at $99.99 is the right pet-mess machine for your house in 2026.
BISSELL Little Green Multi-Purpose Portable Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner, Car and Auto Detailer, with Exclusive Specialty Tools, Green, 1400B
The Bissell Little Green 1400B at $99.99 is the right pick for most households — 92,921 reviews and a 4.5-star average back the basic answer that yes, it lifts cat vomit, mud, dog accidents, and old coffee stains the way reviewers say it does. Buy the Max Pet SmartMix at $119.99 only if pet stains are a near-daily problem.
Top Picks at a Glance
| # | Product | Rating | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
BISSELL Little Green Multi-Purpose Portable Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner, Car a...
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4.5 (92,921) | $99.99 | Check Price |
| 2 |
BISSELL® Little Green® Max Pet SmartMix Portable Carpet and Upholstery Deep Clea...
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4.5 (1,570) | $119.99 | Check Price |
BISSELL Little Green Multi-Purpose Portable Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner, Car and Auto Detailer, with Exclusive Specialty Tools, Green, 1400B
The Bissell Little Green Multi-Purpose Portable (model 1400B) is a corded spot cleaner that combines a 48-ounce clean water tank, a separate dirty-water recovery tank, and a hose-mounted spray-and-suction tool you press into stains on carpet, rugs, upholstery, stairs, or car interiors. At $99.99, it ranks #26 in all of Home & Kitchen and #1 in Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning Machines on Amazon, and the 4.5-star rating across 92,921 reviews is unusually high for a sample size that large. Bissell sells through Amazon directly, with FREE 30-day refunds and a 1-year limited warranty.
The 1400B has changed very little since launch. The cleaner uses Bissell's "spray, scrub, suction" cycle — you fill the tank with hot tap water and a Bissell spot cleaning formula, hold the trigger to spray the stain, scrub it with the included Tough Stain tool, then release the trigger and run the head over the area to suck up the dirty water. The 48-ounce capacity is the largest on a portable Bissell at this price tier. The machine weighs 9.65 pounds, has a long cord that reviewers consistently praise, and ships with a HydroRinse self-cleaning tool plus a 3-inch Tough Stain tool.
Where the Little Green earns its 4.5-star rating is on real-world stains that paper towels and consumer-grade sprays can't lift. The most upvoted review on Amazon — written by Amy Vertacnik with 1,644 helpful votes — describes 100% success on cat vomit on a wool rug, dog bile on a nylon-polyester carpet, and mud on polyester upholstery, with a stain that had been sitting for months coming out cleanly. A second high-ranking review from Aubrey describes the machine paying for itself in less than a month: vomit on bedroom carpet, a dog accident on an area rug her husband wanted to throw out, and a six-month-old chocolate shake stain — all gone. That's the typical experience pattern in the five-star reviews.
The downsides cluster in three places. First, water recovery: a four-star review from Fallin notes the surface stays damp after cleaning, requiring extra drying time, and several reviewers echo that. Second, tank cleaning: the dual-tank design is not intuitive on first use, and Bissell's instructions are thin — buyers commonly look up YouTube videos to figure out how to disassemble for thorough cleaning, especially after pet stain jobs. Third, design quirks: the air outlet is on the bottom of the machine on some units, which one detailed reviewer flagged as a potential heat issue with extended use, and the trigger keeps suction on whenever the machine is running, which makes it harder to scrub without sucking up the solution.
None of those are dealbreakers in the review consensus. Out of 92,921 reviews, 75% are five stars and 13% are four stars — meaning 88% of buyers rate the 1400B four stars or higher. The 5% one-star reviews skew toward delivery damage and individual unit defects, not the cleaning performance. For a $99.99 corded spot cleaner that has been on Amazon since the late 2000s, that distribution is as positive as it gets in this category.
Pros
- 4.5-star rating across 92,921 reviews — largest verified sample in this category on Amazon
- 48-ounce clean water tank is the largest at this price point
- #1 bestseller in Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning Machines with 20,000+ units sold per month
- Lifts pet vomit, dog accidents, mud, coffee, and other set-in stains per dominant review pattern
- 1-year limited warranty, sold and shipped by Amazon directly with 30-day returns
Cons
- Recovery suction leaves surface damp — extra drying time needed before the area can be walked on
- Dual-tank design isn't intuitive on first use; buyers report needing YouTube to learn proper cleanup
BISSELL® Little Green® Max Pet SmartMix Portable Carpet and Upholstery Deep Cleaner, Car/Auto Detailer, with SmartMix Technology, Self-Cleaning Tough Stain Tool and Pet Hair Removal Tool, 38572
The Bissell Little Green Max Pet SmartMix is the newer pet-focused variant, released in 2024 and pitched as 30% more powerful than the standard 1400B in Bissell's own marketing. It currently sells for $119.99, down from $159.99 — a 25% discount — and holds a 4.5-star rating across 1,570 reviews with 2,000+ units sold last month. The model number is 38572.
The headline upgrades over the 1400B are SmartMix Technology, which automatically blends the cleaning solution and water at the right ratio so you don't measure, plus a self-cleaning Tough Stain tool that rinses out residue between uses, and a dedicated Pet Hair Removal tool for embedded fur on upholstery. The machine is 1.5 pounds lighter than the 1400B at 8.2 pounds, with a longer hose and cord. It ships with the PET PRO OXY Spot & Stain formula with Urine Eliminator and StainProtect, which is the active ingredient pet owners pay for. The reservoir for the formula is 8 ounces and lives separately from the water tank.
The reviewer experience is consistent with the standard Little Green — top reviews from Coastal reviews by Diane and ZSwain23 describe the Max Pet pulling dried-on dog accidents, urine, and food stains out of suede couches, stairs, and carpets that they thought were lost. The four-star review from ptadeb, with 75 helpful votes, is the most useful technical critique: the suction-on-while-spraying behavior is identical to the 1400B (no improvement there), and the bottom-vented air outlet design also carries over and stresses the motor on extended jobs.
The honest take after comparing the two: the Max Pet SmartMix is genuinely better for households with multiple pets and frequent stains. The auto-mix is the feature people don't realize they want until they have it — pre-mixing a Bissell formula bottle every cleaning session gets old fast, and the SmartMix removes that step. The Pet Hair Removal tool is meaningfully better at lifting fur than the standard 1400B's tools. But the price gap is $20, and for households where stains happen monthly rather than weekly, the 1400B is the right buy.
Pros
- SmartMix Technology auto-blends solution and water — no manual measuring per session
- Self-cleaning Tough Stain tool reduces post-clean teardown time
- Dedicated Pet Hair Removal tool genuinely lifts embedded fur, not just surface hair
- 8.2 pounds — 1.5 pounds lighter than the 1400B with longer hose and cord
Cons
- Same suction-on-while-spraying behavior as the 1400B; no design improvement
- $20 more than the 1400B for benefits that mainly matter in heavy pet households
Who Should Buy the Bissell Little Green
The decision tree here is short. Buy the standard Little Green 1400B at $99.99 if your stains are episodic — kid vomit, dog accidents that happen monthly, the occasional mud or coffee spill, car interior cleanups before a road trip, or seasonal couch refresh. The 92,921-review consensus is clear: it works the way it's marketed, the dual-tank design is awkward but learnable, and it pays for itself within the first or second serious mess. Five-star reviewers consistently describe a "should have bought it years ago" pattern. That's the right product for most US households with pets, kids, or carpeted floors.
Buy the Max Pet SmartMix at $119.99 if you have multiple pets, recurring accidents (puppy training, senior dogs with GI issues, cats with marking behavior), or you're already a heavy Little Green user who cleans something every week. The SmartMix auto-blending is a real time-saver at that frequency. The Pet Hair Removal tool earns its keep on upholstered furniture in homes with shedding breeds. At $20 more than the 1400B, the Max Pet is the better tool when usage is frequent enough for the upgrades to compound.
Three filters worth running before clicking buy. First, drying time: both machines leave the carpet meaningfully damp after a deep cleaning. Plan for 2–4 hours before the area is walkable, longer for thick pile or upholstery. If you need same-hour use of a stain area, neither model is the right tool — the Bissell SpotClean Pro 2458 with stronger suction or a Bissell HydroSteam 3618 with steam-drying are better fits at higher prices.
Second, the cleaning solution math. Bissell sells the standard Spot & Stain formula at $11.99 for 32 ounces and the PET PRO OXY at $10.99 for 32 ounces. A typical deep-cleaning session uses 2–4 ounces of formula. Households cleaning weekly will go through one bottle every 2–3 months, so plan an additional $50–$100/year in consumables. The Max Pet's 8-ounce trial bottle is enough for roughly 2–4 sessions before you need to buy a refill.
Third, what the Little Green won't replace. This is a spot cleaner, not a full-room carpet shampooer. Reviewers who try to clean an entire room of carpet with a Little Green report it works but takes hours, drains the 48-ounce tank twice, and produces uneven results. For full-room jobs, the Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution upright or a one-day rental of a Rug Doctor remains the right tool. The Little Green's job is single stains, single cushions, single car seats — not whole floors.
Skip the Bissell Little Green entirely if your house has no carpeted areas, no upholstered furniture, no pets, and no kids — at that point a microfiber cloth and an enzyme spray cover the use cases that justify the $100 spend. For everyone else, the Little Green at $99.99 is the floor on portable deep cleaners that actually work, and the 18-year track record and 92,921 reviews remove most of the buying risk.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Bissell Little Green worth $99.99?
For households with pets, kids, or carpeted floors that see occasional spills and accidents, yes — the 4.5-star rating across 92,921 reviews and 20,000+ units sold per month back that answer. The machine pays for itself within the first or second serious mess in most reviews. If your stains are rare and small, a $30 upholstery spray might cover it; if they're weekly, the Max Pet SmartMix at $119.99 is the better buy.
What's the difference between the Bissell Little Green and the Max Pet SmartMix?
Both are corded portable spot cleaners with the same 48-ounce-class tank design and the same spray-scrub-suction cycle. The Max Pet SmartMix adds auto-mixing of cleaning solution and water (so no manual measuring), a self-cleaning Tough Stain tool, a dedicated Pet Hair Removal attachment, and is 1.5 pounds lighter. It costs $20 more. For weekly pet households, the Max Pet is the better tool; for monthly cleanups, the standard 1400B is the right pick.
How long does it take a carpet to dry after using the Little Green?
Most reviewers report 2–4 hours of drying time for medium-pile carpet on a small spot, and 4–8 hours for upholstery or thicker pile. The recovery suction on the Little Green doesn't pull all the moisture — that's the most consistent four-star and three-star feedback in the review pool. Running a fan or opening windows shortens drying. If you need a same-hour result, the higher-suction Bissell SpotClean Pro 2458 or a HydroSteam model are better fits.
Does the Little Green work on pet urine and odor, or only on visible stains?
It works on both, but the formula matters. Use the Bissell PET PRO OXY Spot & Stain ($10.99 for 32 oz) rather than the standard Spot & Stain for urine — the PET PRO formula contains an enzymatic urine eliminator that targets the proteins paper towels and water can't break down. Reviewers who use the right formula report odor removal works as well as stain removal; reviewers who use water-only or generic formulas tend to leave smell complaints in their reviews.
How often do I need to buy more cleaning formula?
A typical deep-cleaning session uses 2–4 ounces of formula in a 48-ounce tank of water. Households cleaning weekly will use a 32-ounce formula bottle every 2–3 months, costing roughly $50–$100/year in consumables. Households cleaning monthly will use one bottle per 6–9 months. The Max Pet SmartMix uses a separate 8-ounce formula reservoir that automatically meters the right amount, so a small bottle lasts 2–4 sessions before refill.
Is the Bissell Little Green safe for wool rugs, suede, or microfiber?
For wool and microfiber, generally yes — multiple reviewers describe successfully lifting stains from wool throw rugs and microfiber upholstery without damage. For real suede or leather, test on a hidden area first; the moisture and the cleaning formula can leave marks. ZSwain23's review describes successfully cleaning a suede couch over two days with multiple passes, but acknowledges that it required extensive research first. Always check fabric care labels before deep cleaning.
