Start with the thing the marketing won’t tell you: the Little Green leaves the carpet wet. Not soaked, but damp enough that you’re not walking on that spot for a few hours, and on thick pile or a cushion it can be most of an afternoon. The recovery suction pulls up the dirty water, but it doesn’t pull it all, and that single trait is the most common gripe owners raise once the novelty of watching a stain disappear wears off.
The other rough edges are real too. The two-tank setup is not intuitive the first time, and Bissell’s printed instructions are thin enough that most people end up watching a video to learn how to take it apart and clean it properly, which matters after a messy pet job. The trigger keeps suction running the whole time the machine is on, so scrubbing a stain while spraying it takes a little practice before it feels natural.
And yet this is one of the most consistently praised cleaning tools you can buy, with a huge review base and a rating that has barely moved in all the years it’s been on the market. The reason is simple: on the messes it’s built for, it works, and it keeps working. This review walks through what it actually does well, where it falls short, who should own one, and when the pet-focused version earns the extra spend.
For most homes, the standard Bissell Little Green 1400B is the right buy. It lifts cat sick, dog accidents, mud, and old drink stains the way owners say it does, and its enormous review base makes the basic answer easy: yes, it works. Step up to the Max Pet version only if you’re cleaning up after pets nearly every week.
The Bissell Little Green (model 1400B) is a corded portable spot cleaner. You fill the clean-water tank with warm tap water and a Bissell formula, hold the trigger to spray a stain through the hose-mounted tool, scrub with the included stain tool, then run the head back over the area to suck the dirty water into a separate recovery tank. It’s the same basic machine it has been for many years, and it’s earned one of the largest, steadiest review bases in its category, sitting right at four and a half stars.
What it’s genuinely good at is the kind of stain that paper towels and a spray bottle give up on. Owners describe lifting cat vomit out of wool rugs, dog accidents off carpet and area rugs, mud out of upholstery, and old coffee or chocolate marks that had been sitting for months. The recurring phrase in the happy reviews is some version of “I should have bought this years ago,” usually after a single mess that the machine cleared in one session. The large clean-water tank means you can work a decent area before refilling, and the long cord earns quiet praise for letting people reach stairs and car interiors without hunting for an outlet.
The weaknesses cluster in three places, and they’re worth knowing before you buy. The carpet stays damp after cleaning, so plan drying time. The two-tank design takes a job or two to learn, and proper cleanup after a pet stain is fiddly. And the always-on suction while you spray means scrubbing takes a bit of getting used to. None of these show up as dealbreakers in the overall picture: the rating holds high across an unusually large pool, and the rare unhappy reviews lean toward shipping damage or a defective unit rather than the cleaning itself.
Bissell Little Green 1400B
The Max Pet SmartMix is the newer, pet-focused take on the same idea, and it holds the same high rating on a smaller but solid review base. The headline change is auto-mixing: instead of pre-measuring formula into the water tank every session, you load a separate formula reservoir and the machine blends it for you. There’s also a self-cleaning stain tool that rinses its own residue, a dedicated tool for pulling embedded fur off upholstery, and a slightly lighter body with a longer hose and cord. It ships with a pet-specific formula aimed at urine and set-in stains.
In use, owners report the same satisfying results as the standard model on dried-on accidents, urine, and food stains, including on tougher surfaces like suede couches and stairs. The auto-mix is the feature people don’t realize they want until they have it, because pre-mixing a bottle of solution before every cleanup gets old fast once you’re doing it weekly. The fur tool is a genuine step up for homes with shedding pets, lifting embedded hair rather than just skimming the surface.
The honest comparison: the Max Pet is the better machine if pets are a frequent source of mess, but it doesn’t fix the two things people complain about. The suction-while-spraying behavior is the same, and it leaves the surface damp just like the standard model. For a modest price step, the convenience features are worth it in a heavy-use home, and not really worth it in a home where serious messes happen monthly.
Bissell Max Pet SmartMix
Who Should Buy the Little Green
The decision is short. Buy the standard Little Green if your messes are occasional: a kid throwing up, a dog accident now and then, the odd mud or coffee spill, a car interior before a road trip, a couch refresh once or twice a year. For that pattern it’s almost certainly the right tool, and it tends to pay for itself the first time it saves a rug or a cushion you’d otherwise have written off.
Buy the Max Pet SmartMix if you’re dealing with pets that make messes often: a puppy in training, a senior dog with a sensitive stomach, a cat with marking habits, or a heavily shedding breed and upholstered furniture. At that frequency, the auto-mix and the fur tool stop being gimmicks and start saving real time and effort each session.
There are a few things worth checking before you click buy. First, drying time. Both machines leave the carpet meaningfully damp, so a cleaned spot needs a few hours, longer on thick pile or upholstery, before it’s back in service. If you need a spot dry and walkable within the hour, this style of cleaner isn’t the right pick, and a higher-suction or steam-based machine would suit you better.
Second, ongoing formula cost. These cleaners work best with Bissell’s own solutions, and for pet messes specifically the enzyme-based pet formula is what actually breaks down urine odor rather than just masking it. A bottle isn’t expensive on its own, but if you clean weekly you’ll go through it steadily, so factor a modest recurring cost into the decision rather than treating it as a one-time purchase.
Third, know what it won’t do. This is a spot cleaner, not a whole-room carpet shampooer. People who try to clean an entire carpeted room with it report that it works but takes hours and drains the tank several times with uneven results. For full floors, a proper upright carpet cleaner or a one-day machine rental is the better answer. The Little Green’s real job is single stains, single cushions, single car seats.
Skip it entirely only if your home has no carpet, no upholstery, no pets, and no kids. At that point a microfiber cloth and an enzyme spray cover everything you’d realistically need. For everyone else, this is about as low-risk as a cleaning purchase gets: a long track record, a deep and steady review base, and a job it does well enough that people keep recommending it years after they bought it.
Is the Bissell Little Green worth it?
For homes with pets, kids, or carpet that sees the occasional spill, yes. Its long-running, high rating across a very large review base backs the basic claim that it lifts the stains it’s marketed for, and most owners feel it earns its price the first or second time it rescues something. If your messes are rare and small, an enzyme spray might be enough; if they’re weekly, the Max Pet version is the better fit.
What's the difference between the Little Green and the Max Pet SmartMix?
Both are corded portable spot cleaners using the same spray-scrub-suction cycle and a similar tank setup. The Max Pet adds auto-mixing of formula and water so you don’t measure, a self-cleaning stain tool, a dedicated pet-hair attachment, and a slightly lighter body. It costs a bit more. For weekly pet cleanup the Max Pet is worth it; for monthly messes the standard model is the smarter buy.
How long does carpet take to dry after using it?
Plan on a few hours for a small spot on medium-pile carpet, and longer for upholstery or thick pile. The recovery suction doesn’t pull every bit of moisture, which is the most consistent complaint owners raise. A fan or open window speeds it up. If you need a same-hour result, a higher-suction spot cleaner or a steam-based model dries faster.
Does it actually remove pet urine and odor, or just the stain?
It handles both, but the formula is what matters. Use Bissell’s enzyme-based pet formula rather than the standard solution, because the enzymes break down the proteins behind urine odor that water alone can’t touch. Owners who use the right formula report odor removal as good as stain removal; those who go water-only or generic tend to be the ones left complaining about lingering smell.
Can I use it on a whole room of carpet?
You can, but it’s the wrong tool for it. It’s a spot cleaner, so a full room means hours of work and several tank refills with patchy results. For whole floors, a full-size upright carpet cleaner or a one-day rental does the job far faster and more evenly. Keep the Little Green for individual stains, cushions, stairs, and car interiors.
Is it safe on wool, suede, or microfiber?
Wool and microfiber are generally fine, and plenty of owners report lifting stains from both without harm. For real suede or leather, test a hidden area first, since the moisture and formula can leave a mark. Whatever the fabric, check the care label before a deep clean, and on delicate materials work in light passes rather than soaking the spot.