Bissell 28806 Perfect Sweep Turbo, Grey

Saw a friend using this on her hard floors and decided to get it. I have cats and they tend to be messy with litter. This was fantastic to use! It’s not too loud so it won’t scare the cats, it’s easy to use and I love how it doesn’t have any cords. Picks up the small sand from the litter and even the dust. Great for light vacuuming on carpets as well. It also works great on rugs!

Es muy practica

Not used it yet as I have got to buy a universal plug adapter as the plug on the actual carpet sweeper is a 2 pin plug

I like to wait a while before I review products like this because it generally gives me not only an idea as to whether or not the item is going to last as well as how the item works- far more than anything else, I think that this is probably the most important thing that you can do with ANY piece of equipment so, impressions.

We first purchased a Shark which was… alright except for the fact that the model that we got died on us within the first month. Twice. So, we tried a few other items over time with only so-so results before we got this Bissell.

Right of the box, the Bissell seems to have the same older battery-model annoyances that apparently, all sweepers have- long charge time, susceptible to overcharging, has to be run down completely… You know, the usual. I’ve come to the conclusion over the course of my research that this has to be because it keeps the cost down by a substantial amount on the units themselves- after all, who wants to pay 100’s of $ just for something to run around the floor for a few minutes?

So, yeah, I gotta agree with the choice all the manufacturers have made on this one: the charging requirements are annoying but, I wouldn’t pay the extra $ just so I could leave yet ANOTHER energy vampire device plugged into my wall 24/7 so that I can use it for 5 minutes here and there EITHER.

Beyond that, as I’ve learned with other battery operated items that get used sporadically: don’t ever let the run-times fool you because ONLY day-to-day use can ever really determine how often you’ll REALLY need to charge it (for us this seems to come down to about 1 a month for this unit which is actually a lot less than the Shark we used to have- which lasted the longest).

As to the power of the unit. Like others, I wouldn’t exactly call it “turbo” but then again, I just can’t see how having a super-powered “engine” in a sweeper could make the slightest difference to anyone other than Tim Allen. In my experience, as long as it’s powerful enough to sweep the little bits you’re trying to get rid of up and into the collection bin- bristle location, height and length? Waaaaay more important. Remember this is a SWEEPER, not a vacuum. The motor just turns the wheel, so any extra power only goes towards draining that battery faster. These things have NO SUCTION so there’s nothing that you CAN “turbo.”

Still, because of the bristle length and bar-placement, I can understand how the ILLUSION of a “turbo” could be created to someone who thought that there was some suction going on because they are VERY well placed- at least for our low pile rugs and tiled floors. Seriously, unless it’s REALLY bad, one time is all I need to go over an area. In fact, while just about every sweeper that I’ve tried can get kitty liter, dried cat food, etc, this bad boy can get even the small stuff that the others would leave behind- like sawdust from off of a tiled floor- even from the little grout crevices (although admittedly that took two passes but in the Bissell’s defense, it WAS a lot of sawdust).

Now we come to the above-mentioned bar that the bristles are attached to. I will have to admit that I didn’t see the point of it being red at first but, after the first time of having to clean it, I now understand that this is so that you can see the inevitable hair that ALWAYS seems to wrap itself around these things in both vacuums and sweepers alike.

Since, over time, this can destroy your device, I have to admit that I appreciate both the fact that it’s red AND the fact that the collection bin is directly above it. This means that when the bin is pulled not only can you SEE all of those annoying and damaging hairs but that you can remove them a LOT easier than I have ever had to remove them from ANYTHING before. In all honest, since I’ve always had long hair, even if the Bissell had exploded on the very first use, I would STILL give that design choice a standing ovation. It’s just ingenious. Truly. Whatever mad and unnamed genius out there that seemed to have finally understood that a lot of women have long hair and what that means to all cleaning items that have bristle bars should be thanked! A thousand blessing upon you sir/madame!

All joking aside, it really is a lot easier to clear the bristle bar on this Bissel then anything I’ve ever had to clear before. Just run the requisite box- cutter along each side and pull it free- no more having to remember which way the bar is supposed to turn so you can unwind a particularly nasty clump! Yay! And, speaking of cleaning, because the item is all-but open when you do pull out the collection bin, it’s really easy to wipe down- which means that it actually DOES get wiped down once in a while.

Appearance-wise, I’m not 100% thrilled with the choice of clear plastic any more than I was with the bright red (and highly visible) bristle bar but, again, these were practical choices made for usage- not style and I have to admit that I’d rather something that worked than looked pretty.

This brings us to the bane of ALL sweepers, everywhere: edges.

Like all sweepers, edges do indeed give the Bissell a bit of a problem. Running it along the wall just isn’t going to get that little bit next to the baseboard, however, UNLIKE the other sweepers we’ve tried, the Bissell WILL get most of it, if you come at the area head-on. Granted, this means “bumping” the wall a few times as you work your way along it, but, this is still a vast improvement of other models we’ve tried because, this means that we’re only having to get the old-fashioned broom or (far more often these days) the little hand-held brush with the collection pan for the corners. This is a LOT less than the entire perimeter of the room- so, yeah, lots better. I think it’s just the way that sweepers have to be designed by their nature because most vacuums aren’t any better unless you pull out the wand either.

So finally, the summary:

PROS:
Bristle length and bar placement are EXCELLENT for getting small things.
Maintenance is easy including clearing the bristle-bar (THANK YOU KIND STRANGER!)
Can edge a little with some fancy maneuvering.

CONS:
Fugly color design obviously chosen on purpose because it’s more effective (I’m for the easier to clean bristle bar but others might not agree)
Battery is still the same-old annoying tech as all the others (other people might want to pay more for an easier to charge unit)

Summary: There’s nothing, really that makes this unit stand out until you use it. It’s a sweeper. Some people are always going to want to make it work like a vacuum and, it can’t. Others are going to try to make it work like a broom and, it can’t. It’s just a sweeper. High piled rugs and carpets, edges and corners just aren’t the items you really want to reach for a sweeper to tackle and you don’t want to leave this thing plugged into the wall 24 hours a day.

That being said, it’s a very GOOD sweeper. It picks up not only the big stuff that’s easy for bristles to catch onto but also little things. It handles both grout between tiles and low pile indoor/outdoor rugs wonderfully. It’s easy to see that the collection bin is full, easy to wipe down and clearing the bristle bar is a breeze (can NOT stress how important that is to those of us with long hair that try to keep our cleaning equipment in good repair). Battery life is decent and it’s very good for a quick run over the floors to keep them up.

So: not a miracle worker but an extremely well-designed machine that works well.