Bissell 18M9W Rewind CleanView Pet Review

Introduction

Design & Usability

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Yet another unwieldy upright.

Because this is an upright vacuum, all its 16.34 pounds have to be lifted everywhere it goes—up stairs, into a closet, over a threshold. It’s bulky, and there aren’t many places to get a good grip on it, as well. It has quite a wide brush, too, which makes it hard to maneuver around smaller rooms or ones crowded with furniture.

The controls on this machine are quite spread out: a pedal on the base of the vacuum unlocks it from the upright position, another pedal retracts the power cord (hence the "Rewind" moniker), a height adjuster is located on the front of the unit, and a power switch is found in the middle of the cleaner’s left side. Worst of all is the lack of a brushroll on/off switch, which means there's a good chance you may scratch hardwood floors over time if you insist on cleaning them with this machine.

This cleaner's hose is the sole source of suction. When decoupled from the cleaner head, it does allow for some movement away from the vacuum itself, but stray too far and the whole device will tip and clatter to the floor. Another problem: once again, the big brushroll keeps on turnin’, just sitting on your carpet in the same spot where it will pulverize those poor little fibers.

Unlike the Dyson-style dirt holders that detach completely—filter and all—from the body of the vacuum, only the nasty part of the Bissell’s dirt holder slides out when you push the appropriate lever. It’s lighter and easier to hold than a whole filter/dust holder assembly, but you risk getting some dirt on your hands; if you're lucky, you'll know where it's from. A foam prefilter sits below the dirt holder, and another disposable paper filter on the side of the unit provides HEPA filtration. This isn’t a sealed HEPA system—just one that’s capable of meeting the criteria.

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Features & Performance

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Not bad for $88.96. Just make sure you don’t try it out on hardwood floors.

This is a vacuum made for homes of the ‘80s and ’90s, when rooms were uninterrupted rectangles and every flat surface was covered with carpet. We’ve even seen some houses with carpeted bathrooms and kitchens. If we lived in one of them and didn’t want to bother with putting down tile or hardwood, this vacuum would be a nice bet—especially if there were pets in that house. If, however, you only stop watching HGTV when it’s time to call your contractor and have the latest and greatest solid flooring surfaces installed, this vacuum probably won’t be the best choice. It’s got a powered brushroll that agitates dirt up from the deepest recesses of carpet, but roughs up wood floors and large chunks of debris like a nightclub bouncer. There's no way of turning it off.

Conclusion

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Like most inexpensive bagless uprights, it’s hard to handle and not ideal for wood floors.

It’s hard to argue against a vacuum that costs only $88.96. The Bissell 18M9W Rewind CleanView Pet does a decent job lifting dirt and debris off all kinds of floors, and no other vacuum in its price range outshines its performance. However, one cannot turn off the Bissell 18M9W Rewind CleanView Pet’s brushroll, which makes it less than ideal for wood floors. It’s also hard to carry up stairs and gets bogged down in heavy carpet.

We’ve tested vacuums that cost three to four times as much that do a worse job on general dirt removal. That said, we’ve also tested vacuums that cost only twice as much that do an exponentially better job. The Bissell 18M9W Rewind CleanView Pet is ideal for someone with short carpet, since that’s where it really stood out in our evaluations.

Science Introduction

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Even relatively inexpensive vacuums — like the Bissell 18M9W — are put through the full gamut of tests in our labs. Read on to see exactly how well this vacuum performed compared to the competition.

Dirt and Debris Cleaning

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If you've got anything besides short carpet in your home, you'll likely need a more nuanced cleaner.

In our long carpet tests, the Bissell 18M9W got out more than 50 percent of the dirt we put down. That’s not perfect, but short of replacing your rugs on a weekly basis it’s about the best you’ll get from a bargain vacuum cleaner. Adjusting the brushhead for shorter carpet, we found that it picked up 84 percent of the dirt. Again, other vacuums do this better, but not for $88.96.

The Bissell actually did a somewhat decent job picking up dirt on a wood floor, getting about 71 percent of it. The problem is that the vacuum’s powered brushroll can’t be turned off, so the dirt it doesn’t pick up gets scattered across the floor, and the floor’s surface gets worn down over time.

True to its long name, this machine did an admirable job picking up pet hair. The small upholstery tool is a great feature for getting the fur off your furniture. The same holds true for debris cleaning...most of the time. When it worked, it worked well; when it didn’t, it created an even bigger mess. Again, this is the fault of the powered brushroll, which pulverizes items like cereal, noodles and dry pet food into even smaller bits. Sometimes, the brushroll even shot heavier items out from beneath the vacuum at great velocity and with an equally impressive CRAAACK!

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Noise and Energy

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A low growl means this "Pet" will scare your pets.

The 74.5 decibels this Bissell emits is a harmony resulting from the motor’s high-pitched whine and the low rumble of the ever-spinning brushroll. It’s also a bit of an energy hog. Like most full-sized vacuums with powered brushrolls, this one consistently draws around 1250 watts. That’s enough to blow a fuse if you’ve got something else plugged in to the same outlet.

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