Before using the brand-new Bissell Little Green Mini, the carpets and upholstery in my home inevitably got the short end of the stick. Thanks to my job, I’m stocked with the best vacuums and cleaning tools to tackle spills as soon as they hit my tile floors, but I’ve fallen victim to scrubbing all of my area rugs with a cloth and all-purpose spray to—unsuccessfully—remove stains. After scouring everywhere from Reddit to TikTok to see what fellow spillers are using to clean their spaces, I couldn’t help but notice the hype surrounding the Bissell Little Green Machine. I’ve known about the brand’s signature upholstery cleaner for years and social media seemed to confirm what I’d been hearing through the grapevine: It’s the crown jewel in the world of home upholstery cleaning.

Out of all of the cleaning products on the market, this vac stands out from the rest because of its strong suction (pet owners rave about it for picking up loose pet hair), plus, it has a tough stain tool to remove gunk from car seats. But as someone who lives in an NYC apartment and doesn’t have the worries of car ownership or a pet to clean up after, the machine felt bulky and impractical for my lifestyle. Fast-forward to earlier this year when I found out that Bissell was debuting a mini version of its upholstery cleaner and portable carpet cleaner combo, and I knew I had to try it.

Even though its been on the market for just about a month now, it’s already earning rave reviews—and I completely understand. I don’t have wall-to-wall carpets, (thankfully!), so my home mainly includes area rugs and an upholstered storage bed. This mini upholstery cleaner hits all the right notes for its small footprint for easy storage, stain removal, and spot cleaning to keep these items in their best condition.

The Setup

The delivery was fast—it just took a matter of days to arrive at my doorstep after the order was placed. Unlike some of the bulky appliances in my space, this was lightweight to pick up and carry inside. To put things in perspective, the standard version of the cleaning tool is about 10 pounds and measures at around the size of a window HVAC unit. The mini is only seven pounds and has a footprint that’s about ⅓ of the size. In short, storage has been a breeze. It fits under my kitchen sink and easily tucks inside my storage closet without cramping the space.

The setup itself was pretty intuitive. It came with a printout of the instructions that I followed to clip the power cord and four-foot cleaning hose properly to the appliance. From there, I filled up the clean water tank with warm water and the trial size cleaning solution that was included with my package. The only thing left was to attach the bristle brush to the hose and get to cleaning.

The Specs

This Bissell Little Green Mini resembles its full-size counterpart with the same signature stain remover tool. As mentioned, it comes with a bristle brush that’s been a lifesaver with removing spills—even thick messes like mustard (more on that below!)—from my carpet. The deep cleaner removes drippage after several passes (it took about 10-plus to get the aforementioned mustard off my rug, oops) using its suction power. Even though it has a spray component that is helpful for wetting and targeting dried-on spills with cleaning solution, I wouldn’t classify it as a steam cleaner. The pressure I put on the handle allows the machine to pull and lift stains from the surface of fabrics.

The Verdict

I’m officially a fan. The trending mini cleaning machine targets messes before stains set in, which is especially great for carpet cleaning—and way more than the average vacuum can do. My only note is that it would be even better if it had a cordless design.

Final verdict: I would recommend this upholstery cleaner to anyone like me who constantly battles with cleanup but doesn’t want to compromise their space with a bulky gadget. The original has a larger tank capacity (a whopping 48 ounces in comparison to the mini’s 16-ounce tank) that might be a better fit for people who are tackling messes left and right throughout their home. And unlike the bigger version, this one is a lot less expensive if you don’t want to commit to a steeper price tag. I haven’t been disappointed with my experience, but it comes with a two-year warranty, just in case.

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