BISSELL 24613 Pet Hair Eraser Turbo Plus Lightweight Vacuum, Tangle-Free Brush Roll, Powerful Pet Hair Pick-up, SmartSeal Allergen System,…

I was excited to try this new Bissell vacuum. I’ve owned Bissell in the past and currently have two of their slightly lighter vacuums that I love. We have three floors so I thought maybe this would be good for the main floor and I could keep one of my others upstairs and the other in the basement.

ASSEMBLY First impression out of the box is that it was easy to put together and required no tools. I think the instructions could have included a little larger photos but it could be my older eyes made it hard to see the small photos. It really was pretty intuitive though and did not take long. All the parts seemed sturdy enough for the price of the machine.

VACUUMING FLOORS It was pretty easy to get started vacuuming. Instead of pushing a lever to release the vacuum from the upright position, you hold your foot on the front and just pull back. I am not sure if this is good or bad since I have never had a vacuum without a lever so hopefully over time that does not weaken and make it hard to keep the vacuum upright when I want it that way.

The vacuum has a swivel type base so you can just twist the handle one way and the vacuum will turn. This is nice for maneuvering into small spaces. I felt it did a good job going under furniture too. It’s a little heavier feeling than what I am used to using but it’s still pretty easy to maneuver around.

It has a nice wide cleaning path so you can get through the job a little faster. I usually go over each spot a few times though just to be sure to get as much dirt out of the carpet as possible.

BRUSHROLL FEATURES AND SETTINGS I love that I can turn the brush roll on and off. It also turns off when the handle is in the upright position. That is really an important feature because so often you are vacuuming a hard surface or using the tools and do not need to use the extra power to turn the brush roll. This brushroll is also advertised to not collect hair. I have long hair so this was enticing. So far after vacuuming there was no hair caught on the roll but plenty in the dust bin. It says if you look down and can see any hair on the roll to go back and forth on a clean carpet area and it will come off. I have not had this happen so I could not test it. The brush roll is much larger than my other vacuums.

SUCTION The vacuum has a switch on the handle to change from a low to high suction. Instead of low/high it says plush carpet/ low carpet. The low carpet setting is the higher suction setting. This might be confusing for people who are wondering what setting to use on a bare floor or for the tools. The low setting basically lets a little air in. I just keep mine on the higher setting for everything. I do not really have shag carpet anywhere so that seems appropriate.

The suction power for the tools seemed fantastic but I was not sure if the suction was any better than my cheaper vacuum on the floor. I vacuum regularly so I thought maybe my carpet was just cleaner than I thought. I got a chance to try it out through because I accidentally dumped what I had picked up out on the carpet. It did seem to do a decent job with that. I decided to dump it out again on purpose on the hardwood floors to see how it did with that and it did get it all up! I think because this has a wider path when I put my hand underneath it just did not feel like the suction was all that great, but it does have a larger opening than my other vacuum. Just to be sure I put a paper over the bottom and the suction held it in place.

PULL OUT EXTENSION WAND I was really curious about the pull out handle/ extension wand, as it seemed like it might be easier to use than my other one where I had to disconnect the tube, but as it turns out it’s a little cumbersome to use.

CREVICE TOOL The light on the end of the crevice tool was cool but having the light ended up making the small part of the tool bigger which sort of negates the point of a tool designed to fit into a crevice. I think it would be great for reaching above to get cobwebs so you could see them. But in reality the suction of the machine keeps the accordion pleated hose from fulling extending which means you have to pull hard on it to reach a tall ceiling. If you have 8 ft ceilings it might be ok, but I had to use two hands to pull it out. It’s a little better with the crevice tool since that adds some length to the whole thing.

The other thing that I found awkward about pulling out the wand from the handle is that when you are vacuuming your floors there is a thing that attaches to the pleated hose to keep it from flopping around and then there is a little hook to keep your cord up so you are not constantly running over it. When you go to pull the handle out to get something in a corner you have to undo the cord from that hook because it’s attached to the handle instead of the main part of the vacuum and the other connector that holds the hose from flopping also has to be removed. I found myself pulling on the thing to get it out and then remembering I had to not only press the release button but also disconnect the other two things. This means that it’s really not so easy to just pull it out and put it back and go back to floor vacuuming.

TURBO BRUSH AND TOOL STORAGE The vacuum comes also with a turbo brush that is good for stairs. It’s not really great to use with the pull out wand so there is also a way to detach the hose so you can attach it directly to the hose for use. This worked well, but I was disappointed that there is no place to store it on the vacuum. My smaller bissell has a place to attach the wand, a regular brush and the turbo brush but as far as I can tell there is no place on the vacuum to store the turbo brush. This means for me that the turbo brush will not get used as much and could easily get lost.

EMPTYING THE BIN removing the bin to empty it is pretty easy. I feel like a lot of dirt gets stuck in the upper part of the bin though so you sort of have to tap it to get more of the dirt out. That was how I ended up dumping dirt all over my floor, because I was tapping it to see how much it actually picked up and accidentally hit the button to release the bottom trap door. I will make sure to hold it over the trash can next time.

FILTERS AND MAINTENANCE This vacuum has two different filters. One you can wash and the other is like a hepa filter and that one needs to be changed every 3-6 months. I have not checked the price yet but it seems pretty substantial so I am guessing that will be a pretty penny.

It also comes with an optional Febreeze filter that you can use in place of the washable filter to spread the scent of febreeze I guess. I am not a fan of scents so I did not open that. It’s kind of an interesting option though for people who like that sort of thing.

CLEANING THE DIRT BIN The one thing I am not crazy about is that inside the dirt bin where the fan blows the dirt around there is something you have to pull out to clean or the vacuum won’t work that great. You can wash it but I was disappointed that you can not take that apart to fully clean out the inner chamber. My other vacuum has two parts like this but I can pull them apart for cleaning. This one I either have to wash it and hope I can get everything out with the water stream or I can see some screws in there. In the instructions it says to just use water and does not suggest removing the screws so I have a feeling this will be an issue.

SEEMS TO RUN A LITTLE HOT When I first used it I was only vacuuming for 5-10 minutes and when I took the dirt bin off to empty it and wanted to examine the filter it felt quite hot in there. When reading the manual it says that there is a shut off feature in case it overheats. I am not sure how long I would have to vacuum for that to happen but found it interesting that it was mentioned prominently in the manual so I am hoping it will not become a problem. It states that if this does happen the light will stay on but the motor will turn off and you are to check the filters and hoses for a blockage. Then I guess it won’t turn back on for about 30 minutes.

CORD This vacuum has a longer cord than my current one. I like that because I do not have to keep unplugging it and finding a closer outlet to plug it in.

Overall for the price (under $230) this is a great upright vacuum that has a lot of different features. Yes it does have some things I would change or improve but it’s a lot of vacuum for the money.

Thanks for reading my review

Becky Brooks