Does the Bissell Little Green remove stains that already dried?

Pick 0007 · BISSELL Little Green portable carpet cleaner, 1400B

The Little Green does lift stains that dried long ago, and reviewers report success on marks left for months and in one case for years. AddToPick rates the machine worth buying for any home with pets or small children. The clean water tank leaks a little while being flipped into place, which three separate reviewers report and none consider a reason to return the machine.

Product	BISSELL Little Green portable carpet cleaner, 1400B
Type	Corded spot cleaner with spray and suction
Surfaces	Carpet, rugs, upholstery, mattresses, car interiors
Prep needed	Vacuum first, pretreat old stains for best results
Noise	Comparable to a vacuum cleaner
Skip if	A completely leak free water tank matters
AddToPick	Worth buying

What it is

The Little Green is a corded spot cleaner that sprays a water and solution mix onto a surface and then pulls the liquid back out through a hand tool. Two tanks sit on the body, one holding the clean mix and one collecting what comes back.

The machine is small enough that reviewers store it under a sink and carry it up a staircase one step at a time. The power cord is long, which reviewers mention because spot cleaning happens away from convenient outlets.

How it works

The clear window on the hand tool is what makes the machine usable rather than guesswork. Dirty water travels through that window on the way to the tank, so the person cleaning can see when a spot has stopped giving anything up and move on.

Old stains need a step before the machine. Reviewers who succeeded on months old marks describe pretreating the spot with a stain remover and then going over the area with the Little Green, rather than relying on the machine alone.

Vacuuming first is the other prerequisite. One reviewer notes that even after a thorough vacuum, a noticeable amount of pet hair still ended up in the dirty water tank.

What reviewers report

AddToPick read ten US five-star reviews of this machine, coming to roughly 17,800 characters. These are unusually long reviews with specific before and after cases.

Named limitations from these five-star reviewers:

Old stains lift. Reported cases include cat vomit on a wool rug left for months, sweat staining on a mattress built up over years, and a milkshake spill baked into a car mat over a Florida summer.
The machine works across surface types. Reviewers report results on wool rugs, nylon and polyester carpet, polyester upholstery, a mattress, carpeted stairs and car interiors.
Pet hair does not clog the machine. One reviewer with a Labrador reports no clogs across repeated use.
Cleaning the machine afterwards is short. Reviewers describe emptying the dirty tank, rinsing with soap and water, and leaving the parts to dry.
One reviewer reports a professional upholstery cleaner had declined to attempt a chair that the Little Green then visibly improved. Named limitations from these five-star reviewers:
Three separate reviewers report the clean water tank leaking a small amount while being filled and flipped into position on the body. All three describe the leak as harmless.
One reviewer reports the hose cannot be fully removed for cleaning.
One reviewer reports the instructions explain how to attach the tools but not which tool to use for which job, and had to look that up.
One reviewer describes the machine as loud, comparable to a vacuum.

Who it is not for

Anyone who needs a sealed water tank. Three of ten reviewers report a small leak when seating the clean tank, so this is the normal behaviour of the machine rather than a defect.
Anyone expecting the machine to work without preparation. Vacuuming first is necessary, and old stains need a pretreatment step.
Anyone who needs quiet. The machine runs at roughly vacuum volume, which one reviewer notes disturbs cats.
Anyone who wants to deep clean whole rooms. This is a spot cleaner with a hand tool, and every reported use is an area rather than a floor.

Questions people ask

Will the machine remove a stain that dried months ago?

Reviewers report success on months old pet stains and on mattress staining built up over years. The successful cases pretreated the spot with a stain remover before using the machine.

Does the clean water tank leak?

Three separate reviewers report a small leak while flipping the filled tank onto the body. All three continue using the machine and describe the leak as a minor annoyance rather than a fault.

Does pet hair clog the machine?

One reviewer with a Labrador reports no clogging across repeated use, while noting that hair does collect in the dirty water tank even after vacuuming first.

How loud is the Little Green?

One reviewer describes the noise as comparable to a vacuum cleaner and unbothersome, while noting it clearly bothers cats.

Can the machine clean a mattress?

One reviewer cleaned a years old stained mattress, refilling the tank twice for a single mattress, and reports visible improvement after one pass with more planned.

Watch it in use

Where to buy

View this on Amazon

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Pick 0007 · Last updated 2026-08-31 · Reviewed by AddToPick