★★★★★ 5
REDEMPTION! A Bissell Powerfresh Steam Mop that WORKS!!
Style: PowerFresh Steam Mop
Although very optimistic about this purchase, after following the instructions TO THE LETTER, and only using distilled water, it failed to produce steam after only one use. How disappointing! I DO NOT recommend this product at all. Accordingly, I am sending it back for a refund. I will, most likely, order a HAAN steam cleaner to replace this Bissell failure.
UPDATE #1: I posted the above review several hours ago after trying to use my Bissell PowerFresh Steam Mop for only the second time. Of course, as I explained above, the steamer failed to work, prompting me to request a return shipping label for a refund; however, before packing the unit up, I looked online for possible fixes to my problems and came across this U-Tube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vz8OvV30sHM
I tried the half-CLR / half-Distilled Water mixture (poured directly into the water reservoir) and let it sit for approximately three hours. Upon turning on the unit to see if it would make steam …. NOTHING …. but wait! …. after trying for several second without success, I (as they did in the video) shook the steamer from side to side quite forcefully and … BLAMMO …. a strong burst of steam suddenly came exploding from the steam mop head and it began functioning absolutely perfectly, as if nothing was ever wrong. I immediately powered the steam mop down and promptly emptied the water reservoir of the CLR mixture, rinsed the reservoir out good, then refilled the reservoir with clean, fresh distilled water. Afterwards, I was able to mop my entire tiled kitchen, tiled hallways, and tiled bathrooms with nary a hitch. The Bissell Steam Mop operated exactly as it was designed.
In retrospect, now that I see how the Bissell Powerfresh Steam Mop operates when it is working properly, I realize that the first time I used the steam mop, the steamer was not putting out the proper amount of steam. Obviously, there was a clog in the unit when I unboxed it, when lends me to believe that Amazon shipped me a unit that had been returned. I come to that conclusion based on the fact that the box the Bissell PowerFresh Steam Mop arrived in from Amazon was a plain brown cardboard box, unlike one you would expect from a manufacturer. While I was at Sears yesterday, I looked at some Bissell PowerFresh Steam Mops that were displayed for sale and (unlike the box I received from Amazon) the boxes were very colorful with bold pictures of the steam mop proudly displayed on each side. Quite a difference!
I'm going to keep the return label that I downloaded from Amazon's website for at least a couple of weeks since I may still very well return it. It kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth that Amazon (to my belief) sent me a used/returned unit. I will give it another try or two before I decide whether or not to return it. However, I WILL upgrade my rating, just slightly (to 3 Stars), because the Bissell PowerFresh Steam Mop DID do a beautiful job on my floors after it was flushed with whatever debris/gunk was clogging the steamer flow tubes. Indeed I was VERY impressed with the overall simplicity of operation, the amount of steam that contacted the floor, and the finished cleanliness of the finished floors. Quite nice!
Recommended … but with caution!
UPDATE #2: Okay …. it's official … the Bissell Powerfresh Steam Mop is a piece of CRAP! Today I attempted to use it for the third time and, AGAIN, it would not operate. It required yet another dose of CLR before the steamer mechanism came to life. Accordingly, I am reducing my review to only one star, but that's only because I can't give it ZERO stars.
NOT RECOMMENDED!!!
UPDATE #3: August 22, 2015 …. Today I was at Sears in Savannah, GA and purchased a new Bissell Powerfresh Steam Mop. As noted above in my earlier review, the steam mop I received from Amazon was packaged in a plain brown cardboard box, void of any embellishment or product photos. This, of course, led me to believe I might have been sent a repackaged unit by Amazon, perhaps a defective unit that was previously returned. Regardless, the Powerfresh that I received from Amazon NEVER worked properly. Fast forward to today …. the Bissell Powerfresh Steam Mop that I purchased from Sears (unlike the one from Amazon) was contained inside a very colorful cardboard box, adorned with photos of the product and highly descriptive information. I purchased the unit for $89, and paid an additional $18 for a 2-year replacement warranty. I brought the Bissell Powerfresh Steam Mop home and assembled it according to the instructions (which is VERY simple). After assembly, I poured fresh distilled water into the reservoir and plugged in the unit. YES! …. The Bissell Powerfresh Steam Mop that I purchased from Sears fired right up and within one minute was pumping away steam like an old locomotive! I immediately steam mopped my tile kitchen, tile hallway, and tiled bathrooms with nary a hitch. It worked beautifully and the resulting cleaned floors looked fantastic!
Acccordingly, I am now escalating my star-rating from 1 to 5. Yes, it was a frustrating and annoying beginning to my relationship with the Bissell, but the unit that I purchased today worked so well and did such a fantastic job on my floors, I have to give it a max-rating. Would I purchase the Bissell Powerfresh Steam Mop from Amazon? …. HELL NO …. Would I purchase the Bissell Powerfresh Steam Mop from a local department store? ….. YES YES YES! At the moment I whole-heartedly recommend the Bissell Powerfresh Steam Mop; however, it I run into issues in the future I will most certainly provide an update.
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Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2015