The Carpet Cleaner I Forget I Own… Until I’m REALLY Glad I Do

There are certain things you buy for your house & yourself that you use nearly every single day. Your coffee maker. Your cordless vacuum. Your electric toothbrush (hopefully lol).

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And then there are things that sit untouched for months at a time — and honestly, the fact that you haven’t needed them is probably a good thing.

That is exactly how I feel about my little Bissell carpet cleaner.

I bought this thing a few years ago thinking it would be handy to have around for the occasional carpet stain or spill on furniture. And yes, that’s exactly what I’ve used it for.

But recently I realized that this may actually be one of the more underrated cleaning tools I own.

Not because I use it all the time.

Because when I need it, I REALLY need it.

Exhibit A: Two Boys + 10:30 P.M. + A Bloody Nose

Let me set the scene.

It’s approximately 10:30 p.m. on a Saturday night when two of my boys come downstairs into our bedroom to inform me that one of them has “accidentally” gotten a bloody nose.

From wrestling.

🤦‍♀️

First of all, WHY ARE WE WRESTLING AT 10:30 AT NIGHT WHEN WE SHOULD BE SLEEPING?

Second of all, I can only imagine what qualifies as “accidentally” getting a bloody nose during said wrestling match.

But also… boys.

I swear boys are basically little lion or bear cubs. They can be peacefully existing next to each other and then, without warning, one decides to spontaneously attack the other. Suddenly they’re tackling, wrestling, chasing each other around the house or testing some completely unnecessary physical feat.

Apparently this particular evening’s match ended with a bloody nose.

And, naturally, drops of blood on the carpet.

Why Did I Forget I Owned This Thing?!

My first instinct was to grab something and start scrubbing the carpet by hand.

So there I am at 10:30 at night, scrubbing blood droplets out of the carpet and probably internally questioning several of my life choices, when it suddenly occurred to me:

WAIT. I HAVE A CARPET CLEANER.

It had genuinely been so long since I had needed it that I temporarily forgot I owned it.

Which, when you think about it, is actually a very good thing.

I pulled out my little Bissell carpet cleaner, cleaned up the spots and was once again reminded why I am SO glad I bought this thing.

Shop the Bissell Mini Carpet Cleaner I Use

It’s Not Just for Carpet

Despite calling it my “carpet cleaner,” one of the reasons I’ve found this thing so useful over the years is that I can pull it out for all kinds of random household stains.

Carpet stains? Yep.

Something spilled on the couch? Yep.

Mystery spot on upholstered furniture that no child in the house has any recollection of creating? Absolutely.

Because apparently telling your children that they are not allowed to eat or drink on the couch is merely a suggestion and not, as I had previously believed, an actual household rule.

LOL.

Between kids, pets, food, drinks and just LIFE, stains happen. And there is a huge difference between trying to scrub something out with a towel and actually being able to spray, scrub and then suction the dirty liquid back out.

It’s especially satisfying — and slightly horrifying — when you can actually see what it pulled out.

The Best Household Products Aren’t Always the Ones You Use Every Day

I think that’s what I’ve come to appreciate most about owning this.

If you judged its value based solely on how often I use it, you might think it wasn’t worth buying.

It can sit untouched for months.

But that’s kind of the point.

It’s like having a plunger, a fire extinguisher or a really good stain remover. You don’t necessarily want to be using these things all the time.

You just want to have them when you need them.

And with three boys in my house, I feel fairly confident there will continue to be situations where I need it.

Hopefully future uses involve spilled juice rather than blood from an underground late-night wrestling league, but I’m not holding my breath.

Would I Buy It Again?

100%.

If you have kids, pets, carpet, upholstered furniture — or basically live inside a home where other humans occasionally make messes — I think a small portable carpet/upholstery cleaner is one of those surprisingly useful things to keep tucked away.

You may forget you even own it.

And then one random Saturday night at 10:30 p.m., you’ll remember.

And you will be very, very glad it’s there.

Shop My Bissell Mini Carpet Cleaner Here (This is the current model, mine is a few years old so doesn’t look EXACTLY like the one linked).