Bissell 1161 Hard Floor Expert Deluxe Canister Vacuum

After reviewing information about multiple vacuums online, I purchased this on clearance at a department store even though I wasn’t sure this was the one I wanted. We have only throw rugs and carpet on our stairs. The rest of the house is linoleum, hard wood, wood laminate and painted cement floors in the basement.

I was only using a stick vac for the past 6 years until we came down with a flea problem. I bought this to try to get it under control. After flea bombing the house, I did a thorough cleaning from top to bottom, every room, every surface. I used this vacuum like you wouldn’t believe.

It is wonderful on hard floors, low carpet and upholstery. I use the rolling brush attachment for the hard wood and the laminate. Then I used the carpet attachment on hard floor setting for the linoleum and cement. The carpet attachment works great on my throw rugs that can’t go in the washer. I think the dirt cup is ok size, I didn’t mind emptying it often. The cord could have been slightly longer, but again, I didn’t mind moving it around. I love the swivel function of the heads and that I can get under and around everything with relative ease. I also used it on my walls. I picked up lots of debris, it didn’t like some things, coins, heavier or larger pieces of anything, but does any vacuum like them except maybe a shop vac? I really like that I can adjust the suction up or down. When I used around my curtains, I could turn it down so it didn’t suck in the whole curtain, or turned it up to make sure I got everything under the baseboards, etc.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this to someone that has all hard floors and maybe some low pile rugs. It does the job that I needed it to and I used it almost constantly for 3 days.

Pros: Worked great on all types of hard floors. Moves easily, swivels nicely for getting under everything. Suction is good. Very easy to empty and clean filters. Can turn off the power on the handle to stop and move furniture or change heads.

Cons: Could have a slightly longer cord (not a big deal).

This is a small footprint canister vac that specializes in hard floors but can also do carpets. It comes with a hard floor head that can also go on carpets, a carpet brush that you can switch for hard floors, a dusting tool, and a crevice tool.

WHAT I LOVE:
+ Once the power is on on the base, you can switch it on and off on the handle. I love this, because I frequently have to do a quick switch-off to change heads, move sports equipment, etc.
+ You can also adjust the suction on the handle, though in my animal-and-teen-filled house, I can’t conceive of a time I wouldn’t use max suction.
+ Non-marking wheels, good for laminate floors
+ Hard-floor head has great suction and is AWESOME at ‘dusting’ your hard floors and picking up all the dust/bunnies/dirt too. Way better than just pushing dust around with a swiffer.
+ Hard-floor head can also go on carpets because the soft brush retracts when it’s not on hard floors. This is great for vacuuming rugs you may have scattered around. Changing heads would be such a hassle. The suction here is fine for low-pile rugs, though you should probably change to the carpet-head for deep pile.
+ There is also a carpet-head that can switch to hard floors. (I don’t actually understand why you need a hard-floor head that does carpets and a carpet-head that does hard floors….) I don’t use this because when I want to do my carpeted levels I use a regular vacuum and when I want to do the hard floors I use the specialty tool, but you may want to use it and not have 2 vacuums around.
+ Normally I have a love-hate relationship with canister vacs… they do allow you to get into smaller spots, but they also trail behind you bumping into things and getting trapped and aggravating you. This one is more maneuverable than most.
+ It’s light

WHAT I DON’T LIKE:
– There is a carry handle and the vacuum is light, but the handle is so shallow that I feel I am balancing the vacuum on my fingertips.

BOTTOM LINE:
FABULOUS on hard floors, workable on carpets

This is by far the best vacuum I’ve ever used on our home’s hard surface flooring. It has several nifty features that are pretty nice to have:

–Retractable power cord. Glides out well and retracts effortlessly.
–Dual power buttons. one on the canister and another on/off button on the handle.
–Adjustable suction. This is my favorite. Dial up or down on the handle to increase or decrease suction. Lights on the canister show amount of suction being used.
–Adjustable telescopic wand (the part from the handle to the canister) so no matter your height you’ll find a comfortable length.

The vacuum is lightweight and has a handle on the canister. Also has wheels that are non-marking, a necessity for laminate flooring. Bagless dust bin is larger than most and is very easy to open and clean. Two filters.

You can really tell the difference when vacuuming hard floors. Using the hard floor tool you can clean both hard and carpet surfaces by dialing up the suction. The vacuum comes with a separate carpet tool, but I’ve put that away and don’t think I’ll need it. The hard floor tool can do both. It really comes in handy when doing hard floors with area rugs. No need to change attachments. The hard floor tool features very soft bristles. They stop automatically as soon as you lift it from the floor surface. The vacuum also has two other attachments, a soft brush and a crevice tool that can be attached to the handle.

Easy to store. I just hung it up behind our utility room door. Very small footprint. Comes with a two year warranty.

The Bissell 1161 is perfect for anyone who has hard flooring such as wood, laminate, or tile. But it’s also good on carpet. Terrific machine.