Bissell spot cleaner and Figgy castile soap

Welcome to the Figgy & Co. X Bissell spot cleaner hack!

This must be one of my favourite hacks for taking the stress out of stains and messes on the carpet. 

I have heard it said several times that a Bissell spot cleaner would be the perfect baby shower gift – and while I’m not a gadget kinda gal, or have an affiliate link, I tend to agree! Can you imagine having a handy dandy tool to suck up messes and sort out stains – no fuss, no stress. It's possible to have carpet that doesn’t age a day, even with kids(or pets) in the house!

My family life includes kids and dogs. There's always messes! A Bissell spot cleaner has turned into the quick and easy go-to for my carpet & upholstery – and for me, it in particular made cleaning up wet messes fast and no fuss. But I found one problem. The Bissell cleaning solution. It has an ingredient list that made me squirm and synthetic fragrance to knock your socks off. It's so highly fragranced that it'll set off a headache!

This Mumma wanted the convenience, but not those ingredients! And from a very practical point of view with that level of fragrance, how would I know I have cleaned the mess sufficiently if I can’t to a sniff test? After all a sniff test is the gold standard of clean! Strong scents is a easy way for messes with bacteria and germs to slip through the cracks and not get cleaned 100%. This leaves you in a situation where you'll need to go back and clean again! What a waste of time!

Why is Figgy & Co. soap better in your Bissell?

And this is where Figgy & Co. home cleaning castile soap enters and makes Bissell cleaning almost perfect! Figgy soaps have long been loved for natural, eco home cleaning – safe and gentle, they lend themselves very well to rescuing carpet, sofas and mattresses without lumping your home with unwanted chemicals. Studies on homes find that cleaning with typical home cleaners that contain multiple, complex chemicals significantly adds to your indoor air being polluted, this in turn can negatively affect your health.

Figgy & Co soaps are 100% fragrance free, pure soap. They are formulated and made in-house from quality coconut oil using traditional soap making techniques.

Is this hack a good idea?

Now before we dive in, it’s important to say from the outset that Bissell do state that they only recommend Bissell made formulations in their machines. Beyond the fact that this is like being told what laundry powder you can use in your washing machine, they do this for two basic reasons

• Bissell make a cleaning formulation that they want customers to purchase.
• It is a ‘low foam’ formulated detergent which is needed for the high foaming action caused by the vacuum.

But here is why I chose not to use the cleaning solution that came with my Bissell cleaner.

• I found the cleaner to be expensive to use,
• I found it to be overwhelmingly highly fragranced and
• The ingredients list included both irritating and harmful chemicals which I didn’t want to use in my home cleaning routine.

So if you’re keen to get things fresh and clean with less chemicals in your life, then here is how to use Figgy & Co. Home cleaning castile soap in your Bissell spot cleaner and little green.

How much Castile soap do you use in the tank?

Make a cleaning solution of 1-2 teaspoons Figgy & Co. Home cleaning castile soap with 1L tap water. This is your cleaning solution to use in your Bissell. You don’t need to use more than this amount of soap. The soap is concentrated and works well at this concentration, and at higher concentration may produce too many bubbles. For stubborn stains that need more soap to clean, read below under stubborn stains.

How to clean carpet & upholstery using Castile Soap and Bissell Carpet Cleaner

For cleaning up new wet messes follow these 5 simple steps:

1. Suck up as much of the liquid as you can first. If there is a mix of solid and liquid, scrape up the solids with an old butter knife or spoon first

2. Spray with cleaning solution, then immediately suck up. This is to dilute of the stain.

3. Spray again and use the brush on the hand attachment to work the stain or allow the soap mix to sit on the stain for 1-2 minutes before sucking up.

4. Repeat as required.

5. A final rinse can be done by using fresh water without soap on the area. Spray or wet your freshly cleaned area with the water then suck it up. This will rinse away any soap and also allows you to double check the colour of the water sucked up. Clear water (and a sniff) will tell you all the stain has been removed.

For older messes and stains follow these 4 steps:

1. Fill the cleaning solution reservoir with fresh water (no soap)

2. Wet the stain a little with warm water and use either undiluted Figgy Home cleaning castile soap or Figgy bar soap directly on the stain. Use your fingers or a soft brush to work the soap into the stain.

3. Leave the soap on the stain for several minutes, this will help to dissolve the mark.

4. Spray the mark with water and suck up. Repeat until you are happy with the stain treatment.

This method works so well because you are treating the stain with a more concentrated amount of soap, and not causing your Bissell to over foam.

Why you need to clean your Bissell after each use

Without being overly dramatic, you've got to (!!!) clean out your Bissell after each use.

The messes that get sucked up and cleaned away are a super charged bacteria soup wating to happen – a few warm days tucked up inside your Bissell and the dirty water will start to grow bacteria & you will have a very stinky mess that you’ll regret! I have learnt this the *hard way*, and definitely made more work for myself.

But fear not, this also means I have resurrected my Bissell from bacteria soup and so I can teach you how to fix even the smelliest Bissell!

There are 2 ways to flush out your dirty Bissell carpet spot cleaner or little green after using it.

1. Bissell have recently released a flushing cap called a hydro-rinse. It clips onto the end of your hose. With your machine on, you press the spray trigger as normal and the cleaning solution is redirected straight up the hose.
2. Alternatively, use a container with a flat bottom (like an ice cream container), fill with a small amount of warm water. With your machine on, dip the hand attachment into the water for a short time to suck up a small amount of water. Dip with a pulsing action to suck up small amounts of water in bursts until the hose is well rinsed.

Help! I didn't empty my Bissell and it stinks! 

This is a bit of a two-part clean and can be a bit messy, so best to do it near a sink or outside. First, you want to flush out the easy to move crud using the above method. Then you want to use a cleaning solution to soak and soften the crud that has got stuck.

1. Rinse your Bissell with warm water. Do 2 cycles of filling the collecting tank.

2. Make a solution of 1L warm water and 1-2 tablespoons washing soda. Stir to dissolve the powder.

3. With your machine off and hand attachment removed, tip the washing soda solution into the hose. Then lay the hose flat so the water stays in the hose and not draining into the collecting tank. Let this soak for several minutes. The washing soda will help both soften the crud and dislodge the stinky bacteria.

4. Tip out the washing soda solution by pointing the hose down the drain.

5. Flush out the Bissell with warm water as above. Do a sniff test to see if it smelling as it should.

6. Repeat if needed.

7. The hand attachment can also be taken apart and cleaned. The two sides of the attachment can be unclipped (carefully) by depressing the plastic tab. After cleaning, the two parts will snap back together.

Simple swap outs for a clean, healthy home

Now you're all set for fast, no-fuss family friendly mess cleaning for your carpet, sofa and more. I hope this is just what you needed to make the most of the helpful Bissell carpet spot cleaner while NOT adding unwanted chemicals to your home. This blog is such a good example of how simple traditional cleaning products are keeping our homes clean and healthy by doing a bit of mixing of old with new! Figgy & Co. Home cleaning castile soap is beyond versatile – it’s a non-toxic cleaning hero! Whoop!

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