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In this guide
The Little Green is the small portable extractor Bissell has sold in one form or another for decades, and the 1400B is the current basic version in the US at $129.99. It is a corded machine with two tanks: a 48-ounce clean tank you fill with warm water and Bissell formula, and a dirty tank that collects what the tool pulls back out of the fabric. A flex hose ends in a snap-on tool with a spray trigger and a row of bristles.
The pitch is spot cleaning, not carpet cleaning. The machine exists for the coffee on the stair runner, the dog's accident on the rug and the ground-in snack on a car seat, and Bissell's own description lists carpet, area rugs, upholstery, stairs and auto interiors as its territory. Bissell's page shows 1,372 reviews at an average of 4.4 out of 5, with 88 percent of respondents saying they would recommend it, which is a large enough sample to mean the design is settled.
Our verdict
A sensible $129.99 answer to spills on carpet and fabric: it sprays, scrubs and extracts one spot at a time, and it needs Bissell formula, warm water and a rinse routine to keep working.
- A good fit for
- A household with pets, kids or a light-colored sofa that produces a stain a week and wants a machine on the shelf instead of a rental every spring.
- We would skip it if
- You want to clean whole rooms of carpet, you will not commit to emptying and rinsing tanks after each session, or you need a cordless machine.
Reasons to consider it
- 48-ounce clean tank and a 15-foot cord cover a couch, a staircase or a car interior without refilling or moving the plug
- Three tools in the box, including a hose-rinsing tool that flushes the line after use
- One year of cover, with Bissell paying the shipping to send the unit in
The compromises
- The hose is short at about four feet, so the 9.65-pound body travels with you along a hallway
- Bissell ties both performance and the warranty to its own formulas, so the yearly spend includes their bottles
- The dirty tank has to be emptied at its MAX line and the duckbill gasket rinsed, or suction drops
What we have not verified: No unit was run here. Suction strength, spray coverage, noise, the real fill rate of the dirty tank and the hose length (Bissell lists both 4 and 4.5 feet) were not measured.
The things in this guide
A closer look at the products, who they may suit, and what to check before buying.
Little Green Portable Carpet Cleaner · 1400B
A 48-ounce clean tank, a 15-foot cord, a tough stain tool, a crevice tool and a hose-rinse tool for $129.99, with a plainly written manual that spells out the water temperature and the maintenance steps.
Before you buy: The hose is about four feet long, the machine only accepts Bissell formulas without risking the warranty, and cleaning power was not measured here.
Price checked September 11, 2026. Retailer prices can change.Spray, scrub, pull it back out
The working cycle is simple. You fill the 48-ounce clean tank with warm tap water and a measured dose of Bissell formula, plug in the 15-foot cord, snap a tool onto the hose and press the power button under the handle. Holding the trigger sprays solution through the tool; releasing it and scrubbing with the bristles works the stain loose; pressing the tool down and dragging it toward you pulls the dirty water into the second tank. Repeat until the water coming back runs clean.
Bissell's manual asks for a vacuum pass first to lift loose dirt and suggests a pretreat spray left for three minutes on set-in stains. It also tells you to test a hidden patch of upholstery for colorfastness and to skip silk and velvet entirely. Those cautions separate a spot that disappears from a sofa cushion with a clean pale rectangle in the middle, so read them once, ahead of any spill.
A 15-foot cord, a short hose and 9.65 pounds
The published numbers are a 3-amp corded motor, a 15-foot power cord, a 48-ounce clean tank and a weight of 9.65 pounds with a carry handle on top. The hose is the one figure Bissell gives two ways: the specification panel says 4 feet and the descriptive copy says 4.5 feet. Either number means the machine sits within arm's reach of the tool, and cleaning a staircase is a matter of carrying it up a few steps at a time.
The 48-ounce tank is generous for a spot cleaner, and Bissell makes a point of the dual-tank capacity meaning fewer refills, although the dirty tank's capacity is not listed. Three tools come in the box: a Tough Stain Tool that the page lists at 3 inches and the manual at 4, a Spraying Crevice Tool for seams and car footwells, and the HydroRinse tool that clears the hose after a session. A trial 8-ounce bottle of formula is included, and the machine comes in green only.
Warm water, Bissell formula, and the rinse you cannot skip
Two rules run through the manual. Water goes in warm, at most 140°F, never boiled and never heated in a microwave; the FAQ on the page puts it as hot tap water but not boiling. And the formula has to be one of Bissell's own, with the manual naming Pet PRO Oxy Spot & Stain, PRO Oxy Spot & Stain and Little Green Formula as compatible. Other cleaners, Bissell says, can damage internal parts, and the troubleshooting table lists incorrect formula as a cause of the machine failing to pick up solution.
Maintenance is where portable extractors get abandoned. After each session the manual has you hold the HydroRinse tool upright with the machine on for 30 seconds to flush the hose, empty the dirty tank before it passes the MAX line, rinse it with warm water, pull the lens off the tool to rinse it, and rinse the duckbill gasket. The tanks must stay out of the dishwasher and the unit stores indoors, dry. None of this is hard, but a machine put away wet with dirty water in the tank is the machine that smells the next time it comes out.
One year of coverage, and where $129.99 sits in the range
Bissell covers the 1400B for one year from purchase or delivery, whichever is later, for whoever bought it, and the coverage does not transfer. It excludes commercial or multi-family use, parts that need routine maintenance such as filters and brushes, ordinary wear, and any use that departs from the manual, which is how the formula rule reaches the warranty. Bissell chooses between repair and replacement, possibly with refurbished parts, and it pays the shipping to send the defective unit in. Purchases from bissell.com can be returned for a refund in the month after delivery.
Within Bissell's own lineup the 1400B is the entry point. The Little Green Pet Pro was listed at $139.99 on sale from $179.99, and the Little Green Mini Cordless at $129.99, the same money as the corded 1400B with a battery in place of the cord and a smaller footprint. The basic model wins on tank size and on never running out of charge mid-stain; the cordless one wins on reaching a car parked away from an outlet. Pick by where your stains happen.
Skip it for whole rooms or for a hands-off routine
A portable extractor is a stain tool, not a carpet cleaner. If the job is a living room of matted carpet, the 4-inch tool head and 48-ounce tank turn it into an afternoon of refills, and an upright carpet cleaner or a rental does that work in a fraction of the time. The Little Green is for the spot, the stair tread, the cushion and the car seat, and it is only worth $129.99 if those jobs come up often enough that a rental fee would be silly.
It also asks for discipline. The formula rule means keeping Bissell bottles on hand, and the rinse-and-empty routine happens after every use or the hose and tank start to smell. Anyone who knows they will put it away with the dirty tank half full should buy a spray bottle and a scrub brush instead. And if the stains live in a car parked on the street, the corded design is the wrong one; Bissell's cordless Little Green Mini exists for that case at the same price.
How we put this together
Built from the product pages and listings below, without test scores or results we have not measured. Specifications and prices change, so check the original page for the exact model, current price, delivery, and returns.
- Bissell: Little Green Portable Carpet Cleaner 1400B (opens in a new tab)
- Bissell: 1400B User Guide (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
- Bissell: warranty document, 1 year (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
- Bissell: search results for Little Green (opens in a new tab)
