I've owned my 1716 Spotlifter for about 6 years and decided to purchase one as a gift for a friend. We both do rescue and have anywhere from 6 to 8 cats in the house at any given time.

I have been very pleased with my Spotlifter, so was quite surprised at some of the reviews I read. My Spotlifter is the purrfect tool for quick cleanups before the stain sets in. I own a Little Green and the Pro Heat as well, and I am always surprised at how well this little gadget really does work.

Yes, you do have to tilt the unit forward and apply a little pressure during the suction pass, but after all, it is a hand-held unit for "spot" cleaning. I don't see any problem with the trigger spray, I do not find it to be excessively heavy, the brushes don't damage my berber carpet, it's a snap to clean, and it does "lift" the spot out. I suppose you could always blot with a dry towel afterwards, but I haven't found that to be necessary.

In my opinion this is a great little "in between" machine that does the job quickly and easily until you do the heavy duty cleaning with your full-size machine.

This machine is one of the worst purchases I have ever made! It has barely any suction. My stairs took forever to dry! I eventually had to break out my upright and use the attachment to reclean my stairs one by one because they were so matted and crusty feeling from the left over detergent and such. Not a fun experience. Giving the unit the BFD that maybe it could have been user error, I tried it one more time. This time I no sooner turned it on and it began to smell funny, like the belt was burning. Well I was right something was burning alright, but it wasn't my belt. It was the brush cartridge that literally melted and fell apart in my hand! After my husband looked it over and over he determined it was nothing I had done to cause it. Completely random. So there you have it folks. The Spot Lifter experience...a whole 2...count them...one, two...uses! So if you have one, return it, sell it to an ememy, give it to your nasty minded neighbor, whatever. Just get rid of it. For those who want one...JUST SAY NO! It is not worth the time, money or headache. Cheers.

I am currently wanting to buy an upright machine as effective as this handheld. The operator of this machine must know to tilt the machine to create the sucking action, if you leave it flat there is no seal created between the front suction piece and the carpet. But I never had a problem with lack of suction. My only complaint is that I am petite 5'1 with small hands and this makes it difficult to grasp the back reservoir tank for pull out/removal so I would wait for my husband to get to it. But I used this machine about three times a week for 4 yrs now and have loved it. My brushes are finally so full of hair and crap that I need to take them and really clean them but this machine takes a beating and gives you your old carpet back. the only stain that it has not completely cleared is a coffee stain on my white carpet that sat for a few days before I got to it. So it was my fault. The machine is loud but very effective.

I bought a spotlifter about two weeks ago. Some mysterious spots had been appearing around our dining table. We weren't sure if they were coming from our dog or what. They looked like drops of coffee and they weren't coming up when we sprayed them with cleaner and scrubbed them by hand. The spotlifter easily took care of them, and now that area of the carpet looks like new. I also brought the spotlifter up to my wife's office and cleaned a large area where a client had spilled a coke. Again, the stain came out to our satisfaction. The suction is powerful and so are the brushes. The machine is easy to take apart and clean. I do wish that the tank for the cleaning solution was bigger. I usually have to fill it up several times when I'm working, but I also tend to clean larger areas than what this thing was designed for. I strongly recommend this product.

This product did not work at all. no suction whatsoever. it's basically only good for scrubbing a stain, afterwards you have to mop up the soap and grime with a sponge. don't waste your money.