Bissell Little Green vs Hoover PowerDash: Which to Buy?

Quick answer: In the Bissell Little Green vs Hoover PowerDash matchup, the right pick depends on the job. Choose the Bissell Little Green if you mostly clean small, fresh pet accidents, stairs, couches and car seats. Choose the Hoover PowerDash Pet if you want to clean whole rooms of carpet regularly. Many pet homes end up owning both.

These two are among the most popular carpet cleaners on Amazon, each with tens of thousands of owner reviews. But they’re not really competitors. One is a portable spot cleaner with a hose; the other is a compact upright that cleans floors.

Our comparison is based on manufacturer specs, carpet-care guidance and patterns in verified owner reviews. Here’s how they differ and which one fits your home.

Bissell Little Green vs Hoover PowerDash at a glance

	Bissell Little Green 1400B	Hoover PowerDash Pet
Type	Portable spot cleaner	Compact upright carpet cleaner
How it cleans	Spray, scrub and suction through a hose and hand tool	Rolling upright with a spinning brush roll
Best job	Fresh spots, stairs, upholstery, car seats	Whole rooms and traffic lanes
Clean water tank	48 oz	Larger, sized for room cleaning
Drying help	None beyond suction	HeatForce warm-air drying
Brush	Hand tool with scrub bristles	Antimicrobial PowerSpin pet brush roll
Storage	Very compact, fits in a cabinet	Upright; needs closet space
Owner feedback	Tens of thousands of reviews	Tens of thousands of reviews
Tier	Budget	Budget
Buy	Check price	Check price

The key difference: spot cleaner vs upright

A spot cleaner like the Little Green is built for small areas. You spray solution, scrub with the tool and suck the dirty water back up through a hose. It’s what you grab when the dog throws up on the stairs or the cat has an accident on the couch.

A compact upright like the PowerDash is built for floors. You push it across a room, and it sprays, scrubs with a spinning brush roll and extracts in one pass. Cleaning a 12 x 14-ft bedroom with a spot cleaner would take a very long time; with an upright, it’s a normal chore.

So the real question isn’t which is better. It’s which job you do most often.

Cleaning pet accidents

For a fresh urine spot, vomit or a muddy paw print, the Little Green is faster. It’s small enough to keep out, and it works on any surface you can reach with a hose, not just the floor. Its handheld tool lets you press down and pull liquid from the carpet in focused passes.

The PowerDash can clean a pet spot on the floor, but hauling out an upright for one small accident feels like overkill, and it can’t reach couches or stairs well. For large or old urine areas, a full-size machine does better than both; see our Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet review.

Either way, finish urine spots with an enzyme cleaner to break down odor-causing residue. Our guide on how to get rid of dog urine smell in carpet walks through the process.

Cleaning whole rooms

This is where the PowerDash wins. Its brush roll and wider path cover a room in minutes, and HeatForce warm air helps carpet dry faster. Owners frequently mention it as a light, easy machine for regular refreshes in apartments and small homes.

The Little Green isn’t designed for this. Its 48 oz tank and small tool make whole-room cleaning slow and tiring. Use it for spots and let a vacuum and an upright cleaner handle the rest.

Stairs, upholstery and cars

The Little Green is the clear winner here. The hose and hand tool clean stair treads, couch cushions, pet beds, mattresses and car seats. For couches, check the fabric’s cleaning code first: “W” or “W/S” fabrics are fine for water-based cleaning.

The base PowerDash Pet is mainly a floor machine. Some versions include a hose and tools, so check the listing if above-floor cleaning matters to you.

Size, weight and storage

The Little Green fits under a sink or on a closet shelf. The PowerDash is light for an upright, but it still needs a spot in a closet or garage. If you live in a small apartment, the Little Green is easier to keep, but it won’t replace room cleaning.

Maintenance

Both need rinsing after every use. Empty and rinse the dirty water tank, clear hair from the tool or brush roll, and let parts air-dry before storing. Owners of both frequently mention odors developing inside the machine when they skip this step.

Drying time and residue

Wet carpet that stays damp for hours can smell musty and attract dirt. The PowerDash has an edge here thanks to HeatForce, which blows warm air onto the carpet as you clean. Owners frequently mention rooms drying faster than with older machines.

The Little Green wets a much smaller area, so drying is less of an issue. The bigger risk is leaving soap behind. With either machine, use the recommended amount of formula, then do a water-only rinse pass and a few extra dry passes. If a cleaned spot turns dark again a few days later, it’s usually residue or wicking; our guide to carpet stains that keep coming back explains the fix.

Ease of use and running costs

The Little Green is about as simple as a cleaner gets: fill the tank, plug in, press the trigger. There’s no brush roll to replace. The PowerDash takes a few more steps to fill and clean, but it’s still one of the easier uprights to handle.

Both use cleaning formula, and both are budget-tier machines to buy. Ongoing costs come down to how much formula you use and how often you clean. Following the fill lines saves formula and avoids sticky carpet.

What about the Little Green Pet Pro?

If you like the idea of a spot cleaner but have several pets or frequent accidents, consider the Bissell Little Green Pet Pro 3909. It has stronger suction, extra-large tanks and pro-style tools compared with the original. It’s a bit bigger, but it means fewer refills and better extraction on soaked-in spots.

For an even stronger spot cleaner, see how the original compares to Bissell’s SpotClean in our Bissell Little Green vs SpotClean Pet Pro comparison.

Pick the Little Green if… / pick the PowerDash if…

Pick the Bissell Little Green if you:

• Mostly deal with small, fresh pet accidents and spills
• Want to clean couches, stairs, pet beds and car seats
• Have limited storage space
• Have mostly hard floors with a few rugs

Pick the Hoover PowerDash Pet if you:

• Have carpet in several rooms and want to clean them regularly
• Want faster drying after cleaning
• Prefer a light upright over a heavy full-size machine
• Clean high-traffic areas and pet zones more than individual spots

For the full breakdown of each, read our Bissell Little Green review and our Hoover PowerDash Pet review.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Bissell Little Green or Hoover PowerDash better for pet urine?

For fresh, small urine spots, the Little Green is better because it targets one area with focused suction. For large areas of carpet with repeated accidents, the PowerDash covers ground faster. Either way, use an enzyme cleaner afterward to remove the odor at the source.

Can the Bissell Little Green clean a whole carpet?

Technically yes, but it’s slow and impractical. Its small tank and hand tool are designed for spots, stairs and upholstery. For whole rooms, a compact upright like the PowerDash or a full-size machine is far faster and gives more even results.

Can the Hoover PowerDash clean upholstery?

The base PowerDash Pet is designed mainly for floors. Some versions come with a hose and upholstery tool, so check the listing before buying. If you want to clean couches and car seats often, a portable spot cleaner like the Little Green is the better tool.

Should I buy both a spot cleaner and a carpet cleaner?

Many pet owners do. A spot cleaner handles daily accidents and furniture quickly, while an upright handles periodic whole-room cleaning. Both are budget-tier machines, so owning both often costs less than one premium full-size cleaner.

Can I use other cleaning solutions in these machines?

Both brands recommend their own formulas, and using others may affect the warranty. Check your manual. Stick to cleaners the manual approves, and don’t overuse formula, since leftover soap leaves sticky residue that attracts dirt.

Still deciding? See all our picks for the best carpet cleaner for pet urine, or browse our complete carpet stain guide.