Sometimes brute force isn’t everything. It’s during these situations when you only need “enough” suction to clean a small portion of your home.
Sure, more power would be great, but it would come at the cost of more volume – you can’t have it all.
The Bissell 3106 doesn’t give you a Dyson suction level but it makes up for it because it has much less mass plus it’s dirt cheap, only costing about $25 on Amazon.
But you still get a lot for it – a vacuum cleaner that doubles as a hand vacuum that allows you to clean small dirt on stairs and upholstery.
I’ve reviewed a similar vacuum before, the Quick Up series from Eureka, the difference is that this vacuum has a cord that you have to plug in.
Let’s find out how to do that.
Table of Contents
Quick look at the features
- The 2-in-1 feature allows this to clean floors, stairs, upholstery and crevices as well
- 16 ft power cord
- Comes with a crevice tool that you can use with your hand vacuum
- Bagless system means you don’t have to replace any bags
- It has a place to store the cord
- Easy to remove dirt cup
Positives
- dirt cheap
- Versatile enough to clean stairs and upholstery thanks to the detachable wand
- Very light at only 5 pounds
Negatives
- short power cord
- You cannot use this on the medium pile of carpeting because it lacks strength and action
- Small dirt cup – you can’t use it to clean large sections at the same time
- The lever that holds the wire is not folded, so you will waste some time removing the wire from it
- Some fitting issues and finish
- There is no key on the handle – you will have to bend over and tap the key on its carry part
- Does not contain a motorized brush
- can’t rotate
What to expect from a featherweight Bissell 3106?
At first glance, this product looks like a vacuum cleaner. But take a closer look and you will find that it is, in fact, a vacuum cleaner with a detachable floor nozzle and a wand.
It’s really a clever design idea by Bissell but it has its downsides.
On the plus side, it offers plenty of versatility in terms of areas you can clean like stairs and upholstery.
However, it lacks strength and excitement which makes it unusable on carpets.
Attachments and accessories
It comes with a crevice tool that you can attach to the handheld device that will allow you to clean edges, crevices and corners.
rope length
The cord is about 16 feet long which isn’t very long but you have to remember that this is a lightweight vacuum cleaner so put anything longer that will add to the weight.
Filter cleaning
The filter is washable but consider buying an extra filter so you have something to use while it dries.
To remove the filter, you will need to remove the carry-on part of it and then press a lever on top to separate the dirt container from the engine.
You can remove the filter by pulling it out of the container after emptying it. But cleaning will be messy as you will have to use your fingers to remove things like hair and dust.
Guarantee
Comes with only one year warranty.
bare floor performance
You must remember that this brush does not have any motorized brush, so it only relies on suction to pick up debris.
It will work fine on this surface but don’t expect to clean larger bits of dirt (at least with a floor tool) because the holes are very small.
As you can see from the image above, there is no sign of a motorized brush.
Image courtesy of Walmart.com
Since it uses plastic wheels it may leave a mark so take note as it can damage your expensive hardwood floors.
The last thing I would point out is that this doesn’t rotate so you’ll have to lift this manually when you want to change directions, no big deal even though it only weighs 5lbs.
carpet performance
Don’t expect a lot of featherweight 3106 on carpet as it lacks a motorized brush to make this cleaner really effective on this surface.
It can clean surface dirt without any problems but picking up dirt under thick carpet will be a challenge.
The good news with this is that you can clean carpeted stairs, at least off the finer pile.
Again, it will only be effective on surface dirt but will be a great maintenance tool in between deep cleanings.
Pet hair removal
Unfortunately, it will not be very effective at cleaning pet hair on the carpet because it lacks a motorized brush.
The handheld nozzle will be able to pick up some pet hair on the upholstery and baseboards but don’t expect anything more as it doesn’t have a dedicated pet hair tool for the job.
But on bare floors, consumers were happy with how it picks up pet hair because it has good enough suction.
product specification
| Features | |
|---|---|
| attachments | slit tool |
| rope length | 16 feet |
| Automatic wire winding |
 |
| motorized brush |
|
| Brush on/off switch |
|
| rotates on axis |
|
| the Flashlight |
|
| Filter clogging indicator |
|
| bin full indicator |
|
| without bag |
 |
| multi surface |
|
| self-propelled |
|
| Net weight | 5 pounds |
| Purchase Weight | 5 pounds |
| hose length | Unavailable |
| cleaning path | 9.5 inch |
| total length | 46 inches |
| dirt capacity | Unavailable |
| filter type | 3 stages washable |
| Energy | 1.2 amps |
| Voltage | Unavailable |
| Made in | China |
| Guarantee | One year |
What do consumers say?
The majority of people who left the review were happy with the performance of the lightweight vacuum cleaner.
The suction was good enough for surfaces like hardwood, tile, and linoleum.
It also works decently on fine pile carpets. However, the small wheels make it difficult to press the rug.
The pet owners were also happy with how it cleaned the pet’s hair. But the majority of pet owners only have bare floors.
Many college students liked this because it was really cheap (if you’re a college student with big debts there’s no way you can afford a $50 vacuum) and it didn’t require a lot of storage space in their bedrooms.
Complaints about this vacuum were mostly about quality.
There were a bunch of problems and most of them had to do with the following…
- rough plastic
- The dirt cup is difficult to remove
- Parts do not fit snugly
- poor build quality
- weak suction
But remember, this vacuum is made in China, so expect these kinds of issues and you’ll get what you pay for.
If you want better quality, expect to pay more for a product like the Shark Rocket ION or the Dyson V8.
Don’t worry though, it still has a 1 year warranty so if there are any issues just contact Bissell and they will take care of it for you.
Where can I buy this?
You can buy this from Amazon for about $25 and it qualifies for free two-day shipping only if you join Prime.
to finish
This would be a great option for small home owners with mostly hard surfaces who are looking for a really cheap vacuum cleaner.
Broken college students will appreciate this vacuum because it’s cheap and small enough to store inside their dorm rooms.
It will do a fine job on the bare floor but will likely scratch the plastic wheels.
However, the lack of whisker tape makes this almost unusable on the carpet.
If you need something for rugs, I suggest you get something with a motorized brush for this task as it will be better equipped and will reduce your frustration.
Another issue is the small dirt cup, so expect frequent trips to the trash.
This will work best inside small homes with mostly bare floors. Don’t even think about using this on rugs or carpets.