You’ve seen the gold Pet Proven® badge on BISSELL® cleaning products, but do you know the story behind this first-of-its-kind certification? It all starts with our unconditional love for animals – and the desire to make living with them a little easier.
It’s true: the toughest messes are often made by beloved pets. From stuck-on fur to scattered litter and yucky accidents, the dogs and cats in our lives and homes create regular cleaning challenges.
So, in 2023, with 66% of U.S. households including pets, according to the World Animal Foundation, we set out to engineer cleaning devices that make pet mess cleanup less of an obstacle and more of an after-thought.
From this idea the Pet Proven® certification was borne. Product testing standards were set to mimic the absolute messiest pets, challenging our teams to develop new cleaning innovations. Not all of our machines passed; those that did earned the Pet Proven™ badge.
“The Pet Proven® certification is our promise to consumers that a product has been scientifically developed and rigorously tested to meet the unique cleaning needs of pet parents,” says Lauren Aylsworth, Director of Cross Category Product Marketing at BISSELL.
Incorporating real feedback from pet parents
Pets haven’t gotten messier. But as they become more integrated into our lives – riding shotgun on road trips and sleeping on our couches and beds – we naturally spend more time cleaning up after them. It’s no surprise, then, that when BISSELL surveyed more than 7,500 pet parents about the good, bad, and yucky parts of pet mess cleanup, they had a lot of opinions to share.
We heard all about pesky fur, wet and dry pet trails, and really yucky pet messes. The more we listened, the more we learned that some aspects of pet cleanup are universal. For example, pet fur is the most frustrating mess to clean up, and some bio-messes are so gross that pet owners want more help than paper towel can offer.
This insight into the shared experience of pet messes helped us craft an aspirational standard for pet mess cleanup. Machines that achieve this ultimate clean earn the gold standard badge for pet mess removal: the Pet Proven® certification.
“The Pet Proven badge is a mark that we put on our products to signify that we listen to what our consumers are dealing with and we want to make sure that we’re able to give you a solution that’s guaranteed to work,” says Greg Brncick, Vice President of Consumer Design at BISSELL. “Putting ‘Pet Proven® certified’ on a product at BISSELL is more than just putting a picture of a cat or dog on a box. It’s a symbol that represents all of the science behind the scenes.”
“Putting ‘Pet Proven® certified’ on a product at BISSELL is more than just putting a picture of a cat or dog on a box. It’s a symbol that represents all of the science behind the scenes.”
– Greg Brncick, Vice President of Consumer Design at BISSELL
Creating mess categories and testing criteria
Pet parents call out three main cleaning challenges: fur and hair; wet and dry trails and debris; and yucky, don’t-want-to-touch messes. These categories guide how we think about messes and led us to create new mess removal standards and tests to ensure Pet Proven® certified products are the gold standard for mess removal.
Some of our lab-based cleaning tests were made more challenging. And we refined our DIY recipes for pet vomit and other pet stains so we could regularly test and improve products.
“When we select messes and stains for testing, we want to make sure they closely match the consumers’ needs so they translate really well at home,” says Megan Klein-Wassink, a BISSELL test engineer. “We want them to see the same results we see in testing.”
As a result, our testing facilities stock lots of different messes for on-demand testing. These include different types of kitty litter; real cat and dog fur collected by our many pet-loving Associates; and even vials of actual cat urine, which has such a strong odor it’s unmatched as a cleaning challenge.
For example, a vacuum may score off the charts on its ability to remove embedded pet fur and dry “trails” like grass clippings, but it doesn’t have the ability of a deep cleaner to remove set in stains.
Each Pet Proven® certified product notes in which areas it excels so people can pick the machine that’s best for them.
Innovating products that better suit pet households
The Pet Proven® program launched in 2024 with around 27 new and existing products earning the Pet Proven® certification. The rigorous standards are used to test all new devices and inform product development and innovation at BISSELL.
This has ushered in new engineering innovations – such as FurFinder™ Lighting, which uses high- and low-beams to illuminate debris on the floor – as well as new pet-focused cleaning formulas, which contribute to the effectiveness of Pet Proven™ carpet cleaners and wet dry vacs.
“We use a systems approach at BISSELL during the development of a unit and formula,” says Klein-Wassink. “We have the development engineers, who are working on the device itself, and the chemists who fine-tune the formulas. Together they collaborate to create the best and most efficient cleaning experience for people.”
The Pet Proven® certification system is built on listening to the challenges of pet parents and solving them with science and technology. Under this framework, we’ll continue to achieve our goal to innovate better, more advanced cleaning machines. But the end benefit we deliver is simpler.
“Owning pets can cause some cleanup issues in your household,” says Klein-Wassink. “We want to be there to help clean up so you can get back to enjoying your time with your pets.”
