This is NOT a sponsored post. I purchased the Bissell CrossWave myself after reviewing customer comments on the Bissell site and Amazon.ca. I’m sharing this article in case you are on the fence about the effectiveness of vacuum/mops for your home.
If you follow the blog, or even just glance at my homepage, you’re going to think I’m obsessed with cleaning.
Like OCD obsessed.
While I do prefer a clean home, my fixation on floor and carpet cleaners is actually because of:
Miss Honey and Miss Rosie – retired breeding dogs from a puppy mill – that I fostered for about 3 weeks and…
Miss Taffy – another “mill-mama” that would have been shot if K9 Safe Space hadn’t rescued her.
Not to mention:
baby Alfie – an Aussie-doodle puppy that was next to be culled when a puppy mill shut down, and
10 week olds Freddie Fluff-butt and his sisters Sweet-Pea-Sugar-Tush and
Honey-Buns. Pomsky puppies that were rescued at 9 weeks old and stayed with me for just shy of a month.
Today I am the happy Foster-Mom to Stella:
a very timid, but loving French bulldog cross that was also “retired” from breeding, and soon-to-be retired from life if K9 Safe Space didn’t step in.
I’ve had 8 foster puppies over the past 3+ months, and while I wouldn’t change it because I love them all so much, they are puppy mill rescues which means they have no experience indoors, outdoors, with collars, leashes, people or love. (they are generally penned in barns).
This means that there has been an ABUNDANCE of dog pee, poop, mud, hair and dirt.
Which meant a LOT of cleaning.
I have a vacuum, an ENJO mop, a steam mop and a steamer. I use them all. It does however, make cleaning a multi-tool-time-consuming exercise. (*Amazon affiliate links to products I own. For full affiliate disclosure, please see bottom of the page)
Until I learned about vacuum/steamer/mop combos!! (heavens opened and the rays of light shone upon me)
I read reviews for several models and decided to give the Bissell CrossWave a try. I’ll start by saying there are several different CrossWave models each with different features and applications. For my house I knew I needed the CrossWave® HydroSteam™ Plus Multi-Surface Wet Dry Vac (which happened to come in a bundle with extra bits and bobs on the Bissell site)
Bissell CrossWave Review
Assembly:
The CrossWave HydroSteam comes in two parts – the handle and the body of the machine. The handle snaps into the body very easily and without any tools needed. ⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎
The HydroSteam is the largest of the CrossWave models and weighs in at 12.6lbs / 5.6kg without water. It’s very easy to push around, but lifting it might be cumbersome for some people. ⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎
Accessories:
CrossWave models come with a multi-surface brush. The mop/brush has stiff bristles for scrubbing and soft microfibres for mopping. What impressed me most was that this brush/mop works like a beater bar on your vacuum; rotating quickly to scrub surfaces. ⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎
There are other brush/mop attachments available as well:
I haven’t tried the carpet brush, but I’ve used the pet brush/mop a LOT, and I’ve also used the multi-function brush on my hardwood floors. I love that there are so many options!
Upside: these brush/mop heads are easily washed in the sink with water or a bit of dish soap and water; very easy and fairly quick. So far the heads seem very durable, so as long as you rinse them right after use, I think they will last a long time.
There are a couple of downsides:
You can buy as many mop/brush heads as you want, but they run at roughly $10 CDN per – sometimes less, depending on the package you buy.
The mopping function isn’t as strong at the edges of the CrossWave, which means you’ll have to overlap when vacuuming/mopping. ⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎
The filter:
I don’t know what to tell you about the filter. It has one. It seems to work. But how would I know how many microns it really collects?
I can tell you that there isn’t any dust in the air when I vacuum/mop? (no stars because I have inadequate information)
If you watched the YouTube video above, you can see how well the CrossWave vacuumed, mopped and steamed my mud/poop-covered kitchen floors.
This is the result of washing a 10’x10′ (100 sq feet) or 9.3 sq m – the amount of surface I was able to thoroughly wash with one container of water.
You can clearly see that it vacuumed up grass, fur, grit and sand – something that I would have had to have vacuumed BEFORE actually mopping.
You an also see that the dirty water canister is disgusting:
so you know the mopping function is working hard and the extraction capabilities are excellent. ⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎
I actually took my Bissell CrossWave HydroSteam to work one day and tested it out on the commercial rug. While it isn’t a “carpet cleaner”, it really did an amazing job cleaning a mat that sees a LOT of foot traffic.
The vacuum/mop cleaned the laminate flooring without leaving any streaks, then with the push of a button, it washed and vacuumed the mat!
What a difference right?!
One downside I didn’t include in my review was the cost of cleaning fluids; based on Amazon.ca, it appears the Bissell formulations run at about $1.40 per 100ml. To compare, PineSol runs at about $0.38/100ml. The bundle I purchased came with several small tester bottles of cleaning fluid, but after I use those up, I will most likely turn to vinegar and water in the solution tank. BE WARNED: anything other than Bissell cleaning solutions will nullify the 3-year limited warranty.
So would I recommend this particular vacuum/mop combo?
As of today, 3 weeks into ownership and with over 12 uses already, hands-down YES.
I feel much better knowing that my floors are vacuumed, mopped, scrubbed and steamed – and it takes me less than half the time and effort it did before when I used separate tools for each chore.
It’s mud, snow, salt, and dirt season from now through to June 1 – but now I feel able to handle the daily messes.
Have a great one!