Bissell Crosswave Turbo Vacuum Mop All in One Wet and Dry Vac Combo Hard Floor & Area Rug Cleaner, 3888A

Just used my new Bissell Crosswave machine for the first time and while cleaning my floors I kept thinking I should write a review. Then I went to empty the catch container and it was definite, I must write a review! First, this is my third machine in 13 years. I have a 3000 sq ft home with white marble tile in every room except the bedrooms where I have wood flooring. I live in SC a mile from the ocean and my husband runs on the beach every day and golf 4-5 times a week and refuses to go barefoot or wear slippers or some form of indoor only shoes. Needless to say I have sand, sand and more sand. Add to that the fact there is always something falling from the trees, and despite having an exterminator there are endless little critters of all sorts along baseboards. Until 2 years ago I had a sheltie with long hair so my Bissell machines have always had their work cut out for them and I couldn't live without one! The reason for this review? Well, with each new machine I've had, I've always found something new that made me like the newer machine best and this machine was no different. Between my long hair, and years of having a dog, I use to have to reach into the catch container with a paper towel and drag out all the hair and such. Bissell has added a screen with a handle that you lift out and all the solid stuff comes right up leaving only dirty water to be flushed down the toilet. No more digging into gunk! Just tap the screen onto a paper towel and clean up is easier than ever! I've read reviews stating this machine leaves puddles of water on the floor. My response to that is, either the machine was defective out of the box or the person doesn't know how to use it. You don't keep your finger on the trigger to release cleaning fluid constantly, but squeeze the trigger to keep the roller mop wet or for ground in dirt or spills. Add cleaning solution, then allow the machine to suck it up. Floors will be nearly dry immediately and surely dry within minutes which is also helpful with a husband that always seems to walk through the area I've just cleaned to get to another location within the house. And finally, having white marble tile floors I can tell you I see EVERYTHING!!!! While this machine cannot "mop" right up to the edge, it certainly sucks right up to the edge! Again, lots of little no seeums fly into the house, or baby spiders or "palmetto" bugs. This machine misses nothing! Its inability to "wet mop" right up to the edge is a result of the roller mop being set within the machine, so yes, periodically you need to go along with a damp cloth to wipe along the edge baseboards or cabinets, but certainly not every time you clean. Unless they found a way to have the roller mop exposed on the sides or front, which would make suctioning the water impossible, there's no way you can mop right along the baseboards. So for anyone who complains about that, well there's an opportunity for them to become the next millionaire once they come up with a design to do the impossible. So that's it! Had to right this review because these machines have kept my floors clean enough for my grandchildren to crawl around on for years and I can't imagine living without my Bissell Crosswaves!

They're always plus and minuses with products like this. So I'll just try to list some for you. There are ways to do a better job of mopping. All those ways I found thus far take way more time and effort than this product. The crosswave is easy to clean after use The build quality is acceptable. Floors dry quickly And is terrific for just quickly cleaning your floors on a regular basis. It's ease of use. Makes me more prone to clean the floor instead of putting it off, which is what typically happens. No one likes dealing with mop buckets or having wet mops laying around. If needed, you could always pour more water onto the floor to rinse it off well if you have a particularly dirty floor. Obviously don't do this if your floor is wood unless you really know what you're doing. This is essentially a wet dry vac with a brush. As a result, it works great to quickly mop up spills and to spot clean. The filters and brushes seem to be holding up well and the replacements are reasonably priced. A lot of products. The brushes tend to wear out quickly and cost way too much to replace and that's how they get you. I don't seem to have that problem so far. If I had a complaint about this it would be that it struggles with cleaning edges. This is solved easy enough by having a sponge mop or or towel you can use on the floor to clean those areas better as needed. Something you would not need to do every time you mop unless you had a spill against the wall. It's the same challenge you have with vacuum cleaners. For me it's a great product because it means I clean my floors more. And products like this do a better job start regularly cleaning the floor so you're not having to spend as much time. Scrubbing. Also, when you have a spill you can just clean it up right away instead of wiping it up and then you need into mop after. This also saves a lot of time because you do not need to sweep before you mop. As long as there's no large debris, you're good to go. I would recommend this product.

First I tried using the regular bissell crosswave after using it at a clients home. I decided the scrub machine was worth paying about $100.00 more than the hoover, which I and my clients have gotten so frustrated with the hoover since their machines seem to go bad quite quickly for many years. I was reluctant to buy the bissell with so many bad experiences with the hoover. But I liked the idea of not mopping peoples homes with dirty water or mine for that matter. The concept of the machine was a great idea, if only a company could make a machine worth buying. And I gotta say Bissell has pulled it off. Both Bissell machines work very well, but if you have pets it is highly recommended that you spend the extra money to buy the pet pro crosswave. I have put it to the test in one of clients homes who have 2 long haired cats and a long haired big dog. It does handle the hair much better around the rolling scrub brush. Though I do recommend as well to vacuum with another vacuum first before washing the floors with the scrub machines. The pet pro roller is made much better than the regular machine. Pets do have oil in their skin and their drool sticks to the floor almost like glue so a better rolling brush is needed. I did notice that my regular bissell does pivot around while cleaning is a bit better, but not a significant enough to make a big difference. Though it would be nice if they adjusted that pet pro to do it as well as the regular one, if we are going to pay almost $40.00 more for it. Also pet pro has another part in the dirty water container to catch the hair and larger pieces of stuff that comes through while cleaning that you can just pull out before dumping into your wash sink. If you find it to be more of a hassle you can just leave it out it doesn't effect the performance of the machine. The one thing both machines don't have that I think they should is an extra roller with more bristles in it then what they have because I think it would clean tile floors that are a bit rougher with more indentions much better as to why I only gave pet pro 4 stars. But I still believe it's by far better than mopping. Sweeping and vacuuming doesn't get the tiny grains of sand and if we miss it while vacuuming the scrub machines get the rest of it. If your floors are very dirty I would suggest mopping them very well first then use your bissell and if you like really clean floors and want them Shine beautifully go behind with the Sharp Genis floor steamer. The steamer will also take care of the steaks if you get them while scrubbing or you could just go behind with a flat mop or regular dry mop before the area completely drys. Pet pro machine really needs to have the bissell cleaning solution suggested for pets it works much better. I have owned the regular bissell for a year and it still works as good as it did the first time I used it, so I feel the machines could last for many years just as long as we properly take care of them. Also another thing I liked about the pet pro over the regular bissell is that it is much easier to remove the cover that protects the roller so we can clean the machine after each use. I actually broke one of the plastic pieces on the regular bissell because it was so hard to pull off. Not only will you notice how much cleaner your floors are, but you will feel it on your feet. There is nothing like have super clean floors!!!! I don't have pets of my own and if I didn't have homes I cleaned without pets I would spend the extra and buy the Pet Pro crosswave!!!! Love the beautiful Purple color too!!! Thanks Bissell for designing a wonderful floor machines!!

Ok, so disclaimer I bought one of these second hand back in the day and absolutely HATED IT. I thought it smelled terrible and sounded like a jet engine so I gave it away and never thought of it again until now which will become relevant as you read on. Our family has a small cabin in the woods with mixed floors, some carpet, some rugs, some linoleum and hardwood. This will eventually change but until then it is enough to drive even the most mentally stable person insane having to switch multiple types of cleaning supplies to do the floors (vacuum, carpet shampooer, microfiber mop, broom, different cleaners, etc). Being that we have a toddler, 2 German Shepherds and were just a couple weeks ago allocated a kitten by the “Cat Distribution System” you can imagine our floors are sufficiently wrecked by dirt, toddler crumbs, juice, paw prints, pet hair, my own tears as I try desperately to keep these floors clean. Well I decided to give the Crosswave a try again. I will admit the fact that there are now a million different models made it had for me to choose but I picked the Crosswave Pet Pro because I don’t like cordless and again we have a small zoo. This time I did a ton of research, watched reviews and how to videos to understand where I might have gone wrong the first and boy did I kick myself for giving the first one away… for one, it was loud because it wasn’t properly cleaned when I got it. This could have been solved by purchasing a new filter. Two, the smell… again solved by a new filter, deep cleaning the machine and then properly maintaining it. Being that it didn’t come with instructions I was aware of how to properly maintain the machine. So anyways fast forward to my Crosswave arriving and me using it on my multiple types of floors. OMG THE SHEER FLITH this got off my floors. Despite the fact I have been vacuuming, sweeping, mopping multiple times a day it became obvious now I was just moving dirt around… the tank literally looked like chocolate milk and I wanted to throw up knowing this was the condition of my floors. I took my time and dedicated my morning coffee to just going ham on my floors until the waste water tank was clear. This is key, while this does vacuum you need to go slow like a shampooer and making a few passes if things are really dirty or stuck on. I ran the Crosswave for about 45 minutes because I wanted my floors CLEAN. Mission accomplished. My floor is so clean now, it feels new. No grit, no sticky, just smooth and clean. Sadly the floors are old and nothing will really make them look new but they look monumentally better. They say money can’t buy happiness but this mama is pretty freaking happy having clean floors right now. No more black footed socks. Yay. Things that we cleaned up: Crumbs, dirt, pet hair, juice dribbles everywhere, play doh crumbs, washable crayon marks. I went over the hard floors, carpet and large area rugs. I just throw all the small one in the wash. The functionality and quality are amazing. It feels solid but without being unreasonably heavy, it’s comparable to a stick vac or steam mop. It moves beautifully though given the design it doesn’t get all the way to the baseboards if running parallel. For me this isn’t a big deal as I just went over them with a cloth spray cleaner as I like to dust/wipe the baseboards anyway, so hey… forced accountability lol. If the baseboards edge thing is an issue for you they do sell an “Edge” that can get to the edges but I felt more comfortable getting this one as it is labeled “pet pro.” Don’t judge me for being a sucker on marketing lol. So what have I learned this time around? Now that I have one with instructions, proper maintenance is key. It is not enough to only run the self clean cycle after use. You need to run the self clean AND properly clean all the parts (which is incredibly simple). If you don’t, it will smell and sound terrible because the filter is clogged. I ran the self clean 3 times (40 secs per cycle) to make sure the water in the waste tank was clear, took everything apart, cleaned with hot water and mild detergent, set everything on a drying mat next to the machine so it is clean and fresh for my next use. If this practice seems like a lot to you ask yourself this, if you wash your dishes in a dirty sink with dirty water do you actually clean them? Same logic here? You can’t clean your floors with a dirty machine so keep the machine clean and you will not have issues. Anyways I know this was a long review but I hoping it helps you if you’re on the fence. Take the bad reviews with a grain of salt and ask yourself if they were using the machine correctly and maintaining it properly.

TL;DR: Buy a more expensive vacuum, like a Miele C1 Turbo Team, on sale or refurbished. I've owned this for over a year now, and I will say it's probably not worth buying if you have lots of carpet or pet hair. The Pros There are some clear pros to this machine, so I don’t want to completely put it down, but I don’t think I would ever suggest getting this as a main vacuum. For what the machine can do, it's fairly small, and all the parts are serviceable. For example, the brush and canister are easy to take apart and clean. It’s also simple to make your own carpet-cleaning solution if you don’t want to keep buying the Bissell formula, and either option works well at removing odors from accidents. Cleaning urine and excrement off carpet works well as long as you remove any solid matter first. The Cons I have a small apartment with low‑pile carpet and a poodle mix, so I figured this would be a great small machine to lightly “shampoo” accident areas and also pick up pet hair and dirt. I was completely mistaken. This machine does get some of the hair and most of the dirt on my carpet day to day, but the suction is just terrible. Even when the machine has been fully cleaned and the filters replaced, it struggles to pick up anything larger than coffee grounds. Bread crumbs, pine needles, or food scraps from cooking were basically impossible for it to consistently pick up, and those “larger” objects would often clog the head or the hose leading to the main canister. Every time I use this thing, I have to account for how much prep and constant cleaning it needs just to manage my 500 sq. ft. apartment. The vacuum is also too large to get under any furniture and can’t be taken apart, so you’ll need a separate vacuum to clean under a bed or refrigerator. I find myself constantly unclogging the hose to the canister, which is incredibly frustrating. I’m fine with emptying the vacuum multiple times to clean my living area, but the fact that the main hose clogs so easily is maddening. Basically, every time I empty the canister, I have to unclog the hose — and you’ll notice the clogging because the vacuum stops picking up dirt long before the canister is full. Over time, the Bissell has only gotten more disappointing. The main pump on my unit was never strong enough to evenly distribute the cleaning solution, so I end up “mopping” with only half the surface area of the head, which makes shampooing take twice as long. After about two cleans, the plastic hood over the brush cracked with light use while trying to vacuum near the molding. Most recently, the power button for the hardwood‑floor mode broke after about a year, so I have to hold it down to keep that mode engaged. Thankfully, I don’t have much hard flooring. I’m only writing this review because the machine became so frustrating to use as a main vacuum that I bought a refurbished Miele C1 Turbo Team — and it’s so comically better that I wanted to write this as a warning not to buy e‑waste. The C1 Turbo Team was on sale on Amazon for $399 recently, and when I bought this Bissell it was $260. I know another $150 isn’t nothing, but even the C1 Classic would be a massive improvement over this vacuum. If anything, don’t buy this as your main vacuum. And if you can only buy one vacuum under $300, look into something else — because the more I wrote this review, the more I remembered how disappointed and frustrated I was.

This carpet cleaner works phenomenal on area rugs. It works better than my full size carpet shampooer. The amount of dirt & pet hair that it sucked out of my area rug was amazing. Super easy to use & clean after using, too.

Today was the first time I used this, I did not use my full-sized vacuum first. After about 30 minutes I noticed the brush absorbed too much dirt and it just started flinging mud out on the floor. I had to completely remove the brush and clean it in the sink, then re-mop what I had just done. Still need to use my Swiffer due to about a one-inch gap between the wall and the brush, so I still have to make a pass around the edges of the room. Disappointing vacuum based on other reviews that have RAVED over the abilities of the vacuum, but a small amount of doggie hair just gets tangled up in the brush or stuck to the floor. Instead of eliminating the extra step of vacuuming before mopping, I still have to use my full-sized vacuum. Overall, it didn’t reduce the work of cleaning my floors as I’d hoped. It's not terrible, and the vacuuming is really nice, but I'm just not wowed by the mopping. I continued to use the machine on a 2nd area of the floor, then a 3rd area. After a few minutes into each area, the mop wheels began leaving streaks and again the floors really didn't get very clean, the mop brush began leaving mud spots and wet hair on the floor. I had to hand clean the mop brush every few minutes. I was surprised because the way the rotating brush is designed would ensure a good job, but I've really not been impressed. It leaves wavey water lines and doesn't handle transitioning from hard floor to thin entry rugs well. If you're doing a small area rug directly from the hard floor you'll have lines of dirty water all around the rug, unless you pick the machine up and put it on the rug. I think it does a better job on tile. I'm honestly torn on whether or not I should keep it. I could get a better carpet/rug cleaner or go back to the broom + steam mop or broom + microfiber mop that I've been using. But I have back issues and was hoping this machine would be a help to me in keeping my floors clean, but as of today, it is more of a hassle than a help. It is always such a hassle to rebox, take it to the nearest UPS pickup (15 minutes away from home), and hope that it is returned and a refund issued. I live alone with a small dog so there's not much dirt to clean, so when this machine left more dirt on the floor than before I started ... very disappointing to me. I definitely have buyer remorse. Definitely not worth the $269. Update: I tried to give this machine another chance after going through the cleaning procedure. NOPE!! To clean the machine is more of a hassle than what it is worth. I understand that a little water may splash during normal cleaning of any machine but the tray should catch it. Unfortunately there was so much water under the tray that I had to bed over and clean it up. With sever back problems this is not acceptable. There should be no water at all to clean up. After reading my critical review from yesterday I decided to give it another try - trying to justify spending $269 on this machine. NOPE!! Again it left wet wheel streaks - repeatedly & nonstop, the roller cleans lopsided (even after ensuring it was properly placed), still leaves a dirty 1" space. Although there is a rug and hard floor setting there seems to be no difference in the way it cleans between the settings. Not sure about this one. I just know that when trying to clean my entry rug (following the directions) the machine stuck to it and stopped working until I pulled it off of the rug. One good note, it does clean well. If you don't mind cleaning more messes up after using this machine than it's for you. I can't justify the expense versus the aggrevation.

UPDATE 5/26/20: Well.. it broke. And so did my heart. Looking into how to get a replacement now, because I love this thing so much. And for it to die a month later makes me so sad. Very disappointing. Y'all... This just arrived Tuesday and I feel like my life is forever changed. Truly. I had been waiting since before Christmas to buy this. I kept looking over reviews on this and other things. I'm not the type to spend a chunk of money on things like this. WHY DID I WAIT?! I am SO glad I finally got this thing. Just let the nice people take your money and hand this bad boy over. Trust me. Why was this so life changing? Well... So, for perspective of what I'm working with here... We have 8 dogs. Yeah. 8. Sometimes more. Insanity, I hear you say? Well.. yes. It's fine, though. Everything is fine. On top of 8 dogs we have 3 small kids and 3 adults living in this house. And we have a small farm... And it's Texas and it rains a lot. So we have mud. Lots of mud. And dogs. And children. And mud. Did I mention mud?? So. Much. MUD. Our floors are stamped and stained/painted concrete and it's lovely most of the time, but also a pain to clean because it's WHITE. White floors + 8 dogs + 3 children + mud = Do you see where I'm going with this?? It's terrible. Like... The worst. My daily floor care routine consisted of sweeping and then mopping with my O Cedar spin mop. Which I love. It's been the best little mop. But it also kills my back. Because with mud, you have to scrub. Especially if life interrupts and the mud DRIES. Anyway. So I did this horrid routine at least once a day, twice if it was raining, and spot mopping every time the dogs came inside as well. Can you say time consuming? And yet still I never felt like my floors were REALLY clean. It's maddening. So, I bit the bullet and decided to invest in my sanity and time a bit and cough up the money for this thing, in hopes that it would cut my time cleaning a bit, and perhaps save my back from hurting so much. I honestly had low expectations. I figured it probably wouldn't have great suction, and that the mop portion may not help a ton, but would at least be good for fresh mud, and so worth it for the constant spot cleaning, at the very least. Amazon got this to me by Tuesday. So I haven't had it very long, but I have put this thing through the wringer and it has come through the other side a valiant champion! I asked my husband if it could sleep in the bed with us... He wasn't amused. I just feel like it's earned it's place. Ok, so to start off my test run of it, I took on the hallway that I had let build up dirt over the week to see how it would do on that. Now. It did take time and slowly working it over the area, but it managed to get up all of that grossness that was on my floor. I was impressed! ... And slightly disgusted as the dirty tank revealed everything. Ick.. but also glory be! In celebration, and on a euphoric high, I decided to hit the living room, which I had previously mopped earlier that morning before the glorious arrival of this amazing machine. I cleaned out the dirty tank and refilled the clean tank and went to work. Wow! And again, gross... I can't believe how much yuck that was still on my floor after I had already "cleaned" it. Gag. I went on to do my whole house, and was simply in constant amazement. "Babe!! Look at it NOW!!" I'm fairly certain my husband was over looking at the Crosswave doing it's thing, but he humored me anyway and congratulated me each time. I love that man. Now, I mentioned earlier that I have 8 dogs, right? Well I forgot to mention 2 of those 8 dogs are German Shepherds, aka German "SHEDDERS." SO. MUCH. HAIR. All the hair. There's never not a hair tumbleweed in my house. Don't like hair? Don't get a German Shepherd. Great dogs. Lots of hair. The hair should be more terrifying than their bark. I have tried many vacuums in the past and because of my GSDs (ok and probably my long hair as well), I don't buy vacuums with roller brushes. It just never goes well. Hair gets caught in the roller, becomes useless, cutting it off it's often a pain or even impossible. No more roller brushes. That was a HUGE reason for my hold up on the Crosswave. Even though it promised to combat this, I was skeptical. Y'all... They followed through on their promise. So far-- and I've vacuumed up A LOT of hair-- hair has not been getting caught up in the roller. It DOES get a little bit just on the edges of the roller, where it fits into the maxhine, but it's so super easy to get off, I don't even count that. So huge win right there. It's been great at sucking up all that hair too! It isn't the strongest suction out there, but it is pretty great and definitely gets the job done! When I walk around barefoot I don't feel any dirt, hair, or grains of yuck! I loooove it. The tank is small, so it doesn't fit a ton of hair in there. So if doing some major cleaning it does require frequent emptying. I was essentially already doing that with sweeping and mopping anyway, so no big deal. The tank is super simple to clean out and I LOVE that they made a strainer for hair and solid items. I pull that thing out and dump the hair straight into the trash. And then dump the dirty tank out and rinse that. There is also a filter in there that needs to be checked, especially if you've done some dry vacuuming. A screen is over that catches hair and makes it easier to clean out. Overall I LOVE how easy the machine is to clean. The station really is good at cleaning off the brush like it's supposed to. Oh! Another great thing that exceeded my expectations. It doesn't leave a ton of water behind on the floor! I even used it on my hardwood floors and it did magnificent! It leaves very little water behind so it dries very quickly! It did great on our tile floor as well. :) So. Even with having to drag it across the floor slowly, taking my time, cleaning out the dirty tank frequently, and cleaning the machine after each use, it really is saving me a ton of time! I have been able to get so much more done in a single day thanks to this little beast! It combines sweeping and mopping, and there's just no argument there. It's fairly lightweight and easy to move around. Nothing like my old lug of a Kirby, but it is heavier than some things, like maybe a stick vacuum. I mean, it has a tank of water soooo.. I love that the head swivels! With little effort too! I was able to get to spaces quite easily and loved that! One thing on the head to note, it does not clean flush up to the wall! It does vacuum all the way there, but not mop. The brush can only get so far. So there's about an inch gap there. I plan to just clean those spaces when I'm doing baseboards or go over it with a mop. Not a biggie for me, but definitely worth noting for others! My other favorite thing is that my back is no longer aching! I'm 5'4" and I don't have to bend over oddly, or put any pressure into it to get the job done! I can stand up straight and use this perfectly fine. Hooray! This alone is giving me so much more energy and motivation to get more done through the day! Not to mention that I'm far less crabby when I'm not in pain. Eek. Overall I think this machine is a fantastic addition to my home and has definitely simplified my life already, giving me more time, less aching, and a far cleaner floor. I HIGHLY recommend the Bissell Crosswave Pet Pro Plus to anyone struggling with the floors and looking for a little peace in their lives.