Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. This means that at no cost to you, we may earn a small commission for qualifying purchases.
Bissell delivers quite the innovation with the Crosswave. Is it a vacuum, or is it a mop? Well, actually, it’s both. Now you can sweep your floors and mop them clean, all from the same unit. It certainly sounds clever, but does it work?
That is exactly what we set out to discover. We wanted to take the Crosswave to the task to see just how both features performed. We didn’t hold back, putting everything reasonable in its path to test its power and flexibility. We hope our review helps you determine if it is worthy of your time and money.
Bissell Crosswave at a Glance
While the Crosswave does have some drawbacks, it performs better than many popular carpet cleaners. It’s a highly versatile machine, capable of making short work of messes and spills. Not only will you benefit from less work, but your floors will be spotless.
Let’s briefly discuss what we like about the Crosswave and what we don’t. Do its positives outweigh its negatives? Read on to get the full scoop. But first, here’s a quick rundown of its main selling points and specifications.
Key Features
- Multi-surface cleaning
- Swivel steering
- Lightweight
Product Specs
- 4.4 amps
- 11.5 pounds
- 14.5-ounce capacity
Pros
- Deep cleaning capability
- Swivel head
- Versatile
Cons
- Corded
- Small capacity
- Struggles on carpets
Why Get the Bissell Crosswave?
Being able to instantly suck up nasty spills like milk and cereal is a huge advantage. How about a full plate of spaghetti? No problem there, either. Yes, the Crosswave is mighty handy to have around.
And it’s easy to maneuver thanks to its lightweight body. Combined with its swiveling head, jobs that used to take minutes now take seconds. Typically, a spilled plate of anything would require you getting on your hands and knees and using various cleaning supplies.
Bissell cuts out all of that. It sweeps, then mops, restoring your floors to their natural luster. If that’s not reason enough, emptying all that mess you cleaned up is a breeze, as well. If you need even more proof, follow us as we put each of its top features to the test.
Multi-Surface Cleaning
This is why the Crosswave was built. Its flexibility eliminates the need for multiple cleaning tools, making light work of heavy-duty messes. But just how well does it clean? What kind of debris does it pick up, and where does it struggle?
To answer those questions, we had to put the Crosswave through several scenarios to test its mettle. In the kitchen, food of all types was deliberately spilled onto the floor. For one, Bissell claims the Crosswave can sweep and mop up eggs. Sounds like a good enough place to start.
With 3 broken and oozing across the tile flooring, we slowly drove the Crosswave over them. Within a matter of seconds, our floor was spotless. Impressive. How about milk and cereal? Bissell often shows these two being dropped on the floor in slow motion. It’s cleaned up in the commercials, but what about in real-life?
Emulating the exact same spill, we splattered both evenly in a contained area. If eggs are cleaned up so easily, surely a bowl of our favorite breakfast cereal would, too. Well, we can attest to milk and cereal being the least of the Crosswave’s worries.
Both are eliminated after just a couple of passes. Ok, time for something with a little more weight to it. Chili, perhaps? We’ve seen the Crosswave sweep and mop up spaghetti in demonstrations, so surely chili would be no different.
To our amazement, the Crosswave didn’t hesitate. This, too, was sucked up expertly. It made some gnarly sounds, but it got the job done in no time. Judging by how hard it was working, we’d not recommend trying to sweep up heavier items, like apple slices and the like. Anything too large for the Crosswave’s opening runs the risk of getting stuck.
We then wanted to see how it performed with simple sweeping and mopping. Does it pick up loose hair, dust, and dirt? Or does it just blow it around? Grout can often be tricky for mops, too, so we paid careful attention to this.
Impressively, the Crosswave’s brush roller does an incredible job with this. It is able to get down deep into grout, pulling up more ground-in grime than any standard mop ever has. Moving along the walls, where many mops fail, we picked up all the loose debris that had built up.
The sweeping and mopping action work together to get everything in the Crosswave’s path. All you have to do is squeeze the trigger on the handle when you need more cleaning solution. This douses the brush roll with it, and you can use it as often or as little as you need.
The same is true on rugs. Regardless of what kind of surface you are working with, Bissell’s cleaning solution can be used safely without fear of causing damage. In fact, when switching over to rug mode, this solution is dispersed at four times the normal rate. This ensures that you’re getting the deepest of cleaning accomplished.
So, that being said, bare floors are one thing. But what happens when we accidentally spill food all over rugs and carpeting? Does the cleaning process work as well as it does on tile flooring? Well, yes and no. This was where we ran into some complications and discovered the limitations of the Crosswave.
It definitely cleans rugs better than it does carpeting. While suction is certainly fine, it just isn’t enough to successfully pull mess and debris from carpet. Also, the roller brush doesn’t have the same style of thick bristles that you usually see on traditional vacuum cleaners.
If you’re not trying to clean up a thick mess, the Crosswave does a good enough job of getting carpet clean; anything more and it will struggle. With area rugs, it is the complete opposite. The Crosswave’s roller brush performs admirably and gets down deep to pull up all manner of gunk and grime.
Even the stickiest and thickest of syrups and liquids are drawn up. We were very impressed with how clean our rugs looked afterward. In the end, the overall performance of the Crosswave is commendable. As long as you don’t try to pick up heavy spills and mainly stick to rugs and bare floors, you’ll be happy you made the investment.
Swivel Steering
Bissell including swivel steering on the Crosswave makes all the difference in how you clean. This feature is just as important as any other, because it effectively works to trim down your overall cleaning time.
There’s much less fighting to get the vacuum to go where you want it. A slight twist of your wrist points the Crosswave in a new direction. And thanks to its lightweight design (more on than in a moment), vacuuming is rarely this effortless.
In the kitchen, we were able to slide under and around chairs and tables with ease. This created much less work for us and allowed us to get to those hard-to-reach places. This also assists with getting into corners and along baseboards.
The swivel technology helps with getting under low furniture, too. This lets the Crosswave’s handle drop down, allowing you to reach underneath sofas and beds. This means much less bending and straining for you.
Having this versatile feature helps to make up for the Crosswave’s lack of attachments. We would have liked it if there were at least a couple included. But we had to make do as is.
Lightweight
If you’ve been using a traditional vacuum cleaner for any amount of time, you know what a strain on the body they can be. After so long, pushing and pulling starts to take its toll. If you suffer from back pain or arthritis, you likely have even more difficulty.
This is where the Crosswave proves its benefits. At just a little over 11 pounds, operating it is a breeze. You can use it for long periods of time without feeling overwhelmed. At no point did we need to pause our cleaning to take a break.
Carrying it up and downstairs is a piece of cake, too. Its small, compact body lends to easy management. We really appreciated this aspect, as it served to make our tests much more enjoyable than they had any right to be.
When you combine the convenient swivel steering with its feathery weight, you end up with a very user-friendly design. Now you’ll be able to do more cleaning than ever without fear of pulling out your back or cramping your hands.
Related: Bissell 1940 vs 1806
Conclusion
As long as you know the Crosswave’s limitations when cleaning carpet, you’ll be plenty pleased with its performance. On bare floors, it’s a huge advantage not having to mess with a broom and mop. The Crosswave effectively replaces both of them, providing a deeper and better clean in less than half the time.