Bissell CrossWave Reviews

About Bissell CrossWave

By HighYa Research Team

You want clean, sparkling floors, but that trusty mop of yours is probably teeming with bacteria. And who wants to spread that nastiness all over their house?

On top of this, you need a completely separate vacuum if you want clean, fresh-smelling carpets as well. Or do you?

The Bissell CrossWave is an all-in-one multi-surface cleaner that promises to wash hard surfaces, clean and freshen rug areas, and vacuum in “one easy step.”

To accomplish this, we’re told the CrossWave uses a dual-action brush roll and a special multi-surface cleaning solution that removes debris, spills, and sticky messes as it goes—without having to sweep or clean beforehand.

And while you’re cleaning, the company tells us you simply need to touch a button on the handle to “seamlessly switch from cleaning hard floors to vacuuming and washing your area rugs.” All the while its two-tank technology keeps clean and dirty water separated.

After taking a look a Bissell’s website, it seems reasonable to believe that the CrossWave might clean better than a sponge mop and bucket, and in less time.

But will it really deliver an “unbelievable” clean? Is it really a groundbreaking cleaning device? These are just two of the important questions we’ll help you answer in this review.

How Does the Bissell CrossWave Work?

Intended for use only on sealed hardwood, other sealed surfaces, and area rugs, the Bissell CrossWave weighs about 11 pounds, uses 4.4 amps of power, and features a 25-foot cord (no automatic rewind).

We’re told that CrossWave’s two-tank technology ensures you’re only using fresh, clean water (about 28oz), while the dirty water (up to 14.5oz) remains separated in its own tank.

Inside the clean water tank, you’ll also be able to add Bissell’s spring breeze scented Multi-Surface Cleaning Formula, which the company claims—when combined with the Dual-Action Multi-Surface Brush Roll—can help deliver an “unbelievable” clean to your sealed hard floors, tile, laminate and area rugs.

The Bissell CrossWave. Image credit Bissell.com

How? The company tells us the Multi-Surface Brush Roll rotates at 3,000 RPM, with microfibers and nylon bristles that gently scrub and sweep up dust simultaneously.

Then, its powerful suction pulls away cleaning solution as it’s working, so you won’t have to worry about moisture soaking through the back of your area rugs.

From a control perspective, Bissell notes that the SmartClean Fingertip buttons on its handle allow you to quickly and easily switch between hard floor and area rug cleaning, while the swivel steering helps you maneuver across your floors.

When you’re finished, you simply need to place CrossWave in its Easy-Clean storage tray. This allows you to cleanse the roll and chamber by filling with water and turning the machine on.

If necessary, you can access the easy-to-remove brush window and removable brush roll for convenient cleaning as well.

For a quick overview of how the Bissell CrossWave works, take a look at Bissell’s short video below:

Finally, Bissell manufactures other rollers and cleaning solutions as well, depending on the surface you’re looking to clean with your CrossWave. These include:

• Soft Touch Wood Floor Roll for gently cleaning delicate wood floors
• Wood Floor Cleaning Formula that “reveals your floor’s natural shine”
• DirtLifter Area Rug Roll that removes embedded dirt
• Area Rug Cleaning Formula that cleans and freshens

How much will you pay for these cleaning capabilities?

How Much Does the Bissell CrossWave Cost?

If purchased directly through Bissell, the CrossWave is priced at five payments of $49.99, or one payment of $249.95, plus free shipping.

This will include the Dual-Action Multi-Surface Brush Roll, Multi-Surface Floor Cleaning Formula, Easy-Clean Storage Tray, and a 2-year limited warranty against defective or malfunctioning parts.

However, Bissell was running a special TV offer at the time of our research that added the Wood Floor Cleaning Kit and Rug Cleaning Kit and increased the warranty to four years.

Additional Bissell CrossWave accessories could be purchased for:

• CrossWave Filter: $9.99
• MultiSurface Floor Cleaning Formula (32oz): $9.99
• Wood Floor Formula: $9.99
• Area Rug Formula: $9.99
• Brush Rolls: $9.99

Outside of the company, we also found the CrossWave for sale at Amazon, Target, HSN.com, Walmart, Bed Bath & Beyond, and several other third-party retailers.

Based on what we’ve discussed so far, are customers pleased with their CrossWave’s performance?

What Are Customer Reviews Saying About the Bissell CrossWave?

On Bissell’s website, there were 23 customer reviews who gave the CrossWave an average rating of 5 stars. There, common compliments referenced quick, effective cleaning; ease of use, and overall quality.

There weren’t any complaints listed on Bissell’s website, but is this what customers are saying elsewhere?

38 customers provided feedback about the Bissell CrossWave on Amazon, where the floor cleaner had a 4.6-star average rating. Many of the compliments mirrored those found on Bissell’s website.

On the other hand, common complaints seemed to reference that:

• It takes more time than you think (and might not provide any time savings when compared to more traditional mops),
• Its softer rollers don’t clean as effectively as some other wet-dry vac models (more about this next), and
• It goes through a lot of cleaning formula very quickly.

Finally, on HSN, 5 CrossWave customers provided their feedback, giving the device a lower average rating of 3.6 stars. Both complaints claimed that their CrossWave didn’t perform as well as expected—or at least not as well as some of the competition.

Speaking of which, is there anything else out there like the Bissell CrossWave?

Bissell CrossWave vs. the Competition

When it comes to vacuums, you’ll find dozens of options that can clean everything from deep pile carpet to laminate flooring.

However, if you’re looking to combine ‘mop’ functionality with traditional vacuuming capabilities, then these options will be reduced by quite a bit.

This is because there are very few models that can address both rugs and sealed floors—and even then, you’ll find some big differences in functionality. As a couple quick examples:

• At $130, the Hoover FloorMate Deluxe can wash, scrub, and dry your sealed hardwood floors, but it can’t clean rugs.
• The Bissell Symphony, which costs $200, vacuums and steam mops, but doesn’t use a roller to pick up stuck-on dirt and debris.

In fact, outside of these competitors, you don’t have many other choices; at least not without bumping up to full-blown commercial models, which will cost you (at minimum) hundreds more and will likely be much heavier and bulkier.

Does this mean that the Bissell CrossWave is right for you?

Is The Bissell CrossWave Your Next All-In-One Vacuum?

As we outline in our Vacuum Cleaner Buyer’s Guide, purchasing a vacuum is a highly personal process, based on factors like the type of home you live in, your budget, acceptable noise levels, power needs, available attachments, and so forth.

As a result, only you can know whether or not the Bissell CrossWave will suit your lifestyle. However, based on everything we’ve learned here, there are a couple things we think are important to point out before leaving the decision up to you:

Will the CrossWave Work With Your Floors?

There seems to be a little confusion as to exactly which floors the CrossWave is suitable for.

On the Bissell website, the company mentions that it can also be used on laminate flooring, although this generally isn’t considered a “sealed” floor type. As such, we’d recommend contacting your laminate flooring manufacturer before making any purchases.

Also, are you planning to use the CrossWave on your standard carpets (i.e. not just area rugs)? If so, the company claims it’ll do the job, but they allude that other Bissell models might better meet this need:

“You can use it on wall-to-wall carpet, but for the best clean on carpet, we recommend considering BISSELL® Revolution™ Deep Cleaner.

While this product is made to clean area rugs, it is always recommended to check the manufacturer's tag before cleaning area rugs for any specialized cleaning instructions.”

What’s With Bissell’s Cleaning Formulas?

What’s not made clear on Bissell’s website is the meaningful differences between each of their specialized cleaning surfaces.

In other words, would you be able to use the wood cleaning formula on rugs, and vice versa? If not, would you have to change the tank every time you wanted to clean a different area in your home?

Further, since there’s already a dual-purpose cleaner, why would you purchase the wood or rug-specific cleaners in the first place?

Speaking of which, more than one online customer noted that the CrossWave goes through the water in its tank quickly, which means you might be purchasing more refills than expected.

Or, can you use a third-party cleaner? Perhaps ones that are available locally to save on S&H charges? We’re not told.

Our Bissell Customer Service Experience

To learn more, we contacted Bissell’s customer service department at 800-237-7691 and spoke with a very pleasant representative.

They told us that the company recommends using only Bissell’s cleaning formulas in the CrossWave.

In addition, they clarified that the Multisurface formula handles many different surfaces (e.g. wood, tile, stained concrete, etc.), while the wood and area rug formulas are surface-specific.

The representative also let us know that if you’re cleaning your area rugs using the Area Rug formula (for example) and wanted to switch to cleaning your wood floors, you’d need to drain the tank, clean the CrossWave, add the Wood formula, and then start cleaning from there.

Let’s carry this thought over the next section.

How Convenient Is the Bissell CrossWave?

We talked a little about convenience in the previous section, but to add to the conversation, keep in mind that you’ll have to clean the tank, hand wash the filter, and wipe down the area where the dirty water tank sits after each use.

As a result, depending on the size of the area and the number of flooring types you’re cleaning, it might take you equally as long to clean your machine as it does to clean all the floors in your home.

What did you think of the Bissell CrossWave? Did it deliver an unparalleled clean? Did it provide a solid value? Give us all the details by writing a review below!

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