Bissell Cross Wave Hydro Scrub: possibly the only floor cleaner your home needs | Tech Radar

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I tested the Bissell Cross Wave Hydro Scrub, and this wireless all-in-one might be the only floor cleaner your home needs

Clean and mop bare floors and area rugs with ease

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The cordless Bissell Cross Wave Hydro Scrub All-in-One-Multi-Surface Cleaner has both wet and dry cleaning capabilities. Vacuum bare floors and rugs. Add your cleaner of choice, and then you can mop bare floors and give your rugs a shampoo.

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The Bissell Cross Wave Hydro Scrub All-in-One-Multi-Surface Cleaner is a cordless vacuum and mop in one. It effectively picks up dirt from bare floors as well as certain kinds of rugs. A single charge is probably enough to vacuum and mop an average-sized home, though you might need to refill the cleaner if you have a lot of carpets or rugs. It's lightweight, easy to use, and not too loud. A headlight really shines a light on dirt so you can be sure to get it all. However, it lacks some features that may be a dealbreaker for some.

It's great on bare floors and hard carpets and rugs. But the Bissell Cross Wave Hydro Scrub is not intended for flimsy or fluffy carpets. It lacks a wand or hose of any kind, which means you can't use it on furniture. Also, don't expect any miracles in the stain-removal department.

For the day-to-day cleaning of a typical home with hard floors, either bare floors or dense rugs, the Bissell Cross Wave Hydro Scrub All-in-One-Multi-Surface Cleaner excels. For specialty carpeted surfaces or deeply ingrained carpet stains, it may not be enough.

Bissell Cross Wave Hydro Scrub at Walmart for $369.99

Bissell Cross Wave Hydro Scrub: price and availability

As of this writing, the Bissell Cross Wave Hydro Scrub All-in-One-Multi-Surface Cleaner is available on Bissell's own website and at Walmart. The price is the same at both places,

Power Vac Mode, Power Mop Mode, Turbo Mode, Scrub Mode

Power Vac Mode, Power Mop Mode, Turbo Mode, Scrub Mode

Docking station, handle, body, trial cleaner formulas

Docking station, handle, body, trial cleaner formulas

Dirty tank must be disassembled and parts hand washed

Dirty tank must be disassembled and parts hand washed

BISSELL Cross Wave Hydro Scrub: design and features

The cordless Bissell Cross Wave Hydro Scrub All-in-One-Multi-Surface Cleaner takes about five hours to charge fully, and then will clean for about 45 minutes on a single charge. Vacuum your floors and rugs with the Power Vac Mode, and then switch to Power Mop Mode for wet cleaning. A headlight comes on automatically as you clean, and makes it easier to find and clean any dirt.

It's relatively lightweight, weighing in at under 11 pounds. The front of the handle has three buttons: Power, Cleaning Mode button, and a Turbo Mode button for extra suction. The inside of the handle has a Scrub Mode trigger for extra scrubbing in mopping mode. On top of the handle, you'll find the Clean-Out Cycle button.

A lit display on the front of the body indicates which cleaning mode you're in and how much power you have left. This display informs you of any issues, such as clogs, an empty clean tank, or a stuck brush roll, among other things.

The size and shape allow you to get close to walls and in corners to clean. There are no hoses or attachments that would allow you to clean sofas or other furniture.

The back of the unit houses the clean water tank. You fill it with warm tap water up to the water fill line, and then add cleaning formula to the formula fill line. This gives you the right concentration of cleaner to water. Empty out the dirty tank as needed; you'll have to disassemble all of the parts and give them a good clean by hand.

If you wish to run the Clean-Out Cycle, you need to empty the dirty tank first. Add cleaning solution up to the Clean-Out Cycle line on the clean water tank, then put the machine in the docking station and press the Clean-Out Cycle button. It takes just 45 seconds to clean out the machine. Then you'll need to clean out the dirty tank again.

The Bissell Cross Wave Hydro Scrub All-in-One-Multi-Surface Cleaner made quick work of food crumbs on my kitchen floor. I also threw down some salt and that was easily vacuumed up as well. I ran it over some dried-on mess in Power Mop Mode and that was easily cleaned up as well. I did need a few passes in the same spots, especially near walls. One odd thing I noticed was that the wheels got dirty very quickly, and there's no easy way to clean those.

I vacuumed and then wet-cleaned three good-sized area rugs plus two carpeted bedroom on a single tank of cleaner and a single charge. I also attempted to clean a thin, flimsy, washable area rug and unsurprisingly that didn't work at all; it just got sucked up into the Cross Wave Hydro Scrub.

It never gets particularly loud. My dog usually barks at vacuums because she hates the loud noise; she didn't bark at this one until I'd been using it for a while (and I got into her space.)

The pulling back motion on rugs feels a bit rough sometimes. Forward motion is consistently smooth. It took several passes to vacuum up a single hair on an area rug, but it did get up eventually.

My area rugs had actually been shampooed rather recently, but not the bedroom carpets. I didn't realize how dirty they were, but wow: the dirty tank was filthy after my cleaning session. I mean, really gross.

After wet cleaning, the rugs were slightly damp but not soaked. They dried pretty quickly after cleaning. I did have some old, set-in stains and those did not come up. It's worth noting that my rugs and carpets are all very dense; the Bissell Cross Wave Hydro Scrub All-in-One-Multi-Surface Cleaner is not designed for plush or fluffy rugs.

I cleaned out the dirty tank after I was done with this cleaning session, and then I added more cleaner and ran the 45-second Clean-Out Cycle. Again, the dirty tank was filthy, so I cleaned it out again and then hand-washed all of the parts.

Should you buy the Bissell Cross Wave Hydro Scrub?

It's pretty pricey but worthwhile if it fits your needs

It's pretty pricey but worthwhile if it fits your needs

It performed well on bare floors and decently on dense rugs

It performed well on bare floors and decently on dense rugs

I thought performance was best on bare floors. Though it did pull up a lot of dirt from my dense rugs and carpets, it struggled to vacuum up one long hair from a rug.

This is designed for picking up pet hair and pet messes in a jiffy. The headlight makes fur detection easy.

It's cordless, and you can clean for 45 minutes before needing to return it to the docking station for a recharge.

This isn't the cleaning device for fluffy, high-pile carpets. It only works on bare floors and dense rugs.

Some wet/dry vacs have hoses and wands to clean sofas and other furniture, but this one does not.

There are much cheaper wet/dry vacs out there, even from Bissell.

If the Bissell Cross Wave Hydro Scrub All-in-One-Multi-Surface Cleaner isn't exactly what you're looking for, you might consider the following:

This one tops the list of our favorite wet-dry vacuums because it's simply great all around. It's self-propelling which makes it easy and even kind of fun to use.

Quite a bit cheaper than some of the other options, this one does the job and lays flat when needed to get under furniture with ease.

I took apart the dirty tank and washed all of the parts

I vacuumed up crumbs and food from my kitchen floor. I ran a mop cycle on some dried-up mess on the floor. I vacuumed several area rugs. I did a wet-cleaning cycle on three area rugs and two bedrooms. I attempted to clean some set-in stains on carpet. I ran a Clean-Out Cycle when I was done cleaning. I took apart the dirty tank and hand-washed all of the parts.

Karen is a world traveler, writer, teacher, family woman, and occasionally a movie extra. She has been writing about Apple, consumer tech, and lifestyle products since 2010 for various publications including Tech Radar, CNET, Tom’s Guide, i More, Macworld, App Advice, and Watch Aware.

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• I tested the Bissell Cross Wave Hydro Scrub, and this wireless all-in-one might be the only floor cleaner your home needs