Bissell CrossWave Pet
BISSELL
Anyone who shares a home with a dog or cat knows the routine: vacuum the hallway, notice the muddy paw prints anyway, drag out a mop and bucket, tip the water twice because it's already grey. The Bissell CrossWave Pet is built to collapse that entire routine into one pass. It vacuums dry debris and washes the floor with clean water in a single motion, and it's aimed squarely at households where fur, mud, and spills are a daily fact of life rather than an occasional inconvenience. Before you decide whether it earns a spot in your cleaning cupboard, here's an honest look at what it does well, where it struggles, and who it actually suits.
Design, Build Quality and How It Feels to Use
Pick this machine up and the first thing you notice is how manageable it is. At around 5kg, it's genuinely light for a device that carries two separate water tanks, a motor, and a rotating brush head — you're not wrestling a heavy upright around furniture legs the way you would with a traditional carpet cleaner. Standing at nearly 117cm tall with a compact 30cm by 23cm footprint, it's built more like a stick vacuum than a bulky canister unit, which matters when you're storing it in a cupboard between uses rather than a garage.
The floorhead is motorised, meaning it does the physical work of scrubbing so you're not pushing against friction the way you would with a manual mop. Steering feels light in daily use, and the low centre of gravity from the water tanks sitting near the base keeps it stable when you're manoeuvring around chair legs and skirting boards. Cord storage is built into the body, which sounds minor until you've owned an appliance that leaves you wrangling a loose cable every time you put it away — a small design touch that quietly improves the day-to-day experience of owning it.
It isn't a fold-flat, tuck-into-a-drawer kind of tool. This is an upright appliance that needs a dedicated spot to live, closer to how you'd store a regular vacuum cleaner than a handheld gadget.
How It Actually Cleans: The Core Mechanism
The CrossWave Pet's defining feature is that it doesn't separate vacuuming and mopping into two jobs — it does both at once, using a multi-surface brush roll that spins while simultaneously dispensing cleaning solution. As the brush scrubs, the machine sucks the resulting dirty water and debris straight back up into a separate compartment, rather than leaving it to sit on your floor or smear around the way a traditional mop does.
That's the detail that matters most for pet owners specifically: the brush works through the mess without redistributing it. A trail of muddy paw prints or a knocked-over water bowl gets lifted and captured in the same pass, rather than being pushed a few inches further down the hallway. Independent hands-on testing of the CrossWave family backs this up, with reviewers reporting that it handled wet spills and dried-on stains with minimal residue, particularly once you've made a couple of passes over any thicker or dried mess.
The brush roll itself is the "multi-surface" variant designed with pet hair in mind — built to pull hair into the machine rather than let it wrap around and clog the roller, which is a common failure point on standard vacuum brush bars when pet hair is involved.
The Two-Tank System, Explained
Rather than one tank that holds both clean solution and collected dirt (the way a bucket-and-mop setup inevitably does), the CrossWave Pet keeps them physically separate:
- Clean tank — holds fresh water mixed with the included pet cleaning formula, which is what actually gets applied to your floor
- Dirty tank — captures the used water, debris, and hair the machine picks back up as you clean
This separation is the entire point of the design: you are never mopping with water that's already carrying yesterday's dirt. The dirty tank also includes a built-in strainer that catches hair and larger debris, so when you come to empty it, you're not reaching into a tank full of tangled fur to clear a clog — you lift the strainer out and the mess comes with it.
Combined wet and dry capacity sits at 0.82 litres. That's enough to cover a meaningful stretch of floor — a kitchen, hallway, and open-plan living area, for instance — before you need to stop and empty or refill. It's not designed for whole-house marathon sessions without a pause, but for room-by-room cleaning it holds up well.
Key Features and What They Actually Mean for You
Self-cleaning storage tray
After you finish cleaning, you dock the machine on this tray, fill it with clean water, and run a short cycle that flushes the brush roll and internal pathway. This is the feature that keeps the machine from developing the damp, musty smell that plagues wet-dry vacuums left to sit uncleaned — skip this step regularly and odour build-up becomes a real risk, based on feedback from long-term owners of similar CrossWave models.
Included pet cleaning formula
You get a full litre of pet-specific solution in the box, which is a meaningful head start — you won't need to buy a separate bottle on day one. Worth knowing before you buy: Bissell's own guidance is that only its branded formulas should go into the tank, since anything else can affect performance and may void your warranty. If you were hoping to run your own preferred floor cleaner or a natural alternative through the machine, that's not something Bissell supports.
Dirty tank strainer
Covered above, but worth flagging again as a genuine time-saver rather than a marketing add-on — it's the difference between a five-second tip-and-rinse and picking wet hair out of a tank by hand.
7.6m power cord with cord storage
Being corded means you never have to think about charge levels mid-clean — no anxiety about the battery dying halfway through the kitchen the way you might with a cordless stick vacuum. The trade-off is reach: 7.6 metres is generous for a single room but will likely require you to unplug and re-plug into a different socket as you move between, say, an upstairs landing and a downstairs kitchen.
Corded Power: The Trade-Off You're Accepting
It's worth being direct about this, because it's the single biggest philosophical difference between this machine and most of its modern rivals. A growing number of wash-and-vacuum hybrids on the market now run cordless on batteries, prioritising freedom of movement. The CrossWave Pet goes the other way, staying corded.
The upside is consistency: full suction and full brush power from the first minute to the last, with no gradual performance drop-off as a battery depletes, and no mid-session panic about whether you'll finish the job before it dies. For anyone who's ever had a cordless vacuum run out of charge with half the living room still to do, this is a real, practical advantage.
The downside is exactly what you'd expect from any corded appliance: you're tethered to a socket, and moving between rooms or floors means unplugging, walking with the machine, and finding a new outlet. If your home has awkwardly placed sockets or you're regularly cleaning a large, open multi-room layout, that's friction you'll feel every single time you use it.
Floor and Surface Compatibility
| Surface | Compatible? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sealed hardwood | Core use case; must be sealed, not raw or oiled wood | |
| Laminate (sealed) | Designed for everyday spills and scuffed marks | |
| Tile | Handles grout lines reasonably well according to hands-on testers | |
| Vinyl / Lino | Listed as fully compatible | |
| Rugs | Suitable per manufacturer listing | |
| Wool carpet | Explicitly listed as suitable | |
| Unsealed or oiled wood | Not listed as compatible; water exposure risks damage |
A practical note pulled from real customer feedback: this machine is very good at hard floors but noticeably less thorough right at the edges of a room — several long-term users flagged that it doesn't reach fully into corners or tight against skirting boards, so you may still want a handheld tool or dustpan for the last inch or two around the room's perimeter.
Who This Is For — and Who Should Look Elsewhere
This is a strong fit if you:
- Have one or more pets and deal with muddy paws, shed hair, or the occasional accident on hard flooring
- Want to eliminate the separate vacuum-then-mop routine and do both in one motion
- Have primarily hard floors (wood, tile, laminate, vinyl) with occasional rugs
- Don't mind an appliance that stays plugged in while it works, or don't have a huge floor plan to cover
- Would rather empty and refill a tank mid-clean than worry about battery life
You may want to look elsewhere if you:
- Live somewhere with wall-to-wall carpet as your primary flooring — this machine is not built as a deep carpet cleaner
- Want a fully cordless, lift-and-go experience with no cable management
- Are especially sensitive to vacuum noise; at 80dB, this runs loud enough that some owners specifically flagged it as a downside, comparable to a busy household appliance like a blender running continuously
- Need something to be spotless right into corners and along skirting boards without a follow-up tool
- Prefer to use your own choice of cleaning solution rather than sticking to one manufacturer's formula
How It Compares to the Alternatives
The most common comparison buyers make is against cordless wet-dry mops from brands like Tineco, which occupy similar territory but take a different approach.
| Bissell CrossWave Pet | Typical cordless wet-dry rival | |
|---|---|---|
| Power source | Corded — consistent power, no charge anxiety | Battery — freedom of movement, runtime limits |
| Weight in hand | Light for a corded unit (~5kg) | Often lighter still, designed for one-handed carry |
| Stain & mess handling | Strong reputation for tackling tough, dried-on messes and area rugs | Generally excellent on light daily mess, more mixed on heavier or dried stains |
| Noise | Runs loud (80dB); a recurring complaint in feedback | Often quieter in typical use |
| Cleaning solution flexibility | Manufacturer-formula only, by design | Similarly proprietary in most cases |
| Best suited to | Households with heavier daily mess — multiple pets, kids, high-traffic hard floors | Households wanting a lighter, quieter everyday touch-up tool |
The honest summary from people who've used both side by side is fairly consistent: the CrossWave Pet tends to win on raw cleaning power for genuinely dirty or high-traffic floors, while cordless rivals tend to win on comfort, quietness, and how effortless day-to-day upkeep feels. If your floors see serious pet-related mess regularly, the CrossWave's scrubbing action and larger dirty-tank strainer are built for exactly that. If your floors mostly need a light daily refresh, a quieter cordless alternative may suit your patience levels better.
Strengths and Weaknesses, Honestly
The strongest case for the CrossWave Pet is that it removes an entire step from your cleaning routine without asking you to compromise much on results. The dual-tank system genuinely solves the "mopping with dirty water" problem that makes traditional mopping feel counterproductive, and the brush roll's pet-specific design means hair doesn't become the clogging nightmare it can be with standard vacuum heads. The included pet formula, self-cleaning tray, and strainer all point to a machine designed by people who thought carefully about what actually goes wrong when pets are in the mix — not just marketing dressed up as features.
Where it falls short is just as clear. The 80dB noise level is loud enough that multiple long-term owners bring it up unprompted, and if you're cleaning while a baby naps or a video call is happening in the next room, that's a genuine constraint. Edge and corner cleaning is a recurring soft spot — you'll likely still keep a handheld vacuum or dustpan nearby for skirting boards and tight corners. And the requirement to stick with Bissell's own cleaning formula, while understandable from a warranty standpoint, removes flexibility that some buyers will miss if they already have a preferred eco-friendly or budget solution they'd rather use.
None of these are dealbreakers on their own, but they're the kind of details that separate a five-star first impression from realistic day-to-day satisfaction, and you deserve to know about them before you buy rather than after.
The Verdict
If your household includes pets and hard flooring, and you're tired of vacuuming one day and mopping the next only to feel like neither job was fully finished, the Bissell CrossWave Pet earns its place. It genuinely combines two chores into one, its two-tank system solves the "mopping with dirty water" problem properly rather than just papering over it, and the pet-focused brush and included formula show real thought went into who this machine is for. Go in accepting two trade-offs — it's a loud machine, and it's tethered to a socket rather than fully cordless — and you'll get a floor-cleaning tool that does real, measurable work rather than a gadget that looks good in the box and disappoints in the hallway. For multi-pet households and anyone dealing with regular hard-floor mess, this is a sound, practical buy. For households with mostly carpet, or anyone who prioritises a whisper-quiet, fully cordless experience above all else, it's worth weighing the alternatives first.
What People Say
120 commentsVirtually perfect
I have purchased various floor cleaners over the years - vacuums, steam mops, carpet washers from several different manufacturers. Each had their own benefits and downsides. Downsides were the initial expense, build quality, effectiveness, running costs, customer service, guarantee. My greatest irritation is spending more time cleaning the machine than I have spent using it to clean up! Similarly the expense and effectiveness of various shampoos etc. Following the breakdown of my last carpet washer, still well with guarantee but denied - another story! - I was looking for a replacement. I had never bought from the Bissell brand. I saw this item on Argos website and scrolled past, thinking it was not for me. I looked again only because it was on offer. I checked out some online reviews and decided to give it a go. It is without doubt the best product I have ever used by miles. It has greater suction than a Dyson, it washes better than a VAX carpet cleaner (although not recommended for fitted carpets) and cleans and dries hard floors better than any mop and bucket/steam mop/spray mop. It is so easy to clean. Every part needed to be accessed for cleaning is simple to reach. It is maneuverable, lightweight and has a good length of cable. A cordless version I believe is or soon will be available but I am happy with this one. The cleaning solution is quite expensive but very little is required and it goes a long way. It is also very effective. The tank capacities appear tiny but I have not found this to be a problem. This product has reduced the time I spend cleaning by easily half. The best part is that my home is cleaner for it too. There are a few downsides. In comparison to other products the initial outlay is not overly expensive, especially as this is 2 items in 1. However, it is still a hefty outlay. I would say worth every penny but undoubtedly a considered purchase. There are no attachments for edges, stairs etc. It is not designed for that, but it means other equipment is needed for those areas. The roller, to be absolutely perfect, would benefit from the Shark type anti hair wrap technology. Fwiw, I am not a huge fan of either cleaning or reviews, but this product is very much deserving of praise!
Easy to use
Bought this to save time..it dies hoover and wash so really useful...selected this one as we have a cat and I have long hair! Its also important that I can use it on hard floors aswell as carpets as we have rugs. It sucks up and washes tile dirt really well.. You can see all the dirt when you clean it..takes around 5 mins to clean and leave to dry..easy to reassemble. Only downside is there are no attachments and its hard to clean the edges ...I wouldn't mind and would use as is...but we've kept our old hoover and my husband uses this to hoover the edges first and then use the bissel! But it still saves time...
Love it!
Been thinking about purchasing this mop-vacuum for a while and am so pleased that I did. It is so satisfying to see how much dirt it pulls from your floors and rugs. It’s really easy to use and clean, it’s a great alternative to the cordless one and obviously cheaper. It is noisier than expected but does such a good job at cleaning your floors.
The only downside is it doesn’t clean right up to your walls so there is about an inch between the wall and where the mop starts so you need to either point the mop directly at the wall instead of sideways, if that makes sense, or do the edges with a traditional mop.
My floors have never felt cleaner!
I absolutely love the Bissell floor cleaner, I’m always horrified by how dirty my floors get with people constantly going through the house. I never felt like a mop and bucket did the job without going over the floor multiple times, but to be able to essentially hoover and mop in one go is so much faster and the results are fabulous. You still need to go over your skirting boards with a mop or cloth, but the time and effort the Bissell saves, it’s a small inconvenience. Add to that it’s self cleaning…It’s a winner for me!
Bought as replacement for a broken steamer
We have dogs and for the past 10 years we have used two different well known brand floor steamers. Whilst these did both work fine, you notice that when you steam the floor yon are actually pushing any dirt around hoping it will be absorbed into the cloth. Both steamers also left the floor quite wet and it needed to be dried with a towel. So when the latest steamer broke I decided to pay a bit more for a washer and vacuum. Wow I'm so pleased with the choice. You can use it as a vacuum or washer.
Quality item
It has the look and feel of a vacuum cleaner but is way more. Easy set up just put the handle on, fill the bottle with water and solution and you’re good to go. I was incredibly impressed by the extra long cable. I wasn’t expecting the cleaner to light up so that was a nice touch. It was very quick and easy to use just like vacuuming. It picked up great the debris from my kitchen floor so Didn't need to sweep first like other cleaners. My kitchen floor was gleaming in less than 10 minutes - fab.
Amazing!!!
This product is so well designed.It comes with everything you need.You get the cleaning solution and a spare roller.Everything comes apart to be able to wash and dry,even a drip tray to stand it on.The 3 in 1 does everything it says.Its so easy to put together and so easy to use.You can switch between the hard floors and the rug just flicking a button on handle.My kitchen floor got so clean with very minimal effort.I usually love my good old mop but I honestly can't recommend this product enough
What Sliced Bread?
In the top 5 best gadgets I've bought. I have a 3 bed semi detached house and we have tiles in the hallway/kitchen/dining room. I've used it once or twice a day since I bought it, with the Bissel Multi Use Detergent. So easy to use, a Godsend for my bad back. Select hard floor button on on top for tiles etc, press trigger underneath to wet/shampoo, then release trigger and go back over to mop up. Separate clean water/dirty water containers. Floors dry quickly. Great on my wool rug too. Amazing!
Does the job perfectly
The Bissell is perfect. Lightweight, quick and easy to use, cleans the floor without leaving surplus water everywhere and picks up dog hair brilliantly. I'm really pleased I went for a machine specifically for pets with relevant cleaning fluid and an extra built in filter. It cleans my flat door mats as well which is an added bonus. They look and smell really clean. I went for a wired version because of the area to be covered and the 7mtr cable helps. The machine comes with an extra roller too.
Water streaks everywhere
The concept is great. But, that's really about it. My kitchen floor has grey flag stone tiles. They are left wet, takes longer to dry but you need to clean down the brissell so that it doesn't leave dirty water trails all over from being used in other rooms. The rest of my downstairs is dark, black-brown expensive hardwood flooring. In which case the floor colour makes it really forgiving. However, a swiffer with attatched spray dispenser with changeable floor pads gives you better end results.
Great for a light mop round
I spent a long time deciding whether to get a vac mop or not and which one to get, as they aren't cheap. Overall, thoroughly impressed with the Bissell and have recommended it to others.
Positives:
+ Both mops and vaccuums to a decent level
+ Leaves floors and rooms smelling good
+ Doesn't get floors to wet (can dictate how much liquid to use via trigger on handle)
+ Decent cord length
+ Easy to clean
+ Good power
+ Lightweight
Negatives:
+ Doesn't do right to the edges (<inch gap)
Wish I'd bought it sooner!
I hadn't had the Bissell long when the dog decided to throw-up on the living room rug. I got to work to clean up the offending pile and when I'd finished I was astounded, (and horrified), to see how much filth came out of one small area of the rug even after it had been thoroughly hoovered the previous day. Once the treated area was dry, it was noticeably softer to the touch than the rest of the rug. The Bissell is relatively heavy but it's easy to manoeuvre and my rug has a new lease of life!
LOVE IT EXCELLENT
I bought this, as I was so sick of using 3 buckets of water until my kitchen floor was clean.
I have MS so was really struggling because of having to first hoover the hard floors then mop and as I said sometimes 3 times so I knew they were clean, Well with this it does it all!
Hoovers and cleans at the same time, I cannot express enough how good it is.
We have a tiled floor in the Kitchen, Karndean in the hallway and laminate in the office, so the Bissel floor cleaning system is brilliant
Well worth it! Great results
Easy to switch from hard floor to carpet and it’s good the water is not reused.
Downside - you need to refill more than it says, on the fullest tank it says 50sqm but nowhere near! Obvious marks on the carpet need treating first to get best result. Very noisy!!!
Upside - Easy to operate and easy to clean. Fantastic on hard floors, I have used it on cream amtico and it came up like new despite having 2 dogs running mud on it everyday!
I also purchased when on offer so even better value.
Wow just wow! Excellent cleaner
Wow just wow! I was a bit dubious about a machine that claims to do it all but this absolutely surprised me. Hoovers, mops, dries and cleans itself? Never! But it really does. I think it’s on the heavier side of a hoover but the suction is second to none. (Even better than my dyson) very easy to take apart and clean too which is a real bonus. Only downside I would say is the instructions, I had to watch a quick tutorial on YouTube but after that it was a breeze, would definitely recommend.
Light weight easy to use bissell crosswave pet pro
Works well on my laminate floor, lyno and heavy groove slate floor (used rug mode on slate as pumps more solution out) its light weight and no noiser than my normal Hoover! I decided on a cord one as I have a lot of floor space on my ground floor so didn't want to run out of battery I'm pleased I did. To stop the roller from dripping if u move the Hoover upstairs run it for 15seconds with no solution this will dry roller out! Only had to refill bottle and empty once during my cleaning too
Proper cleaning
I didn't know this type of cleaner existed until I got fed up using a steamer and mop to clean up after my two dogs bringing the garden in with them every time they went outside. The floor always dried with a dusty film on it and the small indentations in the tiles trapped dirt. Not any more! The Crosswave REALLY cleans by sucking away the dirt. On the 4th use the performance was a bit off (streaking) but I discovered the black filter is easily removed and cleaned = performance restored.
Be prepared to be amazed!
Wow, what an amazing machine. I purchased thinking it would save me a bit of work as we have four very, very hairy extra large dogs but amazingly it saves me oodles of time and energy and doesn't hurt my bad back. We were constantly brushing and mopping the floors - vacuum was a waste of time for the hairs. This machine does it all. Yes, hairs, muddy footprints, the lot (we do brush up the bulk of hairs first). Most amazing thing is the roller doesn't get hairs stuck on it. I love it
Bissell Floor Cleaner
I have tried many different mops/steam Cleaners in a bid to keep my floors clean, and have always gone back to an old fashioned mop and bucket because anything else either didn’t work well enough, or was too much hassle to use. I was expecting the same for this cleaner, but this is brilliant! It hoovers, washes and dries all in one, just add the water and fluid to the bottle and switch it on. The cord is long enough to clean the whole downstairs of my house without having to unplug
Love it ...
It is brilliant.
It is easy to assemble and easy to use.
It feels strong and sturdy and I think that it is a good quality product.
It is however quite noisy.
It has very good suction on the Hoover part and the mopping function is very effective.
As you are only putting clean water onto the floor and sucking up the dirty water it actually means that the floors are much cleaner than using a traditional mop and bucket.
I like that a light shines at the front when mopping
