Bissell Crosswave 1785: A Comprehensive Guide for Homeowners

Power

Heavy-duty models (above 6 HP): usually found in commercial vacuums for warehouses or offices.

Medium-duty models (from 5 to 6 HP): ideal for both outdoor and indoor cleaning, such as garden cleanup and standard workshop.

Light-duty models (from 1 to 5 HP): these machines are suitable for light cleaning tasks like small spills.

A heavy-duty wet-dry vacuum Via: Amazon

Tank capacity

Large capacity (above 14 gallons): highest performance, great for heavy-duty jobs in commercial settings. They are usually heavier and harder to move.

Medium capacity (from 6 to 14 gallons): ideal for cleaning your workshop, garage spills, or a wet basement. They have a good balance between relative portability, capacity, and performance.

Small capacity (from 1.5 to 6 gallons): ideal for those with limited storage space. They can still handle some small cleaning tasks in your house while being much quieter.

Size

If you need to carry your wet-dry vacuum up and down a lot, go for a smaller and lightweight model that is easy to maneuver, especially those with onboard storage, so that you can put all the necessary attachments on it. Also, make sure that the wet-dry vacuum you want to have can fit into the storage space in your house.

Attachments

Not every vacuum comes with the same set of attachments. Depending on the specific model, some are included in the box with purchase, while others can only be purchased separately.

Overview of the Bissell Crosswave

Bissell Crosswave Via: Amazon

The Bissell Crosswave 1785 is a vacuum that can mop and vacuum your floors at the same time. It will be a perfect choice for your house if you are looking for one of the following things:

• A multi-surface wet-dry vacuum: the Crosswave provides you with the ability to wash, mop, sweep, and vacuum various types of surfaces, from hard floors to rugs.

• A vacuum with deep cleaning ability: this Bissell gives good results in both dry and wet surfaces, even tile's grout lines - where many other traditional vacuums struggle.

• A vacuum that can wash your rugs: if you want both vacuum and carpet cleaner all-in-one that can wash your rugs and mop your floors at the same time, the Bissell Crosswave is an ideal choice.

Pros

• Fairly affordable for a wet-dry vacuum

• Easy to carry

• Can work on multiple surfaces, especially rugs

• Have deep cleaning ability

• Easy to maintain

Cons

• The swivel steering is not highly maneuverable

• Average suction

• Limited tank capacity

Bissell Crosswave Review

Design

This Bissell multi-surface vacuum is equipped with some extra features on top of a traditional stick vacuum. It measures 12 inches wide, 46 inches tall, and weighs around 11 pounds.

Cleaning head and Brushroll

The Dual-Action brushroll Via: Amazon

The cleaning abilities of this wet-dry vacuum features a multi-surface brushroll, which can help agitate debris and dirt in addition to washing area rugs or mopping hard floors. This brushroll is made up of several individual  strands. They can absorb water and a cleaning solution to properly clean your floors while being soft enough, so they don't scratch any delicate surfaces.

Cleaning tank

This floor and carpet cleaner series has a dual-tank design, meaning you will have two separate tanks: one for the cleaning solution and water and one for the debris and dirty water that have been sucked up by the cleaning head.

The first tank has two fill lines: one for large area debris and one for smaller ones. Bissell has marked these lines to indicate how much water and cleaning solution you should add. Following these provided measurements will make sure you have the right proper cleaning solution without wasting any cleaner or water.

Bissell Crosswave uses two-tank technology Via: Amazon

On the other hand, the 0.4-liter dirty tank is removable for easy dumping. There is a small lip that you can use as a handle to release it from the main machine quickly.

SmartClean Fingertip Controls

You can find two cleaning mode buttons on the handle, which indicate the type of floor you are cleaning: hard floor or rug. Once the machine has been turned on, you can switch between these modes by pressing one of those two buttons.

The handle also has a trigger that provides cleaning solutions and water to the brushroll, which you can squeeze it once the vacuum is on.

Accessories

Since this vacuum is a multi-surface wet-dry model, it comes with several different accessories.

Hardwood floor brushroll

Apart from the default multi-surface brushroll, the Bissell Crosswave also provides an extra brush for hardwood floors in the form of an attachment. It is almost the same as the default brush except that this hardwood version doesn't have the medium-firm bristles. As it is made entirely from soft fiber, it's a great choice to polish your delicate floors.

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Area rug brushroll

Some versions of the Crosswave are another brushroll designed specifically for area rugs. It's completely composite to the hardwood brushroll as there is no soft-fiber core but only medium-firm bristles inside it. These firmer bristles produce better agitation and thus perform better on area rugs.

Pet brushroll

This brushroll is almost similar to the default multi-surface one except that the soft bristles sit above the former ones, which prevents the firm bristles from gathering long hair. The pet brush roll attachment works on both area rugs and hardwood floors.

Cleaning solutions

It's common for a wet-dry vacuum like the Crosswave to provide cleaning solutions right in the box, which you should mix with water in the clean water tank.

The Bissell Crosswave includes multi-surface cleaning solutions in the box Via: Amazon

Each of those cleaning solutions has a different scent and purpose, including:

• Multi-surface solution: can be used for different floor types, from tile to area rugs, and hardwood

• Area rug: use it strictly for your area rugs, not bare floors or carpeted surfaced

• Wood: as its name suggests, you should use this formula only for hardwood floors

• Multi-surface Pet: this solution will come in handy when you need to deal with pet messes

Cleaning tray

You can turn the vacuum on and clean its brushroll on this cleaning tray. Just put the machine on top of it with some cleaning solution added to the front side.

Filter

Even though the Bissell Crosswave has a washable filter, you will need to replace it eventually. You will notice the deterioration of this filter over time and you’ll have to determine when it's time for a new filter. You can also purchase additional replacements once you have used up the included filters.

Operation

Since the Bissell Crosswave is a wet-dry model with both vacuuming and mopping capabilities, the way it operates is different from traditional single-purpose units and varies according to the mode and surface it's running on.

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Vacuuming

In the vacuuming mode, the Bissell Crosswave sweeps the floor and sucks debris through its brushroll. The multi-surface brushroll spins, sweeping debris and dirt to the suction path and then, with the help of the suction power, the machine lifts the debris to its dirt bin.

Mopping

When you press the trigger on the handle, the Crosswave will dispense the prepared cleaning solution onto the brushroll. The brushroll doesn't stop spinning or sucking but uses this combination of vacuuming and mopping to get rid of messes that contain both wet and dry debris, such as milk and cereal.

You can vacuum and wash at the same time with the Bissell Crosswave Via: Amazon

Area rugs

This Bissell vacuum has a dedicated area rug mode, which comes with a separate button on the handle. It works in the same fashion as the hard floor mode, except that the amount of cleaning solution dispensed is four times higher, allowing for deep cleaning.

The official recommendation from Bissell says that if the machine has trouble cleaning stick messes on a hard floor, you should activate this area rug mode. The extra cleaning solution will remove stick debris off the floor faster.

Ease of use

The Bissell Crosswave is not a complicated machine to use, but users may get confused the first time. You should read the user manuals provided by Bissell first to have a general idea of how to run this wet-dry vacuum properly.

After all, there are two main cleaning modes: hard floors and area rugs. You can switch between them by pressing the respective control button on the handle.

Maneuverability

Although this unit includes a swivel head, it's not really highly maneuverable. You can only turn its head to around 25 degrees, which is a major problem for some users, depending on the floor types they have at home. But if you only need to clean open spaces, this is not a big deal. Additionally, the power cord is 25 feet long, allowing quite a large cleaning radius.

It’s equipped with Swivel Steering Via: Amazon

If you push it quickly, the Bissell Crosswave is easy to handle. But you may find it harder to move when you need to do some slow cleaning on thick rugs.

Cleaning results

Vacuuming

Is Bissell a good vacuum with powerful suction? Unfortunately, we have some bad news for you. The Bissell Crosswave only produces average suction power.

This vacuum can work on multiple surfaces Via: Amazon

However, this seems not to have much of an effect on its cleaning performance. As long as you don't mind going over some areas a few times, it should yield a decent result.

• Hard floor: it works almost perfectly as a traditional vacuum on hardwood floors, where it can suck up most of the typical debris like sugar, cereal, kitty litter, or rice.

• Area rugs: the ability to vacuum and wash area rugs is what makes this vacuum one of the most versatile models on the market. The deep cleaning results are great, even if your rugs have not been washed in several months.

• Pet hair: The Bissell Crosswave can pull pet hair imprinted deeply inside area rugs.

Mopping

This wet-dry vacuum generally does an amazing job mopping up typical messes on floors like soda, honey, or mud. However, the performance varies a lot, depending on what you're cleaning.

• Dirt: normal dirt poses no issue to the Crosswave and becomes virtually non-existent with just one pass.

• Honey: this sticky substance needs some more effort from you with at least one extra pass to clean it entirely. The first pass usually removes the vast majority with some slight residues left behind. The second (or third) pass will clean up nicely the rest of the honey.

• Stains: with the deep cleaning ability, the Crosswave can totally handle stains on your rugs as long as you can take several slow passes. After a few passes, although there may be some discoloration left, there will be a big improvement in overall cleanliness and smell.

Maintenance

Proper maintenance is essential to a wet-dry vacuum like the Bissell Crosswave. Fortunately, as long as you remember to do some basic and simple tasks, this machine should perform in the best condition.

Filter

Since the included filter is washable, you should wash it after each major cleaning session. This may sound tedious, but in turn it takes a longer time before you need a replacement compared to non-washable filters. Remember to let it dry completely before putting it back into the vacuum.

Dirty water tank

Don't forget to empty a dirty tank because when it's full, the machine will stop working entirely. You should rinse out and empty it after every use.

Brushroll

This is another crucial component that plays a big role in the performance of the whole vacuum. It should be cleaned every time it gets dirty or tangled from strings or hair. Put the brushroll on the cleaning tray and run it on top of some cleaning solution. You can also free it from tangles of hair manually by hand or a pair of scissors.

Alternative Option

Bissell Crosswave Pet Pro Via: Amazon

Since the number of wet-dry vacuums is much lower than that of traditional models, there is hardly any unit that can be a decent alternative to the Bissell Crosswave. But if you like the design and operation of this machine and also need a solution for pet hair badly, you can consider the Bissell Crosswave Pet Pro. Although there is no big difference between them, there are certainly enough extra features for pet owners to sway their decision.

The design is almost identical to the Pet Pro version. However, the multi-surface brushroll on the Crosswave Pet Pro is designed specifically for hair with a promise to work with no tangle. The Crosswave doesn't have this tangle-free design on its brushroll. On top of that, the Pet version also provides pet cleaning solutions in the box.

Verdict

Overall, the Bissell Crosswave is a well-rounded wet-dry vacuum that doesn't fall short on any specific cleaning tasks. You can see from our Bissell Crosswave review that while it doesn't have the greatest maneuverability or strongest suction, it's highly versatile and has many useful features, enabling you to clean many different floors in your house. On top of that, it provides a deep cleaning ability - a feature that many competing models can't live up with customers' expectations.