There was a time when I absolutely dreaded mopping mykitchen floor. As part of my weekly cleanup duties, it was the only chore that left me feeling defeated. No matter how many times I mopped the area around thestoveandsink, it would always be just a little greasy after it dried. I tried everything—adding vinegar and dish soap to the mop bucket, trying several different cleaning solutions—and none of them worked. The issue started affecting my cooking plans. Searing at high temperatures? And splatter my already-kinda-greasy floor? Forget it. Floor: 1, Jarrett: 0.
Something had to be done, because Jarrett Melendez bows to no floor. I started shopping for mop vacs, and after an hour or so of reading reviews and considering my budget, I landed on theBissell CrossWave.
不要过于戏剧性,但我的生活实际上changed the day my CrossWave arrived. Putting it together was simple—I slid the handle into the main body, filled the clean water tank with warm water and cleaning solution, and then I was ready to go. The spinning mop brush and dirty water tank were already installed. The clean water tank has two sets of markings on it—one for cleaning a small area and the other for cleaning a large area. I found that using the maximum amount of water and solution is enough to mop my bedroom, hallway, kitchen, and bathroom in a single session. My one small gripe is that the dirty water tank doesn’t hold the same maximum amount of liquid as the clean water tank does, so you will have to stop to empty the dirty water tank when you’re cleaning a large area.
Cleaning with my CrossWave is such a breeze that I regret not investing in one sooner. It swivels and glides with ease—maneuvering around furniture and corners takes almost no effort. I also love that you can switch from cleaning hard floors to rugs with a push of a button. Because the vacuum sucks up most of the liquid used to clean, the floor dries within a few minutes. Back in the old manual-mop days, most of the floors in my apartment took at least 15 minutes to air-dry, and the tile floor by the stove always stayed wet for at least half an hour. .
The real test for the CrossWave, though, was that Forbidden Zone of the tiled area by the stove. My greasy white whale. I moved the brightly colored little mop vac back and forth, doubled back, tripled back, and then moved on to clean another room while it dried. When I came back, I admit that I was ready for the CrossWave to let me down—I’d been defeated so many times before. So believe me when I say that I audibly yelled and fist-pumped to nobody in particular once I felt that sweet, clean floor under my bare feet. Victory never smelled so sweet.
I spoke with fellow Epi staffer and recent mop-vac convert Emily Farris about her experience with herTineco Floor One S5. While I live with just one roommate, her cleaning situation is a bit different. “I have two small kids, a messy husband, and a big, hairy rescue mutt,” she tells me. Before investing in a Tineco, she also tried everything, including a robo mop that “just pushed a damp, dirty pad around for two hours and always seemed to get stuck on something.” The Tineco is a smart device, which Farris admits has a bit of a learning curve, but was relatively easy to master. She’s also not a fan of cleaning out the dirty water tank, but we both agree that it’s a small price to pay. “My floors have never been so consistently clean,” she says.
Bissell also offers a few other configurations; I also tested theBissell CrossWave Pet Proand theCrossWave Cordless Max. The Pet Pro model comes with tangle-free brushes designed to keep pet hair from jamming up the works, a pet hair catcher in the dirty water tank, and comes with thePet Multi-Surfacecleaning solution, which is made with Febreze. Of the five different cleaning solutions Bissell offers, this one is my favorite, just based on smell—they all seemed to work similarly well on my floors. The Cordless Max model, as the name indicates, is cordless, but also has smart features, including a self-cleaning mode, and the ability to set up automatic orders for filters, brushes, and cleaning solution. The battery lasts for up to 30 minutes per charge, which is more than enough to zip through four rooms and a hallway in my apartment. The regular CrossWave that I own and the Pet Pro are similarly priced, making it easy to choose between them depending on your pet situation. The Cordless Max is quite a bit pricier than the other models, but I think it’s worth it just for the sake of not having to find an open outlet in each room.
I can’t stop talking about how much I love owning a mop vac—and how glad I am to have power over what I cook for dinner again. These days I cook and fry and splatter oil as much as I need to, knowing that when I clean the floor after, it’ll actually be clean.
