We Tested the Bissell SpinWave + Vac All-in-One Powered Spin-Mop and Vacuum (2024)

In the last few months, I’ve tested more than your average amount of vacuums—Bissell vacuums in particular. I’ve become quite partial to the brand’s cleaning solutions, from the upright carpet cleaners to the pet stain erasers. Bissell’s best carpet cleaners can clean anything from upholstery to pet stains, so I was eager to try the Bissell SpinWave + Vac All-in-One that claims to vacuum and mop at the same time for a more efficient clean. Read on for my full Bissell SpinWave review.

What is the Bissell SpinWave + Vac All-in-One?

Allison Robicelli for Family Handyman

The newest model in Bissell’s highly-reviewed SpinWave line puts everything you need to keep your floors clean in one easy-to-use machine. It’s ideal for kitchens and bathrooms, and suitable for any sealed hard surface, including tile, linoleum, laminate and vinyl—you can even use it to clean hardwood floors!

On heavy cleaning days, use the Bissell SpinWave to vacuum and mop floors simultaneously, cutting your cleaning time in half. For smaller messes or regular maintenance, use the vacuum mode and mop mode independently. Using cyclonic suction, it easily pulls dirt up off the floor, and sucks up stubborn pet hair without clogging. In mop mode, it uses two spinning microfiber scrubbing pads to scour the floor, eliminating the need to get on your hands and knees to scrub out stains. It’s cordless, too, making it easy to use wherever you need it without the hassle of finding an outlet or tripping over cords.

Bissell SpinWave + Vac All-in-One Features

Allison Robicelli for Family Handyman

The Bissell SpinWave + Vac All-in-One offers three cleaning modes: dry vacuuming, wet mopping and dual-action vac/mop. It comes with a set of textured microfiber pads meant for scrubbing floors, a set of soft microfiber pads for routine mopping, an A/C adapter cord for charging, a storage tray and one 8-ounce bottle of Hard Floor Sanitize Formula so you can get cleaning right away.

This lightweight cleaning machine is cordless, running on a 25.9V lithium-ion battery that takes three hours to fully charge. Once the battery is at 100%, you can either vacuum or vacuum/mop for 20 minutes. If you’re only using the SpinWave in mop mode, a full charge gives you 70 minutes of cleaning time.

One of the most impressive features of the Bissell SpinWave vac/mop is its ability to get nearly every inch of the floor clean without much hassle. Adjust it to lay almost flat to get beneath furniture and other spaces less than 6 inches high. Maneuvering around objects is a breeze thanks to SpinWave’s swivel action, and its 90-degree edge cleaning design makes it possible to both vacuum and mop the room’s edges.

Bissell makes it as easy to clean this machine as it does the floor. Just toss both sets of microfiber pads in the washing machine. A push of a button removes and empties the dry dirt tank.

How We Tested It

Allison Robicelli for Family Handyman

The first order of business after unboxing my Bissell SpinWave + Vac All-in-One was charging it up, which was outstandingly simple. This vac/mop combo uses a standard A/C adapter to charge, and the port to plug it in is toward the top of the unit, so I didn’t have to struggle or bend to find it. Even though I’m using the included A/C adapter, I appreciate the fact that if it gets damaged or mysteriously goes missing (a constant possibility when one lives with teenage boys), I can use another one of the many A/C adapters I own to charge it and get cleaning.

Two Weeks of Mess

To get the truest sense of how an appliance performs, it needs to be tested in real-world conditions. As painful as it was, I resisted cleaning my apartment floors for two weeks, letting my kids and cats have their way with it. By then, I had a floor covered in dirty shoe prints, traces of cat litter, traces of poorly cleaned spills, random bits of cat food and colossal dust bunnies. It was utterly terrible to live with, but if the Bissell SpinWave was able to tackle it, I’d know it was a machine worth recommending. I filled the water tank, added a few tablespoons of the included Bissell cleaning fluid and stuck on the velcro-backed scrubbing pads.

After pulling my furniture away from the walls and picking up any errant dirty socks (again, I have teenage boys), I was ready to test. Fully charged, I had only 20 minutes to tackle my dirty floors, but the entire reason to buy the Bissell SpinWave is to thoroughly clean in less time. If it couldn’t get the job done in that amount of time, I’d consider it a failure.

Vac/Mop Mode

I chose not to use vacuum-only or mop-only mode and instead cleaned the entire room with the vac/mop setting, as the ability to do both things simultaneously is the main selling point of this cleaning machine. I was worried about how it would handle bits of cat food with damp, spinning mop pads, but thankfully it sucked them up into the dry dirt container without turning them into mush.

However, cleaning cat kibble taught me an important lesson about usage. When vacuuming large pieces of debris, you need to adjust your aim to line them up with the center of the machine’s head. Anything in the center will get sucked up and anything off to the sides will get flung across the floor. Fortunately, the spinning mop discs don’t fling them far, so I was able to get everything cleaned up without pulling out my broom. Still, there’s a small learning curve when navigating the vacuum across a dirty floor.

Running the Bissell SpinWave + Vac All-in-One against the wall, I can confirm that it does a marvelous job of true edge-to-edge cleaning. The spinning pads not only effectively mop, but they’re able to draw out pet stains and dust bunnies that have stubbornly wedged themselves into creases and crevices.

Powered Spin-Mop

When I approached stuck-on stains, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the Bissell SpinWave performed. It didn’t get them spotlessly clean with a single pass, but leaving the rotating pads on top of the spots for a few seconds did the job. Light spots took less than 10 seconds to remove, while more heavily soiled spots took a few tries. At least I didn’t have to get on my hands and knees and scrub.

I covered my entire open-concept kitchen/living area, which is about 350 square feet, in about five minutes. Since the Bissell SpinWave doesn’t overload its cleaning pads with water, it took almost no time for the floor to dry. Though it was free of debris, stains and mysterious patches of floor gunk, it wasn’t sparkling. It left behind streaks, meaning that my floors hadn’t gotten 100% clean. However, I did let my floors become excessively filthy before I conducted my first test, so while the Bissell SpinWave didn’t do a perfect job, it did a respectable one.

Lay-Flat Feature

Two days later, I cleaned my somewhat clean floors again, this time using the soft mopping pads. This time, I had no issues with streaks, as there wasn’t as much dirt or grime for the machine to spread around. I used Bissell’s lay-flat feature to get beneath furniture. At about 6 inches high when in a fully horizontal position, it was too bulky to get completely beneath my couch or chairs, but perfectly adept at cleaning beneath tables and television consoles.

The thing that impressed me the most about the Bissell SpinWave + Vac All-in-One is how easy it is to navigate around the room. Its swivel action lets it glide around objects, while the rotating mop pads that jut out from the machine’s sides coax out hidden dirt. When I brought it into the bathroom, it easily cleaned around the entire base of the toilet and sink and got the whole room clean in less than a minute.

Pros

• Simultaneously mops and vacuums
• Can be used in vacuum-only or mop-only modes
• Vacuum uses high-powered cyclonic suction
• Lightweight
• Cordless
• Spin mop has 70 minutes of runtime when fully charged
• Less than 6-inches tall when laid flat
• Cleans to the floor’s edge
• Removable machine-washable mop pads
• Easy-to-remove dirt chamber
• Two-year warranty

Cons

• Vacuum has only 20 minutes of runtime when used in vac/mop or vacuum-only mode

FAQ

Allison Robicelli for Family Handyman

Where does the dirty water go on the Bissell SpinWave?

The Bissell SpinWave + Vac All-in-One is a vacuum/mop combo, which is not the same thing as a wet/dry or steam/dry vacuum. A wet/dry vacuum suctions large amounts of water. A steam/dry vacuum, like the Bissell Crosswave Hydrosteam, deposits pressurized water to deep clean before sucking it back up into a dirty water tank. The Bissell SpinWave + Vac All-in-One dispenses small quantities of cleaning solution to be spread out and re-absorbed by the spinning microfiber pads. Once you’re done mopping, any moisture left on the floor will evaporate in minutes.

Can I use vinegar in my Bissell Spinwave?

It is not recommended to use vinegar in the Bissell SpinWave, as the acidity can permanently damage the machine’s rubber seals. The company also says to avoid homemade cleaning solutions, as it’s unknown how the components will react to the machine’s mechanisms. For best results, and to prevent voiding the warranty, use Bissell MultiSurface Floor Cleaning Formula in your SpinWave.

Bissell SpinWave + Vac All-in-One vs Shark Vac Mop

The Bissell SpinWave vac/mop cleans floors almost the same way the popular Shark VacMop does, but with several key differences. Upon first glance, the most obvious difference is the price. The Bissell costs around $200, while the $70 Shark is nearly one-third of the price. But, as always, you get what you pay for. Though the Shark VacMop is well-reviewed, it’s not nearly as powerful, durable, versatile or eco-friendly as the SpinWave. It doesn’t have the smooth maneuverability of the Bissell, nor can it lay flat. But the biggest difference is that the Shark VacMop uses pricey disposable pads to clean the floors, which need to be replaced after every use. The Bissell SpinWave’s pads, on the other hand, are machine washable, making them better for the environment, and ultimately better for your wallet.

Final Verdict

Allison Robicelli for Family Handyman

While you might want to consider the Bissell Revolution HydroSteam for deep cleaning your carpet, the Bissell SpinWave + Vac All-in-One does an incredible job of keeping multiple floor types clean throughout the week. Truth be told, if you’re using this machine regularly, you won’t have to worry about deep cleaning anytime soon, if ever.

Where to Buy the Bissell SpinWave + Vac All-in-One

You can purchase the Bissell SpinWave + Vac All-in-One directly from the Bissell website or on Amazon or Wayfair for around $200.