BISSELL® CrossWave® Pet Pro Review

I finally got the new BISSELL® CrossWave® Pet Pro Multi-Surface Wet Dry Vac and the short of it; I’m ecstatic! I’ve been using it for about seven months.

Pardon the unfinished wall. This is my kitchen in the raw!

Let me share with you why I still love this machine…

As my readers know, I have the original CrossWave, (the lime green one; Oh Bissell, please bring back that happy color!). (CrossWave review here.)  I purchased the “purple” Pet Pro a few months back and let me tell you, there is ZERO learning curve from the first one. The main difference is the pet hair strainer/debris catcher. I didn’t think it would be all that useful, but I was WRONG. It makes the job even easier. The strainer lifts out easily and I can just toss out the debris in the trashcan. It’s very useful and saves me from having to reach my hand into the container to scoop out the pet hair/solids.

Pet hair/debris strainer.

Quick recap: Parts copied from my other post on the original CrossWave. Check it out! 🙂 Plus there is a video you can check it out here… That video is on the original lime green machine. Everything about it is pretty much the same as the Pet Pro.

BISSELL^® created BISSELL Pet Foundation^®. Their mission: to help save homeless pets. I’m all about that cause!

The ability to vacuum and wash at the same time is so amazing.

BISSELL^® says: Goodbye pet hair wrap! The Tangle-Free Brush Roll scrubs to remove debris and minimizes annoying pet hair wrap.** ^**Tested with hair length up to 8 inches…

**I can attest to the pet hair under 8″. I haven’t noticed any pet hair clinging to the brush tool. My hair does get wrapped up in it, though the hair seems to catch in the center and on both ends. To be fair, my hair is pushing 24″. Cutting the hair away is super simple and comes away very easily. Definitely not a deal breaker.

There is a separate compartment for the clean water and a separate one for the dirty water. How cool is that?

Touch of a button and clean water shoots out over the brush. I like that it doesn’t spray out, but goes gently over the brush tool, dispersing the water nicely.

I have used this on polished concrete floors, wood floors, vinyl, and ceramic. I’ve also lifted this onto my couch to clean a spot. (Yes, it worked. I wouldn’t tell you to do that. 😉 This machine is awesome!). I’ve put this to the test many times and on many types of flooring and I can say that it cleans any flooring beautifully.

I have used this on rugs and carpet with fantastic results.

This machine has a lot of suction power! I have yet to find a comparable “wash and vac” machine with this much suction. Nothing beats this BISSELL^®CrossWave^®!

Got me up off my knees! Which…Eased back tension. Try washing floors on your hands and knees. It’s not easy. If this is you, you’ll thank me for getting the CrossWave^® 🙂

Gave me back time! From the moment my eyes open, I’m on the go. The CrossWave^® has saved me time! Lots of time!

Two in one; vacuums and washes at the same time. Now who doesn’t love a two in one? Did I mention that already? 😉

Eliminate multiple “tools”. This replaces many.

Easy to use. Maneuverability and size of this machine make it easy to move about my home.

Still easy to take apart and clean. Takes me 5 minutes or less.

Not a big cumbersome machine. Storing it in a small space is very doable.

Makes cleaning fun! Not as fun as eating chocolate cake or hiking with my favorite peeps, though I save time using it so I can have fun eating said cake and going on a fun hike!

I love it so much, I bought two!

It’s a workhorse. I use this a minimum of one time a day, though a usual day is two and sometimes three. I know that sounds excessive, but I really enjoy squeaky clean floors and I have a lot of fur babies.

I can’t tell you how nice it is to put a new post out there and connect and re-connect with you all. I hope this finds you happy and healthy. Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to give this a look-at! Until next time…

Peace, Koko❀

 

How To Brush Puppy Teeth

Meet Eloise! Ello for short; rhymes with jello. She just lost her last baby tooth!

Our pets give us so much love. They are there to greet us at the door and snuggle us when we are not feeling well. They are there no matter what. One way I can give them love back is by caring for their health. One way I do that is by taking care of their teeth.

Teeth brushing is super important to your pet’s health. Teaching them to like it can be a challenge for some pets. The way I’ve always done it has worked for me, so I’d thought I’d share it with you. You can check out the video here (or scroll down to the bottom to see the video!) and if you don’t want to watch it…read on!

I’ve never liked using commercial “pet” tooth paste. The ingredients in all the ones I’ve looked into wasn’t anything I wanted my pets to ingest. So I looked into ingredients that I was okay allowing my pets to eat, because let’s be real, our pets don’t know how to spit! Hahahahaha.

I offer my cats coconut oil in a dish. I leave it next to their water and I’ve found over the years that their teeth are really nice and a bonus to that was the amount of hairballs came almost to a stop and what I mean by that is I was cleaning at least one a day! Now it’s more like one a month. When you care for as many felines as I do, it was a lot of daily icky hairball cleaning. And don’t worry…none of my cats eat up the whole bowl of coconut oil! They will take a few licks and walk away.

My dogs get coconut oil after their daily meals. Bonus, their coats look better and itching has stopped. I do not leave a bowl of it out like I do for the kitties. They’d eat the whole amount in a sitting and I don’t need to tell you the mess on the other end if I did!

From reading, I’m sure you can gather that it was coconut oil that I discovered would make an excellent toothpaste; it’s edible and good for them to boot. Their breaths after brushing are really nice too!

You can use coconut oil straight. I scoop out about two tablespoons of coconut oil into a small glass jar and I will dip the toothbrush into it. My pets come running when I do this! It is a “treat” after all. Another way I make pet “teeth-paste” (Never understood why we used the word “tooth paste” when we brush more than one tooth…um well hopefully we do!)…back to another way I make paste, is by mixing diatomaceous earth in with the coconut oil. It helps to solidify it and diatomaceous earth is also good for our pets. PLEASE MAKE SURE the diatomaceous earth you buy is NOT for pools. It must be edible. And to make sure of this, buy it from a health food source. I buy mine online through Swanson Vitamins; you can check out the link here, (I’m not an affiliate with S.V. They don’t do that…I wish they did. I talk about them all the time! Ha!) You can look up the benefits of diatomaceous earth. It helps with fleas too! Yay.

Making it fun is the most important thing, because if they are scared/timid, it makes teeth brushing unpleasant for both you and your furry friend…No one wants to reenact a WWF headlock move! So basically what I do is I put the coconut oil on the toothbrush and let the dog lick it and they might chew on the bristles. I allow them to set the pace and play with the bristles and become familiar with the feeling. If I start brushing teeth on a pet that has never had their teeth brushed and coconut oil isn’t enticing them to give it a try, I will try other things on the brush to get them to “play”. Peanut butter is a good one. I’ve never met a dog that didn’t like peanut butter. Obviously it isn’t something you want to use regularly…just to get them to like having a tooth brush in their mouth is the key. You can switch them to coconut oil later. For the kitties, you can try putting their wet food on it, cream, or juice from tuna to get them started. I’ve found over the years my cats willingness to eat coconut oil keeps their teeth clean without having to brush them. I do check their teeth periodically and have noticed their teeth are beautiful without having them scraped. I’m not a fan of taking my pets to the vet to have their teeth done. I’ve lost a pet being put under anesthesia. Caring for their teeth is not only a cost saving, but a life-saving too.

Many things go wrong in a pet’s health by having bad teeth and gums. Check them weekly if you don’t brush them. Give coconut oil a try. I use organic unfiltered cold pressed. You can find it at Swanson Vitamins, check out the link here. I’ve bought it at Costco and Target too! And if you caught that I give the dogs the coconut oil after their meals, I’ve found it helps any food residue to slip away!

That’s basically it. I hope this helps you to help your pet stay healthy. A healthy mouth is a healthy pet!

The furry gang here At Koko’s Place and I thank YOU for reading!

Have a happy tail-wagging day!

Koko

Bissell Crosswave Review

Bissell came out with a new one! In this post, I will be reviewing the older model. And will compare the two using their site for reference.

Let me begin by saying how much I love my Bissell! It really is a game changer. You can watch the review here on youtube, if you don’t want to watch it, please read on.

What this machine does is it vacuums and washes your floor at the same time! If you are tired of being on your hands and knees scrubbing your floors, if you have kids, pets, a lot of foot traffic, just want clean floors….this is for YOU! It’s lightweight and easy to use and easy to clean. Buy it! I’m seriously in love with this machine. It has saved me so much time and time is something you can’t get back! It has helped my back, as in it got me up off the floor. I can now have clean floors without the stress on my back. Did I mention how much I love this?!

Here it is in all its glory!

Pretty!

Easy push button for different surfaces.

This button releases clean water.

 

Only a few parts. Makes things nice and easy!

All parts easy to put on and take out of machine.

This Crosswave vacuums and washes at the same time, saving me so much time and not to mention energy. (I know i’ve already said it! I’m just so excited about this machine!) It used to take me hours to wash my entire house floors. As the years went by, I’d have to break up my home into sections because it was getting difficult to scrub and clean for so long on my hands and knees. I’d been trying to find a better way. I tried many “tools”, mop, swifter, other types of things attached to a pole and nothing would clean the way I would, using my own hands. There had to be a better way and gosh did I find it! I know this sounds like a bad commercial, but seriously, this machine has given me time back not to mention I’m not exhausted from cleaning. My back thanks me. (I know I’m repeating myself! Haha)

Now if you have the “green” Crosswave; the original or if you have the new “purple” one; the Crosswave Pet Pro, you can’t go wrong. I haven’t used the Pet Pro yet and I no doubt will pick one up so I can show you the difference. In the meantime, from all that I’ve read, the difference that I can find are the bristles on the roller for the Pet Pro might be a smidge longer (could be because mine is worn) and on the Pet Pro there is a “pet hair” strainer. Both new features will fit on the older model and can be purchased through them! Way to go Bissell. Thank you for making something that can enhance the old model without having to purchase a whole new machine.

So this “fur/debris” catcher fits inside the container that catches all the dirty water. It’s like a strainer so you can easily pull out the debris and toss it in the trash and the dirty water you can dump down sink or flush down the toilet. I wouldn’t normally buy this as I don’t find taking out the clumps of hair by hand an issue, however I will, so I can review it for you at a later date.

The (maybe) longer bristles on the “new” roller is something I am very interested in, so I do see myself purchasing that even if I wasn’t reviewing it (I wouldn’t mind a new brush anyway). They also have two other rollers; one for wood floors and one for rugs. I’m going to definitely buy the multi surface roller and will probably succumb to the wood floor and rug roller attachments too, just so I can see how well they work. FYI, the multi surface roller that I have been using works perfectly for all the surfaces that I’ve used it on.

Again, kudos to Bissell for making new attachments that fit the older model. I wish the Pet Pro was the same color as the original Crosswave. I’m not fond of that purple on a machine I use so constantly it is like a piece of furniture in my house! Hahaha. Other than the color, I am a fan! Insert cheering here* woohoo!

You can check out more details on Bissell’s site here!

So, should you buy this? For me it was a no brainer. I’ve been using this crosswave going on two years. I think in the video I said I use it 2-3 times a week. I probably use it 3-4 times on average. Some weeks I’ve used it daily. Basically this machine gets used! A lot! And still running like a champion.

Got me up off my knees! Which…

Eased back tension.

Gave me back time! From the moment my eyes open, I’m on my feet doing something. The Crosswave saved me time! Lots of time! Time you can’t get back!

Two in one; vacuums and washes at the same time.

Eliminate multiple “tools”. This replaces many.

Easy to use. Maneuverability and size of this machine make it easy to move about my home.

Easy to clean. Simple and easy to clean the machine when done using.

Not a big cumbersome machine. Storing it in a small space is very doable.

Makes cleaning fun! Not as fun as eating chocolate cake or hiking with my favorite peeps, though I save time using it so I can have fun eating said cake and go hiking!

If you are teetering on if you should buy this, know that Bissell is donating up to $1,000,000 a year to BISSELL® Pet Foundation™3. That’s pretty awesome to me!

Q and A

How much can you clean before having to dump the tank? On the Bissell site, it says, “700 sq feet”. Just so you all know, dumping out the container isn’t a big deal. Seriously simple and easy and fast.

What kind of surfaces can you use the Crosswave on? On the Bissell site, it says, “Sealed wood, sealed laminate, tile, and linoleum as well as area rugs!” On my video I say I even use it on my carpeted stairs and in the garage. I would also use it on a room that had carpet, but I’m not telling you to do that! 😉

Do you need to vacuum first? I vacuum sometimes before I use the Crosswave, but it isn’t necessary. I have a lot of furry four-legged family members. I vacuum anywhere from 2-4 times a day and I Crosswave a lot during the week.

Thank you sooooo much for popping in here At-Kokos-Place! If you have this machine, I’d love to hear your thoughts and if you have any more questions, please mention them in the comment section and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Have a happy day and happy cleaning!

Hugs and Peace,

Koko

If you know someone that this post would benefit, please share/follow. I so appreciate you and thank you in advance! 

 

 

 

 

Repurposing An Old Cat Tree

 

Breathing new life into something old…My first instinct is how can I fix it. Tossing stuff out and buying new is always easier, but not always easier on the wallet, and besides that, I don’t always find the “new” better than what I already have. They just don’t make things like they used to. All too often I find that statement is so true. Though in this case, my cat tree is nothing special and yes, you can find this style and probably better, but my cats like it and that’s most important. So I’m going to spiffy this one up.

Before I show you what I did, remember when I made a cat tree/bed out of a wooden spool? You can see it here… That was when I found out how much they really liked to scratch on sisal. Which is why I chose to use sisal to freshen up this tree instead of wrap more carpet around it. I may do carpet again another time, but I have a few rolls of sisal, so sisal it is! Here’s what I did…

Supplies:

one old cat tree

sisal rope

hot glue gun

glue sticks

scissors

vacuum

Vacuum the tree really well. I usually get to it about once a week to help keep the hair down in the house. If I didn’t vacuum the house a few times a day, it would look like I live in a “hair” house! Ack!!!!

Cut/trim off any strings or carpet strands. See the hair? That’s because I had helpers while trimming, hence the need to vacuum a lot! Good thing I can vacuum the cats too. I put on the brush attachment and go at them. They actually like it! 🙂

I really let this tree go! You know, “Oh I will get to it later?”…

After trimming loose parts, I hot glued down carpet parts that have loosened. (That’s Evan the dog. He is one of the sweetest pups I’ve had the privilege to have in my life. He’s got the most unique fur. I will feature him in a post one day. He’s so cool, he has his own instagram!)

Depending on how your tree was originally made… I found the carpet was stapled along the seam. That’s fine, but if the cats scratched it loose around the stapled part, then the whole carpet piece was loose. I cut parts of the carpet off. Later on, I realized I could have left it. Either way I found it worked whether I left the carpet loose or cut it off.

Choose a good place to start. I hot glued at the beginning of the sisal rope and then as I wound the rope around I added more hot glue. I wanted this good and tight as I know my cats and they really, really love to scratch on sisal. 

Here you can see I decided to cut off the carpet. I didn’t see the sense in leaving a little piece here and there, though I doubt it would have made a difference under the sisal. BTW, that’s Chaz. My helper for the moment. 

Chaz didn’t move at all. I guess he found what I did interesting.

Find another section that needs sisal and keep on hot glueing around and around and around…

and around…

That’s Spencer at the top this time and Eva peeking through! One more leg to go…

The last leg! Finally.

Done!

Easy project. This did take longer than I expected. I think having “helpers” added to the time, but I wouldn’t have it any other way!

This time, at the top, is Sherlock. Aptly named as he is our most curious cat! And Chaz who is always good for relaxing “down at the club”. 

Tree looks much better! The best part is, the cats are happy to use it!

Tips:

Hot glue is HOT so be careful. You can use a chop stick or a screw driver to hold the sisal in place for a few seconds as it dries.

Sisal can poke into your skin. I had to tweeze out a couple “splinters”. You can wear leather gloves. I just sucked it up! Hahaha. I don’t do well with gloves. Which is why I have to deal with poison ivy on my hands when I’m out doing yard work.

You can hot glue a section and just wrap the sisal around a few times and then glue another small section. You don’t really need to glue every inch as you go along.

If your cat prefers carpet, home improvement stores carry carpet remnants. Rugs are also great and you can buy them at places like Target. They are smaller and easier to handle. I’ve used a good razor blade knife (be super careful) and cut the sizes I need.

The sisal I used for this project I bought at HomeDepot a couple of years ago. I did a check and they still carry sisal. Make sure it’s all natural, free from chemicals. This one states:  Safe for use with pet toys like cat scratching posts. Natural fiber-twisted rope is biodegradable and economical. Home Depot also ships! Since this project used up the last of my stock, I will be getting more. Sisal is really handy and I use it for many projects.

We know how finicky cats can be, so I hope this gives you an option to redo a cat tree your kitty already loves!

You are FABULOUS for reading this far! And I thank you so much for doing so! I hope you have a purrfectly happy day!

Koko

DIY Cat Tree, House and Scratching Post

Spencer, King of everything!

I was given a great spool. You know the giant spools electricians carry massive amounts of wire wrapped around? Well I was given one, and not gonna lie, the array of ideas that invaded my head of all the things I could do with said spool. This is what I came up with…

Cat tree…bed and scratching post. See they love it!

Off to my wood pile I went…

I went to my scrap pile and found some 1×6’s. It would do nicely to make the “lid” or rather the top to my kitty condo. I laid out three pieces of 1×6 boards and drew a circle using the “spool” as the template. You can use any size width wood and lay however many pieces it takes to get to the size you need. You could also use a piece of plywood and cut a whole circle instead of using the tree boards. But as I mentioned I wanted to use up my scrap wood. 😉

I clamped down each board and used my jigsaw to cut the shape.

One more to go!

All cut out.

Finishing the lid, I used 1×2 to connect the three pieces together. I wish I had a kreg jig to make pocket holes. But this method works too. 🙂

As you can see I used a lot of screws!

I set the lid aside and started to assemble the sides. Again going to my scrap lumber pile I was able to find 1×4’s.

Sanding all the pieces…I had to sand quite a bit, to rid them of the dents and discolorations. After sanding the boards I used a chop saw to cut the boards the height I wanted the “cat house” to be.

I contemplated using “L” brackets to hold the boards in place while I screwed each 1×4 to the top of the spool, however I ended up just screwing them straight to the spool using two screws per board.

I screwed two screws per board from the bottom. See the “L” bracket? I removed it as I found it wasn’t necessary and the clamps really didn’t help much either! 🙂

You can see from this pic that the boards are wonkie. Don’t let that discourage you! It will all work out in the end! Promise.

After all the boards are screwed from the bottom, I put the lid on and began to move boards into place so I could screw down from the top of the “lid”.

The wonkie boards will come together…wait for it…

I knew the screws would be showing. So I spaced them apart to be appealing to the eye! And see all the wonkie boards are in place as promised!

Onward!

To the base of the tree…I used sisal to give the kitties an awesome scratching feature! I achieved this by using hot glue and good rope. You don’t have to glue the entire base. You can glue a few inches, wrap the rope, glue a few more inches, wrap rope…and so on…Keep going until you’ve reached the desired look!

This is the rope I used. It’s sisal; a natural fiber. There was no odor on the rope. I’ve bought sisal before via online and gosh was that a mistake! The smell was so awful that no amount of soaking it in any type of solution would get the stench out! I make a point now to only purchase rope if I can touch it/smell it. This was from HomeDepot.

I started right under the sleeping quarter.

My helpers!

Glue and wrap, glue and wrap…

Another helper…

I stained the whole thing with dark walnut left over from a flooring job I did. I put three coats of water based poly after.

As you saw I stained the piece before I added the sisal. If I were to make another I would probably stain and seal beforehand. Though in the end, I was careful not to get any on the rope. This was an easy project that really didn’t take long at all. Maybe a couple of hours? The longest part was waiting for the stain to dry and the smell to dissipate.

The kitties really like it and this piece doubles as an end table! Remember the lamp shade I made? Here I staged the lamp on that. But since then, I’ve moved it about the room where ever an end table is needed!

This was a fun project and I was happy to create something for my furry friends. They really do like it and love scratching their claws on the sisal. I hope you enjoyed this post and it inspires you to make something for your pets too!

And as you can see…not just for cats!

Please like, follow, and share, your support means the world to me. It really does! ❤

From my furry friends to yours…All the best, Koko❀

No More Kisses!

“Come on Mom, my friends are watching!”

I guess she wanted no part of loving. LOL…It’s incredible to me how much I’ve come to adore this furry little monster.  She’s comical at times, cheeky at best, and loving when only when it’s me and her. If one of her adopted siblings are around, she doesn’t dare snuggle.  She’s off in some hidden place as if to say, “I want mom to myself”.

Today is Monday.  Labor Day here in the United States.  Everyone is supposed to take the day off.  It also signals the end of BBQ season.  In fashion it’s the end of wearing light summer suits for men and the white pants for women.  It’s an interesting custom, one which I don’t practice.  I for one BBQ year round and if I want to wear white in the winter, so be it.

I am off to the market for BBQ things.  I don’t know if I have ever barbecued on Labor Day before.  It just happens the whole family is home and it’s such a beautiful day, grilling just makes sense.  So to you all out there, I hope your day is BBQ beautiful and you are out enjoying it…..Koko❀ ✿ ❁ ✾