I have had a crosswave and a steamer in the past. This combines them both and makes cleaning floors so much easier. I have dogs, cats and birds. I don't like using chemicals as the pets walk across the floor and then likely their paws ingesting the chemicals. Birds are sensitive to chemical smells. The steam clean sanitizes without the use of chemicals and my floors feel clean. I like how powerful the vacuum is and it easily picks up pet hair as well as my long hair. It helped me dramatically decrease cleaning time. The only thing better would be if this combo would be a robotic.