Steam Mop Thingies

[buffettbride]

Does anyone have a steam-mop? Does it work well? What brand?

I don't know that I need the vacuuming part, I vacuum all my floors with the Dyson, but I hate mopping. Swiffer doesn't really cut it. I only have a small area where I have to mop, but full-on hardwood floors are in my future.

I like the idea of cleaning and sanitizing with no chemicals, which I see as the main pro. I just want to make sure they will actually clean my floors.

Thanks!

[ph4ever]

Depending on the type of hard wood floor you get, a steam mop may not be good for them. I just damp mop mine, or use a dust mop.

Which reminds me, I need to do that this weekend.

[carolinapiratechik]

I have a Bissell Steam Mop. I decided to go the steam mop route because I have pets and didn't want to use chemicals where they walk. It does clean well but there are some things to consider:

The mophead is rectangular and difficult to get into corners.

You have to keep the steam on the desire location for 15 seconds to get the desired sanitation. 15 seconds doesn't seem like a long time until you've got a lot of floor to cover.

If you live in a hard water area, Bissell recommends using distilled water to prolong the filter life.

After two years, the water chamber leaks where it connects to the filter-I haven't figured out why this is happening.


When I do get another steam mop, I will probably go with a Shark.

[citcat]

I have an Oreck steam floor cleaner. It has several steam settings, so you can do carpet and linoleum and sealed wood floors. You just fill it with water, plug it in and run it over the floor. It dries almost immediately and you don't need cleaners or chemicals. The hardest thing about it is winding up the cord.

[bravedave]

The model we had [I'll go back and try to recall it] worked pretty well on semi-clean floors, but if you really needed to scrub, the appliance could not handle that kind of abuse. It broke right at the neck between the mop head and the upright part.

[buffettbear]

I have a Shark steam mop and love it. The wood floors in my kitchen look great. I love it.