There are more and more steam mops entering the market place lately and with good reason. They work like a charm and solve several floor cleaning problems you may not even know you have.
I purchased the Shark Steam Mop a little over a year ago and it has made me a very happy house-cleaning woman. I live in a house that has about 80% hard surface floors (both hardwood and textured linoleum). Since I live in a climate with four seasons, I wear socks all winter. I had begun to notice that my socks were stained with grime from my hard surface floors. Even though I was using the latest technological floor mop, the cleanser I was using in the water was leaving a residue on the floor. I tried changing the cleanser to ammonia - no change. I tried using vinegar - little improvement, but bad smell. So, I had a problem trying to get my floors clean without leaving residue.
A regular floor mop, no matter how technologically advanced, will leave a residue on the floor for two reasons: 1) the cleanser and 2) the dirty water. You are actually depositing chemical residue onto your floors from the cleanser and dirt residue from a dirty mop and dirty water.
When I saw a paid-program infomercial for the Shark Steam Mop, I knew it was what I needed. I found one in a store while shopping one day and I cannot sing the praises of steam mop cleaning enough.
I brought the Shark Steam Mop home and put it together in just a few minutes, filled the canister with water from the tap, and started mopping within 30 seconds of plugging it in. WOW! What a different kind of clean.
Here are a few reasons I love my Shark Steam Mop:
The Shark Steam Mop doesn't leave any residue on my floors because it cleans with pure steam. It doesn't use any chemical cleaners, so it is very green!
Leaves my hardwood floors virtually dry, so it is safe for the wood.
Has saved my socks from grit and grime that was ruining them.
It is ready to use in 30 seconds.
It is light-weight and easy to handle.
It has a 20' cord, so I don't have to continuously find another outlet to cover a large area of the house.
Cleans sticky spots with no elbow grease at all. Just pump the handle a couple of times for extra steam and swipe over that sticky spot; it instantly disappears. No kidding, it disappears; I haven't had to get on my hands and knees to scrub anything off my floors since using the Shark Steam Mop.
So simple to use a child can operate it with ease.
The only negative thing, if it is negative at all, is that the cleaning pad becomes quite soiled after about 300 square feet. It is also somewhat water-soaked after that much space. All that is required is a fresh cleaning pad and off you go for another 300 square feet. The square footage coverage will depend on your lifestyle: if you have pets and/or children, one pad may clean less square footage.
Just remember not to let that pad get too dirty or soaked before changing it. If it gets soaked and soiled, it will leave streaks on your floor.
The Shark Steam Mop came with three cleaning pads and they are still going strong at my house. I simply wash them after each steam mopping session.
So, to answer the question, "Do Steam Mops Really Work?" I must give a resounding 'yes'! I will never own another sponge mop in my life. What a great invention.
There a lot of different brands of steam mops and I'm sure they all work as well as the Shark.
