19 out of 19 people found this review helpful.
Love This Mop - Threw Out My Other Junk
Date of Review: Jun 23, 2004
The Bottom Line: After owning this for a few weeks, I don't know why it took so long for me to get this. I will never mop with anything else ever again.
The title says it all. I was actually looking for a hand held steamer to clean a nasty stove in my rental apartment. In the housewares section of K-Mart, I stumbled upon this steamer mop and decided to give it a try. What a blessing it has been for me. I steam clean almost every day because I absolutely love it.
Let me start by saying I have a large foyer, large eat in kitchen, a hallway, and a bathroom all tiled in high gloss pure white ceramic tile. This is a nightmare to not only clean but to keep shiny. No matter what mop (traditional cloth coil one, sponge, or even the clorox mop), no matter what cleaning product (ammonia with water, windex, spic n span, pine sol, mr. clean, etc.) it always has a film after mopping and it never looks washed. The first time I used this mop, it took approximately 5 more minutes to mop than usual but the floor was gorgeous, shiny, new and non streaky. All this without having to buy and use a drop of chemicals.
The mop is white plastic and is designed like the older quick brooms which had a flat head about 12 inches wide, a cup area (in this case, the cup area is filled with water), two hooks to wind the electric cord, a sturdy handle, and a carry handle. It also comes with two really thick white terrycloth cleaning pads. Finally, it comes with a hook attachment so you can hang it on your wall when not in use. The mop contains a filter unit which you don't need to touch or assemble.
To use the mop, you fill the water container with water. OEM recommends using distilled water for maximum performance. I opted to use filtered tap water which comes from the city water system. You attach the mop pad to the mop head by pulling a little drawstring tab. Plug in the mop and in about 3-5 minutes, the mop is ready to be used. There is a finger trigger which dispenses the steam. Initially, when the pad is dry, it takes a few good seconds to get the mop pad hot and wet to mop with.
To successfully mop, you pass the mop forward and back slowly in small strokes. You can steam an area no more than 15 seconds (you don't need anything close to this). The less time you pass the mop, the faster the area will dry. No excess water is left behind which is great if you have pets or children. I am able to mop my entire tile area with 3/4 of the reservoir of water.
The pad is machine washable and in fact, can be bleached as well.
Pros-- ease of use, lightweight, good swivel head for harder to reach areas, heats up quickly, no chemicals to buy, no mops to wring out, no streaks, no wet floors for a long time.
Cons-- small warranty (1 year), a little pricey, a child could be burned if left unattended with the mop, only 1 replacement pad could be a problem for some, not sure the hanger support would really hold the mop well (didn't try it), noticed a small amount of leakage when the mop is not in use.
I paid $69.99 plus tax and it is worth every penny. I use it all the time.
United Vacuum
