Best Steam Mops For Hardwood

Review by Deanna J. Lyons : Finally a clean floor with no pain!

I live in a one bedroom apartment that is approximately half vinyl/linoleum flooring, half carpet. I've had a Swiffer Wet Jet All-In-One Power Mop Starter Kit for a long time, and it's never gotten the floor quite clean, so I've had a dingy quality to the floor building up, plus the edges always had to be hand scrubbed. Finally, I got sick of that, so I bought an ordinary sponge mop on a stick (with green scrubby pad on one side) and put all my weight on it with bleach water, with mildly successful (and painful!)results. One night, after another hands and knees with scrub brush session, I decided I had to try something new. Here comes the Hoover Impulse (on sale, even)! The day it arrived, (exactly the date predicted by the delivery estimate) in checking the order status, I discovered the price had dropped by 20 bucks from the already low sale price. Dang! I checked through Amazon.com help FAQs, and found no mention of price matching policies, so I emailed customer service to ask. One thing I've learned in life is that it never hurts to ask, and being nice often helps your cause more than anything. Just a couple of hours after I emailed, I received a very nice response saying that while they do not have a past sale price matching policy, they would extend the courtesy to me for this one special case. Thank you Amazon, you sweet things! I'm spending the 20 dollars right back on the site for xmas presents, and then some! Big kudos! After charging it overnight, I couldn't wait to try it out, and put cleaning solution and warm water in. The tank for clean water and solution is a funny shape, but it's got a flat bottom, so you can stand it up on the counter while you measure the 1oz of solution in the cap and fill rest of the way water. Bonus, no awkward two handed manipulations. I vacuumed my floor first, as recommended. I checked the directions, thought I had it all figured out*, and took it to my first section of dingy kitchen floor. I was surprised by how quiet it was in scrub mode, and gave it several slow passes over each admittedly dirty section of floor. I worked in two foot sections of floor, using liberal amounts of cleaner, then flipped the switch up to pickup mode. The switch itself is a little tough to do one handed, but not impossible. It sounds like a small vacuum cleaner in pickup mode, and sucks the water up really well. I was happy to see that the scrubbing and pickup cleaned all the way to the wall, I hadn't expected it to be that good! The section of flooring was only the slightest bit damp after pickup, but I had planned for that anyhow, working my way backwards out of the kitchen, so I wouldn't walk on newly cleaned sections. My work was a bit slow, mostly because I knew the floor wasn't very clean to start with, so made a few slow passes, but no big deal. After I had used most of the cleaning solution, I opened up the dirty water tank to see what I had picked up, and to make sure it didn't get too full. The dirty water tank was definitely dirty, dark grey, and yucky. All that came up off my floor! Here's where the * from above comes in. When I opened up the dirty water tank, there was a piece of cardboard labeled "remove before use" that wasn't mentioned in the setup directions. It didn't appear to have harmed the unit at all, because all it did was sit in there and get wet, but, heads up everyone! All in all, I'm very happy with how well it scrubbed the floor, as it's saving me large amounts of back and carpal tunnel wrist pain, and I'm sure it will be quicker the next time I use it, as the floor will not start out dingy in the beginning. :)

Review by A. Wuerslin : Makes Mopping Easy!

Pros: -The spinning brushes really scrub your floor with minimal passes from the power mop. -The cleaning solution is dispensed directly onto the brushes equally so it is maximally effective. -The cleaning solution has a very low and non-offensive odor -Battery charge lasts long enough to do a large kitchen/dining area -Uses very small amount of water -Easy to fill/empty/clean -Dries floors quickly and effectivly Cons: -Many parts to take apart and clean after mopping: solution chamber, dirty water chamber, nozzle, brushes, filters, and then you have to leave them out to dry The pros far outweigh the cons, and this would be good for any one who hates putting effort into scrubbing their floors with a mop and dirty water. It left my floors clean, shiny, and dry!

Review by Melissa : Works great on flat surfaces, but does have some limitations

I bought this electric mop for a very specific purpose. I have a 3'x5' area of my kitchen that needs mopped everyday. It's where my cat's litter box and food is. Our cat eats an all raw diet, which means he usually gets raw meat on the floor where he's been tackling a chicken neck. Getting the mop out everyday is a pain. So, I went in search of a solution. What I really wanted was a machine that would vacuum the litter and mop that area. The only one I found that would do both was the Bissell Flip Eaze (http://www.amazon.com/Bissell-Flip-Eaze-Upright-Vacuum/dp/B000H6D2UW/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1221329733&sr=1-7). However, the reviews were very mixed and it used pads which I would need to keep ready. For those to reasons, I decided to pass. I also looked at Swiffers. I had a Swiffer wet mop back when they first came out. It most likely would have worked fine for this project, but it has an ongoing expense with the replacement pads costing about .30 a day. For my use, over the course of a year that's ~100.00. After a weekend of researching other machines, I decided to go with the Hoover. I have a full size Hoover carpet cleaner and am well satisfied with it. For what I bought this one for, I'm extremely happy with it. It easily handles the morning clean up of the kitchen (which is linoleum). I've used it to clean my whole kitchen (~200 sq. ft.) and it works very well. I've had good results using it on the tile in my utility room as well. However, it does not work well on the tile in my entry hall. The tile in my utility room is a 12 inch tile with a shallow, narrow grout. A little deeper than what you would have in most bathroom showers. The tile in my entry hall is 9", with beveled edges and a deep, wide grout. When using the electric mop it is just a little narrower than the tiles, which means the wheels run on the edge of it which makes it difficult to use. While the suction is great on the flatter surfaces, it's not strong enough to pull the water from the deeper grout. As far as battery life, it gets about 20 minutes of use. If my floor is pretty clean, I can do my entire kitchen on a single charge, but it does struggle towards the end and I have to work fast. My sister has a larger tiled area and used it on her floor for heavier cleaning. She said it did a pretty good job, but she did have to charge it once and it barely made it through with the second charge. All in all, I'm very happy with this product. I'm giving it the 4 stars because it works perfectly for what I bought it for, but I do wish it could handle the tile in my entry way better. Just be aware if you buy it, this is not a heavy duty cleaner. It's for small jobs and messes. While the suction is pretty strong, the scrubber does little more than get the floor wet and pick up what could easily be removed with a towel. The flatter the surface, the better it works.

Review by RL : Love it.

I did alot of research before I made this purchase and it paid off. This is wonderful. I have young children and wanted something for quick clean up of spills and potty training accidents. The folding handle is a big plus because I can easily store it in a cabinet, and the little tray to store it on relieves any concerns I may have had about residual liquid, and to date there hasn't been any water in the tray. I haven't used it on a really big area yet, just bathroom and spot cleaning in kitchen linoleum. I look forward to tackling my wood floor with this.

Review by S. Berding "Sanberd" : Would have paid more!

I had extensive back surgery last year, I also have Fibromyalgia and Osteoporosis. This wonderful cordless mop has made a BIG difference in the way I can now clean. I can't believe I can once again scrub my floors and they come out clean and shinny. This machine is easy to use, light weight and a blessing to anyone disabled. I use it while setting but with it's light weight and easy maneuverability, cleaning my floors is now a snap. I have 3 small dogs and 3 large birds so scrubbing my floor is very important to me. I recommend this product to anyone that has trouble getting around. Perfect for the disabled and elderly. I bought my Hoover H2510 Impulse Cordless Electric Power Mop, from Amazon.com, LLC. I.

Review by Grandma B : Works fine!

Having all hardwood and tile floors, I went on mission to find something convenient to clean with. I read dozens and dozens of reviews on every conceivable type of hard surface floor cleaner. There seems to be 2 complaints about this mop...short charge time, and it didn't get the floor "hands and knees" clean. Well, if you are that anal that you still mop on your hands and knees, more power to you! I wanted something that would clean the floor after a new puppy accident, grandchildren spills and tracked-in mud on a day to day basis. And this mop works great! I can clean all my floors twice on one charge (which is about 1600 square feet, so not huge), and as far as the complaint about the water not staying real hot, news flash, if you use a antibiotical cleaner, you don't need hot water. I have not had any streaks, it picks up all the water and leaves the floor just damp. Apparently, some buyers expected it to leave the floor totally dry...and just how would that be managed? Built in hair dryer? And no, it is not a vacuum; you have to broom sweep first. But who doesn't sweep before they mop? For the money, I think it's a great answer to the problem. It is easy to fill, easy to empty, and easy to store. I would (and have) recommend it to family and friends. If I had any suggestion for improvement, it would be to lower the brushes about a 1/4 inch to get even better scrubbing action..