Best Steam Mops For Hardwood

Review by The_Chief : Does a bang-up job on hardwood floors!

I was a little skeptical about this purchase when I bought it at the same time as the Shark Navigator, but my concerns were put to rest the first time I used it. This steam mop ROCKS! It comes with 2 pads (I bought extras) and does exactly what it says it will do: steam clean your floors. It picked up dirt, dust and light spills quickly and the steam evaporates almost instantly from the floor... which is great for hardwood. The water reservoir is big enough to do several rooms, and isn't that big a pain to refill. The pads are machine-washable and can be used many times. While the manual says to wait 30 seconds after plug-in to use it, I find that 2 minutes builds up a good head of steam. Simply pushing the mop forward pumps the steam to the floor, so no triggers or buttons are required. It cleaned our bathrooms and hardwood flooring marvelously; and I saved time and effort NOT dragging a dirty mop and bucket full of hot water all over the house! It's simple, easy and does everything it promises. I highly recommend it.

Review by K. Probst : Floors look great- so easy!!!

I'm not sure why the bad reviews. I just took my brand new mop out of the package and mopped my gigantic kitchen floor. It looks better than it ever has. I found that if I went slow over the stuck on candy, dried on melted jello, and splattered pop, it worked wonderfully! I probably went over the stuck on spots 5-10 times before the food came off, but it beat me having to bend over and pick it off with my fingernail or scrub it with a washcloth. I did my whole floor in half the time it normally takes me. The water reservoir is small, but I was able to get my entire kitchen done without having to refill it. Also, it did not start smearing dirt until I was almost finished and in all fairness, my floor hasn't been really mopped in at least a month or two- so it was REALLY dirty! And with four kids, you can only imagine what was stuck to it! If I had more to mop, I would have just replaced the cloth pad and continued on. I love that I'm not hot and sweaty from scrubbing my floor. I have no buckets of nasty water or a mop to squeeze out. I love it! *please note that I just found this at Target on clearance for $22.00. Had I paid $89.00, I would have expected it to get the stuck on spills off a little faster, but all in all, a great product!

Review by SLF : Very happy with this product

I'm very happy with this product. It got my floors very clean in a short amount of time. It is super easy to set-up, and extremely easy to use. Like other reviewers said, I wish the tank was larger. But, it takes less than two minutes to stop and fill it up, so really not a big deal. I think it's a great steam mop for the price. I hate washing the floors, and this almost made the job fun because it was so easy to use. I will definitely be recommending it to friends.

Review by MommaBear : Shark Light & Easy Steam Mop Fuse Repair

I love this mop! It works great...that is until it just stops working. I've since read ALOT of reviews online stating that the Shark steam mop often just stops working. This is what happened to our mop. While using it, it just suddenly stopped steaming. I had it just under one year. We called the manufacturer who said we needed the receipt or warranty information to return it. We also would have had to pay to ship it, pay for return shipping, pay for the repair and then it would take 4 to 6 weeks to get it back. Of course I couldn't find the receipt. My husband, who is very handy with repairs, took the mop apart. He was able to cut the legs of the fuse so that he could pull the fuse out. He purchased a new fuse (Thermal Fuse 228C) at Radio Shack for $1.99. He then soldered the new fuse back in to the same spot. Voila! It was repaired! I'm thinking Shark isn't too worried about correcting the fuse issue because it forces people to buy new ones. That is why we wanted to share this repair info. Spending $2 is alot better than $70 (or more) for a new mop!

Review by Julie : Don't listen to those bad reviews - very easy & great mop!

After reading the two negative reviews, I almost returned this mop unopened. But then I figured I'd at least try it first. I really can't figure out if the two negative reviews had bad mops or just completely unrealistic expectations. When I mop using a traditional mop, it's a hard & dirty job. I end up chipping at caked-on things with my finger nail. I get sweaty. My arms get a great work-out. It takes forever for my floors to clean & I have to keep the kids & pets away for an hour. That is hard cleaning. This mop does not require any of the above. It is super easy and super light. It is so light-weight that it does not require any real arm pumping. I can't get over the person complaining about moving it seven times. I wonder if she was activating the steam mechanism? You could move this thing 20 times over the same spot and your arm still wouldn't be tired. No matter what type of cleaning you are doing, you go over the same strip more than once: vacuuming, cleaning toilets, counters, mopping, even something cosmetic like removing nail polish from your nails... The first swipe loosens the dirt and the second cleans it up. This is the same. It takes less than 10 seconds to go over a section twice. I have two kids, a dog, and three cats. We track a lot of dirt into the house and have frequent spills. My floors feel like a full-time job some days. I have 1000 sq. ft of laminate and porcelain tile on my first floor. I did my entire downstairs in less time than it takes me to traditionally mop the kitchen alone. My floors are VERY clean & they dried almost instantly. All sticky stuff was loosened and lifted. I was surprised that ground-in dirt in the textured spots in my tile noticeably cleaned-up. I have been on my hands & knees with a toothbrush and abrasive cleaners trying to loosen that stuff up. I won't say it came up 100%, but it is noticeably lighter. And this is 10 years worth of life being ground into the textured tile. My floors look and are clean. I am neither sweaty nor tired. My only complaints are: 1) the water reservoir could be larger. I had to refill a few times, which is why I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 stars. 2) my floors had more of a dull finish rather than shiny. I added a couple tablespoons of white vinegar to the water reservoir and this seemed to combat the dullness. I would imagine if you had a squirt-on cleanser (like Pledge Floors or Murphy's Oil soap), you could use that in addition to the plain water. I know part of the hype is "no cleaners needed," and while this is true, you might want to try something in addition if you like a shiny finish. Even squirting on a cleanser this is still much easier than traditional mopping. It also navigated corners and baseboards extremely well with the swivel-head. I will never traditional-mop again. This is beyond easy, faster, and so much less labor-intensive. Not to mention easier than dragging buckets, cleaner, and a mop up and down the stairs to do multiple spots. Edited to add on 7/9/11 - My mop stopped working after 10 months, so I lowered my rating to three stars. I bought mine at Kohls and they always exchange items that break, so I am protected, but a good product needs to last at least a year.

Review by Vyxxen : I was skeptical... but not anymore.

I like gadgets but I've been burned before by purchases I had great hope in that ultimately were disappointing. Swiffer? Useless, just pushed dirt around. LitterMaid catbox? Dear $DEITY that was an awful mess that required daily intervention and resulted in a lot of cat pee on my floor. So I doubted the steam mop. But it was on a really good Black Friday sale so I decided to give it a try. Today I used it for the first time on my wood floors in the kitchen and marmoleum floors in my bathroom and I AM IN LOVE. Yes, where my 4 year old son has dropped food under the table I had to go over several times to get clean. But it was completely reasonable and I am so excited that my kitchen is so clean now. I'm seriously thinking about giving this as Christmas gifts to a couple of my close friends who don't have one.

Review by Jenny Ng "muddywaters" : Good, as promised

I dont' really get what the bad reviews are about. It's not rocket science - easy to put together, pump to steam, go over a couple of times, and voila! My beautiful hard wood floors are clean. I mean, if your floors are very dirty to begin with, then naturally you'll need to do this a few times to loosen up the grime and it should work well and regularly. It worked great for me, all 1300 square feet, in under 20 minutes. I gave this a 4-star rating because of the small water resevoir, and that it leaves your floor slightly more dull. But I think this is because it has no chemicals - I'm going to try to add a drop of natural, non-toxic floor agent (from Method or Fifth Generation) and see if it'll add some shine..

Review by Sam Cole : Great Mop for the quick clean up

This mop is the perfect tool for cleaning hardwood stairs and small bathrooms. Works great on the wood floors as well. The mop is small, lightweight, and has a swivel head that makes it really easy to maneuver. The cord is nice and long so I don't have to stop and replug all the time. I LOVE the back saver feature. With a simple push button, the handle will angle such that the mop can get under beds and nightstands. The mop uses good old fashion water for cleaning. No more chemicals to buy or spread around the house. The mop quickly picked up the average surface stains. Tougher stains came right out after leaving the mop on the spot to steam for a few extra seconds. The mop loses a star because the water reservoir is small and only good for about two rooms. But the smaller size makes the mop lighter and more maneuverable so it's not a bad trade off. It's easy enough to fill in any case. At times the hard edge of the mop head goes past the cushion which is annoying. All in all, it was a great purchase.