If you eliminate the reviews from people who apparently got a bad unit and eliminate the reviews from people who don't understand what a steamer does, you are still left with a lot of people who found that their floors were still dirty after they finished cleaning. This is not surprising, given that the unit only heats to 212 degrees.

Incidentally, I noticed that Costco is selling the Shark steam mop with 6 pads for $69.00 right now....a definite deal!

I own a cannister-type steam cleaner. It does a very good job on my ceramic tile floors. It heats the water to 300 degrees and holds 1.5 quarts of water, but it isn't cheap.

But in all honesty? It's a cheap steam mop. If you're just wanting to try it out, as a category of cleaning tool, this would be a good one to start with. But the reason they claim it to be so "lightweight" is that it's made of flimsy-feeling plastic. The water tank holds just enough to do my kitchen (12x15) thoroughly, or two rooms quickly. Tough spots often won't come up with just the mop (sticky kitchen floor spills that didn't get wiped up promptly). If there's much dust/cat hair/anything left on the floor, the pad tends to just push it around, so I end up with these mysterious lines of gunk or a uniform level of haze across the floor. (Yeah, better pre-sweeping would help, but if the idea is to *save* time, hahah!) It does a better job on my lower-shine floors (tile, vinyl) than the higher-shine ones (engineered hardwood with a semi-gloss finish).

Anyway, not to discourage you at all. It is definitely easier/cleaner to use/less frustrating than a giant bucket of water and a string mop. (One of the surprise benefits is that my DH sees it as a "gadget" and will therefore occasionally use it - never happened with previous floor cleaning methods, LOL.) I'm just re-iterating graywing's point - be aware that there are categories of steam mops, just like there are vacuum cleaners (or cars, or...). I think I like the idea enough to be looking into a better one for long-term use.

My point is that these types of machines give hotter steam and more steam than the steam mops. I have six rooms with ceramic flooring - a steam mop would not work for me.

Although I expected them to be pretty much the same, there is no comparison. In every respect, the Haan wins.

The fact that the Shark did look cheap didn't really bother me, but it is difficult and has annoying features and that is unsatisfactory. I had to push and pull the handle as I moved it around the floor to get the steam. It was hard to push and left the floor wet. We returned it.

The Haan arrived and right away I was impressed. It looked and felt like a machine that would cost at least twice as much. The steam was not as billowy but all I had to do it move it around the room and it made the floor look like new. When I was done, the floor was already dry. It's hard to believe it cleans so well when all it used was water.

So, I can say first hand that I absolutely love using a steam mop and I really love the Haan!

I understand your point about things that stop working after the returnable date. I would have liked getting it from a local store that had a return policy with a longer time.

Anyway, I was glad to see it has a warranty.

Good luck to you. Hope you love yours as much as I love mine!

Pros

1)reusable pads
Though it is frustrating to have to wash them in coin laundry I loved that I didn't have to buy pads all the time like swiffer mops or similar products that I considered but never used. I had to buy the extra pads just because I don't do laundry often enough to only have the 2 that the mop comes with.

2)no chemicals
I have a one and a half year old and a two and a half year old so it's not just about the environment but more about knowing that my kids aren't touching a chemical soaked floor. It also didn't leave the sticky feeling that a mop and bucket or hands and knees chemical cleaning would leave.

3)No longer dread mopping
I had an aversion to mopping before buying the shark steam mop. I hated having a dirty floor but it took so long to get it clean with a mop and I'd still have to scrub on my hands and knees. Than I bought this mop and my husband would find me mopping during the kids nap and ask "why don't you just wait until after they are in bed for the night?" and my response for the first time ever was "Because I WANT to mop!"

4) feels clean
Now for some people it may take a couple cleanings to get a true clean feeling because of a buildup of chemicals on the floors. For me I still felt so much better about my floors the first time and it felt squeaky clean compared even to when we first moved into our apartment. The next few times I used it, it got to feeling cleaner each time. I walk across other people's floors and my socks are filthy but at home my socks stay clean if I keep it mopped. I really want to get my mom one because her floors turn my socks grey so quick but unfortunately she would take it as an insult even if I could afford to buy her one. LOL

5)lightweight
There is nothing heavy about this mop but of course that is because of the chinsey materials used for the construction so it's not a great pro because I'd rather lug something heavy around if it meant it wouldn't break.

Cons

1)Flimsy handle
I read reviews before I bought the shark and decided to buy it despite claims that it had a flimsy handle that broke when you pushed on it too hard. I had simply figured that because I knew about that I could just be careful and make sure if I felt it flex I would ease up on it. Problem was I didn't tell my husband about that. So one day I came home to a half cleaned kitchen floor and my beloved steam mop with the handle broke in half! He said he was just cleaning and while scrubbing a spot on the floor with it the handle broke. I have used it since only because I refuse to go back to a mop and bucket and it's still easier to use it on my hands and knees than to scrub the floor with a sponge and chemicals.

2)small water tank
I only have one small kitchen floor to do and a small square in my entryway to use this on regularly. On occasion I use it on my bathroom floor. I can do one floor with the tank if the floor is not really dirty. But most often my floor is very dirty with all kinds of stuff stuck on it even if I just did it the day before(my kids are really messy) so I have to refill it at least once.

3)no scrubbing aid
If you have seen the infomercials for the steam mop you would think based on those that a couple passes of the mop would clean anything off your floor. This is not true by any stretch of the imagination. I have to grab closer to the base of the handle as well as the top(due to the flimsy quality)and scrub like you would have to with a sponge. Don't get me wrong it's a lot easier than a regular mop and hands and knees scrubbing but just don't expect miracles.

4)Price
Sure this mop does not cost hundreds of dollars but that doesn't make it cheap. Especially since they used such flimsy materials to make the mop.

5)dripping
When you remove the dirty pad from the mop after emptying the tank of any last little bit of water left over, water still tends to drip out the bottom so I usually try to have a clean one ready to put on right after so it doesn't drip on the floor of my closet when I store it between cleanings.

6)requires pumping to release steam
This didn't really bother me that much but you have to pump a lot to steam extra dirty, sticky, gunky spots. This may be more for the pro side because you can control the amount of steam but I kind of like the idea of constant steaming without needing to pump the handle like crazy... didn't know they made stuff like that until I started looking into the haan today.

7)makes other things look dirty
Now this may sound silly but once i cleaned my floor with this mop I wished they made something like it for my walls! All the pen, crayon, fingerprints and various things I have scrubbed off my walls I really wished I had some sort of steam mop to help with that job! LOL

8)need to clean in corners and along edges of floor
This mop does not clean well right up to the baseboards. You will need to take the pad and wipe down the area right against the baseboards and in the corners. You can still use cleaning wipes or something for this job if you wish but going for the whole no chemicals green approach you could use an extra pad and pump the steam mop facing the baseboards so the mess is steamed then wipe with the extra pad. So yeah it's annoying but I haven't heard of one that actually does this job for you.

Now I know there are more cons than pros but altogether I really loved my steam mop until the handle broke. I'm not saying there isn't anything better. I'm just saying steam mopping is the best and the shark is a pretty good option that works well in comparison to regular mopping. I do not have any other steam mop experience to compare it with which is why I am researching this stuff myself right now.

So yes the steam mop is a great idea. The shark steam mop was great introduction to steam mopping. Now that it is broken and I am faced with buying another one I'm definitely prepared to do some researching to find a better one. Oh yeah and I didn't have this mop for very long and would have returned it but I lost the receipt and just decided to keep using the broken one until I could get a new one. Hope all this helps and I'll book mark this so I can send you a link to any comparisons I find between the haan and shark steam mops.

Prices range considerably from $100 - $1200+. I purchased the Vapamore MR-100 from 1-800-go-vapor-.com for $299. The more expensive models had the same specs, stainless boiler, etc. I have no regrets buying it, yet;)

Could someone kindly reply to my questions it will be much appreciated !!

Thanks a million ,

Savi @ Roler Data .

-Tay

(1) It looks like there is no switch to start and stop the steam. If that's true, is it okay with you that the steam comes out continuously? The Bissell steam mop has a spring-loaded trigger you pull to get steam, and when you release the trigger the steam stops.

(2) How well does the mop glide? I have trouble pushing the Bissell across the floor because the mop head keeps wanting to slip off. Do the mop pads on the Haan have trouble staying in place?

Thanks.

My Haan has a switch at the top of the handle to start and stop the steam. Easy to use and I'm left handed so most things are difficult.

How well does the mop glide? My Haan glides just like the infomercials.

Do the mop pads on the Haan have trouble staying in place? No, the pads stay in place with no problems.

I'm very curious about the high-end steamers mentioned above and plan to research them. The only problem is that I would feel obligated to use it since it costs so much :)

See the link below for some of the features.

I've considered the looks, the comfort, the cost, etc. I tried the food tests and managed to get the stains out pretty well. I love it and want it but - one of my concerns involves cleaning of the slate tiles because of all the grooves and rough surfaces. I'm a hands and knees cleaner, and I think that would kill! I don't want to be a complete slave to my floor. Plus, how do you do quick cleanup? Sounds dumb, but on my sample test, sponges immediately fray.

So what proceudres do you follow for cleaning? I've read about steam cleaners and steam mops. Anyone have experience with these and would you recommend?