In the market for a steam mop,Or a floor washer...

[super-sweeper]

Hi guys,After my shark has died out on me,I am in the market for a new steam mop,Do you have any reconmendations?

I would also like to look into the purchase of a vintage floor washer,Does anyone have any pictures of one or one for sale perhaps?

Many thanks,
-Alex.

 

[chan55]

floor washer

I have a Hoover floor mate, and I love it. Scrubs then picks up the dirty water. Easy to use and store.Gave up on steam mops too. All you do is push the dirt around with them. I clean and stage homes on the side, and I found I like this the best. It reminds me of the old Floor a matic from Hoover

 

[blackheart]

Second the floor mate

I feel steamers leave a lot behind or just spread dirt around, a floor washer is definitely the way to go. It is amazing how dirty the water in my floor mate's tank is when i'm done with the dining room and kitchen

 

[durango159]

I've never tried the Hoover Floormate but have heard great things about it. Also never tried a Haan but I'd be curious.

One of my clients has 2 steam mops a: Shark and an H20 Steam mop.

The Shark is worthless. The pumping action for the steam, I find is virtually ineffective. Sometimes there is tons of steam and other times there is nothing. It smears the floor and just doesn't seem to accomplish anything. I've completely given up on it, I don't use it anymore, and in my mind it belongs in the dumpster.

The H20 mop on the other hand produces tons of steam. It removes and cleans well. However I also find the floor too wet many occasions. If you let it sit on a stubborn spot too long, it can and will easily warp a laminate floor if you go over it too many times or let it sit on a spot. I blame a lot of this on the cloth cleaning head, it doesn't move across the floor unless its quite wet.

However, this is my current experience with both of these products which I've been using for close to 2 years now, but I was not around when either was purchased new. Its possible brand new they both worked better!!

The steam mops will find some dirt and push it around. I grab a rag and wipe up anything that the mop finds. I think most of what it finds was either stuck on the bottom of a rug, or on my shoes. I'm always sure to vacuum hard floors thoroughly with bare floor brush prior to steam mop. Don't sweep-- vacuum for steam mopping!!

 

[jkbff]

Since the shop I work for sells Hoover, I tried out the hoover twin-tank steam mop in a pizzeria I work in part time... I really like the twin-tank. It works a lot better than the sponge mop the manager decided she wanted us to all use (dumb)... I sweep debris up, run the steam mop with the solution, then rinse the pad, and run it again on steam only. The pizzeria is in a hotel that had taken a room and put a pizza oven in it.. LOL.. So its the size of a hotel room, with ceramic flooring.. Works pretty well because the tiles have gradually turned white again and the grout has turned tan from black... Just my 2 cents.

 

[sebo_fan]

Sadly its the opposite with me - I have lino, marble flooring and hard wood that is sealed - perfect examples for a steam mop. It has to be non-porous flooring for a start if you do choose cheaper steam mops - and I've had one for the last five years, replaced by the same model due to my own stupidity. I have tried carpet upright washers that have an attachment for hard floors, but they take too much time, often leave the floor too wet and impossible to do wearing just socks on my feet.

I also think its too much bulk and weight compared to sweeping around with a steam mop. Of course, what makes it better is the fact that I managed to get microfibre cloths for it rather than using the standard ones they came with as they're next to useless unless you spend more time letting the machine heat up and use more water than necessary.

 

[durango159]

So Sebo-Fan what model do you like/ recommend and what models have you had problems with!!

Joshua, I actually love sponge mops--but only the rectangular head ones with wringer on handle. You can put lots of elbow grease into them, and deep cleaning off the sponge in the mop water. Many floors need a good decent wet down, like linoleum and ceramic. When my water gets dirty I replace it. I like using Armstrong floor cleaner, it smells really good. Also Ajax lemon citrus and orange variety multi purpose cleaners found at Home Depot and Wal-Mart work really good. I don't like Pine Sol. Haven't received good cleaning results from them. Mr. Clean has a good line with Gain and the Orange scented disinfectant multipurpose does good. The other few lines from Mr. Clean I don't like. They are both with Febreeze--one is green and one is a Hawaiian pink,

Also being on the business side I definitely see the desire to reduce costs and not go for extravagantly priced cleaning supplies. I've had many managers over the years that were quite reluctantly with replacing vacuum cleaners and/or upgrading some supplies. Everything is about saving costs in a business and to increase profit.

 

[floor-a-matic]

I use either a mop (like the one Durango159 has) or my Hoover Floor-A-Matic, it depends on how busy I am.

Or I use the Rainbow SqueegeeMate, because I can switch from washrinse or mopdry vacuum.

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

I have a Floormate and a Haan Steamer... I do not like the Floormate at all. It is loud and you have to clean the dirty water tank when done. It just seems cumbersome and doesn't seem to clean very well at all... if you have a dirty spot on the floor, you have to hold the machine's brushes over the spot and hold the trigger down and just leave it in that one spot for quite a period of time. Most of it will eventually come off, but you still have to finish up with a magic clean eraser to get it all.

I tried a Shark Pocket mop and found it to be awful... the pump action was annoying, as was the hissing... not to mention that it not only left the dirt on the floor (ceramic tile), but also added streaks.

I have the basic Haan steam mop (the first one that doesn't swivel), and I do like it. It is easy to just grab and go, and it works pretty well for anything but the stickiest of stains... if I have something really sticky, I get the Floormate because it uses more water and seems to do a better job.

I've seen a video for the Monster steam mop and I really like that one because it has spray jets on the front and you can direct the straight steam right onto the really dirty areas... if I were buying one today, I'd likely go for that one, or the Haan Slim models because they swivel and have a flat, narrow head that can get in all the nooks and crannies.....

The Floormate has saved my life a few times when I've overfilled the sink or had a dishwasher flood, but to be honest, my Hoover Steam Vac does just as well a job, even without a bare floor squeegee. And, forget about the Floormates claims to dry vacuum first.... the vacuum isn't powerful, and because of the squeegee, it snowplows.... also, when in wet or dry mode, if you push the machine a little too fast, the safety float will cover the "suction hole" and activate prematurely, cutting off suction, even without a full tank... extremely annoying.

If you are on a budget, I hear Black and Decker now has a steam mop at Wal-mart.... there are a few videos of this on Youtube (and of the Monster, it would be worth the time to check them out).... I haven't seen any reviews of the Black and Decker one yet, and haven't tried one, so I don't know how it performs.

Let us know what you decide.

 

[sebo_fan]

There was a previous thread post on here already regarding washers and steam mops. 


 


http://www.vacuumland.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?16525

 


There I discussed my own machine = a Hometek Light n Easy Elite. I still have it though and it still works after a few good years. I will be disappointed when it breaks because Hometek no longer sell that model any more and may have to seek out their Eco model instead, (previous machine design before this flatter one came out) which is just as good, if not slightly bulkier. The green Eco mop was also tested by Which last year and it got a thumbs up despite some cons.


 


 

 

[szymonrules]

Well...

I own the 1st generation Hoover Floormate and love it, aswell as I also own a Dirt Devil steam mop which I found is pretty good and cheap, but I've read it doesn't last long. Hope that helps

 

[super-sweeper]

Anyone have a floor washer (Old hoover one) For sale?I think one of those will do me best.

 

[steammoplist]

HAAN Slim and Light SI-35R is the best
You can find some reviews about this steam

http://steammoplist.com/top-5-haan-steam-mop-review/

 

[cleaningbuff]

spin mops

Try the spin mops, they are amazing for all types of floors. I clean homes and I would not use anything else. Once you use one you wont want anything else.

 

[fantomfan]

No steam mops!!

My grandmother's Regina floor scrubber is 50 plus years old, and still going. Our Shark Steam Mop lasted 4 years of LIGHT use, before it broke. I love my Hoover FloorMate. It gets stuff the Shark never even touched. It has a vacuum to clean up the floor before you do the deeper clean. Sorry Shark, you didn't create the idea of having a 2-in-1 machine!

 

[fantomfan]

If you must go with a Steam Mop

Haan is a reputable brand. My grandmother also has a Haan, and it works well. My vacuum shop likes them, and we are buying a compact Haan for crevices very soon.