<p>I’m looking through the ads this morning and noticing steam mops are on sale. I have tile floors and hardwoods and always wondered if they work. Does anyone have one? I currently sweep and use a Swiffer but hate the chemicals. </p>
<p>I’m also thinking of a Hoover carpet cleaner that I can find for around $136. I’m never at home for professional cleaning and renting is expensive plus big and bulky machines. Do these relatively inexpensive home models work?</p>
<p>Love, love, love my steam mop (a shark) and have used it 4x per week for two years now…well worth the $80 investment. My wood and tile floors are clean and dry in a tenth of the time and there’s no mess or chemicals at all. </p>
<p>Hate home carpet cleaners for the simple fact that the cleaning solutions available for home use do not do the job that professional solutions do and they leave the carpets damp for hours (or in some cases up to 2 days). Plus, it’s an all day job if you have multiple rooms and want to do a thorough job and you’re stuck with moving heavy furniture around yourself! I have my carpets (which are only in the family room and kids’ bedrooms) professionally cleaned once a year and only use the carpet cleaner for spills. The carpets are almost dry by the time the pros pull out of the driveway, they look and smell wonderful, and, best of all, they move and replace all the furniture on their own! The company I use will make evening and Saturday appointments, so while they’re working I’m free to do whatever else I’d normally be doing at home (like wasting time on CC) :)</p>
<p>sk8rmom…is your steam mom a PITA to put together/clean up/put away? That’s another thing I hate about my Bissell carpet cleaner…</p>
<p>last month i bought both a shark for my hardwood floors and a bissell steam carpet cleaner. i love them both! i also bought a shark rechargeable vacuum on a stick sort of thing–i hate dragging out the whole vacuum thing for just a quick sweep by the back door!</p>
<p>i have extensive hardwood, brick and tile floors in my home. i never felt they were clean by mopping and the swiffer seemed to leave too much sticky residue behind so that the floors felt dirty right after cleaning. the floors seem much cleaner to me. the microfiber cloth head collects most of the dust, the floors dry right away, and it is good enough for my cleaning standards (which have been lowered considerably).</p>
<p>the in home steam cleaner is fabulous for the area rugs that i have and also worked well in one bedroom with carpeting. i felt it did a fantastic job–i did over saturate on of the first areas i tried to clean, but even that dried quickly with a fan blowing over the surface. </p>
<p>i would recommend both of these to my friends.</p>
<p>I could not live without my carpet cleaner. I buy professional grade cleaner/shampoo to use and I spot treat with Resolve or some other spray on the stains before I use the carpet cleaner. In comparing notes with friends we all noticed a reduction in performance after about 3-4 years and need to replace the machines, but they are a bargain compared to the pros (our area pro charges more for one room than the cost of the machine). If I spend 1/4 of my time in the shampoo mode and 3/4 of the time in the “sucking/drying” mode my carpets are dry in about the same time as when I used to hire the professionals. I am interested in a steam cleaner for our tile and wood floors but haven’t bought one yet. My husband tried out carpet cleaner on the tile and I didn’t think it did any better than using a squeeze mop.</p>
<p>I love my steam cleaner, too. Our first floor is all tile and the second floor all wood. When I want exits cleaning power, I add a little white vinegar to the water. It smells at first but not when it dries.</p>
<p>I have a shark. You want to make sure that the brick template-ed stained concrete floor of your cabin is “colorfast” before you use it. Don’t ask me how I know.</p>
<p>OTOH, for smart people, it will probably work great. ;)</p>
<p>Has anyone every experienced, or been advised that, steam cleaners should NOT be used with certain types of hardwoods? I never feel like my floors get as clean as I’d like…I am just afraid of putting steam on them if they are going to warp or ‘cup’.</p>
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<p>That is my question also. I got a Haan steam cleaner for xmas but have been hesitant to try it. All the reviews on it (and the Shark) are very positive. And I think as long as you don’t leave the floors sopping wet it should be okay. If your floors haven’t been ‘sealed’ with polyurethane, it might be a problem. </p>
<p>We recently finished a house renovation, including refinishing part of the hardwood floors and the cleaning crew mopped them with water and vinegar. Even the hardwood that weren’t recently refinished sparkled like new. I’ve never seen that kind of result with any cleaner I have used. I’ve had 4 houses with HFWs. I’ve used swiffer, orange-glo and a variety of products on my HFWs over the years but they all eventually leave a dull film. I have been advised by several floor re-finishers to never use Murphy’s Oil Soap. I know a lot of people like Bona. I’ve never tried it but I did pick up a bottle recently.</p>
<p>I have a Bissell ProHeat carpet cleaner that I love. It’s very easy to use and gets most of the spots out. I always pre-treat the area with Oxyclean. I’ve have my carpets professionally cleaned when we have bought and sold houses. It is easier to let someone else do it for you but I like to be able to address stains as they occur (we have a dog). While the professionals get good results, I’ve always gotten similar results with my Bissell. I don’t leave the carpet wet, I go back over the area numerous times to suck up the water and then I leave the ceiling fan on. You can usually walk on the carpet within the hour.</p>
<p>I wonder why pros don’t like Murphy’s. That’s what I use on my wood floors…1/4 cup to a 5 gallon bucket of water and I damp mop…squeeze most of the water out of the mop. My wood floors are 100 year old fir and don’t “look” like the new hardwood floors with a perfectly smooth finish so I don’t know if you would even see a build-up. They come out shiny and clean looking. We use vinegar or amonia in water for the kitchen, baths and entry hall tile.</p>
<p>I have the Bissell pro-heat carpet cleaner, also and as I mentioned my carpets aren’t left “wet” for more than an hour. I also don’t clean carpets when the humidity is high so that might be part of it.</p>
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<p>I’m not sure of the reason but they always ask us if Murphy’s Oil has been used on the floor before they refinish them. Apparently it affects either the outcome of the refinishing job or the way they have to refinish them. Unfortunately, we’ve never been able to answer that question because we weren’t the only owners of the house. I believe in this house the previous owner did use Murphy’s Oil but it didn’t seem to affect the refinishing job. In a 50+ year old house, the floors have probably been exposed to all sorts of cleaners.</p>
<p>I was told to never use murphy’s oil soap because you are putting an oil product on top of a urethane one. It’s like cleaning your floors with vegetable oil. you shine them up, but it leaves that icky residue there - so if you need to re-finish your floors they may have to go about stripping it differently. It also shouldn’t be used on untreated wood or wood where the finish or top coat may be coming off because if it sinks into the actual wood it will more then likely leave a mark.</p>
<p>Costco has one of those Sharks on sale w/a coupon this month - it’s the one the that vacuums then you can mop/steam the floors with it as well. </p>
<p>I think it’s this one:
[Amazon.com:</a> Shark Vac Then Steam Mop: Kitchen & Dining](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Shark-Vac-Then-Steam-Mop/dp/B003KKD7DY]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Shark-Vac-Then-Steam-Mop/dp/B003KKD7DY)</p>
<p>Has anyone used this type/model???</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice everyone. I’m not much of a housekeeper 
After lots of research, I bought this product for my hard floors: [Amazon.com:</a> Eureka 313A Enviro Hard-Surface Floor Steamer: Home & Garden](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Eureka-313A-Enviro-Hard-Surface-Steamer/dp/B001LYFBHG/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1294606740&sr=1-1]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Eureka-313A-Enviro-Hard-Surface-Steamer/dp/B001LYFBHG/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1294606740&sr=1-1)</p>
<p>And this: [Amazon.com:</a> Hoover SteamVac Carpet Cleaner with Clean Surge, F5914-900: Home & Garden](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Hoover-SteamVac-Carpet-Cleaner-F5914-900/dp/B00009R66F/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1294607109&sr=1-1]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Hoover-SteamVac-Carpet-Cleaner-F5914-900/dp/B00009R66F/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1294607109&sr=1-1)
for the carpets.</p>
<p>I was looking at the shark vac as well abasket and wondering how well it works. I actually enjoy sweeping.</p>
<p>There’s no difficulty with the shark…it goes together in a snap (IIRC 2 pieces literally snap together and one screw for the handle, like any stick vac). The water resevoir is easy to reach on the back with a screw off cap. It comes with a measuring cup and funnel so you won’t overflow. I think it comes with two cleaning pads…if not, I’d recommend getting an extra or two. The steam goes thru the pad onto the floor and the dirt comes off quickly - even those black shoe streaks that kids always seem to leave on linoleum. I pre-vacuum with a stick vac and am always amazed at how much dirt is on the steam pad and, since I have multiple large rooms that get done at once, I just switch to a clean pad. Saw that Bissell now makes a combo stick vac/steam mop (there’s a rebate offer in today’s paper). That would be a great timesaver if it works well!</p>
<p>I’m sure lots of people can do a better job with their carpet cleaners than I can and I applaud you all! I use the coupons from the newspaper and get my (3) rooms done for around $140. I’m the cook, gardener, maid, nanny, plumber, and chauffeur around here and rarely spend much money on myself, so it’s a nice annual gift to me and my house! My son did his own bedroom carpet before Christmas and we had a huge fight over the darn thing and how many passes to get the water out:( I think my carpet pads are actually sponges as I could see his damp footprints on the wood floors for 2 days afterward! (This was a Green Machine, maybe other models are better.)</p>