Hot and Steamy: A Product Review

For the last 3 years I have teetered on the verge of renting a jack hammer and demolishing the ceramic tile that covers nearly half the floor in my home.  It was dirty and hard to clean.  I managed with a Swiffer Wet Jet, but that seemed to only make matters worse.  The cleaner left a residue and the grout got progressively blacker.  Yuck!  When I got to the point of desperation (or to the point of intense nesting, which I've done a few times), I have actually spent entire days on hands and knees with a scrub brush.  I hated that stupid tile!  This spring I finally convinced Joe that his wife needed a professional: either a professional floor cleaner or a metal health professional because the floor was driving me CrAzY. 

A very nice neighbor who also happens to be a floor cleaning professional saved me from being institutionalized by cleaning my floor and educating me about STEAM MOPS.

I don't usually fall for a cleaning product, but I have nothing but affection for this lovely little mop.  If I could attach a song to this post (... sugar.. da da da da da da, oh, honey, honey...)  I would.  This little baby is amazing and suddenly my tile floors and I are friends! 

Pros:  no cleaner, no chemicals, just water!  It cleans and sanitizes in one step!  It doesn't push all that dirty water into the grout!  Nothing is disposable - it's very eco-friendly!  It doesn't smell - at all! One tank of water does my whole house!  It really leaves the floor clean!  You don't have to wait for the floor to dry - my girls actually follow me around while I clean the floors because it doesn't leave them wet at all!  You can actually hear and see the clouds of steam bursting forth and attacking the sticky apple juice spills!  I. can't. stop. mopping. 

Cons: it cleans with very hot steam, so if you have crawlers or chubby little bare feet about, you might need to find something else to do until the kiddos are napping before you get your mop-fix.  If you are one of those people who really needs things wet and scrubby to consider them clean, this might not do it for you. It sorta leaves wood floors streaky (my sister expirimented). 

Oh mop!  Where have you been my whole life?!