By Irene Phillips

There isn’t a single person out there who enjoys mopping the floor, including me. In fact most of us hate it with passion.
Being a man of construction, my husband had just finished installing tile in two of our previously carpeted rooms. He also built us an additional bedroom/bath and a closet — all tiled.

It dawned on me that now I have to deal with mopping all those extra areas I didn’t have before. I’ve seen the infomercials advertising steam mops which claim to clean, disinfect and deodorize without using chemicals, detergents or soaps. Everyone knows that infomercials exaggerate, and I was more than apprehensive when it came to actually purchasing one. I’ve read a gazillion reviews on H2O, T1 Steamboy, Bissell and Shark. While the H20 and T1 apparently create a watery mess… Bissell is good but has a short cord (big disadvantage)  and on the other hand, Shark is the most lightweight  plus Bed Bath and Beyond carries it. The cost of those mops is anywhere between $70 and over $100.00. I knew I didn’t want to spend this kind of money on a darn mop, but I just wanted one so bad!

I decided that my dream mop is the Shark by Euro Pro. Its $80.00 retail price including 2 pads, and if you need additional pads (you will need them trust me), they cost a hefty $19.95 for a set of 2. I began my search on Ebay for a deal and was astonished at how many people were trying to do the same thing I was. The competition was fierce, but I finally won the auction for a barely used one for $35.00 bucks with shipping. It did not come with any pads. I saw that those same pads manufactured in China were being sold on Ebay for about $13.00/set of 6 and ended up buying them. The mop finally arrived, it looked brand new and the quality of pads was excellent. All that under $50.00 and I could not be happier.

I love my mop. No more buckets of nasty water, constant rinsing, dragging the dirt around, putting on gloves… and so on. This mop is definitely convenient. The only chore is you have to wash the pads in the washer after each use. It is recommended to get several pads so you’re not running the washer for just 2 pads. The time stream mopping takes is about same as regular mopping. It implements a pushing forward technique, which some people may find that they have to apply a little bit of force. I found that the sticky type messes on the floors are stubborn for this mop to handle, so you have to go over them a few times. I wish the mop had like a scrubby edge. Also I did notice some streaking going on, but not too bad.
And it does not magically remove grout dirt like the infomercials claim it does. But the surface dirt… I could not believe how filthy black the pads got… regular mop could never pick up that much dirt EVER. Not to mention pet hair. Changing pads frequently is the key to clean floors, otherwise you will drag the dirt around like in regular mopping.

This mop is quick, easy and actually enjoyable to use. I love that I don’t have to use cleaners and go through an ordeal of rinsing and wringing. My next stop is a steam cleaner for my mattress and rugs — dust mites are no fun!
Want more home improvement tips? Contact us @ www.PhillipsandAssociatesInc.com. And by the way, does your logo suck? Drop by IrenePhillipsDesign.com for a makeover.
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