Are Steam Cleaners Really That Great?

I have a Hoover steam cleaner. I only use it on my carpets though. I LOVE IT!! My carpets do not look dirty at all, but every time I use it no matter how often I get up sooo much dirt that I never even knew was there! I like it because I have a little one that plays on the floor and sometimes drops food and picks it up off the floor. It works really great and cost about $130. I have berber carpet in my living room and hallways that is pretty dark so after I clean even though I get up a lot of dirt you can't really tell I cleaned them. BUT in the bedrooms we have regular carpet and after I use it in those rooms the carpet looks brand new I am not kidding!! Definitely worth it to me.

I purchased a steam vac (one of the big ones) awhile back figuring I would use it "all the time." Well, that was about $300 poorly spent :) I used it twice and that was it! It was heavy and took up a fair amount of space. I ended up trading it with a girlfriend who is a hairdresser for free kids haircuts for a year.

I don't even rent the ones from the grocery store anymore (here they are about $35 for 24 hrs plus cleaning liquid). Instead I wait for the carpet cleaners to come to the door or call the local place when they have a sale. I try to clean the carpets once or twice a year and I pay about $50 a time, which by the time I pay for the rental and the cleaners and my time to do it, it is cheaper than renting and doing it myself.

I do want to invest in the Shark or the Haan for my hard floors. I have a "cheap version" of the Shark that is totally not worth it, but both the real Shark and the Haan have gotten really good reviews :) I will probably get the Shark when they go on sale again at Kohls and I pull a 30% coupon!

Good luck!

i have the double sided shark and i like it. i wouldnt say i totally love it but i do find it easy to use and i LOVE not having to use chemicals on my floors. especially with a 2 year old, 2 dogs and a baby on the way. i use it a few times a week and though it does leave the floor a bit streaky for a few hours it all fades and i have gotten many comments on my "new floors" that are 5 years old. i have used it a few times with the carpet glider to sanitize the carpet but i dont know that it made a difference except making me feel like the floors are cleaner :) i paid 94 for the shark it came with regular head, triangle head over sized head and carpet glider, then came with a duster mop cover that i love using on my stairs. i bought it at Costco

We've had several Bissel steam cleaners and used them quite a bit the first few years. Definitely worth the money. We haven't lately because the one we have hasn't been working well - Costco would refund it since we kept the receipt (as they've done with others).

We've never had to have our carpets professionally cleaned in 6 years in the house because it's helped take out serious stains such as blue and green paint, dog vomit (lovely) and blood (from a wound on the cat).

I'd recommend them, but I'd do your research first to make sure you know all the features and they correspond with what you're wanting to do.

I have a Shark pocket steam cleaner for my hard floors that I just love, and a Hoover Steam vac for my carpets. With the shark I can clean my entire downstairs, which is all hardwood and tile, in about 20 minutes. And it is really clean without chemicals! The Hoover for carpets I have had for years and it has been fabulous. It cleans very well on all of our kid and pet messes. It has an attachment to use on stairs and furniture also. These 2 appliances have made my life much easier (and cleaner)!!

I have a shark steam mop. Not the new fancy double sided pocket mop, just the basic one. I actually really like it. I love that I'm not putting chemicals down on my floor (I have a 14 month old that's constantly running around on them) and when I pick the pad up off the shark it looks like its actually cleaned something. With the swiffer I felt like I was just pushing stuff around and DH said that the cleaner from the swiffer smelled like cat pee. Before the steam mop I was also moping with a sponge mop and using PineSol and that would leave gunk around the edges of stuff. The steam mop's little microfiber pad extends around the edge of the plastic part so it actually can go right up against the floorboards/under appliances/up against doors to really get everything.

The one thing I will say is that you need to make sure you sweep really well before you mop with one. The mop isn't made to pick up crumbs.

If you like to consignment or thrift shop, give places like that a look for a shark mop. I got mine at Goodwill for 10 bucks and saved myself a good amount of money. I do eventually want the nice spiffy pocket mop, but this will hold me over!

Hi J.,

My husband and I frequently agree that one of the best uses of $200 that we have ever spent is for our Hoover Steam Vac from Costco. We have 3 pets as well as a toddler and I can't say enough good things about it. And it cleans furniture as well as floors (a must for crayon-happy toddlers!). The one drawback is that it is very heavy even without the water in it, so I usually have my husband do the stairs. I don't remember much about the other models but we did a lot of research before we bought it and thought the Hoover was the best value for the dollar. The spinning brushes do a very good job and are pretty easy to clean out, and the suction is impressive - the carpet is only a little damp after running over it a few times so it dries pretty quickly. Best of luck on your search!

I like the Hoover much better than the Bissel. My Neighbor had the Bissel and I used it and then borrowed my other friends Hover to compare the difference. The Hover is easier to use and has a better water system. My neighbor had the problem that seems to show up in the reviews that the "bladder failed" and she replaced it with the Hoover and hasn't had any trouble with it. I have hard wood floors so I have only used it on carpet but i have loved my Hoover. If you buy it from Sears, they will match and beat prices and I am a believer in warranties because somehow I always get the lemon in the group. Good Luck and happy floor cleaning :)

I have a Eureka Euro steam (or something like that). It was cheaper than the Shark via Amazon and I got free shipping. I love it and use it 3 times a week. The only thing I wash different is that I had purchased additional cloths for it at the time. The cloths they show now are not the right ones. I just wash them often so I can keep using. My floors do not get a sticky residue that I had with cleaners and a mop that I really thought was disgusting. I used to have a Bissel and loved it but one day it died on me and wasn't worth shipping to have it checked. I only use Lysol or Mr Clean for washing walls now and sometimes wish I could use the steamer on the walls too.

We registered for a Shark steam cleaner on our wedding registry, we didn't get it so we took our rewards money to Macy's and was going to purchase it, they didn't carry the one we wanted anymore so we got a Haan steam cleaner instead and I love it! It comes with two washable pads, a carpet/mattress steamer plastic thing that attaches to the bottom of the steamer and it even comes with some packets of lime scale remover to use it in. We've had ours for about 6 months and I use it about once a week (just because it is so easy) and our floors look great- I think they look better every time we use it. Hope this helps- good luck!
Oh- I did buy one off of QVC about 7 years ago and I did not like it, you had to buy the expensive pads separate and it made my floors wet , just like I had mopped with a mop. I think it was the Euro pro or Euro steam or something like that, it was blue and it always fell over and I cracked two of the water tanks- poor design.

J.,

We purchased a Bissel Little Green after our fourth child was born. After a week we realized we should have registered for it with our first baby. We have used it for everything from spit up to potty training to cat messes to colored toothpaste dropped on the carpet. It keeps our carpet looking good inbetween professional cleanings, which we only do every 12-18 months. It's one of the best purchases we've made for home maintenance.

Good luck,
S.

I haven't used any of the steam cleaners you can buy in the store, but I have rented the one in the grocery store. It worked GREAT. I especially loved it because I used my own cleaning mixture without having to use the harsh chemicals that come with it. That stuff messes with my allergies and I don't want my kids crawling around on the floor after using it. Anyways, my cleaners worked awesome and were totally natural and lifted a lot of tough stains in our carpet. With four kiddos, our carpet can get pretty nasty. So, we periodically rent one to keep our carpet looking fresh.

I would love to know anyone's recommendation on the Bissel, Shark, etc. though.

~ Ann

I love my Shark steam cleaner. It works awesome on our ceramick tile floors! Plus no sticky cleaner to put on floor. Just water and steam. What more could you ask for???

I have an older Shark portable steamer that also has floor attachments. I can clean any surface including the walls! I love it! I have had it for years with no problems!

I have a Bissell steam mop, and it works great on my laminate and tile floors. I've noticed that our feet and socks no longer get that nasty black film from walking around without shoes; and consequently, our carpeted areas stay cleaner as well. Presumably that was soap residue. The steam mop is easy to use, and I actually mop more often now with it. Sometimes if I use too much steam on the wood laminate floors, it gets very wet and leaves streaks when it dries, but generally everything is clean and shiny when I'm done.