Anyone have a steam mop they can recommend?

sparkie1984

Distinguished Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2010
Messages
7,598
Reaction score
2,480
Points
1,626
Morning.

My mum is looking for a steam mop. There seems to be quite a few out there.

What have you got that your happy with?
 
We have a Vax one. Cost around £100 and does the job pretty well.
 
My wife has tried two (Vax and some other brand) and declared them all useless.
She says they're all far too slow and cleaning the wooden floors takes twice as long.
She's back to using her cheap battery flash mop with a cartridge of fluid.
If you lived near Aberdeen I would gladly give you either of the two steam mops we've got for nothing, they're just taking up space in the garage.
 
Thanks

My mum seems to think it'll make her life much easier cleaning her floors, is it the heating up that's slow?

If they won't perform her main need hen perhaps she needs to rethink
 
Thanks

My mum seems to think it'll make her life much easier cleaning her floors, is it the heating up that's slow?

If they won't perform her main need hen perhaps she needs to rethink

My wife just didn't like the way both the ones she tried, and they were both £70+, took ages to generate the steam.
So she felt they were always 'behind' her mopping, if you know what I mean.
She had to slow down her mopping to wait for the steam.
With the flash mop she can spray the floor ahead of her with the cleaning fluid, then mop quickly.
 
The heating time is usually around 20-30 seconds.
 
Got ya. Thanks

Perhaps if I get her to order one online she could try it and return it if it's rubbish?
 
Got ya. Thanks

Perhaps if I get her to order one online she could try it and return it if it's rubbish?

Yeah, the distance selling act should allow you to do that, I think?
We had to keep ours as they were bought locally and we couldn't claim they were 'faulty'.
 
I'll check it out. I'm sure someone like Amazon would take them back
 
We've got one of those bright green X5 things you see on the telly (Thane direct) It's not very good at all, doesn't do much really other than steam and splutter and drip, waste of £70
 
We've got two, a Morphy Richards one that produces a decent amount of steam but takes a wee while to get up to heat, glides brilliantly over carpets and does a decent enough job at mopping.
Morphy Richards 70465 Multi Floors Steam Mop with Microfibre Pads, 1400 Watt, Black: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home

The other is a Vax 10 in 1 thing, best thing about this is being able to put the detergent bit in with the cleaning, it's not as powerful as the one above for steam output though and the carpet glider bit doesn't work as well. The various scrubby brush attachments rarely get used on the handheld bit but the main scratchy pad thing under where the mop head bit goes works well for stubborn bits.
Vax S86-SF-CC Steam Fresh Combi Classic 10-in-1 Handheld and Steam Mop: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home

If I could choose again I'd try to find another Morphy Richards one with detergenty bit but not getting a third bloody steam mop haha
 
— As an Amazon Associate, AVForums earns from qualifying purchases —
We have had a Vax for a while. It was meant to be a good one, Which Best Buy etc. After a year I'm going back to a proper mop and bucket.

They are a fundamentally flawed concept IMO. Firstly, there is not one on the market that can get the edges of floors and into small gaps properly. Secondly, they don't produce enough steam, or at any pressure. By the time the tiny little amount of steam gets to the floor it not hot enough. You can hold the trigger then feel the pad without burning yourself. They do not stream clean; it's just a convoluted method of warming and dampening the pad. I have seen and tried various other brands me they are pretty much all the same really.

You also have to buy the special liquid, fill the tanks, put the pad on, plug it in, drag the cable around, wash the pad etc. They are a fad IMO and a mop and bucket is easier, quicker, cheaper and gives much better results.
 
Last edited:
Are they any good at cleaning tiles on walls or hobs etc?

if they don't get hot then they seem rather pointless
 
The ones I have seen and tried don't. Some have detachable heads that might do the job ok.
 
We've got one of those bright green X5 things you see on the telly (Thane direct) It's not very good at all, doesn't do much really other than steam and splutter and drip, waste of £70
There are a lot of fakes around, did you get yours from Thane Direct(ly)?
 
I've noticed you mentioned mop specifically, so Im assuming youre looking for something mainly to clean the floor.

Most people tend to think steam mops but have you considered a proper hard floor cleaner? Im looking at these at the moment and most reviews suggest they're much better than a steam equivalent.

eg VAX Floormate Trio HF86-FM-T Hard Floor Cleaner
 
Sorry, perhaps I have been confusing things.

The X1 or whatever it is thats advertised on the TV my Mum is after something like that where it cleans ovens, tiles, floors etc , I thought they could all do that?
 
Ah, there are steam cleaners, and steam mops

Neither really powerful enough from various things I've tried to be honest. They're good for some bits but not great at everything and I often just resort to chemicals again to clean
 
There are a lot of fakes around, did you get yours from Thane Direct(ly)?

I couldn't remember but checked and I got it off ebay, nearly 3 yrs ago now, no reason to think it was a fake but there's always the possibility
 
I bought one off Ebay about 3 years ago and it's definitely a fake. That you paid £70 is a giveaway as the genuine ones were £99.99 at the time ( I got mine for a similarly good price as you ;)) It was on Fake Britain the other day :( Do the microfibre mop heads attach with a drawstring you tighten? If so it's definitely a fake, the genuine ones have always attached by "velcro". Some fakes have apparently genuine "velcro" heads though. There should be a steam escape valve hole next to the steam outlet. The fakes don't have this or a thermal safety cutout. And finally, if you open up the mop the genuine ones have all the electrics hidden behind a plastic shield, fakes have exposed electrical circuitry.

Otherwise they are quite convincing. I certainly didn't suspect anything until I saw the expose. The p1ss poor performance should have been a clue but I put that down to falling for the marketing :).

I might buy a real one after we have recovered from Christmas just to see what if anything I have been missing.
 
Last edited:
I don't own one, I use an attachment on the bissell to wash the floors. I do have two hand held ones though , one for the bathroom and one for the kitchen and I think they're great.
 
Is that to avoid cross contamination :confused:?
 
Hi,

We got the very top end VAX 15 in 1 version - RRP was about £180 but no way I was paying that - they usually come up on offer at Amazon etc for between £50-£70.

I got swayed by all the positive user reviews but have to say, not impressed at all - very cheaply made & in less than a year of very light use, it leaks water every time you try & use the steam function, the rubber seals are very badly fitted, the cheap thin plastic liquid containers crack & the damn thing has trouble standing upright so it falls about constantly. Also. the various attachments do not stay in place which is a real pain

I would really stay away from the heavily marketed brands like VAX, Morphy Richards etc - if you can look to see if a good German brand like Miele do any.

Suave!
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom