We appreciated that this cleaner was very lightweight and was easily able to maneuver around areas to clean. While lightweight, even when filled with water, it is hard to prop the unit up when not in use—it fell over a few times during testing because of this.

She’s an engineering graduate, an award-winning journalist and writes regularly in the Evening Standard. She has appeared as a technology expert on TV and done countless radio interviews. More than just a steam mop, this pricey gadget comes with 11 accessories, so it can transform from a steam mop to a grout cleaner, detail brush, steam glove, and much more. At six pounds, it’s easy to use and lightweight, even when full of water. Even so, we recommend taking breaks if you plan on using it in handheld mode for too long, because while it’s lightweight as a steam mop, we can see it getting heavy to hold for long periods of time. This truly depends on your cleaning goal and the type of mess in your household. “Steam mops are typically not the best for dealing with dust, hair, and other dry debris on floors so be sure to sweep and/or vacuum before steam mopping for best results. Also, be sure to leave adequate dry time for floors to ensure the shiniest sparkle,” advises cleaning expert Cohoon. Steam mops can sanitize and shine floors, so if that’s the goal, then go for it! Filling the tank under the tap is easy but there is no gauge to say what is ‘full’. It’s very easy to over-fill, at which point the filler cap vent hole spits water when you move it around. The same vent hole also dribbles if you tilt the steamer unit over, such as when steaming at an angle to clean a shower. This steam cleaner never let us down during testing; in fact, our tester Carmel thought it was so excellent that she found it difficult to step away from it as she envisioned other things in her home she could clean.

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Three levels of steam are available via a rotary dial. B&D refers this to as Autoselect but there is very little ‘auto’ about it. The dial is simply labelled with different hard floor types to simplify choice rather than three steam levels, although it amounts to the same thing. Our Ecommerce Editor Molly oversees vacuum and cleaning content at Ideal Home. She has tested out a number of these steam cleaners in her two-bedroom London flat, including the Bissell PowerFresh SlimSteam and the Shark Klik n' Flip Automatic Steam Mop. As a steam mop, it worked very well and cleaned up the test spills in our lab with just a few passes. We found that the steam is dispersed across the whole pad, so it’s an effective cleaner from edge to edge. The head of this mop is very maneuverable, so cleaning in corners was easy and effective. The downside is that the head swivels and moves so much, it’s a challenge to just mop in a straight line. Adding a steam mop to your arsenal of cleaning tools can be a wise decision, especially if you have a lot of sealed floors in your home. The Bissell Powerfresh Deluxe Steam Mop 1806 is a mid-priced steam mop that our testers found easy to use and quite effective. Uniquely, the Shark’s floorhead and cleaning pad are double-sided, giving you twice the surface area for more cleaning. It comes with a second cleaning pad, too, which our Ecommcerce Editor Molly thought was excellent value for money during testing.

Most steam cleaners run solely on water. Some people may choose to use bottled or distilled water so that there’s no residue left behind in your steam cleaner’s water tank. There are no handheld cleaning tools with this cleaner as it’s just for floors. It’s heavy (4.4kg) and perhaps not as versatile as some of the other options on this list, but it does have the value of a vacuum and steam cleaner combined. For this story, Maya researched the best steam mop styles, sizes, prices, and features and then compared her findings with testing insights from our steam mop lab test in Des Moines, IA. She also consulted with Kathy Cohoon, Operations Manager, Two Maids, for expert advice on using and shopping for steam mops. That’s not an issue when using the hose and details tools of course. The steam unit’s superb output means you really only need the minimum setting for most jobs. Go higher than this and you will be mopping up floods of water run-off. Using the squeegee tool on windows is a prime case so have a cloth handy.The detachable steaming unit weighs in at a reasonable nicely light 1.6kg with a full tank, and is made even easier to handle with its large top handle. It clips in and out of the mop frame with a little wiggling and can be taken to the sink to fill up. The larger the steam mop's reservoir, the more water it can hold, which means you can steam for longer without having to refill your mop and wait for it to heat up again. That said, toting around more water can make a steam mop heavier to operate. If you've got a small space or plan to use your steam mop for only certain areas of your home, you can get away with a lightweight mop with a smaller reservoir. More than just a steam mop, this lightweight cleaner comes with eight accessories, including a handheld steamer and multiple brush heads for tile and small areas, making this steam mop a great value, on top of being super lightweight and very easy to use.