Getting Steamy in my Kitchen with a Shark Steam&Mop Review!

Hi friends! It's getting a little steamy in the "Patch-A-Heaven" kitchen today!! I'm reviewing a cleaning product that I think you can get excited about. Now I understand cleaning and excitement don't always go together but, the Shark Steam&Spray Pro Mop makes me excited to clean my floors!

From time to time I will review products on this blog that I feel are natural fits for me, my life, this blog and you, my readers. I will give you my honest opinion of the products being reviewed.

You should know that Shark gifted me the mopping system, but the words, opinions and review are my own.

Mopping, is one of those natural, normal things for me and my life . I love me a clean floor! But... I also have 3 kids. So it can be a real challenge to keep it that way and not feel like I spend my life cleaning! (I've got better things to do!) I'm a wife, stay at home mom, and very busy person! I run a business, write a blog, I volunteer with my kids school and my church. I don't have hours to spend mopping! However, I want my floors to be clean. I mean...no matter how many times I say to my kids "Don't eat that!" "Eeeww, it's been on the floor!" I know the second I turn my head...they ate it!! So the thing that got me interested in the Shark Steam&Spray was well...the STEAM! To me, the hotter...the cleaner! And I can feel like I've done the best job I can do to keep my floor sanitized for those "Aahh...you didn't just eat that!" moments.

Honestly, you don't even have to read the manual...everything you need to know is on the box and little tags conveniently placed on the unit, helping you know what to do. It's a busy person's dream!

I have tried the cheaper, grocery store versions of "spray and mops." And they just didn't work for me. They seemed to just spray and schmear smelly stuff around the floor, using up too many wasteful pads, but not getting really clean, let alone sanitized! And if this was just a spray and mopper, I would have said the same thing. But the Steam is what made the difference for me. When I took the Shark Steam&Spray out for it's first cruise around my kitchen floor, to be honest I wanted to test it! I wanted to really see how it cleaned.

Confession: My kitchen floor was particularly grody! I missed last weeks mopping because a certain Little Miss Pageant took over my life and I didn't have the time! Confession:There were many more gobs of "who knows what" in various places, worse than usual! So I felt like I gave it a good challenge!!

The worst area of my kitchen floor is always by my bar, where the kids eat every day. So to give it a good challenge, I did not do any special spot cleaning or soaking before using the Shark Steam&Spray.

Normally when I mop my floor, (Picture Cinderella in her raggedy, old dress) I do it by hand, down on my knees, with a bucket of hot water and a rag. (Primitive, I know, but it's how I have always felt it got the cleanest!) In my "old" method, I would use two rags, one to mop with and another to have soaking over top of a stubborn spot to make scrubbing easier when I got back to the tough spot.

This is how I usually mop my floor. Not glamorous at all, I realize!!

For my first experience with the Steam&Spray, I used the washable/reusable pad and the Scrub Mode, without any pre-soaking of the stubborn spots and no other products or rags.  I wanted to see if it would get those stubborn spots off without extra scrubbing by hand. Moment of Truth: duh, duh, duh...I was pleasantly surprised. It did take a few extra passes on some of those nasty spots, but I did not have to get down on my knees at all! To me this is a AWESOME! If it will steam off the kid grime without excessive scrubbing...That's Cool!

I'm thinking "this thing is really cool!" "I mean hot!!"

This is an excited, happy girl that can now mop without slaving like Cinderella!

The Next time I used the Steam&Spray was on my front entry-way, again linoleum. I used the Scrub mode. It worked well here too. There was a dark black spot on the linoleum that must have come from some grease in my front door hinge. It took that off as well, without hand scrubbing.

For a non-typical trial I used the mop on the rubber floor mats of my new car. I drive a GMC Acadia, I love it! But my kids take horse riding lessons every Saturday and they track dirt and muddy water into the car. I don't love that! I vacuumed it out yesterday, but I was looking for a way to clean the muddy water that had dried on them without wiping by hand. I decided to try the Steam&Spray, I thought, "What the heck, it's worth a try!" It was not the most convenient as far as space inside the car because the mop isn't made for tight spaces like a car, but still worked remarkably well. (So well that I'm thinking I need a regular steam cleaner for jobs like this. I am loving the steam thing!) I wonder if Shark makes one of those?! I took some of the mats out and laid them on the garage floor and went over them with the mop, much better for space! 


Pros/Things I liked about the Shark Steam & Spray:
It's made to be easy to use! I mean the assembly is 3 steps: click handle to body, put batteries in, plug in power cord. Easy Peasy! (Truthfully, I was expecting more assembly required.)

Easy to use: Put bottle of spray in the mop, put on a pad, plug into wall, touch a button and mop!

Instructions are on the outside of the box. I knew what to do and didn't even have to read the manual.
I'm in a hurry and at a glance I knew what to do. This is made for busy people!

It's user friendly and they want you to be successful with the product. Their packaging is easy to follow.

 Reusable pad has a tab to step on and peel off the unit.

The Steam, it cleans really well! And sanitizes too!!

I liked the combination of steam cleaning and the spray of the cleaner. I like that the steam does the heavy cleaning/sanitizing and then the smell of the cleaner is pleasant, but not overly strong, so when you are done is smells clean and fresh.

I like the option of being able to use the mop with a washable/re-usable pad (good for environment) and then having the option of disposable ones too, for those gross things you just want to throw away!

It has 3 modes of use: Spray: for quick, everyday jobs (you can go cordless on the spray only mode)
                                    Steam: to sanitize or dust
                                    Steam&Spray: for the tough stuff (Kacey uses this mode a lot!)

The steam goes automatically once you have selected the mode. Then you can spray whenever you want manually by pressing another button. So you have control of how much spray cleaner you use.

Batteries are included in the box with the mop unit. Let's admit it, that's just nice!

The head swivels so you can maneuver it into corners and around furniture easily.

It has a great 5 year, repair or replace warranty.

I can get clean and sanitized floors without getting down on all fours to do it!

My favorite feature: The Steam is obviously my favorite feature! But as for ease of use special features, I love the purple tag/label that is attached to the re-usable pad, it's awesome, because when you are done you just leave the mop on the floor, step on the purple label with your foot and pull the mop up and the pad comes off! Easy Peasy!!

Here I'm stepping on the purple tab with my foot.

And then I pull the mop up while keeping my foot on the pad tab.

It comes off easy peasy!

Cons/Things I didn't like about the Shark Steam & Spray:

The cost of the unit would have gotten me at first glance, because I would have lumped it with all the other mediocre grocery store, spray mops and it would have seemed expensive. ($160)

The cord is kind of a pain sometimes, but really, it's no more difficult than using a regular vacuum. You just have to move it out of the way. (FYI, you can go cordless if you just want spray mode.)

Tough, extra sticky kid spots require more than one pass to come off. (Let's face it, my kids make gross, sticky messes! It took a few passes on a few spots! But still better than the rag and bucket!!)

The swivel head is nice to get around furniture and into corners, but be careful to lean the mop up against a corner or something that will hold the unit up while you let go to change power outlets and such, because unlike a traditional vacuum unit, this mop doesn't have a locking/standing position and can tip over easily.

Conclusion:
I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked this mopping unit. Having used spray and mop systems before and not liking them, and then going back to the old rag and bucket, I can honestly say that I enjoyed using this product. It was easy to assemble and easy to use. It worked very well! I was really taken back about how effectively it powered through my kids guck (on scrub mode) without my having to scrub on hands and knees! The steam really helps dissolve the stuck on stuff! I can deep clean while in my "nice clothes" because it's just like using my vacuum and I don't get dirty! (my pants won't have holes in the knees anymore, unless or course I buy them that way!) The pads are easy to remove, but don't shift during use. It's easy to use, just push a button for mode and another button when you want to use the spray. I like that you get to choose how much spray to apply. I think this is an excellent choice for those who may have "bad knees" and can't get down on them to scrub anymore. It powers off the grime without getting down there to do it. Yes, you have to go over the bad spots a few times, but still worth not getting down on the floor! I can get my floors done faster and easier. And it is much more fun!! I can honestly say mopping my floor is now fun! And I'll admit, "I love the sound of the steam!" It's a quiet steaming sound, but it's a good cleaning sound!

I have linoleum flooring in my kitchen, bathrooms and entry-ways. It worked well and didn't leave any streaking or marks when dried. I don't have hardwood flooring so I can't say how it would work on them. (I did notice they have a different cleaning/spray solution for hardwoods, just FYI.)

Yes, at $160.00, the unit is a little pricey, when compared to the "just spray and mop" models and more expensive than the old rag and bucket. But, having used it and seen how it works as effectively as my hands and knees scrubbing, and is easier on my clothes and my knees, and faster (you know because I'm always in a hurry!) I would say it's definitely worth the money. I feel like I can get the deep, sanitizing clean without the hassle of rag and bucket! And in quicker time too!!

If you want more information on this great product or to buy one you can click here:
The Shark Cleaning Company Website


Hope you have a super day! I'm going to go get steamy on my bathroom floors next!!

XOXO,
Kacey


Added 3/8/14: And just a little FYI, I was close to running out of spray solution and was going to place an order online, then got busy and didn't. But, I happened to walk by the cleaning/vacuum section in Walmart and guess what was there?! A nice selection of sprays, and replacement pads. Oh...And you can buy the mop unit there too! $149!!