I generally don't leave reviews especially if one has such high ratings and thousands of reviews. However,I felt compelled to review this one because when I was deciding to purchase or not, I didn't see my particular concern listed, which was: can or will it effectively clean our 10-year old grout? My husband always did the mopping because his strength lended itself to being more effective and faster (plus I hated mopping and the mess that came with it!). Unfortunately, I lost my husband unexpectedly a few months ago and realized I would now be the one mopping. I decided to once again research the steam mops. I have always been frustrated with how awful our grout looks, through 3children now grown and two labs and 2 cats, plus a husband with forever muddy, dirty work boots. I have to say, this mop deserves its 5-stars even with a few minor concerns (see below).
First, the pros:
1. Easy to put together-takes maybe a minute including the time to grab the screwdriver to put the handle on.
2. Price is beyond reasonable, in my opinion
3. Love never having to buy cleaners again!
4. Steam is great - heats up super quick and if general cleaning can cover most of my 800 sf of flooring in the about 20 min that the tank lasts (which was a concern because it used to take a good hour with a reg mop!).
5. Changing/refilling the water if you need to is as easy as pulling it out of the handle and taking the lid off. Takes about 30 seconds to complete the process and be back to mopping.
6. Cleaned my grout!!! Granted I used the little scrubber brush on the back of the unit (which I do wish were a little longer), but I carefully pressed on it with my foot so it would "scrub" and reach down in the gap, and in two min time it went from black to nearly new clean. I expect over time it will only improve. *note- see below for warnings/concerns with regards to this aspect
7. Floors were clean and almost instantly dry even with 2-3 run overs.
8. You can let it "sit" on an area particularly hard to clean and it will also sanitize after about 15 seconds
9. It gets super hot - yes, it really does steam steam (much like a new iron does when you press the steam button)
10. No residue left on the floor.
11. Worked on hard tile as well as hardwood floors.
12. Light -easy to carry upstairs, etc. And has a decently long cord so you don't have to keep unplugging room to room.
Now, not sure these are "cons" but perhaps more of concerns/cautions to not be misleading I any comments above:
1. When using your foot to press down on the scrubber be careful! The steam can burn your toes (yes, it gets that hot - which is good!) and can also make them wet so you could slip/fall easily. It took me some practice but so far have still found it the preferred way to go - though perhaps a scrubbie by hand could work as well if you really wanted to go that route (or had kids in need of "making amends").
2. While I said above that the floors remain relatively dry even after a few swipes, I need to mention that if trying to deep clean the floors can become quite wet esp with the highest steam setting. This is in part due to the high steam level combined with the mop head getting saturated and no longer able to absorb the water or dirt. At this point you can either have spare mop heads or follow up with a towel or other mop to dry the door and pick up the loosened dirt (easier than actual mopping as the hard part is done!). Again this isn't a defect simply a matter of practicality and really only an issue if you become obsessed as I did once you see the dramatic difference you can achieve with this thing! Regardless it can become quite slippery and even a little "messy" so wanted to mention.
3. If you leave the steamer on a spot for too long, at least with my porcelain floor, the flooring retains that heat for some time and can burn your feet if you're not wearing shoes (just a matter of prob 5-10 min but again, yes it gets that hot!). Not a big deal, but surprised my feet when I happened to step on them - not a big deal for adults, but if you have crawling or walking toddlers maybe good to know (however on the plus, they now can literally eat off the floor without concern due to the sanitizing properties). :)
4. While I did use tap water, you really should (and I will be going forward) use filtered water. I just didn't have any on hand and didn't want to run out because it was Christmas Eve.
5. While it fits beside toilets and gets in small spaces, getting the grout right up next to cabinets or walls, etc will prob require some old fashioned getting on ground and using some "Goo Gone" cleaner and scrubbing. Note, it will clean up against the walls, just not easy to scrub there.
Now with that said, proof is in the pudding so to speak, and so I included a before and after of one area of my floor so you can judge for yourself. The time lapse was approx 2min using highest steam and a little foot pressure on the scrubbie. For the close up you can tell it's the same area because I believe there's a crack in one of the tiles - though even that became less noticeable after cleaning! :)
Absolutely amazing. I read another review about 10 year old grout needing cleaning, and I was sold from the photos. I just redid my kitchen and used dark grout, because nothing could clean my other tile floors. Had I known about this before, I would've gone with light grout. I tried it out in my bathroom first. It restored the grout and floor to like new condition! It did take some scrubbing during steaming, but it was worth it. It has also cleaned up scuff marks, creosote stains, and continues to brighten grout every time I use it. I've told everyone I know about this product and highly recommend it! Seeing the results first hand now, I would've paid more. Worth every penny.
After a lot of research and actually buying a different mop and taking it back without even opening it because it wasn’t the one I really wanted and going back and forth between Hoover Floormate and Bissell I’m so glad I found this I found this after scanning amazon and googling and this had gotten off stains and gook that we couldn’t get off since we moved in and was probly there way before we moved in. We have really stubborn tile and grout that attracts dirt and stains easy and this has totally even cleaned that tile. We have 5 cats yes 5 and it has cleaned up hair and litter and that gunned litter that sticks to floors outside the litter box like the plague yeah this clean that up!! I KNOW CRAZY!!! This mop was well worth waiting all weekend for. My literal only complaint was the cord wrap holder came scratched but that could have happened In the warehouse and it doesn’t effect the use of machine it’s just cosmetic. Before this machine I was literally cleaning my floors on my hands and knees just to get that great clean I am 100000000000000% glad I bought this steam mop and it’s way more then a steam mop it’s a miracle worker!!!!.
The first steam mop I bought was the Bissell 1940 PowerFresh Steam Mop Hard Floor Steam Cleaner, I really liked it but unfortunatly when I was frantically cleaning last weekend and it fell over and the cap on the bottle broke. I quickly ran to the store and bought the original shark steam mop... I didn't realize how great the Bissell was until I used the shark. So, I decided to give this steam mop a shot, and I'm SO glad I did. All the little attachments have helped me to get all kinds of things clean! I've cleaned the grout, the bottom of the baseboards, acrack between my toilet and the tile, plus I do a lot of DIY projects that can create tough messes that I used to have to buy special chemical cleaners to clean/ remove, but these little attachments have helped me almost effortlessly remove dripped grout, paint, caulk... I'm SO glad I bought this mop! I've only had it a week, I'm so hoping it holds up!
I've owned 3 steam mops. Bissel, Dirt Devil and some other brand. Of the three, Bissel seemed to last longer. This "purple pet" is obviously my 4th steam mop. Having said that, this "Bissell 19404 Power fresh Pet Steam Mop Purple Pet" seems to do exactly the same job as it's 3 predecessors. Despite the fancy promises(in my prior steam mops), the only difference I have found in this "purple pet" steam mop is that is *comes with* a few more accessories. The "pet" part of the name (and the color) seem to be a marketing ploy. Otherwise it appears to function exactly the same as the other steam mops that look just like it, and that I've owned before. But this isn't a complaint.
I do have pets. Cats, dogs, ferrets. I also have carpeting, real wood, ceramic tile and vinyl flooring. This mop works as expected on all the surfaces I've mentioned and it does a very nice job on each. On dirtier areas, I just make more passes over the surface. The reservoir seems small, but the mop seems to be a little more efficient in the use of the [distilled] water when set on the medium setting. So far, I haven't had any issues with the cap. But it is fragile.
I've had this "purple pet" mop for a couple of months now and I'm pleased with it. Even my husband uses it. There's a plus! ;)
I gave this 'purple pet" 4 stars because it doesn't really seem to stand out from the other 3 prior steam mops I've owned. Each made big claims, and yet they still did exactly the same thing. Each lasting about a year with frequent use, distilled water, and good care. Hopefully this one will last longer because of technological advances. For the price I paid, I think it's well worth it's weight in ease and use of chemical free cleaning. If I need to, I'll happily get a new one next year.
Feature Product
- Kills 99.9Percent of germs and bacteria. The flip-down easy scrubber allows you to clean up the toughest messes, grout, sticky and dried-on spots
- Works 2x faster than comparable steam mops thanks to built-in easy scrubber
- Smart set digital, variable steam control lets you customize your steam cleaning experience (low, Medium, high)
- Leaves behind a refreshing Spring Fresh fragrance as you clean
- For use in all steam mops, all brands
- No dulling residue left behind. Brush Roll on/off switch
Description
I just put the Bissell steam mop through its paces and I'm moved to write a scintillating review. It arrived today and took all of five minutes to assemble. So simple a caveman can do it. I followed the directions (note to other dissatisfied reviewers) to the letter. Filled the reservoir with distilled water (not top water and DEFINITELY no chemicals) and selected the lowest steam setting once the ready light steadied after a short warm up. Before setting out on my steam adventure, I vacuumed all of the floors so everything was dirt free.
Our house is a mix of laminate floors and stone. We also live in a chemical-free and fragrance-free house so I ditched the fragrance discs. We don't need the phony manmade smells. I went with the lightest setting for the laminate since I did not want to over-hydrate the flooring. I did a careful pattern, a stroke at a time, to ensure I went over the laminate wood twice. The upstroke laid down the steam and then the downstroke ensured the sturdy mop head did its job.
Our floors weren't in terrible shape but there were dirt, smudges and streaking left over from the family holidays. Also having two dogs that seem to love to bring into the house anything they find outside rounded out the state of the flooring. I noticed immediately that the floors looked clean even though they were still a little damp. The mop glides nicely over the flooring and I gotta say it was kinda fun. A little music and I'm a cleaning machine.
Curiosity got the better of me so I lifted up the mop and put my hand under to see how hot the steam is. Word to the wise... steam is hot. That's why it's steam. And steam hurts.
After the floors and stairs, I proceeded to tackle the stone tile in the entry way, kitchen and bathrooms. Once again I felt it was cleaning it nicely. A quick examination of the formerly-white pad found that a dark grey color now adorned the pad. That showed me this was doing the trick.
I increased the steam to the middle setting when doing the entryway. That's the dirtiest part of the house and I figured correctly that the extra steam wouldn't harm the stone. At the increased setting the mop turned into a dirt-busting dervish with nothing standing in it's way.
Completing the steam adventure was a snap. Cleanup and proper mop storage took a just a minute. I did spend a good fifteen minutes fawning over my now clean floors. My wife was suitably impressed and commented frequently how nice everything looked. This must be how an early man hunter-gatherer felt after bagging a mastodon for the family pack.
All in all, I highly recommend this steam mop. It's lightweight, easy to use and best of all you too can impress the misses.
I am so in love with this steam mop! My father-in-law has one and we borrowed his before purchasing ours because my husband and I were afraid of investing in yet another cleaning mop only to find it to be a bust. We have a traditional mop, the swifter & a shark duo scrubber. I was finding that the only thing that would clean my 30 year old vinyl floors was getting on my hands and knees and scrubbing with bleach and water. The swifter pads would just fill with dirt and I felt my floors were never clean. I found the shark duo scrubber to be a really expensive, glorified swifter. And I have two babies under two and operate a home daycare, I don’t have time to scrub the floors on my hands and knees. This steam mop takes ONLY water and has washable pads. We had to buy one. My floors are the cleanest they have ever been with 5-10 minutes of mopping. I kid you not, I would lick these 30 year old vinyl floors.
The Bissell Steam Mop does not leak, which the Shark steamer would do all the time (I had 3 before I finally gave up). The Bissell does not seem to get as hot as the Shark though, so it does not clean stuck-on grime as quickly or easily (need to run over it a few times or just scratch it off). The Bissell is very easy to use: the detachable water reservoir is easier to fill with water then the Shark, the pads are easier to put on and seems more durable. I tried the 3 steam amount settings: little steam, medium steam, and lots of steam. The medium steam left a lot of water on the floor, so I didn't even dare try the "lots of steam", the little steam seems to work best for my needs. The scrubbing brush is "Meh"...
I have not been this satisfied with a product in a very long time. I have had a large dog for the past year and now I'm babysitting 3 smaller dogs. Needless to say there were a multitude of dried drool marks all over my tile floors. In addition to the drool marks we also had a monsoon a couple of days ago, the dogs tracked mud all over my house. Planning on getting my entire house tiled and had been looking for a cleaning solution to make the job easier than the traditional floor mop. Saw this product, read the reviews and I decided to go for it. Be forewarned, the instructions do say you should vacuum or sweep the floors before using the steamer. The steamer arrived today, 3 pieces, easy to assemble, simple instructions and within 40 minutes of taking it out of the box my floors looked like new, no drool marks, no dirt. I can't say how happy I am right now, I hope you will be as well.
I've been using this steam cleaner for a few months and I'm kicking myself for not getting one sooner. I only bought this one after we installed a new porcelain tile kitchen floor (see photos) and I wanted a better, easier way to clean it. Old school sponge mops worked fine on our old laminate and vinyl floors, but I felt like they didn't do a good job on the porcelain.
What I love:
- super easy to assemble right out of the box
- comes with a washable microfiber cleaning pad
- reservoir seems small, but it actually contains enough water for several cleanings because steam uses less water
- SUPER long cord
- powers up and is ready to go in less than a minute
- cleans better than anything I've ever used
What I don't love:
- nothing, really. I do think it should come with two pads, but one should be fine for most people. I bought an extra regular pad and a scrubber pad from Amazon at time of purchase -- that way I always have a clean one ready to go.
General observations:
If my floor only needs a light cleaning, I'll go with steam alone; for heavier cleaning (spills, dog messes, foot traffic, etc), I use a spray cleaner (Mr. Clean diluted with water) on the floor ahead of the steamer.
I use my steam cleaner on porcelain tile and hardwood floors, and it cleans both equally well. I've even used the fabric attachment to refresh upholstery and carpet (note: I said refresh, not clean).
The instructions say to use only distilled water in the reservoir ("tap water can reduce the life of the steamer"), but we have a reverse osmosis water filtration system installed under our kitchen sink and I use that water.
The photos I've uploaded show 1. the steam cleaner and my clean floor, 2. the long power cord, and 3. the microfiber pad after a single use on the kitchen and powder room floors.
I cannot recommend this steam cleaner more highly. Five stars!
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