Oreck Steam Mop

Review by MestaySS : WINNER!

This steam mop has made my life so much easier! I've been using it for about 3 weeks, and I couldn't be happier! I, like many others, I'm sure, HATE to mop my floors! So, when I was offered this steam mop to test out, I was more than thrilled. I've used it on both laminate wood floors and tile flooring.To use, simply fill the tank with water, put on the mop towel, select the type of flooring with the dial, plug in, and press the power button. It takes about 10 seconds for it to be ready! For those hard to clean spills or stuck on messes, I simply keep the steam mop over the areas for a few seconds and let the steam lift off the junk. Then I wipe a few strokes and the mess is removed! The floors look completely clean, and there's no messy mop water to toss! I seriously LOVE this thing!My only complaint is that sometimes the mop head is slightly hard to guide where you want it to go. Sometimes the mop head swivels in a direction in which you don't want it to go. You have to pull it back to try and guide it straight. But overall, this mop wins the battle between steam mop and mop/bucket!

Review by Michael Meredith "e-Mike" : Outstanding!

Now this is the way to clean floors! We've now used the Black & Decker Steam Mop on ceramic tile, hardwood and vinyl tile and the results have been awesome! I was curious to see how quick it would bring the water to temperature, but the wait was very short and using the SmartSelect dial to gauge the temperature according to the surface, our floors came out cleaner (and given the effect of the steam) far more sanitized than with any other mop or floor cleaner that we've used before. With the steam you don't need to worry about detergents either; and the cleaning cloth can be easily laundered and reused (often, I suspect). If I were to have any complaint, it might be the suspicion that the handle might be a tad flimsy. It will be interesting to see how it holds up over time. But for now, this is the way to get a clean floor quickly, as far as I'm concerned! It might also be worth noting (or not) that I have never... ever... received a product so quickly from Amazon. Maybe we were lucking... maybe the distribution center is just around the corner from me. But we had the unit in hand less than 24 hours after placing the order.

Review by Skycats2 : Black & Decker steam mop

Just purchased this steam mop this morning from a local store. I went to buy a Eureka Enviro-steam, but there was only this model and a Shark. After reading reviews on Shark, I went with the B&D since I have other products and tools of theirs. Since it was my first time using it, I thought that I would give my first impression of it. Out of the box, very easy assembly, and clear precise instructions. This mop happens to come with 2 microfiber floor cloths, a water cup (which can attach to the handle of the unit so it doesn' get lost), and a pad for the unit to stand on while moving furniture or other items around. When the unit is stood upright the steam stops flowing and the pad is to protect your surface from the wet microfiber pad. As soon as you tilt the handle again, the steam resumes and you go back to where you left off. There is a dial on the front of the unit where you dial in the type of floor that you are cleaning: stone/tile/wood. This allows the approprite amount of steam for each type of floor. I steam mopped 2 tile bathrooms, a laminate wood living room/dining room combo, a laminate wood kitchen, a tile foyer, and an epoxy painted cement floor....all on one tank, with water left over. I steam mopped by going with the grain on the laminate, so I did not experience any streaking. The tile floors came up shining, as did the epoxy painted cement, also without streaks. The cord is quite long, so I didn't have to keep moving the plug every 5 minutes. I used both pads since this was the first steaming and a lot of dirt came off of the "clean" floors that were just cleaned yesterday with a vinegar/water solution. I machine washed them in hot (warm water is recommended by B&D) water without fabric softener and they came out looking like new; no noticeable shrinkage in the dryer. The minor annoyances that I found were: the handle was a little short (I am 5'10"), the handle tube is narrow (not flimsy, but I would like it to have a bit more bulk); but these are definitely easy to live with. Overall, I am quite happy with this steam mop. And, yes, I would recommend this to a friend.

Review by TrishNYC : Love it

I really had no idea what to expect because I have never had a steam mop. But even from the first use, I love this product. The assembly of mop was quick and the picture directions made for an easy and uncomplicated put together. In the box was included a small cup for dispensing water, three mop pads and the parts to assembly the mop. Just as the box and directions say, it really only takes fifteen seconds to heat up and the indicator light changes from red to blue to show it is ready for use. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the cord is very long and I never had to worry how far it could stretch across the room. On one fill of a tank, I was able to mop a tile bathroom, a kitchen and a long wood hallway and there was still water left over. I did have to change the pad in between use and I do wonder if I should have swept the floor before I moped. But it did pick up all the dirt on the floor and I absolutely loved the fact that it swivels so I can clean around corners and not worry about how to capture trapped dirt.There were no streaks on any of the floors and it dried quite quickly. The floors were noticeably cleaner and as I walked across them bare feet, I could tell a huge difference.I soaked my pads in a bucket of water and soap before I put them in the machine because I wanted them looking as good as new. Not sure if this is necessary. I also air dried the pads after the wash so at this moment I can't comment on how the dryer impacts them.I love this mop and I can't wait to use it again.

Review by MollieDuke "Scientist and Grad Student" : New purchase review

Purchased this last week. Use it only on OLD linoleum floors---read this review accordingly.I have a home that is over 100 years old with very old linoleum floors that I normally have to use Scrubbing Bubbles and the "Cinderella Method" to clean. I wanted to get away from all the chemicals I've had to use. I got this particular steamer for the temperature it uses compared with the lower temps of some other brands. Not really expecting much, frankly, I swept the floor with both broom and dust mop and began steaming. I noticed streaking right away, but wasn't surprised, since I do the same on hands and knees. So, I went over the floor three times....across, up and down and diagonally. The floor didn't look overly different, but FELT different beneath my feet. Hubby thought the same. So, I did the bathroom floor (still old linoleum), but it took FOREVER to get the hairspray and gunk up----however, that was because it was COMING up. I never could get it all the way off with any other cleaner I've tried.I then put "Future" on the floor and it shined like new. However, since then, I've done the kitchen again, and it does seem to take the "Future" shine off the floor a bit, so I figure I"ll have to re-do that about every fourth time or so. The in-between sweepings/wet mopping, however, are much easier. As I am "renovating" this old house, I have no desire to re-do floors till painters/wallboard people get finished, this has been really good for me.I do live in a very hard water area, though, so I use distilled water in my machine. I am a scientist by trade, so I Know that anytime you steam/evaporate water, there are mineral deposits left over REGARDLESS of whether the directions say you can use tap water or not. So, I strongly advise using distilled all the time to hopefully extend the life of your machine and NEVER put cool water back into the machine to refill unless the machine is completely COOLED down. That is another feature of this machine I like.....the water well turns pink when you can re-fill safely.So, all in all, it does what I ask it to do, and better than my hands/knees. I never used it on anything other than linoleum, so I can't speak to tile, grout or anything else. At this point the only "complaint" is that the handle seems very fragile compared with the rest of the machine, though better than competitors I looked at. Also, I feel I have to push the machine in a more horizontal position than seems necessary to compensate for this to relieve stress on the handle. I'm willing to live with that for now, but if you are tall like me and if you have a back issue, this could be a deal breaker for you. IF the handle were stronger, it wouldn't be an issue at all, probably.I purchased this machine at another vendor's store so I could try it out, but it seems ok for the price of ~$70. I've seen it for over $100 in places, and I wouldn't spend quite that much on it. The other thing is that it COMES with a 2 year warranty, so you don't need to spring for the "Store warranty" since considering you're steaming water, the deposits will likely break it down before the two years are up..