2nd Update: Replacement attachment brushes are not available. If they are, it's so complicated that I can't figure it out. Even emailed the company from their website only to have the email bounce back to me.... nice.... Still love it. I'll use the attachment brushes for as long as I can, and then I'll buy a hand held steamer, making sure I can buy replacement parts. Since I wasn't sure how I would like a steam cleaner, I wasn't planning to spend a lot of money. So I'm not dissapointed that this is what I bought. If I had known how much I'd like and and how much I'd use it, I probably would have looked into something more expensive with replaceable parts. But keeping this as a mom and buying another handheld steamer for other things will certainly meet my needs. It's really a great little cleaner. Update: Been using this thing pretty routinely for about 7 months. Still working well. The attachment brushes that I use most are wearing thin. There are definitely parts of my house-- places I couldn't figure out how to clean the first 20 years of living here-- that remain consistently clean now. For the price, still extremely happy. Original review: I'm generally pretty realistic. I wasn't expecting TV Magic, so I wasn't disappointed at all, especially for the price. Unless it breaks prematurely, I would definitely recommend it. The positives: - It's lightweight - It folds to a reasonable size that's easy to store - It's easy to use - It has a lot of attachments, which I've found useful - Not super expensive - Stands up on it's own, which apparently not all of them do????? The negatives: - The cord is short. If I were using it to clean all the floors in my house, I'd use an extension cord. I'm not using it on my wood floors because I don't trust the finish to be sealed well enough in all places. So the short cord hasn't been an issue for me simply because the spaces I'm using it in are small. - Small water "tank." Again, since not using it for all my floors, one fill is enough for my tiled areas. For other cleaning with the handheld portion, I do have to refill it. I'm typically using it around a water source, so it's not a big deal to just refill when needed. - Very loud when using the smaller attachments on full power. I suppose anything shooting a lot of steam out of a little hole would be loud. I just bought a nice pair or earplugs. The cleaning: My house was built in the 50s/60s. I moved in 20 years ago. I would love to have replaced many things in the house years ago, but life doesn't always work that way. Lots of things really show the age. So far: 1) Mopped my tile kitchen/sunroom. It did not do a great job on the grout when being used as a mop. BUT..... It did a better job on my kitchen than anything else I've ever tried in there. It's this horrible white, tile with a slightly bumpy texture and very deep grooves dividing each tile into four parts. (who puts this in a kitchen, I have no idea...... It shows every tiny drop of anything that falls on the floor. I've wanted to change these stupid floors since before we moved in but they weren't priority) The only way I've ever gotten the deep grooves clean was to get on my hands and knees, which I didn't do very often for the obvious reasons. And a pass with other mops I've tried were only mediocre at cleaning the rest of the tile. This mop cleaned my floor better and faster than any other thing I've ever tried. The white looked white. It cleaned the deep grooves, which I've always had to do on hands and knees. If something is really stuck, I need to pass over it a few times, but everything has come off. Occasionally, I need to scrap my finger in the groove to get something out. But even then, it's already really loose, just not coming up on the mop. Overall, I'm super happy with it as a mop for my very hard to clean kitchen floors. 2) It didn't clean the grout in passing as a mop. The grout looked somewhat better, but not clean. I did, however, clean the grout in part of the sunroom with the grout attachment, and it did a pretty good job. Not quite like TV Magic in all areas. There was, however, an improvement on all areas and some areas were like TV Magic. Could be happier, but still pretty darn happy. Hoping that the more I do it, the cleaner the grout will eventually get. I'll get to the kitchen grout later with hopes to get same results as I did with the sunroom grout. 3) I have this "seam" in the laminate backsplash behind my stove. It had this orangish colored smudge across the seam, which I could only conclude was ooze that they never bothered wiping away when adhering the laminate to the wall. Even though it's hidden by the stove, It's always bothered me, and I've tried multiple times over the years to remove it using various methods. I was never able to make any difference at all. This WAS like TV Magic. Came RIGHT UP, SO EASILY! MAGIC! 4) While I had the stove moved, I cleaned the floor under the stove. You know how that can get-- gross, sticky icky. Again, MAGIC! Came right up in under a minute with no real work! 5) I have an area rug that looked really good for years...... until I got a dog..... No stains or anything just looked overall dingy. It definitely looks fresher after a pass with the steamer. 6) Did not do a good job as a furniture cleaner. My sofa is gross because of aforementioned dog. It's still gross. It doesn't look like I've done anything. Might try again at some point later using a different strategy, but I've moved on to other projects at the moment. 7) Did a killer job on my shower door, which is sort of textured and frosted. Again, it looked like crap when I moved in, and I have never been able to get it to look completely clean no matter how hard I tried. One pass with the steamer and it looks as good as new. Literally. TV Magic. My only complaint is that people keep using the shower without wiping the door down and messing it up again the same day that I clean it. 8) Did a pretty good job on the metal rim of the shower door. 9) Did not to a good job on the shower in passing. Didn't clean soap scum from the tile and didn't do anything for the grout. It was like I hadn't done anything at all. 10) So I tried the grout attachment for the grout and another small attachment for the tile. It cleaned some areas of the grout very well, some areas moderately well, and other areas not so well. It did a good job of getting the soap scum off of the tile. I suppose I was just looking for a faster way than going over all the tiles with a little brush. But the little brush did work quite nicely. 11) All the little crevices on the kitchen sink. I'm pretty thorough when cleaning the kitchen sink, but some areas are just hard to get completely. There are words indented around the rim of my garbage disposal, and there was one part where I just couldn't get the gunk out well enough. Took care of it, no problem and the entire rim was shiny and polished looking. Lots of little crud around the edges of the sink and around the fixture was easily removed. I was really looking forward to this part and really hoped it would work. It did do a satisfying job. Overall, I'm quite happy with the purchase and would definitely recommend it. Read more
I have pets. LOTS of pets. Some elderly. Some just lazy, irresponsible slobs. Cats and dogs. If that sends a shiver down your back, you know why I decided to buy this steam mop. I did my usual research sifting through the reviews and questions for several steam-type contraptions to replace my decades-old steam cleaner. It finally quit and I have to confess it was a relief. It was one of those high-end, really expensive, name brand, very heavy behemoths that looks like R2D2 that you drag around behind you by the hot hose. It's sort of a pressure cooker on wheels that scared me when I had to refill it when it was hot and literally had a good head of steam. So I landed on this gem. Yes, I am thrilled with this mop. Thrilled. With. A. Mop. It is lightweight, easily maneuverable, fairly easy to fill with water, almost instantly produces steam, and easy to store. And it does its job. It works great on linoleum, hardwood floors, and the reason why I bought it: carpeting. The carpet glider makes this, uh, glide over oopsie places (I'm talking about pet urine) in the carpet. If it is an especially disgusting place, or an old place, I just let the mop sit on it for a few seconds. Then, like magic, that smell is gone. Yes, gone. If it isn't, I just let it dry and do it again. The steam removes the bacteria and noxious chemicals caused by urine without leaving the sticky residue that carpet cleaners leave behind, ensuring that you have to clean the carpet again in a month. Now, let me be clear, I did NOT say the stain would be gone. I have not been able to remove a stain and I don't know if the steam sets in the stain, because it was already set in. As thrilled with this mop as I am, I have some things I wish they would work on for the future. They are by no means deal breakers, but would just help make it even more user friendly. First, you have to lay the thing down on its back like you are about to perform surgery on it to fill the water container without it dribbling a bit. Or, you could take the hand steamer part (a GREAT feature) out and lay it on its back to fill. Second, using one of the pads with the carpet gilder is next to impossible. It's too bulky to allow the glider to fit on properly, so after several attempts and some choice words for the engineer who thought that would work, I gave up. It works just fine without the pad but is just a little wetter. Not a deal breaker. The cord is too short. I accidently cleared an end table trying to reach a spot across the room. Three more feet of cord wouldn't kill them to add. Finally, it sometimes doesn't click in the upright position for storing and the business end where the steam comes out sometimes gets stuck in a crooked position. That whole attachment joint needs a better design. Again, not a deal breaker but annoying. I thought about grousing about how it only runs about ten minutes on a full tank of water but then I gave it more thought and realized that every ounce of water added would make it heavier and less maneuverable, nullifying two characteristics that make this so fabulous. I decided it was okay to pace myself. After ten minutes of using it I'm ready for a quick hydration break between sessions. I have a big job ahead of me so this works out just fine. In conclusion, I'll buy this again if this one ever dies. Read more
