This usually goes without saying but most people will spend gobs of time shopping for a steam mop or reading and rereading steam mop reviews to find the perfect steam mop for them, but they won’t take the time to learn how to properly use it. Steam mops are one of the handiest cleaning tools in the world when used correctly. I want to make sure that you get the most out of your heavily researched steam mop, that is why I have written this quick article on how to properly use your new steam mop.
Prep the area you want to Clean first.
Before you ever think about steam mopping your floor you first need to vacuum it. Seems a little to simple doesn’t it, but you would be surprised to learn how many people actually skip this step. If you try to steam clean your floors prior to vacuuming your steam mop isn’t going to be able to clean like it should. Doesn’t matter if you have the best steam mop in town, if there is an inch of pet hair or dirt and dust on the floor your steam mop is gonna clean like a wet rag and drag all that hair and dirt across your floor, yuck.
Some people purchase a combination steam mop and vacuum unit thinking that they can skip this step. Well I have bad news, you will still need to do two steps here. First you need to use the vacuum on the mop first to pickup all the dirt. Second you will need to fire up the steam portion of the steam mop to steam your floors. Another not so good thing about the combo units is usually the vacuum is lacking when compared to its much cheaper full size alternates. So it may make more sense to run the full size sweeper first.
Two pads are better than One
A typical mistake most folks make when using their steam mop is to reuse the same pad or wipe over and over and over again. Think of the same analogy I mentioned above with the dirty rag. Any dirt and grime you pick up with the pad is going to be smeared around all over your entire floor if you use the same pad for the whole process. Do yourself a favor and pick up a couple extra pads to use while enjoying your steam mop, the pads are typically the cheapest accessory to buy for your steam mop.
Don’t Over Do it
Your steam mop is a routine maintenance device, or better put it is meant to be used to do general to light cleaning. Not down and dirty deep cleaning. If you have a huge pile of mud or grime stacked up on your floor you can’t expect your steam mop to cut right through it. Even the best steam mops in the country would take several passes to clean up a mess like that. Your steam mop is meant to keep your floors clean and shiny, not to deep clean them. With that in mind when you first get your trusty steam mop you should clean your floors the old way one last time before introducing your steam mop to its new home.
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