Trying a New Sport Might Be the Confidence Boost You Need—It Was for Me

I’d never dreamed of surfing before—now it’s my new favorite sport.

As someone who can’t function amidst chaos, speed cleaning is my specialty. I take out dirty dishes before they ever hit the bottom of the sink, corral my kids’ Magnatiles, hand-hoover up Legos, basketball-shoot soggy socks into the hamper, and hyper-vacuum up crumbs about… a million times a day. (And that’s to say nothing about the bajillion times I wipe down the kitchen counter.) But the one thing I never, ever do? Mop.

I realize this is ill advised, and it’s not to say I’m against deep cleaning (the bathrooms do, in fact, get scrubbed once a week). But all of the drama of mopping—the bucket of water, the in-your-face chemical scent, the foot-skating-on-towels to wipe up—just goes too far beyond my time threshold I’m willing to devote to home upkeep. That is, until, I discovered the Shark steam mop.

“Steam cleaning is not just the latest fad. Steam is the only natural way to clean and can kill up to 99.9 percent of germs without the use of chemicals,” says Jacqui Knapp, CEO of Knapp House and professional organizing expert. Here’s the gist: Steam cleaning works by using heat and moisture to sanitize and deodorize without the use of heavily scented cleaners. With steam mops, the steam itself helps the mop glide, while pads on the bottom help trap dirt.

Shark Steam & Scrub Steam Mop — $130.00

Originally $170.

Pros

Sanitizes and deodorizes without using cleaners and harsh chemicals
Comes with 6 scrubber pads, each of which is machine washable
Quick acting (steam activates in 20 seconds) and quick drying
Can be used on all sealed hard floors
More earth-friendly by using less water than traditional mopping

Cons

Does need to be plugged in (though cord is long)

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“Shark products have been leaders in the cleaning business for decades and The Shark Steam & Scrub Mop is no exception,” says Knapp of the Shark steam mop, which is over 20 percent off now through September 26. “It does the job of three products for the price of one and is easy to use covering numerous surfaces. The Steam Blaster Technology gently scrubs, mops, and sanitizes without the use of harsh chemicals.”

The “without the harsh chemicals” bit is particularly helpful for me, since I have a three- and four-year-old at home who spend copious amounts of time on the floor building pillow forts. They also happen to be germ magnets who bring a new virus home from school, oh, biweekly. “It is a sure way to keep toddlers and pets safe from bacteria and viruses,” Knapp adds. Score.

The Shark steam mop comes with six pads, which click into place on the bottom of the mop. You fill the tank with water, plug it in, wait about 20 seconds, and then you’re good to go. Pressing the steam button unleashes a stream of vapor while you glide across the floor, partially buoyed along by the blasting steam, partially by the mop’s own rotating scrubbing action. It’s about the same size and weight of my beloved Dyson stick vacuum, and takes approximately the same amount of effort. In other words, steam mopping is just as easy as vacuuming up crumbs. This is revolutionary to me.

In case you need to be more sold: “Traditional mopping isn’t effective due to the lack of high-temperature water along with the need to use harsh chemicals to sanitize. Mops can end up developing mold that can spread easily and is not visible to the naked eye,” says Knapp of old-school mopping methods. “Replacing a traditional mop with steam is a total upgrade using less water with zero waste.” With the Shark steam mop, there’s no hauling buckets and no aggressive drying time—the steam just gently dries in seconds on your sparkling floor.

After my first use, I tossed the scrubbing pads into the laundry. Despite being somewhat skeptical, they came out clean, intact, and ready to be used again. My three-year-old, who is my child most interested in cleaning, happily tottered along behind me with his own toy mop during my second scrub session, which sanitized every room in my house and removed stubborn dirt, stuck-on food, and even paint drops from the floor.

From a safety POV, just be sure to keep kids a healthy distance away from the steaming action, and use distilled water in your tank to make your mop last longer. The Shark steam mop can be used on all sealed hard floors, just avoid anything that’s heavily waxed as the steam can remove the finish.

“Using a steam mop is basically a one-stop shop,” says Knapp. I concur—and I’m adding it to my speed-cleaning rotation immediately.