My steam mop is one of my all-time favorite cleaning tools! I use mine regularly to keep my the tile floor in my kitchen free of sticky messes, splattered food, and paw prints from certain grand-puppies who shall remain nameless (but they know who they are!) ;-)
And although steam mops can be an incredibly useful tool for cleaning floors, there’s no denying that they can be dangerous if used incorrectly! And that brings us to today’s post, where I’ll be sharing 7 steam mop mistakes that you definitely want to avoid making.
So whether you already own a steam mop or are considering buying one, this list will ensure you know what not to do with it (and why!)
Related: This Is The Perfect Mop For People Who Hate Mopping
7 Mistakes To Avoid When Using A Steam Mop
1. Plugging It In Immediately
Don’t plug your steam mop in until you’re ready to start mopping, because they heat up surprisingly fast! To avoid burning yourself, attach the mop pad and fill the water reservoir first, then plug the mop in.
2. Not Sweeping First
At the end of the day, even the most high-end steam mop is still just a mop. It can’t pick up crumbs, dust, hair, and loose dirt, so it’s important to sweep (or vacuum) that stuff up before mopping.
If you don’t, your steam mop will just push the dirt around. You’ll also end up with a dirty mop pad much earlier in the process than you would otherwise!
3. Idling The Mop
When using a steam mop, it’s important to always keep it moving. “Idling” your steam mop can cause a buildup of heat and steam that may do permanent damage to your floor.
If you have to step away for a moment while you’re mopping, just make sure to unplug it first!
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4. Filling It With Anything Other Than Water
The majority of steam mops are designed to be used with water alone. Filling the reservoir with other liquids or cleaners may damage your mop, your floors, or both!
5. Using A Dirty Mop Pad
Check your mop pad regularly as you mop to make sure it isn’t getting too dirty. Swap the pad out for a clean one as often necessary!
If your mop pad gets too dirty, it will eventually start pushing dirt around rather than picking it up. I recommend keeping several extra mop pads on hand so you can change them out often!
6. Washing Your Mop Pads With Fabric Softener
Washable mop pads for steam mops are often made of super-absorbent microfiber. And the biggest “no-no” for washing microfiber is using any kind of fabric softener or dryer sheet!
Fabric softener and dryer sheet residue can negatively affect microfiber’s absorbency. Eventually, you’ll end up with a mop pad that repels water instead of soaking it up!
To keep them in good working order, wash your mop pads with detergent only. And add an extra rinse cycle, if possible!
7. Using It On Unsealed Hardwood
Using a steam mop on an unsealed surface like genuine hardwood flooring can cause damage over time. Be sure to follow the care recommendations for your particular flooring type, especially if they recommend avoiding steam-cleaning altogether.
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Related: 3 Steps to Keep Your Hardwood Looking Good
Luckily for us, the floors at the OGT Studio only look like wood. They’re actually laminate, so we steam mop them regularly with no problems!
There’s a simple test you can do at home to determine how well-sealed your floors are. Just drop a bit of water onto the floor, and if it beads up immediately, your floors are sealed and are likely okay to use steam! (If the water spreads or sinks, the seal is either non-existent or needs to be reapplied.)
Do you use a steam mop to keep your floors clean?
I was just thinking……
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Martha Stewart….who is that?
If I need to know anything about household ideas, I go to Jillee!!!
Thanks Jillee
Awww Wendy, you made my day with your comment! :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I ruined the vinyl floor in my kitchen by idling a steam mop. It melted the top layer of the vinyl. That melted section of my floor became rough and impossible to clean. The good news is that I changed my flooring to porcelain tile and now I can use my steam mop without any worries.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I’d always heard NOT to use steam mops on laminate flooring, so I was surprised that you do.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.So I checked again, and I came up with the same answer–long term, it’s not a good idea. Check out
https://www.flooring-professionals.com/flooring-resources/can-you-steam-clean-laminate-floors/
OR https://thesteamqueen.com/can-you-use-a-steam-mop-on-laminate-floors/
I bought a Bissell Powerfresh steam mop about a year ago because of Jillee’s post about it, and I love using it on my kitchen and bathroom floors, for a lazy person reason: it does a great job of cleaning without my having to fight with a bucket and wringer or make trip after trip to the sink to clean off a sponge mop. Besides being careful of my arthritic back and shoulders, I wanted to avoid using disposable clean-up heads, so this made all sorts of sense for me.
I don’t know how other steam mops measure up, but I really like the swiveling head on the Bissell.
I don’t add anything but water to the reservoir, but I do put a little piece of cloth with essential oil drops on it (lemon, peppermint or lavender or combinations all work nicely) inside the mop head which adds a pleasant touch and probably helps make for cleaner floors. There are even little pockets for them sewn into the mop heads. If I have a sticky or dirty patch on the floor, I spray it with window cleaner and scrub it a bit, then steam mop over it and it works beautifully.
My wooden floors are pretty much only wax-sealed by now so I don’t use it on them.
I find mopping with steam much more rewarding and easier than any other way I’ve tried.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Thanks, Jillee, for the recommendation!
I LOVE my steam mop – Thanks for these – I knew all of them but the fabric softener..
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I use only distilled water in my steamer, that way you won’t have any buildup of lime deposits, etc.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I used to think that too but even though I only used distilled water in one of mine it still built up and eventually had to be unclogged each time I used it :-(
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I love my steam mop, it works wonders on the kitchen ceramic tile floor. However, I use distilled water in it as per the instructions. And I agree, you should have multiple cleaning pads on hand.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I’m on my second Sharp steam mop because I put distilled vinegar in the water of my first one. Big mistake. I leave mine idling when I need to without damage because of the way I do it. Since the mop head pivots I just put it on Pointe like a ballerina and let it rest on the edge of the mop head when I lean it against something.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I hadn’t considered a steam mop before but may after reading this…I use a broom and Swiffer(R) in the kitchen and my vacuum cleaner everywhere else, although with our laminate flooring it could likely use a light “mopping” from time to time. (Your comment about your own laminate flooring answers my question!) And even in the kitchen the floor is white vinyl which I cannot keep clean enough! It always looks (and feels) dingy even though I sweep it every day and take the Swiffer to the any spills or spatters, along with some all-purpose cleaner.
My main reservations now are a)that it’s made of plastic – I wonder if there are metal steam-mops out there(?) and b)having to use microfiber cloths. I’m trying to reduce the number of plastic goods I take into my home, although my vacuum cleaner is largely plastic and it’s lasted a decade or more. I use rags from old ribbed t-shirts on my Swiffer instead of buying the disposable cloths, so I wonder if I could do the same with a steam mop – ?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I work in a cafe with the white vinyl gets super dingy really fast. I found that using a bit of dawn in SUPER hot water and scrubbing it tile by tile does wonders. I usually scrub each tile about 10 seconds with a floor brush, move to the next tile in the row and then go back to wipe it with a utility towel. It’s amazing how much dirt dawn will take off. It takes a LONG time, but it works great!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.How often do you have to do this? I can’t fathom scrubbing the floor every day. We started out with white vinyl in our last house and I was so glad when we finally covered it up with laminate. The dirt was still there (presumably, although laminate doesn’t have all the little divots to collect grime that vinyl does) but at least it wasn’t screaming at me from every nook and cranny.
I find myself wondering how I got by without a steam mop for so many years. When my mop heads give out, I’m planning to try terry cloth in some form, but it may get too soggy to be useful-not sure.
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