Chemical-free cleaning with the Hoover Dual Head Steam Jet Mop

I'll admit, as far as electric steam mops were concerned, I was in the whats-wrong-with-how-it's-always-been-let's-not-over-complicate-things-and-make-it-electronic camp.  However, after recently house-sitting for my parents and trying theirs out I was amazed at how much cleaner a steam mop gets the floors over a traditional mop and bucket, and I'm won over on the fact that you can get things so clean without the use of any harmful chemicals.

I recently went along to Hoover's launch of their upcoming new cleaning gadgets and was offered the 1700w Dual Head Steam Jet Mop to trail on a loan basis and I was keen to put it to the test at home.

I've tried it out on a variety of surfaces including wood, ceramic tiles and vinyl tiles.  It also works on carpets but alas we don't have any carpets to try it on so that option hasn't been tested by me.

Hoover claim that the steam jet mop kills 99% of all germs and bacteria including Staphylococcus Aureus; Salmonella Enteritidis; Candida Albicans; Aspergillus Niger, so as well as getting your floors sparklingly clean, you can rest assured that they're hygienically safe too - great if you have young children crawling around. The fact that the steam mop uses water alone to produce the steam and there's no added detergents or chemicals is also ideal for anyone with allergies or those wanting to reduce the amount of toxins they use around the home.

The unit was simple and intuitive to assemble from the box - I even did it with no instructions!  The upright handle is removable which is great if you're short on storage space.

This mop is lightweight - weighing just over 3kg and certainly feels less cumbersome than lugging around a bucket full of hot water and a mop.  Plus you only need to glide it over the floor, not keep lifting, rinsing and squeezing out like you do with a normal mop.  It takes up less space than a traditional mop and bucket for storage too - although being electrical obviously I can't just chuck it outside like I do with my current non-electric mop!

Filling the reservoir was simple, the large screw cap opens to give plenty of room to fill straight from the tap without the need for water jugs or funnels.

It's more sanitary and hygienic as you simply remove the velcro pads and pop them in the washing machine meaning you're starting each time with a clean mop rather than just spreading the muck and germs around that might be lingering on your traditional mop-head.

It's super-comfortable to use and feels like less strain on my back than my old mop.  The twist and steer technology and flat back cleaning gives brilliant manoeuvrability allowing you to get under low furniture and cupboards easily.

I was concerned about mopping my bathroom, given that most bathrooms won't have an electric socket to plug in, but it's 8 meter reach meant there was no problem cleaning the bathroom floor from the socket on the landing.

The 'dual head' refers to the large area mop, used with interchangeable mop pads, and then with a simple press with your foot on a pedal, the mop section releases to give you a powerful scrubbing brush.  Together with the steam jets, the brush is great for getting ground-in dirt such as dried on muddy footprints or pet paw marks.

My only issues would be that the brush does tend to leave the floor rather wetter than the mop, and you have to go back over it to wipe away the dirty water and although the brush is a triangular shape allowing good access to corners, the main mop is rectangular, making tackling corners tricky.  Other mops I've used also feature pads which 'wrap around' more, giving something of a 'bumper' to the mop, preventing knocks and bashes and also giving a certain element of cleaning up the skirting and around the bottom of basin pedestals, toilet cisterns etc.

Overall though, I'm very impressed with the Dual Head Steam mop.  I was amazed (and a little embarrassed) and how filthy the pad was after mopping my hall floor, especially as I'd 'cleaned' it the day before!  Check out the difference in colour on the used and unused pads below.

The Hoover model leaves the floors drier that other brands I've tried, great for busy family households as you can walk on them much quicker.  It also seemed to lift out a lot more grime than other models I've tried.

I liked the 'upright parking' feature, no worrying about having to lean it on something or it falling over if you're taking a break.  The water capacity of 0.7 litres was plenty to clean my floors and it heated up to steam almost instantly from filling.

It's simple and intuitive to assemble and use, and the push button and handle are comfortable to hold.

But most of all, I love that it gets my floors so clean without any harsh chemicals at all.

I'm sold on steam mops now and sad to return this product after my loan.  I don't want to go back to my smelly old mop and bucket, so it's time to invest!  Do you have a steam mop?  Have I convinced you to try one?