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Are Steam Mops an Effective Way to
Clean Floors?
If you're thinking of buying a steam mop for cleaning your floors, you
need to read this article. We're going to look at how they work,
whether they are as effective as other cleaning methods and whether
they can help sanitize the floor while they clean.
Steam mops basically use water to clean your floors. They heat it to
the point where it becomes steam and then shoot the steam through a
pressurized nozzle ahead of the mop itself.
The manufacturers of these mops claim that they are faster and easier
than many other cleaning methods, and also that the heat of the steam
will sanitize your floor at the same time.
Several tests have been done by different consumer groups to see if
these claims are in fact true. In most of these tests, the results were
somewhat mixed. While the mops did a decent job cleaning, they were
really best suited to smaller messes. When faced with bigger cleanups,
they were not as effective.
And as for the sanitizing effects, they are not as effective as many
manufacturers claim. Yes, the heat of the steam can sanitize the floor
as it cleans but tests found that the mop needed to make contact for
two to three minutes to effectively kill bacteria. This is obviously
not realistic, since it would take far too long to clean any
significant amount of space this way.
Where steam mops really excel is with small cleanups. They're
convenient and easy to use so they can be pulled out quickly when
needed.
The other advantage they have for some people is that because there are
no chemicals or cleaning agents involved, they can be safer in homes
with young children. Because young kids tend to spend a lot of time on
the floor, many people don't like using harsh chemicals to clean them.
A steam mop can be the ideal solution in this case.
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