Give Away: Bissell Steam Mop

From the moment our family moved into our most recent apartment I found myself on the lookout for a way to sanitize my floors. Our parquet wood flooring circa 1970 has been met with one-too-many a shoe that has walked the streets of Manhattan-and it showed. I knew this was a job bigger than my Swiffer Wet Jet could handle- so I was on the hunt for something new.

In my search for floor sterilization products, I came across a whole myriad of steam mops.
Some were European, some were industrial strength- all were tempting.....and expensive. I loved the idea though- a chemical free way to clean (and even sterilize!:) your floors by using steam.

As I furthered my search, in hopes of finding a cheaper steam mop alternative, I came across the Bissell Steam Mop. It was much cheaper than the competition ($79), and had some pretty high ratings, so I thought I would give it a try.

Overall, I love this mop. It ships mostly assembled- which is nice. You have to pop the head on, and screw in the handle, pop on the filter, and that is it assembly-wise. Slide on the microfiber cover (it comes with 3!), fill up the water tank, plug it in, and within a minute or so you are ready to steam your floors. Very easy.

I love that the head of the Steam Mop swivels. It can fit in the little space around my toilet, and slide under my couches and beds. One of my favorite things about this mop is that there is not much to buy beyond the original purchase of the mop. No refill cleaners or expensive paper replacement mop heads like I have had to purchase in the past with the Swiffer Wet Jet.
The only thing that requires replacement is the water filter ($10). You can prolong the life of your filter by using distilled water in your Steam Mop.

The Steam Mop covers slide easily over the base of the mop, and can be tightened securely with the attached toggle. When you are done mopping, the cover can be easily taken off and machine washed.

Some things to be aware of if you are considering purchasing the Steam Mop:

• The Steam Mop only emits steam when you push down on the steam trigger. It will not release a continuous steam. I found myself pushing the steam button for most of my mopping experience (yes, I am a clean freak) and getting a finger cramp at times.
  
• The Steam Mop will not work miracles. It does a fantastic job at cleaning my floors- much better than any mop I have previously owned- but with that said you still have to do some bicep work. The mop is somewhat difficult to push across my hardwood floor (although it does glide nicely over my tile).
  
• You have to be careful about what kind of flooring you use it on. It cannot be used on unsealed wood. Period. Some people have reported problems when they used it on their old linoleum. I have no problem using it on my bathroom tile, kitchen tile and parquet wood floor.
  

With caveats aside, I love this mop. I use it twice a week in our home. After mopping my floors I occasionally change the mop cover and steam my low-pile area rugs. It cleans them very well (not recommended by Bissell, and I wouldn't do this on a priceless rug, just IKEA rugs like I have). I love the idea of cleaning my floors without chemicals. My kids spend most of their day on the floor playing so keeping the floor clean and chemical-free is a big deal to me.

Who wants to clean their floors with the chemical-free BISSELL Steam Mop?? One lucky reader will win their very own BISSELL Steam mop! Enter by leaving a comment on this post before midnight October 14th. The winner will be randomly selected and announced on the morning of the 15th. Shipping to continental US only. Thank you BISSELL!!