Steam cleaning is becoming more and more popular, for a variety of reasons. Because they use steam, rather than harsh chemical detergents, they are more eco-friendly than many other cleaning options. A floor steam cleaner has some particular advantages for keeping your floors in top shape.
One of the biggest advantages of a steam cleaner is if you have kids, especially younger ones. Since young children tend to spend a lot of time on the floor, using chemicals to clean is not always a good idea. With a steam cleaner, you won't have to worry about what your kids might be crawling around on.
Steam cleaners can also be quite small and light, which makes it convenient to pull them out whenever you need to clean something up, even if it's a small spill.
The third potential advantage steam cleaners offer is something that the manufacturers all claim - that steam will not only clean, but sanitize your floor. The fact is, this has not been fully proven so it's not for sure.
Some tests have shown that to truly sanitize the floor, the steam cleaner would have to remain in place for at least 3 minutes, which is not practical when you're cleaning up a mess.
These advantages are all based on a standard home machine, such as those you can get from Shark, Haan, Bissell and Hoover. If you're looking at professional steam cleaning, it's a whole different ballgame.
Commercial steam cleaners like the ones that most carpet cleaning companies offer use steam or vapor streamed through a nozzle at high pressure to dislodge dirt and stains from your floor. These are not the same thing as the typical steam mop you would use at home.
These home steam cleaners are generally best for smooth surfaces such as laminate flooring, hardwood or linoleum. They aren't well suited to carpet or any other material that will soak up water.
You can even get handheld, portable steam cleaners from some companies, such as Shark, to use in places that are hard to reach with a full-size unit. They are also convenient for smaller clean-ups when you don't want to pull out the full-size steam cleaner.