Steam mops make it easy for us to clean and sanitise our floors. From food and pets stains to dirtied floors, steam mops can effectively remove any dirt and bacteria without any back-bending or hand-wringing.

However, as much as they provide huge cleaning power and convenience, they do require to be handled carefully and used correctly.

Here are 5 things that you should definitely not do with your steam mop!

1. Do not plug in your steam mop before attaching the mop pad

Only plug in your steam mop when you’re ready to start mopping. Steam mops can heat up very quickly… much faster than you think!

To avoid accidentally scalding yourself with hot steam while trying to change out a mop pad, simply do it before you plug in your steam mop.

2. Do not use your steam mop without vacuuming or sweeping your floor

Floors need to be vacuumed or swept before they can be mopped. This is crucial, as without this step, the dirt, sand, hair, and food crumbs on your floor will be just be pushed around, leaving your floor as dirty as before.

Furthermore, these particles might clog up the fibres of the mopping pad, reducing its ability to sanitise your floor and restricting the steam from coming out of the mop.

3. Do not store the steam mop with a dirty or wet mop pad

After you’re done steam mopping, do not store it immediately while the mop pad is still wet or dirty! Doing this might result in mildew forming on your mop pad, effectively ruining it.

Instead, do let your steam mop cool down after you’re done mopping, before removing the steam mop pad. Then proceed to cleaning and dry it.

4. Do not put anything in the water tank other than water

You might think it is a good idea to fill up your steam mop’s water tank with detergents or other cleaning liquids… but it’s NOT!

Most steam mops are designed to be used with only water. Using any liquids other than water may damage your steam mop and your floors.

5. Do not wash mop pads with fabric softeners

Most steam mop pads are made of microfibres, which don’t react well to be being washed with fabric softeners.

As a rule of thumb, never wash microfibre cloths using fabric softeners, as it clogs up the microfibres, making it lose its absorbent properties.

Wash your mop pads with detergent only!

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