Steam cleaner mops - any good

[Missus2ndwife]

I'm thinking of buying one but have read mixed reports - do you have one and would you recommend buying one?
Thanks

I have one and love it, would definitely recommend. Mine is one that you can convert to a hand held steamer and it's so useful. I clean my car upholstery and sofas with it and it's brilliant for just about everything.

Yes and yes, I love mine, floor and wall tiles, granite work tops, hob, taps, sinks, shower cubicle and tray - it gets lots of use!

I have one, and I feel mixed about it.

Pros:

It does do a decent job on the floors.
You know that they've been cleaned very hot which is reassuring.

Cons

It is heavy.
It takes time to fill and get going.
The mop area is small so it takes ages to do a floor.
If you wipe the floor with a pristine white cloth afterwards, you'll still find dirt, especially in the grout lines.
The mop is bulky so won't go underneath things very well.
You have to muck about with power cords etc. which can be annoying
It is only really good for tile. Over time, the steam gradually seeps into the cracks in engineered wood floors and will ruin them. Don't even think about using it on laminate!

I recently bought a Leifheit 'click system' mop with microfibre pads and I honestly think it's sooooo much better. (And I'm not the sort of person who ever thought she'd rave about a mop!!) It's really light and can get right underneath furniture. You just rinse the pad under the tap and it's really big. I mop my floors every day and it takes me around 10-12 minutes to do 5 rooms. Then you just pop the pads in the washing machine!

The other thing about this mop is that you can click in alternative attachments, from a feather duster to a wall tile cleaner to a window cleaner. It's finally motivated me to get rid of those wispy bits of cobwebs on the ceiling!

(I should add that I have found out the engineered wood thing to my cost! Fortunately, the floor isn't wrecked but tiny gaps have opened between some of the sections. As I mentioned, I mop a lot, but I imagine this would happen to other floors over time)