Are steam mops the way forward?

[humanfemale]

Are they really amazing and worth it, or just a bit of a gimmick? I have polished floorboards throughout my flat. Would be quite good to get rid of the manky old mop and bucket. Opinions would be great!

Much, much better than a mop and bucket. Think typewriter vs Laptop.

Thanks! Just ordered one It's a VAX so hopefully will be good.

I don't think they are that good. you shouldn't use them on laminate, or on stone, or on real wood floors, so what is left? I guess just vinyl and tiles really and even karndean etc say you shoulnd't use them. I find them gimmicky and a waste of money and I'm going to sell mine soon.

I love mine. I clean the kitchen and bathroom floors in minutes. But yes my wooden floors are sadly neglected as I can't be arsed mopping them

I've had two, loved both until they broke, plus with hindsight my kitchen tiles have been damaged. The first one just stopped dead, and I blamed my dad and not using filtered water, the second one wouldn't turn off and the whole house was like a sauna when I used it and my Mother's ( in this case third machine, I still blame my dad) sent the nozzle attachment shooting across the room with some force. So while I remember how exciting it was when they were all brand new , I won't have one in the house.
I also don't have a traditional mop and bucket, cause they are filthy buggers, instead I've gone down a slightly different route I use ENJO products. For five months I just used the hand mitt, pain in the bum getting on hands and knees but I needed to prove to myself it was better before splashing out on the floor cleaning system, a sort of swiffer meets mop, meets super dirt removing grease attracting chemical free Austrian so easy, life changing cleaning monster. As you can tell I like it alot. Next month I'm going to by the outside fiber to clean my brick paths, and patio. It has worked out around the same as a basic Karcher system, but the fibers will last three years, and are easily replaced, so I think it's going to be much cheaper in the long run. Google it.