You see them everywhere lately – steam cleaning mops. They are the latest craze in cleaning gadgets and as their popularity grows so, does the variety of brands and price ranges. This review is of one of the most widely seen and least expensive models out in stores today – the Euro-Pro Shark Steam Mop Model S3101CO.

It comes with 5 Micro-Fiber Cleaning Pads, a funnel and flask-style cup to pour water into the reservoir. Assembly is easy, just three pieces to snap together. It is very light, just 3 pounds and is backed by a one-year limited warranty.

Although the box states in several places that you just need to use “ordinary tap water” the instruction booklet inside the box suggests that you use distilled water. Use distilled water! Using distilled water helps to prevent mineral build-up and scale that you get with tap water and gives you more life out of your steam appliances.

The Shark does heat quickly and generates steam within 30 seconds, no kidding. The pumping motion of the mop releases the steam as you push forward. The instructions say that you may have to give a few extra pumps the first time, but that was not the case, steam was generated right away. The 20-foot power cord is plenty long and wraps up neatly against the handle when done.

This mop can certainly be considered an eco-friendly mop, as it uses no toxic chemicals to clean. Also, the mop pads are machine washable – they wash well, but lay them flat or hang to dry. Putting them in the dryer could shrink them or leave them out of shape.

Note – If your floor is heavily soiled or has sticky/messy spills, use common sense and clean those spots first the usual way. It is also a good idea to vacuum first in order to pick up extra debris you wouldn’t want caught up in the mop pad. You should also carry along a cloth to pick up any hair or dust that the mop pushes out in front of it.

The water reservoir is small, holding just slightly over one cup of water, so you might expect to refill it often while mopping – not the case. It only had to be refilled once while cleaning three large rooms and a hallway during this testing.

Floors tested with this mop included sealed hardwood flooring, smooth ceramic tile and textured tile. The steam cleaned the sealed hardwood flooring without leaving streaks and without leaving wood-damaging water sitting too long on the surface. The Shark Steam Mop also took away the streaks left by the previous mopping job and dried almost instantly. It was amazing!

On white bathroom ceramic tile and a slippery-slick tiled kitchen – both turned out perfectly and dried immediately, eliminating the chance of a slip or fall on the tile floor. The floors all felt extremely clean and sanitary with absolutely no sticky residue. It did not seem to work as well though on uneven surfaces like the textured, stone-styled tile.

Touching the mop pad after finishing, it was not soaking wet or dripping, but just moist – very surprising. In all, it did an admirable job of cleaning in a short amount of time. If you keep in mind that you will still have to mop the ‘old fashioned way’ with cleanser sometimes, this is a great option for quickly cleaning floors.