Shark - Genius Steam Pocket Mop System - Green/Silver

Pros Doesn’t require anything but water Sturdy design Flexible head means easy access to nearly any area Included fill cup stores conveniently on wand Cleaning solution has easy access holder on wand Includes touchup wand for times when you don’t need a full steam clean Cons Does not stand up requiring it to be propped up Wall storage is awkward and includes no hardware Doesn’t have multiple steam settings Steam burst option is of limited use Sanitize function requires a large number of passes The Shark Genius Pocket Steam Mop promises to clean and even sanitize your floors without the need for harsh chemicals. In fact, it recommends against using any chemicals with the steamer. Of course, no solution can clean up every bit of dirt and grime from your floors on the first pass but skipping the chemicals makes the process a bit longer. There is a feature to flip over the mop and use a burst of steam to loosen really stuck on grime, which is nice, but in practice doesn’t do much. If you have a clump of mud stuck on tile the steam burst will loosen it up a bit but still be prepared to make several passes. A built-in scraper to take off those particularly nasty bits could have helped alleviate some of this. If you want to use the steam burst, you must flip over the mop head each time. Not the end of the world but if you have a lot of small spots you will find yourself flipping the mop back and forth regularly. In most cases, the plenty long and can handle reaching all corners of a medium sized room without a problem. Controls are very simple. You only have a power/pause button. Just fill it up with the conveniently provided fill cup and wait for it to heat up and you are ready to go. If your intention is sanitizing your entire floor without using chemicals you will need to be extremely patient. The manual recommends at least 15 passes over the same spot for full sanitization. Because of this, I suspect most people will only use this for sanitizing on a spot. The kit includes a spot cleanup mop and has an included cleaning solution. This is helpful for quick cleanups. There is nothing to plug it. The mop has an included holder for the spray bottle so you can have this ready to go any time you need to do a quick spot clean or even a quick touchup of the entire floor. Keep in mind that the steamer and cleanup mop share the same cleaning head. Unless you purchase an extra head, you will need to transplant the head from one to the other. One thing both the steamer and mop have in common is awkward storage. The cleaning head is very flexible and does not provide any support to allow the unit to stand free. If you are in the process of cleaning, you will need to find a corner to prop it up or it will fall straight to the floor. Storage while not in use is a similar challenge. Neither wand includes a storage system or even a hook to hang. About the only way to hang it would be by the very large hand loop meaning you would have to have an equally large wall hook to accommodate. Because of this design, the most common storage method will likely be propping it up in a corner. This brings up the question of who this is best suited. If you are the type of person who likes to avoid using chemicals for personal or health reasons and you are willing to trade some extra time, this is for you. Storage issues aside, it gets the job done and does so with just plain old water. Of course, the touchup mop does have a cleaning solution but there using the mop is not dependent on it.

Having tried out the Shark Genius Steam Mop, I come out very impressed with very little bad to say about it. I find this to be a very useful mop that is handy and easy to use. Unboxing the device is a typical experience with some assembly required. I was a bit surprised that there are two handles, one is for if you plan on using it for steam and the other is for if you plan on using the spray bottle. They are mostly the same aside from an attachment for the bottle or the steam filling jug. The handles are not easy to change out, there is a button to do so but it did not seem easy to press properly to release the handle. I found myself spending most of my time with the steam handle and will mostly talk about it in my review. While unboxing I noticed the adhesive on the stickers has some cheap glue that leaves lots of residue on the device. This is a minor annoyance but it is still something to be aware of. After assembly, I filled the tank and plugging it in. I thought the device looked rather nice and is small enough for easy storage. Filling the tank is easy and you simply pull open a slot and pour water in. It is not messy at all and you do not need to pay too much attention to how quickly you fill it unlike an iron where you run the risk of overflowing the unit if you pour too fast. Pressing the steam button gets it pushing the water out and heating up. It takes about a minute for it to get to the right temperature to push out enough steam but does a great job once it does. The power cable is rather thick and seemed to get in the way a lot for small spaces such as bathrooms but is a bit better in larger rooms. The steam does not come out very quickly but seems to be just right creating minimal risk of burns or accidents. It seems to pump though the mop head and leaves the floor nice and warm for a few minutes when done. I can not test how well it actually sanitizes but the floors seemed clean enough when finished. Storage is great as the unit is light and compact. When finished the mop head can be quickly release and washed. I believe the manual states it is good for 20 uses or so but I am not sure how the availability of the mop heads are if replacements are needed. The mop head can also be flipped extremely easily so you can use it much longer with the greater surface area available. This unit is great for cleaning a floor. I am not sure I would recommend it to clean hard wood floors routinely as there are better products that actually wash those types of floors, but if you simply want a clean floor and the ability to clean up messes without have a huge unit to store, this is the mop for you!

The Pocket Mop System is essentially two different handles for one mop head--one is the steam mop and the other is just a plain handle with an attached spray bottle for quick clean ups. Overall, I liked the steam mop, but I'm not sure I'll use the other handle much. For quick clean ups, I'll probably just keep using a spray bottle and paper towel. There are a few minor things that I don't like about the mop. First, the power cord is unruly and prone to getting kinks in it. For some reason they used a flat cord instead of the round cord like you might find on a vacuum and I find the flat cord a little more trouble to use. Second, the mop doesn't stand up by itself so you either have to lay it down or find a corner to lean it if you need to let go temporarily. I can't really complain about that too much, though, because it IS a mop after all. The last thing I don't like is the handle which is a large ring that makes it handy to hang on a hook for storage. But, to me, it's not a very comfortable handle for pushing the mop around the floor. There is a somewhat grippy surface on the outside of the ring, but the inside is slick plastic. After mopping my kitchen and utility room, I realized I had a blister on my hand where it wrapped around the inside on that slick surface. I also found I had to use a lot of force while gripping the handle when moving the mop, so I'm sure that contributed to the blister. I think a regular vacuum-type handle would have been more comfortable. Pretty much everything else about the steam mop I liked. Removing and attaching the mop pad is super easy, as advertised. About half way through my job, I removed the pad and flipped it to use the clean side which took about 15 seconds. When finished, you can then just throw the pad in the washer. I was curious how well the steam mop would work, so I first vacuumed our tile floor kitchen and utility room then also went over it with our Hoover power scrubber. I figured it would be pretty clean at that point, but I know from experience there's usually still a little of our persistent red dirt around. Sure enough, the steam pad collected quite a bit of dirt (picture attached). So, based on that, I'm pretty happy with the mop. When we want to make sure the floors are extra clean, the steam mop will be our last step. I may just throw a pair of gloves on, though, to avoid another blister.

I was first introduced to steam mops a couple of years ago when I was given one as a gift. The giver was concerned about me breathing in all the cleaning products I used and so a steam mop, which uses steam to clean, was a nice option. I’ve been very happy with the mop I have and was excited for the upgrade with the Genius model from Shark. The burst of steam feature was something that I was very intrigued by as sometimes I just feel as though the steam mop isn’t quite enough on its own. What I found was that the burst of steam isn’t something controlled by a button or switch. I involves flipping the head of the mop around, which is not something I want to do when I’m in the middle of cleaning. I’d much rather have a tap button on the handle to control this feature. As far as cleaning goes, the mop does a good job of cleaning hard floors. I tested it out in our entryway, which is finished with tile. The tile had a nice shine to it when I was done and by the looks of the mop head, there was quite a bit of dirt picked up. Assembly was quite easy. One of the benefits of this particular model of steam mop is that you essentially get two mops from one mop head. There are two different types of handles to use with the single head. I like this because it means I need less cleaning objects in my house. Another thing that I don’t like is that even though it’s flexible and the head allows you to slide the mop most places, the mop doesn’t remain standing on its own — it has to be leaning against something. All in all, this is a nice option for steam mop. I think improvements could be made on the design, but it does a nice job cleaning.

I have a lot of tile floor surface and this steam mop is the best way to clean it! We both were amazed how good this steam mop did the job! It's very easy to assemble and use. In the box you'll get 2 handles - one for steam cleaning and another one just for regular mopping, both handles work with the same mop. Using steam handle is extremely easy - fill it up with water, plug it in and wait about a minute for it to warm up, then just press the steam button and start mopping. It takes about 30 seconds for the mop to become wet and steamy. Mopping effort is about the same as vacuuming the thick carpet. Cleaned surface is left a little bit damp and warm, average mop surface temperature (measured with the infrared thermometer) was around 150F. Tough places could be blasted with the special "power steam" feature - flip the mop head back and tilt the mop handle down - tip will emit a strong stream of the steam, no stain could resist it. After mopping is complete - turn off the steam, unplug the mop and just release the mopping cloth into the bucket without touching it by hand. Mop cloth can be easily washed in the washer and then dried in the dryer on delicate cycle. Overall Pros: + Best cleaning action I've ever seen, no regular mop or even chemicals come close to the steam mopping, floors are clean as they could be. + Easy no mess operation, fill with clean water, mop, dump the dirty rag into the bucket. Wash the mopping cloth in the washer. + Little mopping effort is required Cons: - How steam may not be good for some hardwood floors, please make sure to check with your flooring manufacturer! You may only be able to use the regular mopping handle on these surfaces. - Power cord is very stiff (even it's just 18AWG), outer jacket is plastic and it's hard to bend. I wish they just used a rubberized jacket instead.

At first I was confused because it came with 2 handles. So, the other handle is there in case you want to use it as regular mop without the steamer. Nice extra but most people are buying this for the steamer option in my opinion. It also comes with an extra pad which is very nice and well-built. I already looked at replacement pads online and found several off-brands selection. I don't anticipate the need to buy additional ones for a while though. They recommend replacing the pad after 20 uses. I probably mop the house once a month, so we'll be good for at least 3 years with the 2 pads. :) Pros: - I love how the mop head is easily reversible without having the need to flip the pad manually. - Pad is easily ejected through a push of a button - Heats up fast, generous steam - Cleans really well. We have tiles, not sure how it works on hardwood floors. Cons: - The only thing I can thing of is that it doesn't stand by itself.

My first run on my floors I had to be very thorough. But the steam did such a good job my tile floors have never been whiter. I could literally tell the difference between a mopped clean tile floor and a steam cleaned tile floor. If you have natural wood floors or manufactured wood floors, I recommend be very gentle as the steam can reach into the cracks of the wood and cause them to buldge. Also be careful of where you let it sit after turning off. The unit still shoots steam out for a short moment even after turned off or unplugged

This cleaning tool was recommended by our daughter, and my wife and I were immediately delighted at how easy and efficient it was to use on our tile floors.