Can You Put Floor Cleaner In A Steam Mop?

Mopping is undoubtedly one of the most familiar ways to clean your floor. Most often, various types of mopping gadgets are used for cleaning, and the Steam mop is a very effective one. But if you come across stains that might require floor cleaner to be cleaned, you might be asking yourself “can you put floor cleaner in a steam mop?”

Well, a steam mop is a gadget that uses steam to clean the floor and sometimes carpets. Usually, the instructions given with the steam mop forbid putting any floor cleaner in it and asking to use distilled water.

But why should you not put floor cleaner in a steam mop? Well, there are many reasons like the generation of too many fumes, blocking the gadgets ability and many more.

Table of Contents

Can you put floor cleaner in a steam mop?

Even if your steam mop can withstand floor cleaning substances, you had better not put floor cleaner in a steam mop. Here’s why…

Block the steam producing ability

If you put a floor cleaner in a steam mop’s reservoir, the substances present within the cleaner block the gadgets steam producing ability. This affects the performance of the steam mop as it uses only steam to disinfect the floor.

Accumulation of mineral

Demineralized and distilled water is asked to be used in the reservoir of the steam mop because the pollutant substances of the unpurified water can be accumulated in the steam mop and cause hindrance. So, if you put a floor cleaner that contains much more minerals, it will definitely affect your gadget’s performance and even void the warranty.

Clogging in the steam holes

The use of floor cleaner in your steam mop which is most often not permitted can cause clogging in the steam holes. This will result in less generation of heat and steam and eventually, the steam mop will keep leaving residue after cleaning.

Too much fume generation

Putting a floor cleaner into your steam mop might generate too much fume than the normal amount. The steam mops are designed in such a way that they will disinfect your floor with just the steam produced from the heat. The steam is generated by heating the water.

When using the steam mop, if it comes in contact with the floor cleaning substances, it can produce a huge amount of fumes. This might result in some mishaps let alone destroying some of the parts of the steam mop. So it is safe not to put any floor cleaner in your steam mop.

Damage the scrubbing surface

Generally, the pads, used underneath the steam jet, get soaked by the heat and help in removing the dirt from the floor. These are called the scrubbing surface. Some steam mops come with various types of scrubbing pads which are used to clean different levels of stains.

If floor cleaner is put in the steam mop, the microfibres of the pads can be deteriorated by the cleaning substances if they are not made for them.

Forbidden in the product description

A product description or manual always comes with every gadget or product. This manual explains almost everything which can or cannot be done. Anything that can void your warranty or harm the product’s capability is also mentioned there. And in the case of a steam mop, using floor cleaner other than purified water is forbidden. So, avoid putting floor cleaner in your steam mop to make the product last longer.

See More– Can You Put Cleaner In A Steam Mop

How does steam mop work?

A steam mop uses steam to clean and disinfect your room’s or house’s floor. But there are some gradual steps or processes according to which the gadget does its job.

At the very first, when the users fill the reservoir with distilled and demineralized water, the water is being heated at a 120-degree Celsius temperature and steam is being produced to moisten the microfibre pad underneath the steam jet. The steam helps the pad to be soaked and the external dirt is being drawn off the ground. This is how the steam mop works and does not leave a residue after cleaning.

How to use a steam mop to clean the floor properly?

A gadget is capable of doing its task properly and providing the best result if being used in a proper way. You can get the best result from your steam mop if you maintain the steps mentioned below:

Firstly, remove all the furniture or appliances that can be an obstacle in your way of mopping the entire floor. Removing them will make the mopping process more convenient and easy.
Secondly, you should sweep or vacuum the floor. This will remove all the external and excessive dirt from your floor. This completes half of the cleaning task.
Thirdly, prepare the steam mop. You should start by connecting the pads. Then put distilled and demineralized water into the reservoir and connect the switch to the nearest switchboard.
Now, start mopping from the furthest corner of the room which is away from the door, and keep moping a straight line.
Replace the pads if the previous one gets dirty. Remember to turn off the switch when the indicator indicates so as to avoid excessive heating. Also, don’t leave the steam mop when being heated for doing other chores.

Frequently Asked Question (FAQ)

Still, have some questions? Check the section below.

1. Can you put disinfectant in a steam mop?

Even if it is not instructed to use disinfectant in a steam mop and you still want to use it, use only the authorized disinfectants. The steam mops disinfect the floor only by using the steam heat and can produce excessive heat if come in contact with any disinfectants. So, be sure about your steam mop type and see whether it can be used with disinfectant or not.

2. What solution can I use in my steam mop?

If you are thinking of putting any cleaning solution in the reservoir, you had better leave the idea. Instead, you can put the cleaning solution in a spray bottle and spray it on the area you want to disinfect especially. For additional information, you must use distilled and demineralized water in the reservoir of the steam mop.

3. Can I put Pine-Sol in my steam mop?

Pine-sol products are household cleaning products, designed for the clearance of grease and heavy soil spots. The products must not be used in your steam mop as there are substances like sulfonic acid, sodium salt, benzoic acid, etc. These substances can deteriorate the parts of your steam mop if being used in the reservoir as well as eject the warranty.

Conclusion

The main purpose of mopping the floors is to disinfect them and the steam mops are capable of disinfecting the floors only by using heat from the steam. The microfibre pad which is beneath the steam jet traps the dirt while the steam disinfects the area.

The format of the steam jet is designed in such a way that it doesn’t require any extra cleaning substances or floor cleaner other than water to do its task properly.

So, Can you put floor cleaner in a steam mop?

Take into account the above reasons for not putting any floor cleaner in a steam mop and disinfect your floor perfectly by following the aforementioned steps accordingly.