In the last couple decades, steam mops have grown in popularity quicker than any other floor cleaning machine. A few brands have become household names because of the popularity of steam mops like Bissell, Shark, and O-Cedar. While using a steamer mop for your floors is good for people that are looking to sanitize and clean their floors, many people have asked, “Do steam mops cause grout damage?”
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Not the miracle you thought
Using a steam mop is a quick way to clean tile floor, but it’s important to take care with your steamer mop because in some cases, it can cause irreparable damage. In case you are unsure about how a steam mop works, let’s have a quick lesson about this machine. Steam- which is formed when water gets heated above 212 degrees, is much too hot for certain types of flooring since the flooring manufacturers recommended optimal temperature is below 85 degrees. To find out if steam mops cause grout damage, you’ll need to know which type of flooring you are looking to clean.
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Laminate and Ceramic floors
Laminate flooring is one of the easiest to install, but the pressure from a steam mop like the Bissell steam mop can force steam between planks. This excess moisture can cause “swelling” of the seams. If you have ceramic floors, your biggest worry would be the grout around your tiles. With repeated heat exposure, your grout will loose its colour and will eventually crack. If you’re unsure about your grout cleaning machine, you can read some great reviews here.
Vinyl floors
Vinyl planks and vinyl tiles may be beautiful to look at, but they’re not designed to hold up to high temperatures or water. Over time, you’ll notice that the edges of your vinyl tiles will curl if you use too much steam to clean them so be careful when you’re using steam cleaning machines.
Wood floors
Have you ever noticed how wood stays moist long after it got wet? That’s because wood absorbs water. One way to make sure your wood floors don’t absorb too much water is to make sure you apply proper treatments to your wood floor. Certain treatments work well to repel water from the wood. If you have wood floors, it’s recommended to stay away from water-based cleansers, and stick with oil-based products.