Steam cleaning is used to remove tough stains from surfaces including glass, tile, grout, carpet, kitchen appliances, and automobile exteriors. Floor steam mops are machines that use regular tap water to create dry or wet steam with built-in boilers and steamers. They let you remove tough stains and filth without using harsh chemicals from your floor tiles, be it living room floor tiles, bedroom floor tiles, or floor tiles of another room. But they might not work on all surfaces.
In this blog, we have mentioned that whether a steam mop is a suitable option for your flooring or do steam mops damage tile floors? To know more about it, read till the end.
Why Should Steam Be Used for Cleaning?
Steaming possesses various benefits that make it an effective choice for cleaning. Steam cleaners work well on hard surfaces since the steam dries quickly, making them a fantastic choice for areas that need to be used in a hurry. You’ll notice that a steam clean dries considerably more quickly than a standard mop and bucket if you use a steam mop or cleanser on hard surfaces. Harmful bacteria and other germs are invisible to the naked human eye. When a steam mop enters the room with extremely hot steam, it helps to kill these disease-causing bacteria, producing a perfectly sanitary outcome.
Flooring on Which Steam Cleaning Can Be Used Safely
Steam-cleaning might not be safe for some kind of flooring but there are few flooring options that can bear this type of flooring.
Ceramic and porcelain tile are strong and long-lasting. They resist damage effectively and can handle the intense cleaning that steam mops are noted for.
They are an ideal option for steam cleaning because of the processing that it goes through and due to their durability they possess.
Flooring That Can Get Damaged by Steam Cleaning
There are many types of tile flooring, but not all of them can be cleaned using steam mops. It is one of the most asked questions that do steam mops damage hardwood floors? The answer to this is yes. Since, it is well known that wood hates being around heat and water. Wood is naturally quite porous. Your hardwood may moulder, pucker, and disintegrate if exposed to prolonged high heat and water.
Whenever it comes to cleaning hardwood, there are other methods besides steam cleaning which should be avoided.
Another type of flooring that cannot bear steam cleaning is laminate flooring. In order to make a stunning representation of wood without having to pay as much as genuine wood, multiple materials are compressed together to create laminate flooring.
The top layer of laminate serves as a sealer as a result. Warping of the laminate would result with the usage of water and heat on it. Your floors would witness flaking and puckering which would destroy them.
The Risks Posed by Warm Moisture
There is a high risk of damage due to warm moisture in flooring that involves sealing the surface such as wooden or laminate flooring as these kinds of flooring are made with the use of adhesives. There is a gap between the surface of these flooring which makes it easier for moisture to enter in. If you use steam mops on such a type of flooring, then you may have to change the flooring again and again and that will be a hectic and expensive process.
Use a Steam Mop with Caution on Other Types of Flooring
Even for other types of flooring on which steam flooring can be used you must be cautious. You need to ensure that you maintain your flooring while using a steam mop to clean them. You should follow these steps before steam cleaning your floors.
It is best to get rid of all loose grit and grime before using a steam mop. Vacuum or clean the area manually before you start for optimal results. As soon as a mop pad becomes dirty, replace it right away. Have several new ones available. When using hot steam to clean extremely filthy floors, the dirt will be spread over the entire surface. For severely filthy flooring, you will need a deep cleaning using conventional techniques.
Before Steam cleaning, you should take a note of these points. This will prevent your floor from getting damaged, if your floor is not suitable for steam cleaning. And if your floor can bear steam cleaning, then also be careful while using it.
