Try It: The Shark Steam Mop

There's a new product on store shelves for people who like clean floors, but don't like mopping with harsh cleaners or chemicals.

The Shark Steam Mop promises to eradicate scuff marks, sticky messes and spills, using steam and re-washable absorbant pads. It's a concept mom Amy Harris likes. "With a child in the house with asthma and allergies, I really like the idea of using plain tap water, instead of harsh chemicals," Harris says.

It took a few minutes for us to read the directions and assemble the mop once out of the box. But overall, directions were clear and easy to understand. Once assembled we filled the provided cup with tap water to the fill line and poured it into The Shark. We plugged the cord into the wall and within seconds, our Shark was ready to use.

Amy found The Shark got up sticky spills around her kitchen table and her floor dried quickly too. "It's basically drying almost instantly! So I don't have to warn everybody to stay out of the kitchen while the floors are drying. I love that," Amy says.

The cord did take a little getting used to and The Shark required a little more muscle to move around her kitchen floor. "It's a little more work. It's sticking to the floors a little bit because of the steam. But it's working", Amy says.

The Shark Steam Mop costs about $79. We found one listed at Target, and several sites online. You can use tap water in it. Or if you have hard water, distilled tap water works fine too. The pads are reuseable and can be washed in your washing machine.

The product website says The Shark Steam Mop works on all hard floors, but is not recommended on waxed floors or unsealed hard wood floors.

Amy Harris gives it high marks. "Out of 5 stars, I give The Shark Steam Mop 4 out of 5 stars," Amy says.