I need a new mop - the sponge head one? Thoughts?

[Mrs P]

I've been using an enjo mop on my tiled floor for a while but I'm just not happy with it and have decided to return to a mop & bucket set-up.

Can anyone recommend one of those sponge-head type mops eg vileda or sabco? I really want to be able to scrub the floor with it and I want mopping to be an easier and faster event so that I will do it more often.

Just not sure what is the best one to try so I'd love to hear your experiences, good or bad

[Mum2Romone]

I recommend a steam mop. Best investment ever with children , or a crawling baby

[LimeSlice]

Bissell Steam mop. You will never go back

So much easier and cheaper in the long run than buying replacement heads.

Otherwise, I had/have a Vileda, it is shyte. And the heads are massively expensive and need to be replaced every month. So don't go there.

HTH

[Astrolady]

I am looking into a steam mop as well. I currently have a sabco mop with washable heads. I used to borrow a friends steam mop.

[Mrs P]

Thanks for suggestions - I should add that I previously had a steam mop at our old house but wasn't too happy with it. In our current house our floor tiler told us not to use a steam mop on the tiles, so DH doesn't want to use one (we gave our old one away anyway!!). Plus I felt the one we had (a kenwood I think) just didn't really clean very well.

Hmmm - am thinking of maybe the microfibre maps (with a 'strip' type head) and the wringer buckets, rather than the spong-head ones...

Any other thoughts??

[Mum2SweetCs]

The best mop is the one i got from the markets but there is alot of imitations around. It is pink and isnt like a normal sponge but you know a rubbery sponge instead.

The imitation ones are just crap

[amberj]

I have had a 'proper' mop (long stringy mop with wringer bucket) for the last several years, and have recently gone to an el cheapo sponge mop and I love it!

I do know the long stringy mop cleans better. I used to work at a bakery and had to mop at the end of the day and we always used to long stringy mop and super hot water and it (along with lots of elbow grease) cleaned brilliantly. One day the bucket broke and I had to use a spongy mop and it was hopeless in comparison.

But given my floor is not covered in dough and hundreds of customers, the spongy one works just fine for home. The problems I found with the long stringy mop at home are that it gets your floors very wet (hard to really wring out properly), and its really a lot of work. I was disinclined to mop because pulling it all out and wringing it etc was a bit cumbersome. Sponge mop- super easy, and my floor seems pretty clean. (mind you, it is a polished wood floor so it seems to hide a lot of sins)

I havent tried the microfibre strip mops, although I was tempted. Would be curious to know how it goes, or of anyone else's experience with them.

[widdly]

I perfer the sponge mops cause I can really scrub with em

[Mrs P]

Ok so I bought an Oates sponge head mop, the 'extra wide' version, for just over $20. Am yet to try it out as waiting til bubs had her next nap (and when I can find some mopping motivation!). Will report back on it

[CrazyLady]

I use the strip vileda mop and it's awesome. I chuck it in the wash every couple of weeks with some lavendar oil and when it's not in use it hangs outside in the sun. I've also found the bucket seems to super wring it and my floor dries in about 10 mins

[Gigi]

i need to buy a mop too, X used to do all mopping, so this is a new area for me. (He was into mopping and floor polishing the lino - like it was an Olympic sport - don't ask).

i have floorboards (only one rough coat of varnish, so they are not properly done, there are paints of raw floor boards as a result) and the showerroom, toilet and laundry are tiled. There is NO gullytrap in the "laundry" so getting rid of excess water is an issue - no where for it to drain. This is a 1950's place, it's illegal to build a laundry without a gullytrap these days.

Due to the constraints of RSI (similar to arthritis), i need something that is not too heavy, i'm better with big movements, fine motor movements give me grief.

so any suggestions for a mop to buy, i'm all ears. at the moment i'm doing it all by hand (bending down spot cleaning), and vacumming the dust on all surfaces.

I try to do lots of "spot scrubs" by bending down with a small sponge

[Visitor7]

Another user of Bissel steam mop. Love it!

[Mum2SweetCs]

Ok so I bought an Oates sponge head mop, the 'extra wide' version, for just over $20. Am yet to try it out as waiting til bubs had her next nap (and when I can find some mopping motivation!). Will report back on it

Ive got this, its easy to glide but ive LOOKED EVERYWHERE FOR THE REPLACEMENT MOP HEAD!!!!!!!! (havent looked at bunnings where i bought it though)

[Mrs P]

Ok so first mopping officially done. Verdict? Hmmm.
Negatives
1. Mop handle not long enough - but I am 180cm tall so I think this applies to pretty much all mops (I didn't think about this while I was buying it as I had bub with me and let's face it, leisurely shopping is a distant memory!)
2. It hurt my hands a bit but perhaps I'm too weak and I was scrubbing too hard ha ha?!
3. It still left streaks - argh! This is the most annoying thing. I used Handy Andy - should I be using something else to get a streak free finish? Vinegar and hot water?! If anyone can advise that would be fantastic. Our tiles are a light grey with a matt finish, so they show streaks A LOT (wish I'd known that when we picked them - bugger).

Positives
1. Was fairly easy to glide
2. I like the extra scrubby bit for stains
3. At $20 it was cheap - so if I decide I don't like it, I won't be too upset and can always use it for washing the outside of the house windows!

Neutral
1. It doesn't fit in my bucket, so I need to get a bigger bucket (requires too much co-ordination to dip one side then the other side then wring out without dripping on the floor!).

Mum2OneSweetBun - funny you mention that because I had a quick look on the woolies shelf when I bought the mop but couldn't immediately spot the replacement heads either! So I hope that's not going to be an issue...

[Mrs P]

I use the strip vileda mop and it's awesome. I chuck it in the wash every couple of weeks with some lavendar oil and when it's not in use it hangs outside in the sun. I've also found the bucket seems to super wring it and my floor dries in about 10 mins

CrazyLady - is the mop head on this big enough? They look kinda small to me so I could see it taking me forever to mop the floor - we have over 100 square metres of tiles...

[Mum2SweetCs]

Lets just say I've searched big w target woolies Coles franklins and kmart and cannot find it
I think I got my mop from bunnings but thought the other stockiest would have had it

This one you got is the Velcro one right? Or no screws required just stick

[AJC]

Interesting comment about the Kenwood steam mop Mrs P.....I love mine the floor feels and looks so clean & hygenic after I've used it I would never use anything else for the larger areas especially. I have one of those vileda sponge head mops and its ok, it's good for small 'spot cleaning' or if I just want to clean single rooms like the laundry or ensuite without having to worry about filling the steam mop and waiting for it to heat etc etc etc.

[CrazyLady]

CrazyLady - is the mop head on this big enough? They look kinda small to me so I could see it taking me forever to mop the floor - we have over 100 square metres of tiles...

I found it flares out quite well because of the strips. It has a slightly rougher bit around the top too where I scrub. My whole house is floorboards. Also if you miss any bits vacuuming then it'll gather them up for ya.

Vinegar and hot water is AWESOME! People use vinegar to wash windows/mirrors so it'd be great on tiles. It's the only thing i've found that brings my floorboards up beautiful too.

ETA: My parents have very pale floor tiles in the kitchen/dining area and this is the only mop they've found that brings them up nice. They had a steam mop but it corroded