Pros: Light; works OK on light jobs; handle push steam switch easy on fingers.
Cons: Flexes a lot; feels flimsy, especially steam switch; hard to push; overwhelmed by heavy dirt.
The Bottom Line: Compared to the Bissell steam mop that sells for the same or less, the Shark is harder to use, doesn't seem as sturdy, and, most importantly, doesn't clean as well.
I can title this piece with some authority because we own a Bissell Steam Mop (see my review) and it is the best solution short of hands, knees, and a scrub brush in terms of getting your floor clean. It is so easy to use that we thought we'd get one for Mom as an early Christmas present when we visited her at Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, the Bissell was nowhere to be found, but every store was selling the Shark. Since the family was in the midst of a cleaning frenzy instead of Black Friday shopping, we picked up the Shark and brought it home full of hope.
Once out of the box, there were some obvious differences in design philosophy. The Bissell has the looks and build of a canister vacuum or an old rotary brush carpet shampooer. The Shark is much slimmer and lighter, sort of like a Swiffer mop with an extension cord. (Swiffer mops are high-tech mops in which a cleaning solution is sprayed from a bottle on the mop onto the floor, where a replaceable cleaning pad does the dirty work. They can be had for about $20.) Each has a small, detachable, refillable water tank of about 16 oz capacity. The Bissell has a replaceable deionizing filter cartridge; the Shark has none.(This is a steam cleaner - vaporizing water - we're talking about here). To me, the biggest difference was the trigger mechanism to release the steam. Bissell has a pistol grip "dead man" push button switch that must be held down manually at all times to release steam. I'm sure it's considered a safety feature (if you could lock it in place you might be able to scald yourself trying to press the pants you're wearing or something like that), but having to hold the switch down continuously is tiring. I've considered it the major drawback of the Bissell. The Shark's approach is different: push the handle to push the mop and the handle itself moves to activate the steam release. I was intrigued. This approach had great promise of ergonomic deliverance.
Then I used the Shark. First of all, there is much more resistance with the Shark than the Bissell. This is counterintuitive, since the Bissell is about twice as heavy. I would compare the Bissell to pushing a light self-propelled snowblower across a clear driveway in neutral. Some effort is required, but it goes rather easily. Now imagine the same situation, but the snowblower is turned off and in gear, and you get an idea of the relative resistance offered by the Shark. It was a workout pushing that beast across the vinyl floor.
I didn't like the Shark's switch much, either. For one thing, you can only steam pushing forward. Every time you pull the mop back, the steam shuts off. I suppose this conserves water, but it squanders my patience. Also, that's a lot of on-off cycles every use, so I could see the steam switch failing faster than the one in the Bissell. Even more unnerving is the flex in the Shark's handle every time you push it. It may be perfectly fine but when you can see the main shaft flex, you wonder about durability again.
I might have chalked all that up to personal preference, as long as it cleaned the floor well. It took up lots of dirt (by the color of the pad) but the continued high resistance made me feel as though the floor was not getting clean, so I took a paper towel and some cleaner and went over an area I had worked over hard with the Shark. I got up more dirt, something that never happened with the Bissell. So I cleaned a small area thoroughly by hand until the paper towel test declared victory, and used the Shark again on that same area, this time with a fresh pad. It still felt like I was sanding instead of mopping. And no dirt came up, so I knew the area was clean.
We took it back to the gracious folks at Bed Bath and Beyond and ordered Mom a Bissell online. She is very pleased with it.
So compared to the Bissell, its major competitor at the same price point, the Shark feels flimsier, is harder to push, and doesn't clean as effectively.
Features: Lightweight electric steam mop for steam-cleaning hard-floor surfaces Ready in 30 seconds Releases steam with push-forward motion of mopp...More at Newegg.com
1,500 watts of power for a powerful steam cleaning. Steam is released across the 10-1/2 cleaning path with the forward motion of mopping. 20 cord lets...More at Buy.com
Get floors sparkling clean with this electric 1500 watt steam mop. Its rapid water heating system generates steam in 30 seconds, then the unit release...More at Home Depot
Lightweight, electric steam mop for steam-cleaning hard-floor surfaces Ready in 30 seconds; releases steam with push-forward motion of mopping 10-1/2-...More at Amazon
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.