It’s a dirty job - but someone has to do it
By: Beverly Allen - August 1st, 2007
The person who invents the self-cleaning floor will — deservedly — become a millionaire, and possibly a saint.
That’s how much most of us loathe the never-ending cycle of sweeping and mopping the floor, especially the sticky, crumb-laden floors of the kitchen. You can pray for a miracle – that children, animals and enthusiastic chefs start to clean up after themselves, but it’s more probable that someone will one day make the no-care floor a reality. Until then, manufacturers are trying to design mops and floor cleaners to make the job easier and quicker.
New from Conair is the Lysol steam cleaning mop, which its makers say kills dust mites, mold and fungi. 
It has a tank on the shaft that can be filled with the Lysol, a bottle of which comes with the mop. When a button on the top of the mop head is pressed, the mop pad is loaded with cleanser. Another small tank on the top of the mop head holds water, which heats to the steaming point just a few minutes after having been plugged in.
The steam function can also be used without the cleaning fluid. I tried it both ways and didn’t see any appreciable difference in cleanliness, and was happy to get the job done without strong smell of the cleanser. (In an effort to reduce my household chemical dependency, I’ve been using a mixture of one cup of vinegar and one gallon of water for floor cleaning, which works just fine. I’ve also heard that adding a few teaspoons of baking soda to the wash water helps.)
The Lysol mop, which sells for about $60 at home improvement retailers, is lightweight and easy to use. While the mop head seemed a tad loose to me, it also meant that it was easy to manoeuvre it under tables and around toilets. I was also pleased that the cloths provided can be washed and re-used.
Black and Decker, the company that has never met a household tool to which it couldn’t add a batter
y, has come up with its own version of the power mop. This model has two heads; a flat, maneuverable head that cleans large surfaces, and a rotating power scrubber for sticky spots.
This mop also has a refillable bottle that can be filled with cleanser; again, my vinegar and water mix worked just fine. The tank feeds a spray nozzle that shoots a small jet of the cleaning solution onto the floor, which can then be wiped with the (disposable) mop clothes that come with the product, and which fit the flat mop head. Reusable clothes can also be used. The Power Mop works on all types of hard floors, including sealed hardwood, ceramic tile, vinyl and linoleum flooring
The rotating scrubber, meant for tougher grunge, is turned on by pulling back on the handle, which lifts the mop head out of the way. The flat head can also be completely removed, so that the scrubber will fit into tight spots, such as around the toilet, where it does a good job of getting at the grime. I found it also worked well on cleaning bathtub grout, although it is a bit heavy for extended cleaning. It sells for about $40 at home improvement retailers and mass merchants.
If like me, you periodically swear to limit your use of 
battery or electric powered cleaning tools, you can go old school and use a simple sponge or string mop. Vileda has new versions of both types on the store shelves. The Powerflex 360 has a swivel head that holds a cellulose sponge that can be replaced when worn. It sells for about $15. The Super Mop string mop has a combination of cotton and microfibre, which is designed with little “pockets” that are supposed to grab dirt better. It sells for about $8, while refill mop heads sells for about $5.
Currently, Vileda products are available at Canadian Tire, but should be rolling out to other retailers soon.