BISSELL Steam Mop 1940A PowerFresh Floor Steam Cleaner for Hard Wood & Tile with Natural Sanitization, Easy Scrubber, Variable Steam, 12” Cleaning Path

Why it's worth it

This is the steam mop most people should start with. Three steam settings let you go gentle on sealed hardwood and aggressive on tile, the flip-down scrubber handles dried-on messes, and the 23-foot cord covers a room without hunting for another outlet.

Variable steam is the feature that makes a mixed-flooring home work. Consumer Reports found that steam cleaners with adjustable output rate meaningfully higher in owner satisfaction among hardwood users than fixed single-output models, and the reason is obvious once you own one. Sealed hardwood wants the lightest setting and a quick pass. Kitchen tile wants everything the machine has. A mop with one output forces you to choose which floor to serve.

The flip-down Easy Scrubber is the part you'll reach for more than you expect. Dried oatmeal, a dropped smoothie, the ring under the dog bowl — you flip the scrubber down, work the spot for a few seconds, and flip it back up without stopping. Owners bring this up constantly, often in the context of grout and tile they'd assumed was stained for good. It saves you from getting down on your knees with a brush.

From our review of 8 steam mops for hardwood and tile floors, by David Sinclair, Managing Editor

What we like

• +Variable steam is the feature that makes a mixed-flooring home work
• +The flip-down Easy Scrubber is the part you'll reach for more than you expect
• +At 6.2 pounds with a 12-inch cleaning path, it's easy to carry upstairs and easy to steer around table legs
• +It also has the longest track record here by a wide margin

What to know

• –The most common failure owners report is no steam after a few uses, and it's almost always mineral scale
• –The scent discs are a gimmick you can safely ignore
• –There's no on-board scrubbing action — the scrubber is a passive plastic edge you push