Vax S2 Hard Floor Master Upright Steam Stick

I am not a great fan of mopping. It's wet. leaves water on the floor which is dangerous and has the problem of emptying dirty water out in a sink (why do I always spill a bit?) I'd heard people rave about steam cleaners and, nothing ventured nothing gained, gave it a go.
I really enjoyed using this. Filling and heating are easy, you even get a measuring gauge to tell you how much water to put in. It takes a little more than the promised 5 seconds to heat up, but not much and you do get about 20 minutes of strong steam cleaning which is usually enough for a kitchen floor. The handle is... ok, but probably the reason it scores a 4 rather than a 5. It's a little cumbersome, and you need a firm grip to keep pressing the steam button. However, the cleaning power it has after that makes up for it. I have used it on my kitchen and bathroom floors and they are looking good. It cleans most stains and even took the sticker that (ahem) some 8 year old had left as a sign of love that hadn't shifted no matter what I did. The heat is very strong and the steam barely has a chance to condense before it evaporates. Certainly, I had no puddles of water on the floor. As long as the steamer is heated up fully, it basically has no water, only steam.
There's a useful little triangle that you slip on over the microfibre cover that means you can use this on your carpets, too. I refreshed my living room carpet and it did give the fibres new life. The stains were loosened enough so that, between the steam cleaner and a drop of Vanish spot remover, they have really faded. The carpet smelt fresh, too. I'm working my way around the house now, refreshing carpets as I go.
Its small footprint (less than a foot in either direction) means that the cleaner sits very quietly in my cupboard, ready for use. I haven't quite got rid of my mop bucket, yet, but the mop is sad and lonely, and very worried about eviction...

I got this mop 3 months ago as my new 3rd floor flat is hard floors throughout: flagstone Terracotta tiles in kitchen, Lino in bathroom, parquet floors in hall and lounge, varnished floors in bedrooms and painted floor in Dining room.

The mop heats up in a minute or so, and is ready to use in this time, very quick. I did not like the smooth white cover it comes with as it comes off too easily but I bought the blue 'long hair' mop cover which is much much better and doesn't come off. Both wah well. It takes a little while for the steam to come through sometimes, moisten the mop cover first (I use a spray bottle).

The floors dry in a few minutes, a lot quicker than a regular mop. Not too slippery

I tend to use part Ironing Water (like vaporesse) as it gives a nice fresh smell as you mop. I can mop the whole top floor (8 decent sized rooms) on one water fill.

TILES AND LINO: the mop is very good. It cleans and mops at the same time. No better really than a regular mop, but a lot more convenient. Quicker drying. What the mop was designed for, I guess

PARQUET: It mops very well leaving a nice shine

VARNISHED FLOOR: I do use it but have the feeling it doesn't do them much good. This may be as there are not enough coats on my floors though.

PAINTED FLOOR: Cleans well and leaves them nice and shiney.

Down Sides
The mop is very heavy, not suitable for a disabled/old person. You need to give it a bit of welly, certainly does not glide.
I am not convinced the rug attachment does much.
I would recommend spending the extra £10 on the long hair microfibre mop cover, the strings come out a bit to start, but this settled down after a few uses.

ALL IN ALL: convenient to use as you do not have to mess about with mops and buckets (as I live on 3rd floor this is a REAL consideration), but I would not spend over £100, certainly if money is a consideration. It doesn't revolutionise cleaning, but it is a lot more convenient.

I'm pretty delighted with this lightweight and steamy cleaning toy!

For a full and very detailed account do see another reviewer chrishamer, who has given just about all the details you need to get on well with your Steam Stick.

All I can really say is it certainly does deep-clean lino. I thought I'd clean the kitchen floor as I was tapping my toes waiting for delivery, and it seemed a good idea to clean the floor FIRST (like washing your hair before going to the hairdressers!) since I wondered whether the Vax could improve on mop and cleaning product, and maybe go one better. A resounding YES. I would have said my floor was clean. However, the little cloth cover which you have to fix over the base, through which the steam comes, quickly became a little grubby. So - floor not as squeaky clean with the mop as I'd thought. Now it looks pristine.

The big advantage is the floor only gets damp, not wet, as you work, so drying is pretty instantaneous.

I didn't have the problem one reviewer did, where the covering cloth became a bit sopping wet (and hence the floor, also) My problem was rather the reverse, it worked best if I dampened the cloth cover first - otherwise the cloth cover had a tendency to work loose, as it dragged on the marginally damp floor. The cloth covers are machine washable, though you are advised not to use a conditioning product in the wash, just washing powder.

I'm delighted to see the steam stick comes with an inbuilt hard water filter, which you are advised to change about every 6 months/when it becomes discoloured. This is a clearly crucial bit of design for anyone who lives in hard water areas (that's me!) However, I'm so totally into the habit of using my BRITA Elemaris Meter Cool Black Water Filter Jug to filter water for almost everything now (kettle, coffee maker, iron) that I will use filtered water for this - I bought a new kettle a year and a half ago, and ONLY using filtered water in it means the element and inside of the kettle looks as pristine as the day it was new. The tank takes 500 ml water max (2 fillings with the provided measuring jug, and that gives you a steamy time for 25 minutes (that's QUITE long enough to be cleaning, in my book!)

I would have liked the ability to get right into corners with this, but that's probably an ask too far and is the role of one of the hand held steamers with their various nook and cranny attachments, such as HAND HELD QUEST POWER STEAM CLEANER STEAMER 1050 WATT or Vax S4 Grime Master Handheld Steam Cleaner

Unfortunately the accessories for the Steam Stick (hard water filter and replacement steamer cloth cover set) are not yet available on Amazon but can be found on Vax's site.

The item comes with a 2 year guarantee

Later EDIT - the instruction manual expressly says you CAN'T use this on laminate floors, however do notice that product information provided on this page by the manufacturer says the following:

Please note: The Vax S2 Steamer CAN be used safely on all sealed laminate floors - please disregard the caution on the user guide that comes with the product.

So - I guess you can. Or not! However, I have noted that using it on varnished and sanded wood floors it does seem to have removed some varnish.

Even LATER Edit....as I was interested in seeing if replacement mop heads were available on Amazon (not yet) I found various mop heads for other models, and took a chance....for those using this who felt the floor got too wet, try 1x Microfibre CORAL Washable Pad Fits H2O H20 Steam Mop By Zary its a much thicker, more water absorbent head, and fits the Vax beautifully - its larger, but the same shape, so the drawstring holds it nice and snug. The same supplier also sells the plain Microfibre ones more cheaply, than Vax do, though I haven't tried these, so can't comment on fit or quality - but they MUST fit the Vax as they are for the 'H20 Steam Mop' that this thicker one is for 4x Microfibre CLOTH Washable Pad Fits H2O H20 Steam Mop By Zary; 6 x Microfibre CLOTH Washable Pad Fits H2O H20 Steam Mop By Zary I took a chance by ordering the cheapest one I could find (the single thick one on the first link) in case it didn't fit.

And yet another edit.......having tried the Microfibre CLOTH washpads as above I can confirm that the quality AND the fit are far superior to Vax's own - the Vax cloth works itself off from time to time, the larger ones from Zary pull up and encase the mop much better

AND more (will this editing never stop......18 months approx on and the little steamie is going strong. I thought it might be time to change the hard water filter, as it had become the colour of a smoker's lungs and ordered Vax S2 Series Steamer Hard Water Filter Kit which arrived promptly, and a nice pale ecru in colour, compared to the filter in situ. What is interesting is that over time the kitchen floor seemed to have become a little wetter as I cleaned so it took a little time to dry. With the new filter, the steam seems fiercer and more energised, and the floor is much more lightly and intensely steamed, drying more quickly.

Steam, steam steam!

Happy steam mopping to you all