People want to Steam mop and disinfect their floors but at the same time, they want a nice-smelling floor. We’ll examine if Fabuloso or any other cleaner can be put into a steam mop to aid its effectiveness or achieve a better clean.
Can You Put Fabuloso in a Steam Mop?
Putting Fabuloso in your steam mop is dangerous for you and your environment.
Let’s see some of the reasons you shouldn’t do this:
1- Steam mops are great floor cleaners designed to be used with water and nothing else. They are a great fit for people who want to cut back on their use of chemicals.
Some steam mops cannot even use any other water apart from distilled or demineralized water, so using tap water in these can damage them. This is why cleaners like Fabuloso are a no-no for steam mops.
2- Putting cleaners like Fabuloso into your steam mop can damage the heater, or clog the machine. Minerals will quickly build up in your steam mop which will clog it and prevent it from working as it should. If you don’t correct this fast, this can cause permanent damage to your machine.
3- Fabuloso contain chemicals that should not be boiled or heated. Steam mop works by bringing water to a boil and beyond to create moisture/steam for cleaning.
Boiling Fabuloso this way is not good for you or the surfaces you want to clean. It may cause the toxic chemicals in it to react and give off toxic fumes. Inhaling this can impair your health greatly.
You may experience symptoms such as loss of breath, coughing, asthma attacks if you are asthmatic, dizziness, etc.
The chemicals may also react and form other chemicals that can stain, bleach, erode, or cause other damage to the surfaces you are cleaning.
How to Use Fabuloso with a Steam Mop?
Although you can’t put Fabuloso into your steam mop, you can still use these two together and get that wonderful smell along with the disinfecting that you need.
STEPS
STEP 1- Sweep your floor to remove any objects. Mopping will be difficult if there are objects scattered on the floor. You can also vacuum if it’s necessary.
STEP 2- Dilute 1/4 cup of Fabuloso with 1 gallon of water. Use room temperature water instead of hot water. The steam mop will be using heat so this isn’t necessary.
STEP 3- Spray this solution on the surface/floor you want to clean. Don’t use too much so you don’t have to rinse after. You can use undiluted Fabuloso if you want.
The steam mop uses heated water to clean so the Fabuloso will be diluted as the steam mop works. Just ensure that your floor won’t be damaged if you use the cleaner undiluted.
STEP 4- Wait for about 5 minutes for the cleaner to break down the grime and dirt on the floor.
STEP 5- Pour distilled water into the water reservoir/tank of the steam mop. Place a steam mop pad on the cover and plug the machine into an outlet. Then turn it on.
STEP 6- When the steam is ready, adjust the steam to suit your floor type. Some steam mops will have several buttons corresponding to floor types, just hit your floor type and begin mopping.
Some will however be in low, medium, and high levels. Choose a level that suits your floor type or the type of cleaning you want to do.
STEP 7- Go back and forth on the floor you have applied Fabuloso. The steam from the mop dilutes the Fabuloso as you clean and gives you a deeper clean.
What Can You Put in a Steam Mop?
Nothing should be put in your steam mop because it is meant to be used with only water, and not just any water. Distilled water or demineralized water is used in steam mops because the minerals and any impurities that may be in the water have been removed.
That water that looks clean and pure to your naked eye may be hard water that is full of minerals. Using hard water in your steam mop will cause a mineral buildup that will impact the effectiveness of the steam mop, which will eventually cause it to stop working.
Even if the manufacturer says you can use tap water or filtered water, distilled water is still recommended.
Adding cleaning or deodorizing agents like vinegar, essential oils, baking soda, etc. is not advisable.
Vinegar can be corrosive when heated which isn’t good for you or the people around you when you are cleaning.
Oil does not mix well with water even when boiled. The essential oil you put in your steam mop may clog your machine or remain inside while the water alone comes out as steam while you clean. This oil residue in the steam mop will cause problems later on.
If you want your house to smell nice after using a steam mop in your house, you can achieve this in two ways. You can use your essential oil, vinegar, etc. the way you use your Fabuloso. Just spray your vinegar, essential oil, or whatever you want to deodorize with on the floor before mopping.
You can also apply any of these directly on the steam mop pad. The steam mop pad is outside the steam mop so the machine components are NOT affected by it.
Apply the deodorizer to the pad and turn on your steam mop. The oil or vinegar will disinfect your home as you clean it and also make it smell nice. Steam mop pads can also be washed, so this makes them suitable for anything you may want to experiment with.
Once you are done cleaning, wash your pads to avoid odor in the home, prevent bacteria buildup, and prevent mildew and mold from developing on them.
Final Thoughts!
Anything apart from distilled water shouldn’t be put into a steam mop. You can spray Fabuloso on your floor first before mopping to get a deeper clean.
