Meet my new best friend . . .

I live in an old house. Old like 110+ years. It is a duplex we rent the other side. It is nice to have someone pay the majority of your mortgage. We got the house for a steal. It is old. It needs some serious upgrades. We do not have the money for upgrades. Have I told you it is old?

I am learning to embrace my home and all of the faults. I had planned to post pictures of the house along with its faults a while back. I could not do it. Does anyone else take pictures for their blog and have to position their kids at certain angles to not show their house;s faults in the background? I do. I am a freak about showing people my house. I just don't do it. I like my house. I am content with what I have, but I know that my little hovel doesn't compare to what's out there. Maybe I simply read too many decorating blogs. . . (then dear Lisa goes and posts pictures of her lovely house!)

I have to keep telling myself that in order to have a stay at home parent, which is absolutely needed for a child like Dustin, we have to make some lifestyle choices. And, HELLO, I work in daycare!

Anyway, all that to say that I have a new best friend. Her name is Georgia, cause I am weird and name my appliances. She is FAB. I am constantly telling the kids, "Get off the filthy floor!" and "Don't drag that blanket around on the dirty floor!" because no matter how much I mop and scrub the floors they do not seem clean to me. I replaced the kitchen floor a couple years back, but the dogs run through the kitchen on the way back inside. It never feels clean to me. I LOVED my swiffer wet jet, but had issues with buying new solution and pads. I had some tricks up my sleeve, but it started leaking once and Robert set it outside in the rain. Ummm, it has batteries! It was dead and I did not buy a new one because those suckers are $20+.

Sunday, I was trolling the store and broke down and picked up another wet jet. Down one of the aisles, I saw a steam mop. I decided it was time to try it. It was okay. It was the basic Shark version. I really didn't much care for it. I read alot of reviews and decided to give it 3 shots to clean the floor. Everyone said that it takes 3 cleanings to remove all the built up gunk and cleaning products from the floor. Two more cleanings and I was still not sold. It did not seem like the steam was reaching through the pad and it was hard to push around the floor. The pad kept rolling up because it had a lame velcro type stick on system. Last night I went out and bought the better Pocket Steam Mop to see if it really was better.

Awesome.

I love it.

So worth the extra $20 (on sale). The heads swivel. It comes with a rectangular one and a triangular one for bathrooms and tight spaces. The covers create a pocket that holds the steam so they work better than the lame stick on ones of the regular version. The steam holes are evenly spaced as opposed to the one steam hole on the cheaper version. It works like a dream on the hardwood floors, linoleum and tile. The head will flip over so I have 2 cleaning surfaces on one cover. I did the whole house with one head this way, then popped it into the washer. The best part is that it ONLY uses water, no harsh chemicals and it is clean AND sanitized. The steam reaches 220 degrees. Those pads are HOT when you take them off and the floors are warm to your feet! The floors dry instantly so I don't have to blockade the kitchen to let the floor dry before kids, cat and canines dirty up my mopped floors.

My floors feel clean. Maybe I can stop freaking out about dirty floors!

Do you have one? Do you like it?