Reliable Steamboy T1 Steam Floor Mop

Look No Further
Halleluia! When my Bissell Steam Mop finally 'died' and I found out they didn't make them anymore I was devastated. The only place I found to buy them was ebay at a whopping $250! Anyway, I searched online for other models and read all their reviews. None of the reviews for other products sounded any where near the quality and hard work of my old Bissell. I saw this model (The Steamboy) and it looked similar to the Bissell, however - nobody had written a review, so I was a little skeptical.

I'm here to tell ya - this product is as good or, dare I say, even better - than the Bissell for several reasons: 1. it is lighter weight (but not flimsy) so my arms don't get tired 2. the head pivots easier and it is triangular in shape so it gets into the nasty corners under my kitchen counters and behind my toilets even better 3. the pads are easier to put on than the Bissell and the draw string to tighten them on is longer and therefore easier to work with and lastly 4. it...

The Steam Mop SHOWDOWN: First hand comparisons and studying of comps
(update: This review was updated on 11-2-09 after I got to compare the Bissell as well as add notes about the Ladybugg steamer at the bottom, and then on 11-30 when I got to compare the SteamFast SF-140 and on 12-7 to compare the Steam Boy)

I live in a neighborhood where EVERY home is "green built certified" this means that, to have that certification, the builder built no homes with carpet. All the main floors are polished concrete and the upper floors wood. The bathrooms all have tile and/or slate in every home.

Because of this, as you could imagine, steam mops are quite the neccessity...not only because they get the hard surfaces better than anything else, but because they are also "green" and clean chemical free. I'll be honest, for us...that's a bonus but we weren't cleaning chemical free before. We like chemical free for our pet's paws but I'll confess I was mopping with chemicals before I got my steamer and just kept the pets out of the room while doing it...

Very dissatisfied
I had very high hopes for this product and I have been very disapointed.

I could achieve similar results by pouring out a bucket of hot water on my floor and wrapping towels around my feet to move the water around. I can only assume that something is not functioning correctly and there is too much water too fast. The "tank" is supposed to last 20 minutes (according to the instruction book - 30 min according to the Reliable website) - mine was empty within 10. In addition, there was more steam coming out of the swivel head connection than the bottom of the mop.

I read the assembly instructions carefully and I am confident that it was assembled properly (even let my husband double check! ;-))

The short troubleshooting guide mentions nothing about my two issues 1) too much water on the floor 2) steam coming from the swivel head more than the floor

I contacted Reliables technical support group and received a call back telling me that I should...

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