'Shark steam mop that leaves my floors gleaming is on sale and £400 less than Dyson'

Gone are the days of a mop and bucket, steaming hot appliances have swiftly become the go-to in many households to get the floors gleaming while banishing germs at the same time. Often dubbed a 'must-have' brand, , an all-in-one vacuum and mop which sucks up dirt and mops floors but at £499 the price is certainly eyewatering - I use one of Shark's rival products and not only does it cut cleaning times

The uses hot steam instead of the traditional bucket of soapy water, and because of the heat there's no need for chemical-infused cleaning products. Usually £139.99 it's now - hundreds cheaper than much pricier alternative.

Unlike Dyson's model this doesn't have a vacuum, so that's a huge feature it's missing, but when it comes to mopping this nimble device has been game-changing. I swapped to the at the beginning of the year, my floors are less grubby, the bathroom tiles come up shiny, and it can cover my whole flat in about 10 minutes.

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It's simple to use, all I do is fill up the container with water and choose the steam setting - I personally always go for 'hi'. There's the choice of three options; low, medium, and 'hi.'

These can be used on a variety of different floors like the wooden laminate in my living room kitchen and tiles in my bathrooms. Looking at the size of the Shark pads, they also seem more nimble than other options.

For example, this cheaper from Vax (now £79.99) has a bigger triangle-like mop head which may be slightly bigger but looks trickier to get under furniture.

If there's a particular mark or spot then the steam blast is great for this - in homage to its 'kick n' flip' name all I do is flop over the mop head with my foot and press down on the handle, which blasts out concentrated, high power amount of steam to help get rid of stubborn stains.

Once done with cleaning, the dirt pad (or mop head) can be released with a click of a button, which releases it from the mop. It goes face down, meaning I don't have to touch any of the grime, just chuck it straight into the washing machine on a warm wash.

The only thing that I've found is it's worth buying more of the detachable mop heads than what comes free with purchase (two) as this is good for switching up between the kitchen and bathrooms. I've used the Shark Steam Mop for nearly six months and not run into any major problems.

It's still working as well as the first time I unboxed it, which is why I decided to flag a product I've bought with my own money, instead of it being something I've been sent to review. I'd recommend it to anyone in need of an affordable cleaning upgrade.

Shoppers online have also shared their delight with it, and especially like the unique steam sprayer. As one person said: "Brilliant love this so easy to use. Does a great job of cleaning my floors, love the option to trigger more steam which is simple to do .

"Only four-stars as the cord is not long enough and water tank could do with been a little bigger so less refills however wouldn’t put me off getting another one."

Another shopper said: "This is our third purchase of this steam mop because it really is the best we have found of its kind. it does not remain upright unless propped or held up. It is really easy to knock or pull over when switching plug sockets which may damage it."

Like the above shopper, I've also come into the same issue with it not being able to stand on its own, but I personally don't mind this. Instead of propping it up I make sure to lay it flat, and no water has ever leaked out of it when doing this.