I Tried a $700 Tineco Vacuum Mop. Was It Worth It?

The vacuum mop arrived in its box without any extra packaging. Music to my sustainability-minded ears. It was well-packed and protected; nothing was broken upon arrival. In addition to the floor washer, the box included an extra cleaning roller, filter, cleaning brush and charging dock.

I spent a million years trying to figure out if I had to install the filter. You don’t. It’s a spare, and when you do ultimately replace it, you’ll find it located in the dirty water tank.

You Should Sweep Before Hand

While you can put the vacuum in suction mode, which will not employ water, there’s no vacuum bag. Everything is diverted into the dirty water tank. To avoid making your cleaning experience the least disgusting possible, I’d sweep up any debris beforehand.

Surprisingly Ergonomic

The S7 Stretch Steam isn’t lightweight, coming in at just over 17 pounds. Thus, I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to maneuver. The 180-degree lay-flat design and 45-degree swivel on the vacuum head made it incredibly easy to guide the mop around corners and underneath furniture. The wheels also move with you, so despite the weight, you barely have to push it.

A Ferocious Scrubber with Powerful Suction

The day I was set to mop I…dropped an egg. On the floor. In some videos I’d seen of the S7 Stretch Steam in action, the vacuum mop sucked up an entire egg…including the shell. So, I left it on the floor while I swept up the rest of the kitchen crumbs. However, I wasn’t feeling 100 percent brave and did throw away the shell.

The S7 Stretch Steam has four modes: Auto, Max, Steam and Suction. Because of the steam feature, which produces steam at 320 degrees, the brand claims you don’t need to use a cleaning solution while in that mode. I put it in steam mode and waited the requisite 20 to 50 seconds for the steam to start emitting. While mopping, I was interested in three things. First, how good was the scrubbing and suction? Would it lift a crusty stain off the hardwood that had been there for heaven knows how long? And, would it clean up that broken egg without leaving residue?

If the dirty water tank was any indication, this thing really gets into the nitty-gritties. The water was a gray sludge by the time I was done. The crusty stain had disappeared, and the vacuum had scooped up the egg and left a smooth surface behind it. Impressed. (And thankful that I didn’t have to scoop the egg off the floor with my hands.) I was also shocked at how much hair it had picked up without getting jammed or tangled in the roller.

This is a pick-your-poison conundrum and not necessarily a con. Obviously, you’ll have to empty the dirty water tank after cleaning. At around 3 cups capacity each, the volume of the clean and dirty water tanks was more than sufficient for my cleaning needs. However, to prevent smells and allow the vacuum to self-clean the roller, you’ll need to empty the dirty water tank before docking it.

As someone without a drain disposal, I opted to dump everything down my bathtub drain. Though I swept beforehand, the vacuum still sucked up a ton of debris and hair. (A good testament to its efficacy.) That said, pulling the hair out of the filter was as gross as you’d expect, and the sludge at the bottom needs to be rinsed out. You’ll also have to do this a second time after the vacuum self-cleans.

Heat kills bacteria, they say. It’s true…but complicated. I was taken with the idea of using steam instead of chemicals to sanitize, but a little research gives me pause. Per Consumer Reports, a lot of common household germs will kick the bucket if hit with temps starting at 160 degrees Fahrenheit, and most germs will be eliminated in the temperature range of 172 to 212 degrees. Seeing as the S7 Stretch Steam gets up to 320 degrees, it’s more than sufficient.

The catch is that to be effective, the germs require prolonged heat exposure, of which Consumer Reports notes could last several minutes. Meaning, a quick pass isn’t going to do the trick. With this in mind, I ended up focusing on the egg spill for a few minutes, until I felt the floor get warm. Just casually pushing it across the kitchen floor otherwise left me with damp, cold wood.

While I appreciate the ergonomics and cleanup that reduces waste (my house goes through a lot of Swiffer pads), there are some things I’d keep in mind.

First is that to truly reap the germ-killing benefits of steam, you have to really keep the mop in place. This is time consuming if you want to cover a large area. Also, because the roller is propelling the vacuum forward, I was fighting to contain it to one spot.

Secondly, the steam takes a while to kick in. The manual says 20 to 50 seconds, but I waited a minute or three, at one point wondering if it was defective. (It was not.) Again, since the roller is trying to push the mop forward, I had to wrangle it in place while I waited for the steam to activate.

The Bottom Line

If you want a quick, easy cleanup that’s chemical free for pets and kids, the S7 Stretch Steam is a great solution. Should you be like me and want a good, thorough sanitizing, I would opt for throwing some of the brand’s cleaning solution ($30/two-pack) into the water tank (note: do not do this in steam mode) or picking up one of the brand’s other (less expensive/non-steam) models that uses just the cleaning solution. Either way, this thing scrubs your floors to the high heavens, and to that I say, amen.