Underwhelmed by the Shark

Today my thoughts are centered around trying to get my floors clean. I have been depending upon my Hoover Floormate 3000 now for several years and it has tragically stopped sucking. For some crazy reason, this model is no longer produced and the newer models are larger and more unwieldy. The demise of this cleaner occurred recently and coincidentally during the only time my husband decided to use it. I took it apart, cleaned all the passageways of hairballs and junk...and even ordered and installed a new squeegee. After putting it all back together, I had high hopes that my floors would soon be rid of the ever growing layer of sludge buildup being produced by my 4 kids and multiple pets. No such luck! I now had puddles of mud being pushed around by the new squeegee but still not enough suction to lift the liquid off of the floor surface. After endlessly fiddling with it, I decided that it had given me enough years of service that I would forgive it's shortcomings and let it go in peace to the sky high mountain of trash. I finally had to break down and buy a $18 hand mop... how did we survive with these ancient tools of the trade? After a trip around the kitchen floor and many trips back to the sink for rinsing, I set out to look into other alternatives.
I hardly watch any TV so I have not seen any of the infomercials on the "Shark" but I had been hearing from friends how great it was and how environmentally friendly it is because it doesn't use detergents and utilizes reusable cloth pads. I am all about the three "R's" (reduce, recycle and reuse) whenever possible so when I saw it at my local BJ's for a song and with bonus cleaning cloths... I made an impulse purchase. I returned home with high expectations and floors that where in dire need of an intervention. It was quick to set up, light weight, the cloths were nice and thick and it was intuitive to use. That is where all my nice adjectives cease to describe this steaming stick. The steam started spewing out within less than a minute. With the pad in place I took off around the room looking for the dirtiest spots to test it on. The steam slightly wet the floor but took many, many passes to get off simple dried on milk spots and it was impossible to get through layered messes that were produced by more viscous substances(IE. dried on applesauce drippings). Although lightweight, it was stll hard to push because of the lack of moisture on the floor and the friction created by the microfiber cloths. It took me at least 4 times as long to clean the same surface area as it would have taken with my floormate. The sealed hardwoods came out looking halfway decent but I was shocked at how little dirt the cloth had picked up. I was actually expecting to have to use all 5 included pads per cleaning. I know it was not due to the cleanliness of my floors because they were not especially clean at the time, as they had been neglected for several days. Where was all that muck, grit, sand and hair that I would find in the dirty water receptacle of my other cleaner? The answer was evident when I took a look at the tile floor that was left with a haze covering the surface of every tile. The clincher was the washable pads were fitted with hook and latch strips that make it a laundry nightmare if put in the washer with other fabrics. The manufacturer recommends that you wash it separately and let it air dry. Who has time or patience for that? I would rather spend my time writing bad reviews and I need to conserve every little bit of my patience to deal with the antics of my children. Needless to say the steam stick and my relationship has ended bitterly and I am on the hunt once again for the perfect hardwood floor cleaner.

UPDATE- 8/15/09
Well twitter and WOOT have come through for me... I think? I logged onto twitter this morning to catch up on what was going on in the world and low and behold, Woot has the Hoover FloorMate SpinScrub Widepath Floor Cleaner listed for $59.99 It is refurbished but I have had great luck with such products in the past so I made the plunge and will be giving this version a try. I have entered my patiently wait mode with high expectations for this tool. I will review it after it is put to the test.