show you what i can do

Today I bought a "Shark" steam mop. I went to Canadian Tire with the assignment of finding and purchasing an inflatable air mattress for Shawn and I to sleep on for the weekend that he's home while our furniture is simultaneously being shipped to our new place. We have discussed many different ways this move could happen, and in the end we just couldn't find a way to leave ahead of the furniture, or even at the same time. Somehow we have to spend another night or two in the house without it, with only the absolute necessities, things we can pack into the Element and drive with. Hence, the need for an inflatable bed.

After I successfully found the bed, I was distracted by a video being shown on a small television in the corner of the store. The video was of a man using a mop that looked like my old Swiffer WetJet, and experiencing the dry "wshhhdd wsshhhhddd" sound of an empty cleanser cartridge. There was something about this ridiculous commercial that appealed to me, probably because my Swiffer is out of fluid and has been for months because I keep forgetting to buy more.

Anyway, after watching poor Mister DryMop push his cleanser trigger in vain for awhile, then Mister Steam Mop suddenly whooshed onto the screen with his Shark mop leaving behind a trail of mysterious swirling steam and then... when the steam cleared... a sparkly clean floor. Mesmerizing. And before I knew it, I was shouldering another box and heading for the cash register.

I'm really not such an impulsive buyer, in general. I have a guilt complex when it comes to spending money. But we've been talking about wanting to phase out many of the various chemicals we currently use to clean the house, and finding safer and more environmentally friendly alternatives. So it wasn't like this was completely out of the blue. And what's more environmentally friendly and safe than steam, right?

So I steam mopped the kitchen floor tonight, and the hardwood in the living room. (I think it was the moment I realised I could use this thing on wood that I was completely sold.) And I was really amazed by how much dirt I picked up off a floor than I would have said was pretty clean.

Suddenly I'm thinking about handheld steam cleaners that can be used to clean countertops, toilet bowls, dog dishes, and other gross things that I currently use chemicals to clean. Imagine.

The weirdest thing was that I actually enjoyed cleaning my kitchen floor, because it was so neat watching the steam pour out and feeling the warm floor under my feet. Generally, while I am a person who loves for things to be clean, I hate doing the cleaning enough that avoidance often wins out. Steam cleaning could turn me into a different kind of woman. Maybe.

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