I bought this appliance at Target about three months ago, misunderstanding at the time what it was. When I got it home and unpacked it, I realized my mistake and *almost* took it back because I've owned steamers before and I just wasn't impressed. The literature accompanying the unit made me decide to go ahead and try it out before I decided and oh my gosh, am I glad I did.

Using nothing but water and a towel, along with your Shark steamer, you can clean anything in your house. When we bought this house back in April of 2002, there were lime stains on the pipes behind the toilets in all three bathrooms. And there were 10 years of black gunk built up under the edges of each toilet, where they connect to the floor. No matter what I tried, I could never remove all of that gunk -- you just can't get under there to do it! -- and the lime deposits wouldn't come off even with CLR and Lime Away and similar products. I am happy to report that less than 10 minutes per bathroom was all it took to totally obliterate the lime AND the gunk. Because it's steam under pressure, it can get in spots where you can't even insert a butter knife. It just blows it all out and you wipe it away!

We suffer from various allergies, and it seemed that no matter which cleaning product I used, someone's allergies were going to be aggravated -- now, I use the Shark and there's NOTHING to irritate anyone because you're not using any cleaning solvents -- just water!

You can even use it with one of the wider nozzles (it doesn't show them in the photo, but the unit is packed with several different attachments, not just the floor attachment shown) and blow dust and cobwebs off window blinds, artificial flowers, knick-knacks, and so on without damaging them. I have some suede-feeling artificial flowers that even a lint remover won't take the dust off, and my Shark steamer left them looking like they were brand new. You can clean your windows, and it's great for getting underneath and around large household appliances. The grill under the refrigerator that always looks terrible? Spotless, thanks to the Shark!

The nozzles and attachments help you get into places that normal cleaning just can't reach. My house has never been so clean, and although everyone assumes I've been spending hours and hours cleaning house, the truth is, I now spend about an hour per week maintaining it with my Shark!

I can't say enough about this unit. I highly recommend it.

I just ordered this Ultra Steam Blaster from the manufacturer and did some testing of this model with the competing products from Saeco (the Piccolo) and SteamFast.

Overall, I like the design in terms of being able to hold most of the accessories on board. The quality of the accessories is first rate. The unit heats up in 6-7 minutes and produces consistent steam. For those new to steaming, it will be a revelation and you will wonder what you did without a steamer.

Since I have owned and tested 4 steamers in the past few years, including this model and two competitors in the "under $200" category, I can tell you that while I like the design and quality of accessories, (and the fact this unit uses a stainless steel tank) of this Shark product, it did not hold a candle to the Saeco in terms of raw cleaning power. See my amazon reviews of the Saeco piccolo for details.

I really wanted this unit to be better since I really did like the design the best. However the moldy hose test demonstrated that this steamer does not have the power to instantly blast mold off a moldy hose like the Piccolo. Since I owned a prior model from Delonghi, I can tell you, when you go to steam, the raw temperature and steam production power/pressure is what does the cleaning and the Shark Ultra Steam Blaster, while comparable to the other Chinese made steamer I tested, does not offer the performance of the Italian made Piccolo.

I bought this about a month ago and I love it! I have a ton of tile in my home and with 2 dogs and 2 cats the tile and grout gets DIRTY! Nothing I used worked to really clean the floor and there wasn't a thing to clean the grout. I bought this hoping to do both and it worked! The little mop cover is great for cleaning the floor and the power washer attachment blasts water on the grout and you can see the dirt come out. Make sure to have a towel near you when cleaning grout because this machine DOES NOT suck up water like other floor mops.

When mopping, it doesn't leave a lot of water on the floor and it dries very quickly. The mop cover washes just fine in the washer (don't use the dryer) and I bought some extra ones from the eureka online site ($9 for 3 more).

I haven't used this on windows or the shower, but I'm sure it will do the job. YOu should see the grime that this picks up...and the floor LOOKS CLEAN before I use it, but no no no...it's an illusion :) I would highly recommend this for steam cleaning floors, grout, and most likely it will do a great job on any area that needs a deep steam clean (remember, this does not suck up the water).

There are two cleaning tools that make life much easier and healthier:
1) a power washer and
2) a portable steam cleaner
This Shark Ultra Steam Blaster certainly fills-the-bill for the power and convenience (and fun, actually) of portable steam cleaning.
It has all of the tools (accessories) that you will need to get rid of mold, scum, baked-on debris, filth, dirt, muck and gunk.
It has a large capacity reservoir (and filling beaker and funnel) that gives you at least 30 minutes of power cleaning. It is easy to use, it includes a nice variety of attachments, it is stylishly designed and, generally, a top-notch item.
It eliminates the need to use chemical cleansing agents that adversely affect our health and immune systems. It gets rid of mold, mildew and accumulated grunge that is otherwise very difficult to clean.
It cleans fabrics, upholstery, carpet stains, grout, metal, tile, venetian blinds and practically everything else in the blink of an eye.
It eliminates the need for scrubbing and makes dirt dissolve almost instantly. All you need is a cloth to wipe (to dry) as you steam-clean any item.
If you want to have fun cleaning and get free of highly toxic chemical cleaning agents then this item is a must have. I have one and use it frequently. Just as an example, you can thoroughly clean your entire bathroom in 15 minutes with this steam cleaner. A job (bathroom cleaning) that usually takes at least an hour using elbow-grease and harsh chemical cleaning agents. Most importantly this item can be used safely. It has an assortment of nozzles and attachments for every reasonable use. The attachments are easy (a snap) to put on and take off. The attachments are stored on the device (under blue lid) except for the extension attachments (three) for floors and ceilings. The extension attachments extend your reach by about 4 feet and come in quite handy. The steamer is on wheels and follows you around easily (long power cord) as you effortlessly remove the dirt that resists other cleaning methods.
Yes, by all means, get one! It is quite amazing how much better you feel when you stop inundating your home and body with chemicals. The cumulative effect of chemical household cleansers causes pain, joint discomfort, nausea, headaches and (seeming) "colds" not to mention the environmental consequences.
Steam cleaning is the way to go and this item does it quite well and in style! It will pay for itself in what you save from not having to purchase other cleaning products, plus the enormous amount of time it saves you by its efficiency and fun factor.

I purchased my Shark about three months ago from Target. I had taken a long time to review all the steamers before I chose this one. It seemed to be the best ratio between performance and price.

My main use for this is on the floors. The bottom of the mop is easy to turn so you can use both sides of the cloth without having to take it off. I do wish they sold extra "mop" towels, but I bought some microfiber towels and will make my own. I will still use an occasional anti-grease spray cleanser on the floor while mopping, but that's only in case of grease splatter, etc.

This replaces my mop in spades.

I'm going to just touch on a few points here.

This is not a vacuum and it's not a pressure washer. It puts out a decent psi, but you will still need a bit of patience. It will not blast that crusted peice of yuck off your floor in seconds. You will need rags while you are cleaning with it. (If you've seen reviews for other items like this one, you know why I'm saying this.) This is neither unusual or a point against it.

This *speeds* up your cleaning time when you're working with crusted on foods and such in the kitchen. I've had great success with the fridge, microwave, table, counters and the high chair.

Just like heating water on the stove, this will take about 5-10 minutes to heat up. Use distilled water. Make sure you close the cap all the way (Push down and turn). Knowing it will take 5-10 minutes to heat up, you can get it set up and then prep the area you are about to clean so you're not standing over it waiting for the yellow (ready) light to turn on.

A full container will last about an hour, you will probably refill it at least once the first time you use it. Generally, I refill it 1-2 times when I'm doing the kitchen floor/table/high chair.

This is about as loud as a vacuum or shop vac, depending on where you have the product. It never bothered me.

This does nothing for my bathtub. I see no difference in my grout. It doesn't take away water stains very easily and you will need chemicals, especially for mildew and soap scum. It will clean tile very well, but you will have to work quickly and with rags. Generally I just don't use it in there except for on the floors and around the toilet.

All in all, I love this steamer. It's not a magic button, but it does make my cleaning a lot easier and even fun!

Tile:
I purchased this primarly to help clean my dirty floor grout in my kitchen. I let the shark warm up and went to town on my kitch floor grout. Unforunately, it took a very long time to steam out the dirt just from one tile's worth of grout. I guess you could clean an entire kitchen / bathroom of grout but its going to take a long long time. The shark might do a better job if you don't let years of gunk build up on your grout and just clean it regularly. Note, the additional attachments are hidden under the blue shield. I missed this at first.

Carpet:
I have some old carpet with some unsightly stains from the previous owner that I was not able to scrub out with traditional carpet stain remover. I let the shark warm up and went to town on the carpet stains. Much to my surprise it did a great job of removing carpet stains. I feel that the shark is much more effective cleaning carpet instead of tile. This is going to be a great cleaning tool for people with pets that ocassionally make messes.


Pros:
Does a great job of cleaning carpet stains.
Makes cleaning carpet cheap and enjoyable.

Cons:
Not so great on grout with years of dirt build up.
Must ocassionally wait for steam to build back up in between
bursts.

I bought this based on other customer reviews on this page. I am not sorry I did! I live in a house that was built in 1916. Forget the fact that I have never given it a thorough cleaning in the 6 years I have owned it, I found places that I don't think any of the previous owners thoroughly cleaned either!

This thing blasted through all of the grease and grime in every nook and cranny of my kitchen and bathroom. I used it on my garbage can, which is always grimy (stupid to have a white garbage can, but what can I say?). My stove, dishwasher and refrigerator look brand new. The black stuff that tends to build up around faucet fixture just melted away and the inside of my microwave sparkles (It is nearly older than me, and has been passed down through my family. It's STILL going strong!)

Even with all of this evidence pointing toward true love, the moment that sealed my fate was when I cleaned under and around my antique claw-foot tub. It is nearly impossible to get underneath it and the floor has always been blackish around the feet because nothing can really get in that close to it. This just blasted everything away. My bathroom mirror always had spots on it after cleaning, but the first time I cleaned it with this steamer and the squeegee, i was thoroughly amazed. No left over lint or missed spots of toothpaste spatter.

Sweet Bliss. I HATE cleaning, but this has changed it into something fun and amazing!

I purchased this shark steam blaster last week since I had just bought a home. I wanted to clean my laminate wood floors with it and was hoping that I could jump onto the "no chemicals needed" bandwagon but I was not planning on expecting too much out of it. To my surprise, this thing is amazing. My floors had been professionally cleaned and yet when I finished with the shark cleaner, I was amazed at all of the black grime that came off of my floors. Since I was so impressed, I decided to try it out around the house and I can't tell you how impressed I have been with it. I thought the kitchen tile looked clean but I steamed the grout and I couldn't believe what color the grout actually was! It works exactly like in the commercial. I used it in my refrigerator - spotless. Bathrooms - spotless. Try it around your baseboards where they meet your floors and you'll be shocked to see what blasts out from under there. YUCK!
I feel so clean thanks to this machine and you will be amazed if you try it. Here's a tip though: order an extra floor towel because you won't be able to stop once you start and the towel will get dirty pretty fast. Also, instead of using a hand towel to wipe away the grime, I used paper towels so that I can dispose of the dirt instead of running it through my washer (especially for bathroom uses).
I would recommend this product to everyone. I would also like to disagree with the other reviewer who complained of the noisiness of this product. I did not find the steamer noisy at all and rather appreciated the fact that I could clean at 2 am and not worry about disturbing the neighbors.

I have had this machine for several months now and have not regretted making the purchase. My husband thought I bought it to periodically steam clean the tile and was surprised to find that this machine REPLACES the mop and bucket.

I do agree that the loudness can be a problem in closed in spaces (i.e. shower). Therefore, until I purchase earplugs, I will continue cleaning the shower the old fashioned way.

I use this machine to steam the tile, "dust" the window blinds and other items that have small crevices, clean grout between the tile, and clean the highchair. There are other uses we have yet to try.

We are pleased with the cleaning ability of this machine. It sure beats working with lukewarm/cold water. I feel things do get cleaner and there is no chemical residue afterward. Several hours later (unplugged) , the water in the tank is still very hot.

Bottom line: even if you get this machine to just steam your floors, I think it is worth it.

We have used ours for 6 months and it still works like new. We have birds and it cleans the cages and play pens better than any thing we have tried in the past 20 years. No need to use dangerous chemicals.

We had a industrial steamer we paid $600 for about a year and it was no better than the Shark. It quit working about 2 days after the 1 year warranty ran out and the cost of sending it in for repairs was about $300! We couldn't be happier with the Shark for appliances, formical tile floors, and small items. We can buy 5 more sharks for the cost of the industrial steamer.