Verdict

The Bissell PowerFresh Slim Steam Mop is a sturdy yet relatively light steam cleaner that can be used as a mop as well as a handheld. While it excels as a mop, its price isn’t entirely justified here, particularly as there aren’t that many accessories included. Yet, it’s well designed and has a few clever storage options – even if it doesn’t stand up on its own.

Pros

• Sturdy build
• Generous cable
• Great storage

Cons

• Doesn’t stand up on own
• Pricey
• Limited accessories

This is the steam cleaner-only mop option from Bissell, to complement the range that includes the Bissell Vac & Steam 1977E and the handheld Bissell Steam Shot 2635E.

The PowerFresh Slim Steam doubles as a mop and a handheld device, but its uses as a handheld are limited here to four small attachments, and it can only tackle hard floors as a mop. Yet, it has a sturdy build and a relatively light frame, meaning it can be used for overhead tasks with the stick attached.

Bissell PowerFresh Slim Steam Mop – What you need to know

• Hard floors: The mop cleaned textured wooden floors and tiles well, getting rid of stains and dirt with minimal watermark residue. Cleaning dried-up food from smooth tiles got rid of most of the mess.
• Grouting: The crevice brush cleaned darkened grouting successfully, but looked very worn down after the task, with many bristles flattened.
• Other surfaces: The scraper tool managed to remove fresh grease and burnt residue on a ceramic hob, leaving it shiny after a quick dry and polish with kitchen paper. The round brush was less successful with the oven and the kitchen sink, having to surrender to old grease and limescale.

Related: Best steam cleaner

Bissell PowerFresh Slim Steam Mop Design – An ergonomic, sturdy build with clever storage, but it doesn’t stand up on its own

Decked in Bissell’s characteristic blue and dark grey, the main steaming unit has a gun-like shape with a rubberised handle and easy-to-press trigger, which needs to be held down for continuous steaming action.

The silver-coloured stick and blue-and-grey mop head feel light and sturdy, and are easy to assemble. The other accessories can fit straight onto the main unit or the stick, and come in a plastic case that can be attached to the bottom of the main unit for storage. The mop head is easily manoeuvrable, although I did notice dirt build-up on particular areas of the pad.

The head is easy to remove

However, it’s a little annoying that the mop can’t stand on its own, meaning it will have to lean against something or be attached to the wall. It does come with a grey plastic wall mount and even some screws, but that requires a level of commitment as well as wall space.

Bissell PowerFresh Slim Steam Mop Features – Easy to operate, but it turns on as soon as it’s connected to power

The steam power buttons and the indicator light are at the back of the appliance, above the handle. When first connected to power, the blue indicator light will start flashing. After about 30secs, the blue light stops flashing and stays on, indicating that the appliance has preheated.

However, the machine will start heating as soon as you connect it to a power outlet, meaning you have to remember to fill the water tank before you switch on the power. While I would personally prefer an on/off switch, this means you are one step closer to steaming by default.

The blue light tells you that the mop is ready to go

The water tank is at the top of the appliance and easy to fill. There are no minimum or maximum levels indicated on the tank. But the transparent plastic filling jug proves a little confusing, with indicators of 100ml and 200ml, and the text ‘2x Cups to fill tank’. As the tank here is 350ml, it’s really more just a cup and a half.

In addition to two different power settings, located left and right on the back of the appliance, there is a pause button. When pressed, this will be a kind of safety lock on the steam cleaner, meaning pulling the trigger won’t activate any more steam. However, the appliance will still be switched on and heating itself while paused.

The Bissell PowerFresh Slim Steam Mop comes with four accessories, but their quality isn’t all that different from cheaper steam cleaners

The main mop head comes with two detachable pads, one of which has coarser fibres in it for better scrubbing of the floor.

The plastic case contains four further accessories: a scraper tool, crevice and round brushes, and a detail nozzle. These tools appear fairly standard and interchangeable with, for example, those of the Russell Hobbs Neptune Multifunction Steam Mop.

The accessories can be stored neatly

While this is not necessarily a problem, the Russell Hobbs mop is half the price and comes with more attachments. What is more, I noticed the Bissell steam cleaner’s crevice tool had stiffer bristles but seemed to wear down more easily.

Still, the tools are all easy to attach, and don’t need additional joints here (like with the Russell Hobbs Neptune mop).

Bissell PowerFresh Slim Steam Mop Performance – Works well but some of the tools aren’t very durable

I started using this steam cleaner by mopping textured wooden floors. While the appliance heated up in about 30secs, it took another 30secs or so for the steam to start coming out properly.

While I was pressing the trigger, the cleaner was emitting a slight drumming sound. This is entirely normal and not too noisy, although it could initially disturb or worry new users. Nevertheless, the heated-up mop got rid of both stains and dirt on the floor, leaving it refreshed.

Hard floor test: Dirty floor (left) vs Clean floor (right) – move slider to compare

Then, I used the mop on some dried-up tomato sauce on smooth kitchen tiles. The mop got rid of most of the mess, with a few bits left to be vacuumed or wiped up. There was perhaps a very small hint of red left – oils from the sauce.

Kitchen tile test: Dirty tiles (left) vs Clean tiles (right) – move slider to compare

I did notice, however, that certain areas of the mop pad were affected by red, while others were still white, meaning the central bit of the mop gets more pressure than the sides and the pads are likely to wear out quicker in this area.

Stains aren’t transferred evenly to the mop head

Next, I mopped some textured bathroom floor tiles that had caked-in dust and oily stains. While mopping didn’t fix the grouting, it did leave the tiles gleaming.

Bathroom tile test: Dirty tiles (left) vs Clean tiles (right) – move slider to compare

Switching to the handheld option without the stick, I attached the crevice brush and set to work on patches of darkened grouting on my kitchen and bathroom floors.

While both were left gleaming white after a quick steam and a subsequent wipe, the crevice brush’s stiff bristles looked a little worse for wear. Considering I was only using it on small areas for a limited amount of time, I question this tool’s durability.

Using the detail nozzle for the sink and the round brush for the oven resulted in slightly cleaner and more hygienic surfaces. However, on the whole, something stronger than steam is likely to be required to tackle limescale and old oil.

The stove scraper proved quite handy, removing fresher burnt-on bits and grease from my ceramic hob. While plastic can’t really compete with metal ceramic hob scrapers – steam or no steam – it did a decent job here, leaving the hob shiny after a quick wipe with kitchen paper.

Hob test: Dirty hob (left) vs Clean hob (right) – move slider to compare

Should you buy the Bissell PowerFresh Slim Steam Mop?

Ultimately the Bissell PowerFresh Slim Steam mop feels a little pricey for what’s on offer. While it functions well as a mop, it didn’t blow my mind as a handheld cleaner and some of the accessories feel a bit cheaply made.

In case you’re just looking for a solid mop though, this model does a decent job although you can find better value options.

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