For years, I fought a losing battle against the floors in my home. With a dog tracking in goodness-knows-what and kids who treat the floor like a napkin, my regular mop-and-bucket routine felt futile. I was just spreading scented water over a sticky, grimy surface. I desperately needed a way to truly sanitize and deep clean my hard floors without resorting to harsh chemicals, and the Shark Professional Steam Pocket Mop for Hard Floor (S3601) has been my trusted ally in this fight for a long time.
Before you invest in a steam mop, it’s crucial to understand what it does and who it’s for. A steam mop is designed to tackle one problem exceptionally well: deep cleaning and sanitizing sealed hard surfaces using only super-heated water. This process eliminates 99.9% of common household germs and bacteria without any chemical residue, making it a fantastic solution for a healthier home environment. The ideal customer is someone with sealed hard flooring like tile, vinyl, laminate, or sealed hardwood. It’s particularly beneficial for households with pets, young children crawling on the floor, or individuals with allergies who are sensitive to chemical cleaning agents.
However, a steam mop isn’t for everyone. If your home has unsealed hardwood, stone, or laminate flooring, the high-temperature steam can penetrate the surface, causing warping, discoloration, and irreparable damage. For those with unsealed floors, a traditional mop with a pH-neutral cleaner is a safer bet. Furthermore, if you’re looking for an all-in-one machine that can vacuum up debris and mop simultaneously, you might be better served by a wet/dry vacuum cleaner. Before you buy, consider your floor types, the size of the area you need to clean, the importance of chemical-free sanitization, and whether you prefer the consistent power of a corded model or the convenience of a cordless one.
- Product Note: If your steam pader is plugged in, steam should appear in the edges of the mob after about 30 secs. If your not seeing...
Unboxing the Shark S3601
The Shark Professional Steam Pocket Mop S3601 makes a straightforward promise: to deliver superior sanitization and a faster, easier clean for your hard floors. When you open the box, you’ll find the main mop body, a rectangular quick-release mop head for general cleaning, and a triangular mop head designed for corners and tight spaces. It also includes one washable, all-purpose microfiber pad for each head and a convenient filling flask to help you pour water into the tank without spills. This model is specifically for those who need a dedicated and powerful floor cleaning tool. It’s not for someone who needs to clean carpets or upholstery. It focuses on one job and aims to do it better than general-purpose cleaners.
Pros:
- Provides 99.9% sanitization using only water.
- Heats up and is ready to use in just 30 seconds.
- Intelligent Steam Control offers three levels of steam for different tasks.
- Dual-sided Steam Pocket pads effectively double your cleaning area per pad.
- Long power cord for excellent reach.
Cons:
- The unit cannot stand upright on its own, a major design inconvenience.
- Being corded can be cumbersome for some users.
- Some online reviews mention receiving packages with missing components.
- Durability can be a concern, with some users reporting it stopped producing steam.
- POWERFUL PERFORMANCE: Combination of powerful steam, targeted steam blast, and textured pads provide up to 50% better stuck-on stain...
- CHEMICAL-FREE SANITIZATION*: With the power of steam, remove grease and grime using just water — no chemicals needed and no residue...
- Powerful Steam Mop for Floor Cleaning: The steam cleaner handheld is a full-capability ready to take on grime anywhere. With 15-second...
A Deep Dive into Features and Performance
After using this mop for a long time, I’ve come to know its strengths and weaknesses intimately. It’s not just about turning water into steam; it’s about how the technology is applied to make the chore of cleaning floors less of a hassle and much more effective.
Intelligent Steam Control – More Than Just Hot Air
One of the standout features of the S3601 is its three-level Intelligent Steam Control system. This isn’t just a gimmick; it’s a practical feature that gives you precise control over your cleaning. The settings are labeled Dust, Mop, and Scrub, and they are selected via a simple, illuminated button on the front of the unit.
The Dust setting is the lightest and is perfect for quick clean-ups or for more delicate sealed surfaces like laminate or sealed hardwood. It provides just enough steam to lift light dirt and dust without oversaturating the floor, which helps it dry almost instantly.
The Mop setting is my everyday go-to for the tile in my kitchen and entryway. It produces a steady, robust amount of steam that easily cuts through daily grime, spills, and footprints.
The Scrub setting is the true powerhouse. It unleashes a concentrated blast of steam that is an absolute lifesaver for tough, stuck-on messes. I use this for dried-on food spills near the high chair, sticky soda spots, or deep-set dirt in the grout lines. You simply pump the handle a few times while on this setting, and the steam works to break down the mess, allowing the microfiber pad to wipe it away with minimal effort. This variable control ensures that you’re cleaning effectively and, more importantly, safely for any sealed floor type.
The Magic of Shark Steam Pocket Technology
The “Pocket” in the product’s name refers to Shark’s brilliant double-sided cleaning pads. Each microfiber pad is designed like a little pocket that slides snugly over the mop head. The magic is that steam is channeled through both sides of the mop head. When one side of the pad becomes saturated with dirt—and believe me, you’ll be shocked at how dirty it gets—you don’t have to stop and change it. You simply flip the entire mop head over with a quick turn of the handle and continue cleaning with a fresh surface. This simple innovation effectively doubles your cleaning time before you need a new pad, cutting down on interruptions and making the entire process more efficient. The microfiber material itself is excellent at grabbing and trapping dirt rather than just pushing it around like a traditional string mop. After cleaning, you just toss the pads in the washing machine, making them an economical and environmentally friendly choice over disposable pads.
Setup, Heat-Up, and Power
From plugging it in to cleaning is a remarkably fast process. The steam mop heats up and is ready to produce steam in about 30 seconds, which is a huge plus when you just want to tackle a quick spill. Filling the tank is easy with the included flask, and I strongly recommend using distilled water. Our tap water is quite hard, and using it can lead to mineral buildup that will eventually clog the steam nozzle and kill the machine. Using distilled water is a small, inexpensive step to dramatically prolong the life of your appliance. The 22-foot power cord is another practical feature. It’s long enough for me to clean my entire large kitchen and dining area from a single outlet. While some may see a cord as a drawback compared to cordless models, it guarantees you have consistent, high-powered steam from start to finish—something battery-operated models often struggle with.
Maneuverability and Design – The Good and The Bad
The S3601 is lightweight and features swivel steering, making it incredibly easy to navigate around furniture, under cabinets, and along baseboards. The included triangular head is a fantastic accessory for cleaning tight corners, around toilets, and in other awkward spaces where a rectangular head just can’t reach. It truly excels at getting into every nook and cranny.
However, I must address the single most frustrating aspect of this mop: it does not stand up on its own. This is a baffling design flaw. If you need to pause cleaning to move a piece of furniture or answer the door, you can’t just leave it standing. You have to carefully lean it against a wall or a countertop, and even then, its smooth plastic body often causes it to slide and clatter to the floor. It’s a constant annoyance that detracts from an otherwise excellent user experience.
The Sanitization Powerhouse
For me, the ultimate benefit and the primary reason I continue to use this product is the peace of mind that comes with chemical-free sanitization. Knowing that the super-heated steam is killing 99.9% of germs and bacteria is invaluable. My floors don’t just look clean; they feel fundamentally clean. There’s no sticky or hazy residue left behind, just the clean, smooth surface of my floor. Walking barefoot after a steam-mopping session is a completely different experience. This is the definition of a true, deep clean.
What Other Users Are Saying
Curious if my experience was universal, I browsed through dozens of online reviews. The sentiment was overwhelmingly positive, with many users echoing my amazement at how much dirt the pads picked up, even from floors that looked clean. People frequently praised its ability to sanitize without chemicals, calling it a “must-have” for homes with pets and babies. However, I also found that my frustrations were not unique. Several users reported the same issue with the mop not standing on its own, and a number of reviews mentioned durability issues or receiving units with missing parts, suggesting some inconsistency in quality control.
The Final Verdict on the Shark S3601
If you’re tired of the endless cycle of mopping that leaves your floors feeling sticky and questionably clean, you need to address the problem at its source: bacteria and embedded grime. The Shark Professional Steam Pocket Mop S3601 is a fantastic tool to solve this issue. Its powerful sanitizing steam and intelligent, dual-sided pad design deliver a level of clean that traditional methods can’t match. While its inability to stand on its own is a persistent annoyance, the sheer cleaning performance makes it a worthy investment for a healthier home. If you are ready for truly sanitized floors, Click here to check out the Shark S3601 and see the difference for yourself.
Last update on 2025-11-04 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API