Did you know you can cook bread with steam?
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The trend in modern or renovated Australian houses and apartments today is hybrid or composite flooring and engineered timber look products, rather than traditional solid hardwood alone, and this has led to a boom in robotic vacuum cleaners roaming homes like tiny lost pets looking for crumbs.
But there is another option, one that may actually require you to get off the couch and do a little work yourself, shocking I know, but it delivers a superior clean compared to most robotic vacuum cleaners we have tested.
The product ApplianceNews recently tested is the Tineco Floor One S7 Stretch Steam Mop, a machine that reminded me of the old Hoover vacuums from back in the day, except this one looks like it was designed by NASA engineers who were tired of sticky kitchen floors.
The big difference is that this device is a direct result of CAD CAM design and AI driven engineering, resulting in a premium, versatile wet and dry vacuum and steam mop that effectively combines vacuuming, mopping and sanitising into one step, basically the cleaning equivalent of having your cake and eating it too.
I hate to say it, but with robotic vacuum cleaners there are always bits they miss.
Somehow they can detect a single grain of rice from three rooms away but still leave an entire patch of dirt sitting in the middle of the kitchen.
Because of their compact design, the engineers simply cannot pack into them what Tineco has managed with its latest offering. 
Tineco Floor One S7 Steam review 
The Tineco S7 features a “Stretch” 180 degree lay flat design for reaching under furniture, 284 degree hyper steam for dissolving tough grime, and a highly effective heated self cleaning and drying system, ideal for today’s new generation of flooring and households where children treat the floor like an abstract art canvas made of yoghurt and toast crumbs.
Talk to any builder or architect today and they will tell you that most new homes and apartments are moving towards flooring that is water resistant, low maintenance and designed to deliver the natural look of oak, spotted gum, blackbutt or walnut, without the drama of old timber floors that reacted to moisture like a cat reacts to bath time.
Add the Tineco S7 to your cleaning arsenal and you have an easy to use wet dry vacuum cleaner specifically designed for modern homes. During testing we found it easy to set up, simple to operate and easy to store away in a cupboard, unlike robotic vacuum cleaners that somehow always end up stranded under a chair waiting to be rescued.
While the device is a little heavy, it is surprisingly easy to manoeuvre. Yes, it is also a tad bulky, but don’t let that put you off because that bulkiness is exactly why it cleans so effectively. Think of it as the difference between a serious cleaning machine and a polite little robot gently brushing dust around your house.
The first thing you notice is the excellent LED screen and how easy the device is to configure. It feels premium from the moment you switch it on.
Built in features include the “Stretch” 180 degree lay flat design for reaching under furniture, 284 degree hyper steam for dissolving stubborn grime, and a thorough heated self cleaning and drying system that means you spend less time dealing with dirty mop heads and more time pretending you enjoy cleaning.
What I particularly liked was the steam and heat process. The device generated continuous high temperature steam that cut through sticky residue, grease and dried on stains with ease. It cleaned so effectively that I briefly considered inviting people over just so they could admire the floors.
I tested it in a brand new townhouse after builders had handed it over and, as most homeowners know, a “professional clean” after construction usually means there is still enough dust left to start your own small quarry.
I was able to mop the floors in a single pass without relying on chemical cleaners.
The 180 degree Stretch Technology also proved genuinely useful, allowing the device to lie almost completely flat, around 13 centimetres off the floor, making it easy to glide under low cabinets and furniture. It reached places usually reserved for lost Lego pieces, dust colonies and the occasional missing sock.
If you are like me and absolutely hate the old process of rinsing and wringing out filthy mops, the Tineco automatically washes the brush roller using hot water and dries it with hot air, eliminating damp and smelly odours. In other words, no more mop bucket that smells like regret.
When I mentioned the device being slightly bulky, that bulk actually works in its favour because it houses a built in motor that helps propel the vacuum both forward and backward, making it exceptionally easy to manoeuvre, almost like the machine wants to clean the floor for you while gently judging your housekeeping habits.
And when you slide it under cabinets or beds, a bright LED light illuminates areas you normally cannot see, which is both useful and mildly terrifying depending on how long it has been since your last deep clean.
On the downside, you still need to empty, rinse and air dry the dirty water tank after every use to avoid unpleasant odours. Sadly, no amount of AI can save us completely from cleaning responsibilities.
While it offers up to 80 minutes of runtime in standard vacuum mode, using the full steam function drains the battery faster, limiting you to around 45 minutes of steaming per charge, which is probably enough time for most people before they decide cleaning is tomorrow’s problem.
This device is not designed for carpets, but for hard flooring it is easily one of the best products we have tested. The large LED screen is easy to read and gives you plenty of information right in front of you. With a robotic vacuum cleaner you usually need to grab your phone to see what is happening, whereas with the Tineco S7 everything is visible instantly, no app required and no robotic voice announcing that it is “returning to dock”.
