my friend is thinking about buying a shark steam cleaner...? but she has hard wood floors, is this safe?

I wouldn't. Use a vacuume with a brush attachment,].Dry swiffer it and use Bruce hardwood cleaner on it according to the directions.

I have a Shark steamer and I do use it a lot! It's the model that looks more like a canister sweeper; the tank is on wheels and it has a long hose that the attachments go on.

I have hardwood floors and it's been fine on them. You don't let the unit sit and steam for a long time in one area. And the manual says the unit is safe for sealed hard wood floors. If hers are sealed, then she should be fine. I also use my on the vinyl tiles in the kitchen and bathroom and to clean a lot of hard surfaces like counters, walls, trim, windows too.

I think cleaning with steam is great! So many less chemicals! However, you must pair the steamer with microfiber cloths to get the most efficient cleaning (the manual will mention that). I buy my cloths at Sam's Club where a bundle of 24 is less than $10. When they get dirty you just toss them in the washer and dryer (no fabric softener) and they are ready to go again. And with the microfiber cloths, you're not using expensive paper towels either. And after you use the cloths for awhile, you will see how really inefficient those silly things are for cleaning. I only use paper towels for draining fried foods and disgusting messes like kitty barf.

She will need to exercise a bit of patience when cleaning with steam. You have to learn to let the steam soften/liquefy the dirt or grease and then you can just wipe it away. We're so used to having to scrub like the devil to get things clean. But you do get the hang of that after a bit. I think that was the biggest learning curve for me.

I would go with bona, i'm sure rob will agree with me. Bona is one of the leading recommended cleaners. (i swear i dont work for them) lol.