Non-motoring > Steam cleaners - any good?	Miscellaneous
Thread Author: BobbyG	Replies: 35

Wed 6 Nov 13 23:27   Steam cleaners - any good? - BobbyG

The missus seems hell bent on getting one of these electric steam cleaners thaf you see advertised all over the place. Probaby the Karcher one at about 100 quid. Her logic is that she would use it for floors, bathrooms, tiles etc etc. My logic says that its just because half her work colleagues have them and it will very quickly become tomorrows breadmaker, footspa etc Anyone got one? Thoughts? Reply to this message | Report message       1

Wed 6 Nov 13 23:40   Steam cleaners - any good? - Ted

SWM has some sort of steam mop which she does the Karndean in the hall and the kitchen floor with. Seems to use it a lot and is very happy with it. Other than that, I know little about it. Ted Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 7 Nov 13 00:19   Steam cleaners - any good? - Stuartli

I have a Polti Vaporetto 2400 (best price I ever found was £184 with Co-op Appliances online, against £279 retail). It does everything the cheapos do and vastly more on top...:-) See, for instance: www.amazon.co.uk/Polti-Vaporetto-2400-Steam-Cleaner/dp/B0000C71R1 However, the additional accessories on top of the basics do add a bit more price wise. Either way it's a superb product. My best mate has one and I used to borrow it, but felt somewhat guilty at doing so on a regular basis. So I checked out e-Buyer and, instead of buying a new one, got a used one for £115 plus delivery. It's in perfect condition, has all the bits and bobs and has upgraded parts and accessories. Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 7 Nov 13 09:19   Steam cleaners - any good? - bathtub tom

Daughter has one, but then went and hired a steamer to strip wallpaper. Gave me an odd look when I asked why she didn't use her steam mop. Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 7 Nov 13 11:29   Steam cleaners - any good? - borasport

We have a steam wallpaper stripper - very good at what it does, and comes with a load of floor and window cleaning attachments as well....... Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 7 Nov 13 10:30   Steam cleaners - any good? - Dutchie

Made me smile that name Polti Vaporetto.;) Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 7 Nov 13 10:21   Steam cleaners - any good? - VxFan

>> Anyone got one? Thoughts? Got a small hand held one (similar size to a kettle) that we bought from LIDL several years ago. Brilliant for defrosting the freezer, and also for getting any grime out of the door rubbers. >> The missus seems hell bent on getting one It's more of a mans toy apparantely. Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 7 Nov 13 10:43   Steam cleaners - any good? - Pat

>> Brilliant for defrosting the freezer,<< I just use the hair dryer. Pat Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 7 Nov 13 11:05   Steam cleaners - any good? - Alanovich

Which isn't a clever thing to accidentally get water in. Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 7 Nov 13 11:42   Steam cleaners - any good? - Mapmaker

I just use a couple of roasting trays filled with boiling water and topped up a couple of times. Don't get why you'd use anything else. (I also put the freezer in the garden whilst it defrosts, which reduces mess tremendously. Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 7 Nov 13 11:59   Steam cleaners - any good? - henry k

I give the boiling water a miss :-( Rather than use brawn to move a tall upright freezer I use a Braun hair drier and start from the top of our upright and work downwards. Plug the little spout in the bottom of the freezer and collect water I use a plastic long handled burger flipper to ease off the soft frost. All done in 45mins and a bucket of ice / water to show my efforts then just wait for the temperature to go down and then reload the contents. Simples Never had a coffin type freezer so no idea how to attack one :-) Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 7 Nov 13 12:01   Steam cleaners - any good? - Pat

There we are Alanovic, it seems I'm not the only one:) Pat Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 7 Nov 13 12:02   Steam cleaners - any good? - No FM2R

Switch it off, open the door, go down the pub for a pint or two. No hairdryers, hot water or steamers required. Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 7 Nov 13 12:53   Steam cleaners - any good? - VxFan

>> Switch it off, open the door, go down the pub for a pint or two. And what do you do with all the defrosted food when you come back? Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 7 Nov 13 13:10   Steam cleaners - any good? - No FM2R

Freeze it. Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 7 Nov 13 13:59   Steam cleaners - any good? - VxFan

>> Freeze it. 2 bob bits. Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 7 Nov 13 14:43   Steam cleaners - any good? - No FM2R

Hardly. Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 7 Nov 13 21:15   Steam cleaners - any good? - VxFan

>> Hardly. So, you've not had a spell of brown rain as a result of refreezing unthawed food and eating it at a later date? Your guts must be made of cast iron. Reply to this message | Report message

Fri 8 Nov 13 00:28   Steam cleaners - any good? - No FM2R

. Last edited by: No FM2R on Fri 8 Nov 13 at 00:30 Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 7 Nov 13 19:10   Steam cleaners - any good? - The Nut

>> Never had a coffin type freezer so no idea how to attack one :-) >> Wallpaper steamer to melt the ice and wet vac to get the water out is how I do it. Without a wet vac you have to bail it out and soak up the last bits of water with towels, not much fun. Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 7 Nov 13 13:10   Steam cleaners - any good? - Stuartli

>>I just use the hair dryer.>> That's what I used to do with a tall LEC freezer that last almost 30 years, until the acquisition of an auto defrost Beko fridge/freezer... Used to use the LEC's "ice" return as car battery distilled water. Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 7 Nov 13 13:58   Steam cleaners - any good? - henry k

>> >>I just use the hair dryer.>> >> >> That's what I used to do with a tall LEC freezer that last almost 30 >> years, until the acquisition of an auto defrost Beko fridge/freezer... >> When we replaced our previous freezer I had difficulty finding a similar capacity one that was the same size. The newest models had so thick insulation that capacity was significantly reduced. I decided capacity and manually defrosting was preferable than lower electricity bills and auto defrost. Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 7 Nov 13 14:13   Steam cleaners - any good? - Ted

I have staff to defrost ours. I do chip ice off the seal of the chest type one in the garage when it gets too thick.......quite good therapy ! Ted Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 7 Nov 13 14:33   Steam cleaners - any good? - Stuartli

>>I decided capacity and manually defrosting was preferable than lower electricity bills and auto defrost. >> Ah, I achieved both, thanks to my best mate having been in the audio/visual/appliances trade all his life and who owned his own independent retail outlet before retiring. He came up with this: beko.co.uk/Item/CF7914AP?col=&route=/BekoRange/Category-Refrigeration/Width-70cm/ which is some 20cm or so wider than the LEC and with virtually the same freezer capacity despite having only five rather than six bays...:-) I paid £469 delivered, with the old ones being taken away at the same time. Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 7 Nov 13 14:39   Steam cleaners - any good? - Ted

Beko, eh ? Hope the fire extinguishers are in good order refsafety.beko.co.uk/ Ted Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 7 Nov 13 17:15   Steam cleaners - any good? - Stuartli

>>Beko, eh ? Hope the fire extinguishers are in good order>> Well it was bought in early 2010 and hasn't given a moment's trouble. Neither have the two that my best mate owns nor the model acquired by the owner of the shop where I bought mine; such people know the good and the potential trouble of products they sell or could sell and buy stock accordingly. Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 7 Nov 13 17:50   Steam cleaners - any good? - rtj70

If you've registered your item with Beko I believe they are good at sorting out warranty/safety issues. We have a dryer which was in the batch effected in recent times and we had lots of communication from them to sort it. In fact both Beko and companies they had asked to help them out with the work. All sorted with little hassle. The dryer is never on when we're out and there's a smoke alarm nearby it in the cellar too. Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 7 Nov 13 14:44   Steam cleaners - any good? - busbee

How good is the Polti-Vaporetto-2400-Steam-Cleaner at cleaning carpets? I have a VAX upright cleaner that sprays a water mix and then sucks it back up plus the muck. I find it slow tedious work. The spray jet coverage is pretty poor. Last edited by: busbee on Thu 7 Nov 13 at 14:46 Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 7 Nov 13 15:00   Steam cleaners - any good? - Cliff Pope

>> >> I have a VAX upright cleaner that sprays a water mix and then sucks it >> back up plus the muck. I think that is the important bit about cleaning. Simply loosening dirt and then spreading it around thinly isn't really cleaning, more like leaf-blowing, just putting it somewhere else. It's what I have never got about dusting. My wife just wafts this coloured feather thing around pictures and ornaments, and the dust magically vanishes, it seems. It doesn't have a flexible extractor hose attached. Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 7 Nov 13 17:25   Steam cleaners - any good? - Stuartli

>>How good is the Polti-Vaporetto-2400-Steam-Cleaner at cleaning carpets? I have a VAX upright cleaner...>> Excellent. A cloth is used over the main floor brush and the "dry" steam attracts dirt from the carpet without soaking it; the cloth is changed as necessary. A two litre tank capacity means the Polti can be used for up to an hour or even more, whilst the steam temperature ensures that any cleaned area is fully sterilised. A VAX doesn't enjoy the most wonderful reputation....... Last edited by: Stuartli on Thu 7 Nov 13 at 17:26 Reply to this message | Report message

Fri 8 Nov 13 11:30   Steam cleaners - any good? - busbee

Thanks for that Stuart. I found this link www.steamcleanerreviews.org.uk/ that has 8 reviews. I see that Vax produces steam cleaners S5 and S6 that both have a lot of tools, and these are stored on-board. The S6 claims a 40minute cleaning time. Enough to be OK, I guess. The S6 via Amazon is £90. Cloths, one included, are £5-ish www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004J358BA/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=steamcleanerreviews-21 Not sure how it's other performance compares with the Polti. The flexible hose on some of these is very fragile, not sure if it was the Vax. Last edited by: busbee on Fri 8 Nov 13 at 11:32 Reply to this message | Report message

Fri 8 Nov 13 12:50   Steam cleaners - any good? - Manatee

We have one of these Home-Tek steam mops www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0048FTCQQ which is used for the hard floors in the kitchen and bathroom. Seems overkill to me, but the boss likes it. It's the thought of all those germs copping it that appeals. I have one of these (Karcher) in the shed, that I bought for a specific job a while back and haven't really found a use for since. www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004ISZDQG Reply to this message | Report message

Fri 8 Nov 13 13:45   Steam cleaners - any good? - Bromptonaut

>> We have one of these Home-Tek steam mops >> >> www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0048FTCQQ >> Could do with one ourselves for kitchen and bath/shower areas. I'm struggling with the concept of 'dry steam' though. Reply to this message | Report message

Fri 8 Nov 13 13:54   Steam cleaners - any good? - Focusless

>> I'm struggling with the concept of 'dry steam' though. 'dry' = superheated? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superheated_steam Reply to this message | Report message

Fri 8 Nov 13 14:19   Steam cleaners - any good? - Stuartli

If you hold your hand very close to the steam output on the Polti you will certainly know about it, but even a comparatively shorter distance away it's very different... My late wife made a big pile of suitable cloths to use with the steam cleaner and the beauty of this is that, even after being washed, they can be used immediately as they would get wet anyway...:-) Reply to this message | Report message

Fri 8 Nov 13 14:16   Steam cleaners - any good? - Stuartli

The VAX S6 seems to be at a very keen price. However, the build quality of the Polti model, which has been in production for some years, is excellent - on the lines of Miele and Sebo products. When I originally use to borrow my best mate's Vaporetto, there were three of us using it as and when necessary and that one is still going strong. Reply to this message | Report message