NOW CLOSED Kärcher steam cleaner feedback thread: Non testers – win a steam cleaner (RRP: £219.99) for yourself by letting Kärcher know your home’s ‘dirty secrets’

[AlexMumsnet]

This is the thread for the lucky 30 testers who were sent a steam cleaner by Kärcher and our currently using it to do the spring clean.

Kärcher say their Steam Cleaners "revolutionise home cleaning, tackling any and all frequent and difficult cleaning tasks with professional results and abolishing the need for hours of endless scrubbing! Our steam cleaner is a natural and environmentally-friendly solution that provides a family-focussed alternative from chemical cleaners that aggravate allergies and are harmful to children, killing 99.99% of all common household bacteria without the need for detergents"*

Testers are trying the SC 2.500 C

Testers: we'll be asking you to add feedback twice - we'd like your first impressions now and in a week we will add some more questions.

So, for your first impressions, Kärcher would love to know:

~ Did you find setting up the Steam Cleaner easy, were the instructions helpful?
~ Where have you used the Steam Cleaner?
~ What were your impressions from the first few uses?
~ What cleaning chore have you been most pleased with the results from using a Steam Cleaner?

If you're not an official tester but you'd like another chance to get a steam cleaner (RRP: £219.99) for yourself then please share on this thread where in your house could really benefit from a bit of a deep-steam-clean. What's your home's 'dirty secret' ? the place where you've let the grime build up and now can't bear to look at? Where would you most want to use the steam cleaner?

Thanks and good luck!
MNHQ

*When thoroughly cleaning with the Kärcher Steam Cleaner 99.99% of all common household bacteria will be killed on common household hard floor surfaces.

Non_tester:) I try to do my best and clean as much as possible, but my oven is far from clean. As I cook all our meals, most snacks and desserts from scratch, and I don't have dishwasher, it take ages to wash all dishes, clean worktop and hob and usually there is no time to clean oven properly too....

My toddler (nearly 2) creates filth in her wake everywhere. I confess to not cleaning the wall by the table where she eats as often as I could. Sometimes it feels pointless.
And what is the special ingredient in porridge that makes it so sticky and spready - I find it everywhere :(

god the sofa and the carpet in the front room - I daren't think of the stuff lurking in the cushions after various bouts of illness by DDs ... and the oven - ...... do NOT look at our oven .... or in the car - the carpets / carseat - again victims of my eldest daughter;s eagerness to recylce the contents of her stomach ....

If you're not an official tester but you'd like another chance to get a steam cleaner (RRP: £219.99) for yourself then please share on this thread where in your house could really benefit from a bit of a deep-steam-clean. What's your home's 'dirty secret' ? the place where you've let the grime build up and now can't bear to look at? Where would you most want to use the steam cleaner?

I'm afraid to say that it would be the festering Bio Hazard we currently have upstairs, aka my 14 year old DD's bedroom!

It's a room that not many dare enter, in fact, it tends to just be other teen girls so maybe they are immune to the dangerous gasses emanating from the various piles of 'clothing' and 'things' abandoned around said room.

Occasionally, I will open the door, hold my breath and grab the laundry basket out, hoping to see something in there to be washed and rescued. These once 'I have to have it' loved items of fashion are cleaned with love and care, then returned to the Room of Doom, to await their fate.

You see, we struck a deal, (as I did with my parents at around the same age), something along the lines of it's her own private space and therefore, if she keeps it clean and tidy, (you know, dusts or wet wipes the surfaces, vacs the floor and gives it mop each week), the she can have £5.00. I did push my luck by suggesting that in order to do the aforementioned, she'd have to pick her clothes and general tat other belongings up off the floor first but alas, no £5 notes have been issued for some time now

But as a teen I recall this being a compulsory task, not a chance to earn pocket money. It was a 'do it or else' kind of deal, which I suppose, doesn't really make it a deal does it?

The grout in my shower is full of mould. I have tried baking powder poultices and lake land mould treatment but it needs cutting away with a Stanley knife and replacing. I don't trust myself not to end up in a&e so have been putting it off.

Blimey. I have a really tall hallway with the loft..it's part of the thatched part of the house. I cannot reach the oldest, mankiest, largest set of cobwebs I have ever seen. That's my dirty secret!

Non tester with loads of dirty secrets!

I have beautiful quarry tiles in my kitchen, but although I sweep every day and mop a couple of times a week, they really could do with a proper deep clean. My 69 year ld mother puts me to shame with a hot soapy bucket and a scrubbing brush, but I really need to find a lazy method (aside from doing nothing, which is my preferred lazy method).

I'm not a tester but we could sure use this in our house. It's rented (from our friends) and I'm scared to give it back to them! The bathroom needs a proper seeing to! Hard with a young baby!

Non Tester here, and our dirtiest secret has to be our bathroom, it's got no ventilation, so gets really steamy especially in this cold weather, and as a result we have an awful mould problem, when we have guests over we literally have to get a ladder out and scrub the ceiling to get rid of the black marks, thankfully the tiles are a bit easier, but the only thing that gets rid of it is about 2 hours of elbow grease, and then in 2 weeks it's back to square one

Sorry, tester coming bit late to this thread what with RL getting in the way!

~ Did you find setting up the Steam Cleaner easy, were the instructions helpful?

Easy to set up but didn't really the instructions as they made it all a bit complicated.

~ Where have you used the Steam Cleaner?

Everywhere! Tiled kitchen floor, sink in kitchen, cooker hood and hob, units, tiled bathroom floor, around bath, loo and sink, some mildewy bits around UPvc windows. Grimey house obviously!

~ What were your impressions from the first few uses?

Its not made a huge impression tbh. I thought it would change my life lol! Everywhere quite wet once steamed and needs a good wipe with a cloth to stop streaks. Good for hardto reach places and around bath. Really good on floor around toilet, got some vile smelling stuff out, boak! The 2 terry cloths got dirty really quickly and the little brush attachment already looks worn.

~ What cleaning chore have you been most pleased with the results from using a steam cleaner?

The hard to reach parts, nooks and crannies. Moulded kitchen cupboard doors look great now. Not tried in on carpet yet.

Non tester here.

My dirty secret is the children's (girls) bedroom floor. Our 4 year old daughter is fascinated with making "potions" and gets everything she can get her hands on (secretly) This consists of toothpaste, shower gel, makeup, paint, talcum powder, body shimmer .... The list goes on. She then PAINTS !!!! (secretly again) the bedroom carpet. I have scrubbed it with all sorts of cleaning products to no avail. I think a steam cleaner would definitely help this :)

I have been totally sucked in by the TV ad for these!! Our house is a mass of smeared food, spilt drinks, scattered cat litter, fur balls, and cat food spillages. I am sure this could help with all of that!!

As for the hidden bits, hmm, well just don't look in the corners of the ceilings or the windows at all the yucky cobwebs, eurgh!

Non tester here

My dirty secret (blush) is my shower room -really needs a lot more elbow grease on the tiles and shower area than I have been giving it-I would be mortified if I had guest to stay at the moment-a steam cleaner would be a total boost and godsend. 3 children mean I am spending less time on cleaning than I should be!

Non tester

My dirty secret is our motorhome. I have just been in it, it has been off the road for about 6 mths, and realised it is very dirty. It never gets a proper clean as we are either in it on holiday or just back from holiday and not in the mood. The bathroom (which is an all in one job with a shower tray in the floor) could do with a good clean in all its nooks, so could to toilet- which for reasons which escape me has decorative indents which collect dirt.

The area of kitchen floor under my cat's food dishes leaves alot to be desiderd in the cleanliness stakes...

More feedback. It is finally warm enough to steam my windows without breaking them and Wow! I've never cleaned the windows so fast. My biggest problem was the squeegy leaving marks . They were done in a third of the time and a fraction of the paper towels. The only complaint is the hose gets to hot to hold.

Also I used the upholstery brush (with cloth) to freshen up DS's down jacket and it looks much better with out damaging the down in the washing machine. (he's an active 5 year old who get grubby sitting quietly, with this prolonged cold spell his winter coat hasn't stood a chance of staying clean!)

Also DD's highchair hasn't been so clean in a long time . The bonus was once I had blasted all of the crud out of the nooks and crannies I just changed the head and mopped it all off the floor. No faffing with a separate mop.

Non tester

I am mum to 3 small children, one of whom is a 4-year-old boy who is easily distracted and likes impressing his sisters with the tricks he can do whilst wee-ing. "Look no hands!" is the mildest.
We are in serious need of a steam cleaner.

Non tester here.

I'd like to put it to work on my oven its like the black hole of Calcutta at the moment. If it copes with that next would be my shower cubicle and my kitchen foot that gets loads of sticky baby food bits stuck to it and then it's nearly impossible to get the concrete bits off.

Sorry, only just got around to doing this, I've been too busy steaming things

~ Did you find setting up the Steam Cleaner easy, were the instructions helpful?

I found it very easy to set up, the instructions were ok for setting it up although it was quite self-explanatory anyway, but I thought they were pretty useless at telling you how to work it and what you could use it for etc.

~ Where have you used the Steam Cleaner?

I've steamed LOTS! If it didn't move, it got steamed! I've done tiles, bath, showers, toilets, sinks, oven hood, hob, benches, curtains, glossed woodwork (doors and skirtings), carpets, rugs, mirrors, windows, kitchen cupboard doors, laminate floor, lino.

~ What were your impressions from the first few uses?

I was very impressed. My carpets and rugs have come up lovely, infact the rugs look brand new! It is so easy and quick to use, the bathrooms are clean and sparkly in less than half the time I usually spend scrubbing. I can't believe how brilliant it is on windows, no streaks and I can actually see through them now!

~ What cleaning chore have you been most pleased with the results from using a Steam Cleaner?

Bathrooms, definitely (see above). Closely followed by windows. I usually spend ages polishing the windows so that they don't look all streaky as soon as the sun comes out. Using the steam cleaner, I don't need to polish at all, just a quick wipe over with a microfibre cloth after steaming, and they are perfect.

I honestly love this machine, DH and I have been fighting over who is going to use it . Working full time (sometimes away from home too) means I don't have much spare time as it is and really hated spending most of that time on cleaning. This makes it so much easier and quicker, it's just fabulous!

Forgot to add - the 2 cloths which were included are now a horrible dirty grey colour (even after numerous boil washes). I think there ought to be more than just the 2 included in the box.

Does anyone know if you can buy spares of the little cloth which goes on the hand tool?

Those of you who have done carpets, did you do the whole thing or just dirty bits? Which tool did you use and did you need a cloth to dab up the dirty bits?

Madamy I did stairs and landing carpet with the hand tool (no cloth on though). I didn't use a cloth after, just left it to dry. It brought all sorts of crap up to the surface which I just hoovered up once it was dry. I did the same with my rugs.

Non-tester here
It started with the morning sickness...bending over to clean to tiles and base in the shower was pointless as id get the urge to heave-ho pronto. Later in the pregnancy my girth has increased to a point where the logistics of reaching the now mouldy lower tiles was too much to contemplate... However, I'll be expecting many visitors after the the arrival of the little one...but I can feel the shame of an unclean shower burning on my (slightly puffy) cheeks. Only a karcher steam cleaner can save me now!

Non tester

My dirty secret is my skirting boards. I hope that people won't look down too much when they come in my house but over 3 years of having children constantly bumping into them with certain ride-on, scooting toys they would certainly benefit from a good old steam clean.