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
My dirty secret is the kitchen floor. Natural slate with crevasses and grooves everywhere, baby food dropped daily, a cat that spends his life on the floor (loves the underfloor heating), and a husband who loves to come in from the garden without taking his shoes off. Yep, it really needs a steam clean.

not a tester. My home's dirty secret is the lino in the corners on the bathroom! They often get neglected and so the dirt and grime really builds up there.

Non tester here

My problem would be the kitchen floor, it was a lovely light coloured lino when we first put it in about a million years ago, now it looks dull and tired and despite all my cleaning - with mop, I'm not getting down on my hands and knees to scrub it - the mop never seems to get right up against the skirting boards or cupboard kick boards, I have a grimy line around the room! Also under the kitchen table where the cats tend to throw up after eating my spider plant..... I have to get down on my hands and knees then! Bleargh!

Non-tester

Our bathroom has no extractor fan so after 2 showers in the morning, the walls are running wet with condensation. The DS's bath toys are forever getting gunked up with black mould and there's now algae growing in between the rubber bit and the bottom of the shower screen (shower is over the bath). I feel like it's a never ending battle with the black mould. Oh and bath crayons.

Non-tester

Our bathroom has no extractor fan so after 2 showers in the morning, the walls are running wet with condensation. The DS's bath toys are forever getting gunked up with black mould and there's now algae growing in between the rubber bit and the bottom of the shower screen (shower is over the bath). I feel like it's a never ending battle with the black mould. Oh and bath crayons.

Oh heck, wasn't trying to get noticed twice, sorry for mucking up the thread.

Hmm, would a steam cleaner work on mucked up threads?

Non tester!
My dirty secret is my real 70 style bathrooms. I have scrubbed them for almost 2 years and it is still not clean. If it could all go in the washing machine it would be ideal but I guess a steam cleaner is about the same!

Non tester here, too.

My dirty secret is the porch floor. We live in Local Authority housing and it has those cheap vinyl tiles in the porch area. The door is too flush with the floor to change the flooring and the flooring is so old that a mop just doesn't do the job.

A bit of steam would work a treat, I think!

~ After a few uses, has your Steam Cleaner changed your cleaning regime at all? If so, how?

Yes I believe it has. I find that once I've pulled the steamer out, plugged it in, filled with water and waited the 6 mins for it to heat up I want to get as much cleaning done as possible to make it worthwhile. I've tended to do both bathrooms and the kitchen floor at least. I like to do a 'hygiene blast' on things as I go past them. Door handles are my favourite. They look no different but I know they are clean.
~ Have you tried the Steam Cleaner out on any of the following? If so, please tell us what the results were like:

1. everyday dirt Yes it's been good but it takes all 4 sides of the floor cloth for me to feel like its clean rather than just moving dirt about. Then I've to wash the cloth without softener so it needs to go in a certain bundle of washing then I can't do the floor again til it's washed and dried.
2. limescale in the bathroom Soft water area so not too bad. It took off the orange stains very easily though. Not impressed with it in the bath at all. Still left grainy soap scum. Chemicals still needed.
3. tough grease from the oven hood. Don't have an oven hood but the oven door has baked on grease and it made little difference.

~ Is there anywhere else that you've used the Steam Cleaner where you've been impressed with the results?
Children's toys - I know they are hygienicly clean. Guinea Pig cage. So much cleaner than I got it with pet safe chemicals and elbow grease.

~ If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the Kärcher steam cleaner to a friend or family member or not?
I don't know. I do think its a worthwhile tool but for a once a week deep clean rather than every day. I'd find it hard to recommend something this expensive unless someone said they were looking for a steam cleaner and have over £200 to spend.

Also as someone else said. Get rid of that advert on tv. Awful. Scrubbing and wiping and elbow grease is still needed.

Lastly, if the Karcher could suck up the dirt the way my Vax carpet washer does instead of just blasting it around I'd recommend it to everyone I ever met. Ever!

My 'dirty secret' is the floor of my larder, we moved in at the end of February and whilst I have cleaned everything else in it I still haven't done the floor and vents on the walls at the bottom of it. I'm now 38.5 weeks pregnant and don't see this happening for a while!
I'd also love to steam clean the sofa, who knows what grime would come off that before the new baby arrives!

NotInMyDay I also refold and use all four sides of the cloth to do the kitchen floor, and have a problem finding a wash to put it in.

Am I the only one who gets squeamish about putting something so filthy in the washing machine with anything else? Even if I used several cloths to do the floor that still wouldn't justify a wash, and I don't have a rugby playing son or mud-rolling dog to generate loads of filthy kit/towels.

~ After a few uses, has your Steam Cleaner changed your cleaning regime at all? If so, how?
Yes, I use it all the time in the bathroom and on the kitchen cupboard doors - I now use very little detergent as it cleans those surfaces very well without them. I plan to use it periodically on my wooden floors when they need a deep clean.

~ Have you tried the Steam Cleaner out on any of the following? If so, please tell us what the results were like: 1) everyday dirt 2) limescale in the bathroom 3) tough grease from the oven hood.
I've used it on all three areas and the results were really impressive - I love the way it shines up my shower screen - I just steam it and give it a quick buff with a microfibre cloth - before I was having to spray with Viakal, rinse, spray again with vinegar solution and then buff.

~ Is there anywhere else that you've used the Steam Cleaner where you've been impressed with the results?
I used it on the tiles in the shower room and those came up pretty well and the windows were simple like the shower screen.

~ If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the Kärcher steam cleaner to a friend or family member or not?
I'd definitely recommend it.

Non tester here

My dirty secret is the grout in the tiles on the floor in the back room of the house. We have two dogs and I can never, ever get the floor to look clean because the grout is so disgusting. I would love to get a steam cleaner on the floor to see what it could do!

After a few uses, has your Steam Cleaner changed your cleaning regime at all? Not really as I don't think it is suited to routine cleaning. For occasional deep cleans and "emergency" cleaning, yes, but it is simply too much faff to use on a regular basis for me. Having said that, I could probably see me using it for the kitchen floor instead of a mop.

Have you tried the Steam Cleaner out on any of the following? If so, please tell us what the results were like:
1) everyday dirt Good for the nooks and crannies of stupid panelled kitchen cupboard doors and it made short work of the muddy-dog-engrained grout of the kitchen floor. It also did good job of the difficult to clean hinges of my dishwasher.
2) limescale in the bathroom Good on the kind round the base of taps that is difficult to remove otherwise but I was disappointed with the glass shower door and the glass bricks of the shower enclosure. It cleaned the grout to the tiles well though.
3) tough grease from the oven hood. I tried it on the grease on the oven door and he results were disappointing. The mess it created via spray back was almost worse than the original mess!

Is there anywhere else that you've used the Steam Cleaner where you've been impressed with the results? Carpet stains. My living room carpet has been through three children dropping stuff onto it and has see better days, thus I was happy to try the steam cleaner on it (It couldn't get any worse!). It made a better job on the old stains than vast amounts of carpet cleaner had made on them when they were fresh spills. It also reduced a long-standing tea stain on my parents' carpet.

If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the Kärcher steam cleaner to a friend or family member or not? In all honesty, I'm not sure. I did like it but I feel it has limited use as it is cumbersome and would need to be stored somewhere. I am not sure that, at the RRP, it would get enough use to make it worthwhile.

I wish it had some kind of lid on the water chamber as it makes the carpet really wet if you accidentally pull the steam cleaner over!

~ After a few uses, has your Steam Cleaner changed your cleaning regime at all? If so, how?

I definitely clean the kitchen floor more - very easy and quick and it does dry far faster - and while I have it out, I do the surfaces, tiles and hob, the tiles would have been left for far longer if I didn't have the steam cleaner. I did the bathroom yesterday but don't think it was any more effective than cleaning with a cloth, even though it was faster. Shower screen still had marks on it. I cleaned the windows and was very impressed - a quick wipe down with a micro cloth and streak free shine

~ Have you tried the Steam Cleaner out on any of the following? If so, please tell us what the results were like: 1) everyday dirt 2) limescale in the bathroom 3) tough grease from the oven hood.

1. great for floors and windows, and removed an ingrained patch of dirt from the cat coming through the cat-flap effortlessly.

2. no visible difference to limescale but got the stains off the grouting very effectively

3. oven hood is relatively new so not much grease but when I did try it, it was still sticky after steaming.

~ Is there anywhere else that you've used the Steam Cleaner where you've been impressed with the results?

Fabric blinds in the living room came up like new - no other way of washing them so I'm delighted, and regret taking the blinds down from other windows because they had got too dirty

Grouting in the bathroom like new.

Windows were the bain on my life - always ended up with a streak somewhere - now easy peasy to do

~ If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the Kärcher steam cleaner to a friend or family member or not?

Yes I would - only gripe is the lack of cloths that limit how much cleaning you can do in one go. If you are like me and tend to blitz the whole house in one go, it's very frustrating to have to stop when the cloths are dirty. That said I will just order more cloths, but for the money I would expect at least 4 of each.

I would say, don't think like I did, that you are getting the equivalent of an indoor jet-wash. It's not. It is easy and effective but elbow grease is still required.

£200 spread over the year isn't that much, but that's not helpful if you can't afford the initial outlay

Thankyou Mumsnet for choosing me as a tester, and after reading these reviews I think I would have bought one, had I not been chosen.

Yes, where were my manners? Thanks for choosing me as a tester.

Tester here (namechanged from 12stonelighter50feettaller)

~ After a few uses, has your Steam Cleaner changed your cleaning regime at all? If so, how?

I am doing deep cleans and the floors a bit more often as I can do them quicker and easier. I find that if I am cleaning the bathroom floor I will give the underneath of the toilet / tiles a quick blast as well to use up the steam, when I maybe would only of tackled those bits as well every second time I gave the bathroom a clean.

~ Have you tried the Steam Cleaner out on any of the following? If so, please tell us what the results were like: 1) everyday dirt 2) limescale in the bathroom 3) tough grease from the oven hood.

Everyday dirt: I have used it on this, where usually I may have wiped surfaces over with a cloth if I am using the steam cleaner for something else in that room I will do everything with the steam cleaner. Good results.

Limescale in bathroom: I have not touched the Viakal since getting my steam cleaner, but I still think I am going to have to top up with some chemical cleaning occasionally to keep on top of it.

Tough Grease on Oven: I do not have an oven hood, but really pleased with the results on the oven door, tiles around the oven. I found it did not get rid of tough grease completely, but is good for loosening it up before cleaning with a cloth, rather than having to really scrub.

~ Is there anywhere else that you've used the Steam Cleaner where you've been impressed with the results?

Really impressed with how it makes short work of the fiddly jobs I would probably have avoided before, such as cleaning the buggy, behind the kitchen units and other hard to reach spots. The highchair is the best bit - I used to hate cleaning the highchair, but I love how my steam cleaner just blasts off all the old food, and is done in a minute.

~ If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the Kärcher steam cleaner to a friend or family member or not?

I would, yes, it can be a faff getting it out and water heated up for just one job, but it has sliced time off all of my big cleaning tasks, and I am a lot more confident now that my house is more sanitary!!!! I have already got a queue of family and friends wanting to borrow it to do deep cleans on their houses.

Forgot to add, that I have not used any other steam cleaner before, so I would probably not be able to recommend to friends the Karcher one per se (and therefore whether it is good value for money), but that I am pleased that I have a steam cleaner now and I would recommend my friends to invest in one if they have the money. I have mentioned to people though that they would need to buy extra cloths.

Oh, and forgot to add, I also am particularly impressed with how easy it is to clean hinges on oven door / dishwasher.

A non-tester here. My shower needs some serious attention. The grouting and bits around the door seem impossible to keep clean. I try to shower at the sports centre just to avoid looking at it! Unfortunately when the in-laws come to stay they don't take to showering at the sports centre and see the state it has got into....

Non-tester here

My shamefully dirty parts of the house are down the sides of the washing machine and behind the toilet where it's hard to reach. Also, the oven!

Non tester.

Eeurghh to clean under fridge/ freezer, when I try to get things from under there that my little one has pushed under, yuk yuk yuk.

Oooh to have shining bathroom tiles would be a bonus!

Non tester.

Eeurghh to clean under fridge/ freezer, when I try to get things from under there that my little one has pushed under, yuk yuk yuk.

Oooh to have shining bathroom tiles would be a bonus!

~ After a few uses, has your Steam Cleaner changed your cleaning regime at all? If so, how?

Sort of. The deep cleans are more frequent as it is so easy to change attachments and as it is faster than usual I find myself saying, oh I have five minutes I may as well do this while I am here.

~ Have you tried the Steam Cleaner out on any of the following? If so, please tell us what the results were like: 1) everyday dirt 2) limescale in the bathroom 3) tough grease from the oven hood.

Everyday dirt - great. Floors look better than ever. Bathroom tiles shiny.
Lime scale - it has had the best result of anything I have tried. I think once you are on top of it, and then do it regularly, it would be quite good. Initially I was disappointed, but having kept at it, more is coming off so I know it is working. We are in a very hard water area though.

Oven hood - we don't have a hood but I tried the inside glass. I was disappointed but admit my oven hasn't been cleaned in a long time!

~ Is there anywhere else that you've used the Steam Cleaner where you've been impressed with the results?
I tried it on a few spot stains on the carpet and was very impressed., it spurred me to do all of the carpet and we have saved the cost of the annual carpet clean!

~ If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the Kärcher steam cleaner to a friend or family member or not?
Yes! I think it is great and one of my friends has already got one!

Non Tester.
I NEED this thing, am a vomit phobic and with 4 children that is not great. Also, 1 has multiple food alergies as well as house dust mite . I really should be a bit OCD about my home but could do with some help ...