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.

We have builders in right now and my house is dust covered, grime ingrained and manky as hell. I would be most keen to give my oven a good fettling, before we bang it on Ebay and my floors a good scrub before we install the shiny bannister in the hall. Workmen's feet, dog paws and muddy snow boots have all conspired to make our house grungy beyond reason :D

I'm a non-tester by the way...

~ Did you find setting up the Steam Cleaner easy, were the instructions helpful?
Setting it up was quite easy although the directions were very sparse!

~ Where have you used the Steam Cleaner?
In the kitchen: cleaned the hob, extremely greasy cooker hood, mould on rubber sealant, kitchen tiles, woodwork in hallway, Kitchen window and laminate floor in kitchen.

~ What were your impressions from the first few uses?
Amazing! Easy to use, but quite noisy and I seem to spurt out a jet of water each time I start using it, but the steam follows quickly after. I would have liked a couple more cloths as they get dirty quickly (in my grubby house!)
~ What cleaning chore have you been most pleased with the results from using a Steam Cleaner?
I had some mouldy rubber seal by my kitchen sink that nothing shifted. I wasn't even going to bother with the steam but gave it a go and it blasted most of it away!

my biggest dirty secret would be the tiles/grout around and underneath the toilet....... eeuugh!!

Non - tester here (sob)

My dirty secret is the en-suite, as a room that visitors rarely see it is always bottom of the list for anything more than a cat lick. After living here for 10 years (was a brand new house) it is now awful. I sooo wish I had kept on top of it instead of letting it get to this. I would honestly rip it all out and start again if we could afford it. A karcher steam cleaner might just make the job manageable and possibly enjoyable!

My houses dirty secret - our bedroom. With door shut hiding it from non-family eyes I can't remember the last time I hoovered mainly because I can't see the carpet to hoover it. And the gaps between the struts of the head board - a mistake, we should have got a solid one. Thick layer of dust. I dont look ^^

I've had a steam cleaning epiphany!

I spent done quality time with steamy Steve earlier. I think I started off too ambitiously with my really very very very dirty glass cooker door, and limescale that we inherited when we moved in two years ago

For stuff like cleaning cupboard doors it's brilliant! Whereas usually I'd spray, scrub with wet cloth, rinse cloth, wring, scrub, rinse, wring etc, change water, scrub and so on, a quick blast then a wipe over and job done. I am impressed after all

It was particularly brilliantly disgusting on those really, really narrow gaps on the fridge and dishwasher where one part meets another. Run a jet of steam along and out runs brown stuff.

I think my previous suggestion that you do have to wipe afterwards is true. You toby just happily steam from a distance and that's that. You do still have to wipe away the actual dirt. I've been through a 10 pack of ikea flannels in the kitchen. It should deffo come with more cloths. I'd intended doing the wooden floor tomorrow but having done the kitchen lino I'll Need to clean the provided cloth first and I can't be arse. I'm no good st cleaning, they'd what got me here ikea flannels aren't big enough

Also on the subject of using it for floors, has anyone else found the cloth on the big head kind of rucks up after a big of use, even when clipped in tightly? I might suggest really strong Velcro like Lakeland mops might be better than the clips

Non tester - My dirty secret is I have been using the excuse of I'm getting an extension and new kitchen for 10 months now to avoid cleaning the oven! Please let me have one as don't think the new kitchen (and oven) will be here for a fair few months yet! As well as a downstairs bathroom without an extractor fan = lots of condensation and constant battles with mould on walls and grouting. Not sure my sons buying the "its a pattern" line!

I'm not a tester (waily waily) but if I was lucky enough to get my hands on a karcher steam cleaner, I would straightaway use it on the supposed to be white but are actually manky black bits of our windowsills.

I would then take it to the kitchen and use it on the lino.

Then I would take it into the bathroom and do the seal between the bath and the wall, then the tiles.

I'd maybe have a cuppa at this point, then I'd tackle the oven.

And if it is suitable for steaming curtains while they are hanging, I would de-wrinkle the living room curtains.

Of all those things, the dirty secret would be the windowsills...! Oh, and the painted wooden door jambs, they are looking a bit grubby too, now I come to think of it.

Non-tester here.

My wall tiles in the bathroom are shockingly neglected on the cleaning front (do steam cleaners do walls?!).

Also, we have a very small pantry/utility area which houses the washing machine, dog food tub and kitchen bin. Rather handily it has a door, which, funnily enough, closes, so when I accidentally drop a teabag on the floor next to the bin I can ignore the splatter mark rather well

we have wooden floor. i use mop but it just broke yesterday. i hate to clean under the sofa or cupboard. that the worst part.

Non tester here.

I want to clean my 13 year old sofa (which used to be gold tapestry but is now black with grime)

And most importantly my mattress (my moon cup runneth over )

NOT TESTER HERE :)

Which room in my house does not have dirty secrets! I think the worst is the oven. I spent over an hour trying to clean it last week and it does not look any different and still omits a burning smell when you turn it on...cleaning is clearly not my forte :)

~ Did you find setting up the Steam Cleaner easy, were the instructions helpful?
Yes it was easy to set up, and that was with a very nosy 5 year old hovering right there. Even though I read the instructions I would have managed the initial set up with out them to be honest. It wasn't really until I came to filling it with water and turning it on that I needed them.

~ Where have you used the Steam Cleaner?
So far I have cleaned my kitchen floor (twice, messy family), steamed the carpets and done half my bathroom grouting.

~ What were your impressions from the first few uses?
My initial thoughts were that it's a bit noisy when it's heating the water up, but actually it's very fast (just a couple of minutes) and the noise stops when it's up to temp. I also noticed a lingering odour which I think may just be the smell of plastic parts being used for the first couple of times, but I'll be paying attention as to whether the smell stops after further usage because although it's not a noxious smell, I personally find it a bit annoying.
A bit of a faff for simple jobs like mopping the kitchen floor, although it's nice not having to use chemicals with small children about.
Refreshing the carpets, well they definitely look cleaner, but I'll still be hiring a Rug Dr when I move out of this house.
Bathroom. Doing great things for my grouting, but I do wonder what I'm breathing in with all that steam in such a small room. Especially as it has been to cold to open the window for long.

~ What cleaning chore have you been most pleased with the results from using a Steam Cleaner?
The bathroom floor grouting. It's a bit grotty from being walked on so much with dirty feet, but moping never really gets between the tiles clean. One half arsed go and they look much much better.

I'm not brave enough to try cleaning the windows yet (don't want to crack them), but will be giving them a go just as soon as the weather warms up a little bit more.

I also feel that they need to provide another couple of cloths, especially the small one for the upholstery attachment. I did half the range hood over the oven and had to put it in the wash (and it wasn't even that greasy). It's easy enough to put cheap cloths on the big foot, but I really don't fancy having to sew a little pouch for the small foot.

My oven makes me feel ashamed every time I look at it - which is frequently as I do all the cooking It's gone beyond being cleaned now and I will need to get s professional in (or a steam cleaner)...

Non tester here!

The top of my cooker extractor hood could do with a good clean - I can't see up there so I ignore it but I know it's horrid up there! As for the top of the kitchen cupboards.............

Late to review sorry, I have been busy cleaning! I am overall loving my new spangly steam cleaner, although it is not the saviour of my sanity I thought it may be.

My house is pretty shabby really, a large Victorian rental property that could have done with an overhaul about 5 years ago. Laminate flooring in the kitchen and bathroom which needs replacing and shows up dirt really easily, a beautiful original tiled hallway floor, usually covered in dust bunnies and children's wellies, a daughter who loves nothing better than showering Ribena around and drawing on the walls, and her mother hates cleaning the oven. Well, her mother hates cleaning.

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

I looked at the instructions before looking at the cleaner, and thought, uh-oh, the instructions are going to be as much use as a chocolate teapot. Bizarre diagrams and patchy instructions once you had got through the very well-explained and thorough safety warnings. Luckily, the cleaner was really easy to put together, and it was easy to work out what attachments did what and where they went. I didn't really use the instructions to put it together, and just looked over them for basics for using the cleaner. I think they were confusing and need a rehaul.

~ Where have you used the Steam Cleaner?

So far I have used the Karcher on: Kitchen floor, cupboards, front and top of oven, hallway tiled floor, living room windows, whole of bathroom.

~ What were your impressions from the first few uses?

The first thing I tackled was the front and top of my oven / surrounding tiles. It is chrome with a glass "cover" for the top, and there is no extractor hood above it, so the tiles above it are covered in stubborn grease build-up. It worked well on cleaning the tiles, glass and chrome surfaces and in the nooks and crannies around the dials and door hinges, but sadly blasted off a couple of the symbols showing me what ring I am turning on . I also gave my cupboard fronts a blast. First impression; it was much quicker to clean everything, and using the small brush to blast stuff was fun.

I was pleased with the results on the kitchen and hallway floors, especially how much quicker the floors dried. Will take much pleasure in chucking out my manky mop and bucket soon.

I won't be using it on windows again, they looked really smeared after they had dried and I had to go back over them with a microfibre cloth, which is how I clean them usually anyway.

I also gave some felt tip drawing on a painted wood doorframe a blast, and it completely disappeared with very little effort! Very pleased!

I was really pleased with the cleaner for my bathroom, again, how much quicker it was to get the job done, and the short shrift it made of the grouting around the shower. And great for getting behind the loo without having to get down on my hands and knees and contort myself into weird shapes.

I think the actual cleaner could do with a lead tidy of some sort, and I think for the price you pay just providing one of each type of towelling cloth is pretty stingy. They get dirty very quickly, and I am having to wait to use my cleaner again until they are out of the wash.

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

felt tip removal and hard to reach corners of rooms / behind the loo.

Nontester here.

I would have to say that the grottiest, least easy to clean area would have to be the house.

Within that, I would like to single out the bathroom mould farm and corner hair display for honourable mentions, as well as that bit of the kitchen floor that is perpendicular to the walls.

The thin, semi-visible layer of Weetabix under DD's highchair is also particularly distressing. It has topography now.

Okay, I'm exaggerating slightly but please help! I have two small sticky children, a mould situation and a husband who seems to be moulting. I need an intervention here, people. If you can't send a steam cleaner, send Aggie and Kim. Stat.

HOPEFUL NON TESTER HERE
I have three stories of laminate or tiles and have to admit I very rarely do more than Hoover them and spot clean. the stone tiles in the kitchen are light grey and although mopped often I believe would change colour if cleaned deeper.
I also a bit crap at cleaning my oven as I simply hate it and am allergic to most cleaning chemicals so dh does it infrequently.

Oh yes, the oven. . Poor oven.

Well my walk in shower is ......well I'm glad I keep my eyes closed in there. The little grooves and crevices that cannot be reached by any device - I own....the build up of mould along the corners, the grouting and the doors could only be removed by a good steam cleaner.

Just adding to my previous feedback.

I have now steam cleaned my guinea pigs' cage. It was great for this as I have to be really careful when using chemicals. It took a bit of elbow grease but has made a good improvement. It'll be better if I do it each week though.
I also steamed DD's snow boots as she had an accident and they were covered in pee. I like knowing that any nasties have been killed.
I have a date with the steam cleaner and a gritty front door later

We have some muddy-sport crazy people, a few babies/todders and a mucky, mucky husband in our house so a steam cleaner would be a godsend to deal with the grimy bike and trailer tracks, grotty boot and shoe room and general baby-related detritus. A steam cleaner would be great for general kitchen, bathroom and floor cleaning in a house where we have to be careful about cleaning chemicals as all of us have eczema and allergies. It would probably provide me the courage to deal with the dreaded 'man-cave' that is my husband's study/relaxing room too!