Tell me all about steam cleaners.

[Tinker]

House is filthy and I'm lazy but do realise there are limits.

Which are the best ones?
Can they all clean carpets or do they have to be special ones?
Isn't everything just wet when after you've used it?
Are cheap ones any good?

Am quite excited at the idea of a clean house

Know there are other threads but search is down for maintenance

Are all the clean people busy cleaning?

They can't be that busy ks because they're discussing how to clean a kettle.

OK, I'll bite!

I've had 3 different steam cleaners, but none of them were great for doing whole carpet cleaning. I much prefer using a Vax or vaccuum-cleaner type wet vac.

For carpets, I think they are OK for odd patches, but they don't really remove any dirt, so still need to be used in conjunction with something else.

They are best at loosening gungy dirt - like the kind that collects around the seal of your hob or in the recesses between tiles. But all they do is loosen the dirt - you still have to clean it up with cloths or paper towels.

The areas you clean don't have to get wet, as the steam is high pressure. There's a bit of technique to be learnt.

Personally, I wouldn't buy too cheap. You want to make sure it produces high pressure steam rather than something that comes out of your kettle, and you want to make sure that it is comfortable and easy to use.

have to admit that we bought a steam cleaner last year and dh has used it on the barbecue, but I have yet to get round to using it in the house.

This says more about my cleaning (or lack of) than the efficiency of the steam cleaner

I've got one. No good for carpet cleaning, only spot cleaning as Ameriscot says. If you want to clean carpets you'll need a steam or wet vac of some kind.
What steam cleaners are brilliant for is cleaning hard floors and tiles.

i have a rather basic one and i use it on the car's tyres and to clean the lawnmower with successfull results.
i've tried it like they do on tele (on the oven, bathroom , carpets etc) and it does nothing at all!
RugDoctor which you can hire from Homebase is v. v. v. good for carpets though.

Agree Branster, normal cleaning agents are much better for bathroom, cooker etc.

Thanks everyone Hmm, so consensus is not much cop for carpets then.

I have hardly used mine because it is so awkward and big and just inconvenient and doesn't do a good enough job to justify all that lugging about. Has anyone used one of those smaller hand held ones?

WARNING - I AM NOT TALKING FROM EXPERIENCE... however I have heard that chemicals (cleaning agents) for cleaning have now been linked to childhood asthma so I have personally steered clear of a mass "spring clean" type thing - I would try really hard with a steam thing to avoid use of chemicals myself

serah - my problem is I have just steered clear of mass spring clean, never mind the chemicals

my steam cleaner doesn't use chemicals - just steam.

hee hee... do just that then chatee - I just hoover and wipe and ds is just dandy - and that is the plus of the steam cleaners redsky - not a chemical to be sniffed at

just got a lightweight one to kill moths in a lovely old rug. and the rug has come up a treat. haven't tried all the other attachments for tiles etc. earlex it is and I got it at Woollies after reading about it in the standard. but it says you have to do a patch test (we didn't as we were desperate) so am not sure if it is good for all carpets.

Good Housekeeping is reviewing steam cleaners this month.