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Steam Cleaners


mint
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I have several questions about these.  Do they do "what it says on the tin", that is, get all the things in your house sparkling clean, the curtains, upholstery, oven, loos, etc. etc.

Does the steam not affect or fade linen and carpets?

Are the "mops" a hassle to change because presumably you'd want a mop for every job, not use the toilet one for the oven, etc?

IS it a more environmentally way to clean as the claim is that no detergents are needed?

Which steamer do you own and where is the best (ie cheapest) place to get one?

Sorry to ask so many questions all at once but I am thinking of investing in one to spring clean the house so I need to consider carefully and decide on whether to use a steam cleaner or straightforward elbow grease.

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Ours in UK is a fairly basic model, second hand from my SIL, who bought one with all the bells and whistles. So far we've only useit on it did a pretty good job, as they hadn't been cleaned for a long time! My only previous experience had been with a Bex Bissell and cleaning liquid - quite hard work, although fairly effective. I prefer not to use cleaning chemicals as far as possible, so this 'new' machine suits me. My SIL is a very keen cleaner, unlike me - and she used it for many areas of the house - curtains, furniture etc - don't know about WC! I must ask her! [:)]
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We have one in the French house and one in England. Kitchen and bathroom cleaning tends to be done with the high-pressure steam jet tools, with or without small brushes, which are good for dislodging limescale on taps etc, burnt-on stains on oven and hob, and for cleaning the joints of tiled surfaces. I only use the mops for floor cleaning. The steamers are excellent for cleaning carpets and rugs. Both cleaners have separate tools for cleaning windows etc.

We've had the French one for ages, it's made by Domena. Can't remember where it came from or how much but it was quite expensive. The England one is made by Vax. The Domena is more powerful, the Vax much better made. The other major difference is that the Domena comes with an iron, which I don't think has ever been used, and a tool for stripping wallpaper which has been invaluable in France.

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Thank you, Will.  I'm definitely going to buy one.  If only because whereas in the UK, I'd get someone in to clean the carpets and the furniture, I think it's a case of getting on with it yourself here in France.

Hey, that's an idea, why don't someone set up an AE going around people's houses cleaning carpets, rugs and upholstery?

Silly me, there'll be all the rules and regulations to consider and insurance to take out in case you damage something or yourself![+o(]

Why does everything have to be sooooo complicated here?  Now don't all shout me down, I'm a Francophile, remember?[:P]

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We bought one a few years ago when they first came out from a TV shopping channel - it is called a Steam Buggy.

We use it for removing grease from hard to reach areas on the cooker and for the shower room. We have cleaned the upholstery in the car too. We bought it initially because I have multiple chemical sensitivity and am limited in the cleaning products that I can use. My only reservation with the model we have is that it has a small reservoir and one has to allow the machine to cool down before refilling it. I am sure that more modern ones are more efficient and user friendly.
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Sweet 17 wrote "

Hey, that's an idea, why don't someone set up an AE going around people's houses cleaning carpets, rugs and upholstery?

 

Unfortunatly Sweet not many French people have carpets and rugs, and looking at the price of them in France I'm not suprised. We bought a steam cleaner in Lidl and it does a fabulous job on the floor tiles. Not sure about the upholsterey as we haven't used it on that; and as our curtains are very lightweight  they go into the washing machine.

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But, Nick, the carpets/rugs, curtains, upholstery get sooooo grubby with the woodburners.........

EVERYTHING is black, including the OH and I wouldn't mind somebody coming and giving the whole lot a once over every spring time.[geek]

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Oh, Clair, what lovely memories!  We've discussed all this stuff before and Ali Cat was around!  OK, gonna get one soon but I suppose Amazon UK will be the cheapest?

GG, do you want to come over and do my cleaning and do the OH at the same time?[:P]

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I've got a teeny hand held one (shaped like a penguin) and its the best thing ever for kitchen and bathroom tiles, grout and horrible cookers. Also works well on stains in carpets and car upholstery and does a very quick freezer defrost. When I have (eventually ) got my renovated house with tiles over the ground floor i'll go for the full size version. But in the meantime it's amazing what the baby version can do.

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[quote user="confused of chalus"]I've got a teeny hand held one (shaped like a penguin) and its the best thing ever for kitchen and bathroom tiles, grout and horrible cookers. Also works well on stains in carpets and car upholstery and does a very quick freezer defrost. When I have (eventually ) got my renovated house with tiles over the ground floor i'll go for the full size version. But in the meantime it's amazing what the baby version can do.

[/quote]

Mmmmm, (thinks......) I've got one of those, bought off the tools truck a couple of years ago for about 35 euros and only used once.  I noticed it lying in the garage last week.  I think I will give it another try and with a more positive attitude.  Thanks Confused.[:)]

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Had lunch with SIL today; she would only recommend her new posh steam cleaner for carpets, not tiles etc, although it has a bigger reservoir and is lighter than the one she passed on to me. This one I now have is a Vaporetto 2000R, made by a company called Polti.

I did look on the 'Which' website when I found our password etc, but they haven't done test reports on steam cleaners, which seemed odd, considering they are so popular!

 

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Many thanks for starting this thread Sweet.  We were looking at trying to 'restore' our quarry tiled floors to their former glory and all the advice says strip all the old stuff off them then use a steam cleaner to ensure it's properly clean and dry.  Finally seal - circa 8-10 coats.  The instructions were quite adament about using a steam cleaner to clean after stripping.  Apparently the cleaning / stripping agents react with the sealing chemicals if not properly removed. We originally tried the linseed oil / white spirit mix as recommended by Agenais (not sure if anyone remembers them...going back a few years).  The tiles looked fine for a while then deteriorated.  I (or should I say the wife) am obviously not as dedicated as them in reapplying the stuff to keep the tiles looking good.

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Well, Richard, when you have given the tiles your proposed steam treatment, please come back and let us know the results, won't you?

Yes, I'm definitely going to research makes and prices (not to mention the size of reservoirs!) and then, my upholstery and carpets will be clean and I won't feel such an inadequate housewife after all![:D]

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We have a Voporetto (which is pretty much top of the range as far as domestic machines go) and like most things on the shopping channels it is ok but does not really live up to the hype.  I wanted it to clean the barbecue etc which it does sort of ok but nowhere near as well as the adverts.

Would I buy another? Probably not.

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