Karcher window (and shower) cleaner

[Chancer]

Quillan recommended this on another thread, i took his advice and ordered on.

WOW!!! [:-))]

What a superb bit of kit and labour saver, absolutely amazing, and nice to find something cheaper in France then the UK, mind you with it being made in Germany and sold by Amazon it should be cheaper here, also really good to get an on time delivery during May.

Q. What product do you use in it to do both Windows and calcaire spots on shower glass panels?

I used some diluted W5 anti-calcaire that you use, it did the Windows OK but is there anything better without resorting to buy the Karcehr stuff, just vinegar perhaps?

Mine is the WV2 plus machine.

Are there any bits or consumables that I need to stock? Bits that wear out or are fragile and could break?

I'd like a similar lightweight machine for drying tiled and laminate floors after mopping them.

[Loiseau]

I notice that my local Homebase is offering 15% off everything tomorrow (pre bank-holiday weekend), including one of these gadgets, making it a couple of quid cheaper than Amazon uk.

Reading your post, Chancer, I am seriously tempted to get down there and snap one up!

Angela

[Chancer]

Chack the prices and the model types on Amazon.uk and .fr first.

I think the basic one doesnt come with the pump bottle the you use first to spray and then clean the surface, to me its essential but you may have something else that does the job, what the vac does is to remove all the moisture and leave a smear and streak free finish.

Before i was doing things like mirrors, Windows, shower screens several times and having to let them dry between.

[JohnFB]

Leclerc have a similar Polti machine on offer at 34€, At least here. Not tried it yet. It does not come with the bits and bobs like sprayer. But I plan to use it with my usual soda crystal solution by hand anyway.

JFB

[Quillan]

For showers, including the glass, I have found over the years that Ajax Power Shower is the best thing to use. I use one of those sponges with and abrasive on one side but importantly the one for bathrooms as the ones used in kitchens (the green ones) are too abrasive for acrylic baths and will leave scratches. Rinse off afterwards then I go on to clean the sink (lidl's bathroom cleaner) then back with the Karcher for the glass bits on the shower.

The only addition I have bought is the smaller width blade for the bi-fold shower door and the small glass panes in our dining room door.

I mentioned the microfibre sports towels and cutting them up into cloths, much better and thicker than the microfibre kitchen cloths and last a lot longer (mine must be 8 or 9 years old now and still OK). I use these along with the Lidl window cleaning liquid for the mirrors (and, strangely, the chrome bathroom pedal bins but hey it works for me), works a treat without smears.

I do not use any chemicals on windows (or floors), I use the Karcher steam cleaner,

http://www.amazon.co.uk/K%C3%A4rcher-1020-Steam-Cleaning-Station/dp/B004ISZDQG

I believe the latest version is called the SC4 which is basically the same but a lot more money whilst its predisessor is being sold off cheap as it was about the same price before.

I bought mine from Amazon Germany because they were a lot cheaper than both France and the UK at the time even when you included postage. You only use tap water (not distilled water like some others) and the tank can be filled with the machine still running so not having to let it cool to fill it.

I did a review on the steam cleaner and said that I made my own clothes (that fit over the floor head) but to be honest I reverted back to the Karcher cloths and they are fine. The other 'negative' thing that people said was the length of power cable but I bought a cheap 10M extension from Carrefour and that does the job. We have very hard water so I use a descaler once a month and the machine gets used every day. Some say the Karcher leaves streaks on the tiles and it does the first few times you use it. If you RTFM (read the f*cking manual) they clearly say that this is not from the machine but from the chemicals you used when you cleaned before with a mop and bucket and it takes a couple of cleans before the chemicals are removed. This I can vouch for as being correct and after a couple of cleans there are no smears. It is much quicker and drier than using a mop and bucket. Whilst still (slightly) wet it evaporates very quickly. Another good buy in my book. There is an adapter with it for cleaning the toilet and you can buy a brass head for the adapter that cleans cooker ovens and the BBQ grill amongst other things.

With windows I use the steamer with the small head and then use the window cleaner to vacuum the window afterwards. I also use the small head for cleaning kitchen work surfaces and cabinet doors because it kills 99.9% of germs.

I forgot to add that the steamer is not a vacuum cleaner so you need to vacuum the floor first although reading some of the reviews people are so dumb they haven't worked that out yet.

If you're pleased with the window cleaner you will also be pleased with the steam cleaner, trust me on that.

I would think that running the steam cleaner without chemicals is the same as using a floor cleaning liquid if you take into account the electricity used.

Oh and another thing I use it for it matresses. Although we have the required rubber protectors I steam them once a year to kill any bugs etc. Its very quick taking a couple of minutes per matress but you need to leave them overnight to dry off hence I do them at the end of the season.

Hope that helps.

[Quillan]

[quote user="JohnFB"]Leclerc have a similar Polti machine on offer at 34€, At least here. Not tried it yet. It does not come with the bits and bobs like sprayer. But I plan to use it with my usual soda crystal solution by hand anyway.
JFB
[/quote]

We have a backup steam generator iron made by Polti and I have to say it is crap. Kartcher were the first to produce these things and owning several different products from them (steam cleaner and pressure washer) they do exactly 'what they say on the tin' and are very reliable unless abused.

[Chancer]

I bought a steam floor cleaner new and boxed for next to nothing at a car boot sale, just as well as that is all that its Worth!

My niece brought over her sisters one and she is a bit maniaque and had gone through several before buying a decent expensive one, it was very good with none of the shortcomings that mine had.

So for Windows, tiles, mirros and glass shower doors you first clean them by hand and then just Hoover them off with the Karcher, is that it?

So you dont use the squirty pumpy wipy thing then?

I dont really have room in my flat for a floor steam cleaner and its my entrance/kitchen floor which gets the most cleaning as I am always walking through from my site and I have to keep it clean for when customers arrive, at the moment its just a broom then a microfibre mop, takes no time as its done so often, less faff than a steam cleaner, I might get one for the changeovers though and I can always borrow it from time to time.

Here is one of my top tips for changeovers, commercial washing machine and tumble drier.

I got a pair of 2 year old American Maytag Neptune units on EBay for £200 the pair, they cost about £3K new, the parts are dirt cheap from the USA, it cost me $20 for a complete bearing kit, and they are like lorry bearings, in europe its a new drum assembly which costs almost the value of the machine, I have just bought a brand new 250v 5KW heating element for another $20 as I have found that it had been derated to 2KW, it is going to be lightning fast when up to full power.

One load will swallow bedding and towels, bathmats etc from two flats plus my own weeks washing and it only takes 30 minutes or so for the whole cycle, a large diameter drum and I have reprogrammed it for 1000 rpm spin speed, everything is programmable on it, how much people pay for each cycle, cheap rate periods, truly impressive kit normally found in a launderette.

[Quillan]

[quote user="Chancer"]

So for Windows, tiles, mirros and glass shower doors you first clean them by hand and then just Hoover them off with the Karcher, is that it?

So you dont use the squirty pumpy wipy thing then?

[/quote]

Yep thats about it. I only hoover off anything glass like shower doors and windows but not mirrors.

We use two standard domestic washing machines and two driers. We are now on our 4th replacment washing machine but the house insurance pays for the new ones and we have no access on the policy. We have also had three semi proffesional irons (the type with seperate steam generators) replaced FOC under insurance as well without problem or increase in premium. After the first ones became knackered we got to understand the French system and now use it to our advantage. We even get loan machines while waiting for the new ones to arrive. I know a lot of people knock AXA but they (or should I say our local agent and his brother who owns the local electrical shop) work well enough for me. [;-)]

The Karcher also sucks up spillages on the floor I discovered when a bucket split and the water came out all over the place.

[Chancer]

Yes I tried it with a glass of water on the worktop, its what got me thinking about a floor one but now I think about it the steam cleaners are the best.

If there were a lightweight multi - use one, sort of a Dyson genre I would buy it.

I need something to do floors, to break down to something portable for the stairs, to generate stem continuously even when refilled or at least to heat up really quickly, and ideally I want it to be portable for the wooden stairs.

Probably asking the impossible.

[Chancer]

I have also got a couple of those steam presses for ironing sheets and towels, the ones that look like a cross between a midget surfboard and a panini grill.

They are superb, sheets, pillow cases, duvet covers and towels ironed in seconds.

I do more ironing in a day now than I have done in the last decade but its a lot quicker.

[Quillan]

[quote user="Chancer"]

Yes I tried it with a glass of water on the worktop, its what got me thinking about a floor one but now I think about it the steam cleaners are the best.

If there were a lightweight multi - use one, sort of a Dyson genre I would buy it.

I need something to do floors, to break down to something portable for the stairs, to generate stem continuously even when refilled or at least to heat up really quickly, and ideally I want it to be portable for the wooden stairs.

Probably asking the impossible.

[/quote]

I refer to my previous reply.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/K%C3%A4rcher-1020-Steam-Cleaning-Station/dp/B004ISZDQG

Its about halfway between a football and a basket ball in size and does exactly what you want. In fact it is even better because for stairs you simply remove on of the tubes so you don't even have to get down on your hands and knees.

These upright ones where the steam unit can be removed use a different system to generate steam than the Karcher. They use a 'plate boiler', thats a heated metal plate that water drips on to create steam just like a normal all-in-one steam iron. The Karcher, just like the iron with the seperate steam generator (and a steam wall paper stripper), has a tank with a heating element and it boils water giving off steam. A seperate tank is mounted on the outside that you can remove and fill with tap water that when inserted tops up the 'boiler' when it needs water. This means you don't have to turn the steamer off to refill it. What this means in practice is that I can clean 150m2 of cloor before I need to top it up. This is why the cheap integral mops take quicker to poduce steam that the Karcher. It's not a problem becuase I set mine up before I hoover and by the time I have finnished my second room (about 5 minutes) it's ready to go.

When you go to Darty to look at Tablets they may have one there you can look at. I see they only sell the SC3 and the SC5. These are new versions of what I bought and whilst looking at the prices and the differences if I was to buy a new one I would buy the SC5 (which you can buy an ironing attachment for by the way).

If you look around at prices they are quite diffrent.

Amazon UK sell it for £309 (€435) but you can't have it delivered to France plus I wouldn't trust using a UK to French power adapter in wet conditions.

Amazon France sells it for €376

Amazon Germany sells it for €293

Darty sells it for €449

Pays to shop around, I buy a lot of stuff from Amazon Germany, they are often the cheapest even when you add in delivery.

 

 

 

 

[Quillan]

[quote user="Chancer"]

I have also got a couple of those steam presses for ironing sheets and towels, the ones that look like a cross between a midget surfboard and a panini grill.

They are superb, sheets, pillow cases, duvet covers and towels ironed in seconds.

I do more ironing in a day now than I have done in the last decade but its a lot quicker.

[/quote]

You iron towels ! [+o(]

[Chancer]

Marketting Q, you wouldnt let your sign become covered in cobwebs would you?

[IMG]http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff295/jr7man/Coquelicotel/CIMG2790_zpsb9f34319.jpg[/IMG]

I just fold them like you would anyway, the creases still show after washing and half a second in the ironing press and its done.

Myself I have never ironed a towel in my life, I have a trouser press thats rarely used, I might do a shirt for a wedding or interview and I havnt had the latter in over 30 years!!!

I can say with certainty that I have cleaned more Windows in the last 24 hours than in my whole lifetime!

[Pierre ZFP]

This wasn't you was it Chancer?  (BBC website)

Stained-glass windows of Paris's Sainte-Chapelle restored

20 May 2015 Last updated at 05:32 BST

One of the wonders of medieval Europe is officially back on display in the centre of Paris.

The stained glass windows of the Sainte-Chapelle have been painstakingly taken down and cleaned to remove centuries of dirt.

The

work has been done to mark 800 years since the birth of King Louis IX.

He commissioned the building of the chapel in the middle of the 13th

Century to house a religious relic.

[Quillan]

They look a bit scruffy and thats the ironed version? What happens to the ribon, do you find it afterwards and re-use it.? [;-)]

We don't iron ours, we leave them nice a fluffy then I 'roll' them (see room photos on website). You do know there is a whole thread devoted to towels and folding them (a whole 8 pages worth would you believe [:(] ).

http://services.completefrance.com/forums/completefrance/cs/forums/8/1451026/ShowPost.aspx#1451026

Never let a woman iron a mans shirt.

[Chancer]

When i looked that the photo I realised that it was not a good one, it was one I took a long time ago just to show someone what I had bought, another thing to action.

One ribbon dissapeared during a 6 month tenancy, no surprise really, the others will surely go the same way, they are actually the microfibre towels that you use for cleaning, great for me because they dont get scruffy and are dry straight from the washing machine, they actually do a good job of drying the body and dry out very quick so dont smell but as a guest I would not be over impressed with them, they dont give the same feel as a luxury bath towel.

Perception is everything and they will be changed like lots of other things where I bought cheap.

[Loiseau]

QUOTE QUILLAN

Never let a woman iron a mans shirt.

Yay! Best thing I have read on this forum!!

[idun]

re Ironing towels. I used to have to in summer in France. I would put them outside and they would literally bake hard in the sun and be dry very very quickly, quicker than any tumble dryer. A quick iron would soften them. So yes, I have ironed towels. Incidentally I did try shaking them hard, but that never worked, the iron did.

[Quillan]

[quote user="Loiseau"]QUOTE QUILLAN Never let a woman iron a mans shirt. Yay! Best thing I have read on this forum!![/quote]

Yes but do you know why?

Women should never be allowed near dishwashers either.

[Quillan]

[quote user="idun"]re Ironing towels. I used to have to in summer in France. I would put them outside and they would literally bake hard in the sun and be dry very very quickly, quicker than any tumble dryer. A quick iron would soften them. So yes, I have ironed towels. Incidentally I did try shaking them hard, but that never worked, the iron did.
[/quote]

In the drier, lowest temp for 5 minutes. I worked aout a long while ago that the length of time it takes to wash in the machine is exactly the right time for towels to be at the point of the five minutes in the drier or for sheets to be ironed. As any professional ironer will tell you never iron sheets when they are completelty dry.

[Chancer]

[quote user="Quillan"]

In the drier, lowest temp for 5 minutes. I worked aout a long while ago that the length of time it takes to wash in the machine is exactly the right time for towels to be at the point of the five minutes in the drier or for sheets to be ironed. As any professional ironer will tell you never iron sheets when they are completelty dry.

[/quote]

I'm Learning all this on the hurry up, I've never used a tumble drier in my life, nor ironed sheets, towels etc, now I have no choice so have a lot of catching up to do.

Being a bloke I'm sure I approach this from the same angle as Quillan, ignorant at first, something that I now have to do that I didnt do before by choice, So Q, can you please explain the above a little better? I'm sure its good advice, the tumble drying and ironing is something causing me problems at the moment through my inexperience but I'm afraid I just dont understand the above, what it is you are trying to say.

[Quillan]

Assuming a sunny day.

It does not matter which way round but let start with towels.

Put them in the washing machine. A normal cycle takes around 50 minutes at 30 deg (best temp if you have coloued towels as they tend to fade less).

Take them out and put them on the line to dry and put the sheets in.

When the sheets have finished the towels will be almost dry so stuff them in the drier for 10 minutes and hang the sheets out. 50 minutes later they are dry enough to iron. The towels will be nive and fluffy after the 10 minutes in the drier.

Your not stupid so you will work it out. [;-)]

[idun]

Iron when damp, is that what you are saying. Well, I would have had to put a timer on after hanging my sheets and towels out in mid summer in France. Because, they would simply bake dry in very very little time. And in the hot of the day in France, there is no way I would have started ironing 'damp' things.

And towels and bedding at 30° beurk! are you serious, 60° kills off germs left by faeces and general nasties.

This is from the NHS, but actually my mother taught me this,that such things as towels and bedding always had to have a very hot wash, although it does say that a lower heat is OK with a bleach product, which is fair enough.

Laundry

• Wash your hands after handling dirty laundry.
• To prevent the spread of germs, all underwear, towels and
  household linen should be washed at 60C (140F) or at 40C (104F) with a
  bleach-based laundry product.
• Run the washing machine on empty once a week, either at a high
  temperature or with a chemical disinfectant to prevent the growth of
  germs.
• Don't leave laundry in the washing machine, as any remaining germs can multiply rapidly.

I now realise why I never wanted to run a b&b.[:D]

[Chancer]

My investment in a proper launderette washer and dryer has been very much appreciated by my short stay guests that are nonetheless travelling for some time, in general the Australians, I built the laundry after losing a potential long term tenant that wanted to put his own machine in the flat which could have flooded all 3 storeys so was a no-no, he was fed up with hanging around in laundries.

I remember when I was a backpacking traveller laundry was a very important part of my life, personal hygiene and as a result health and fitness, you only carry a very limited amount of clothing, maybe one or two changes of outer wear and socks and pants for a week if they are used Inside out and back to front [:P]

All decent hostels had laundry facilities and 99.99% of them were programmed for cold wash only.

My clothes may not have been as clean as they could be but I never had problems with germs or infections even during extended stays in tropical areas, the big no-no was cotton, especially towels, use a normal one when on the move all the time and it will be minging within 2 days, my first trekking towel that went round the world with me and was only ever cold washed for a year is still in use and looks like new.

Quillan, my washing machine does a cycle in 27 minutes, I have extended it by programming in a pre-wash and extended spin, most modern machines take hours as they have to heat the water but at least they have proper control of temperature, ones like mine just open either the hot valve, the hot and cold, or the cold valve according to the temp selected but have no idea what temp the incoming water is, if the ballon runs out or the owner has plumbed the hot and cold with a Y piece to the cold supply then you might think you have selected a 60° wash to kill germs but will in fact get a cold wash.

[Chancer]

Quillan.

My sheets and towels go in together and the bathroom floor mats go in as well, the capacity of the drum is so big that I can do all the laundry from both flats and my own in one load.

The machine has a dynamic balancing system (a double skinned fluid filled drum) and it doesnt like spin drying small loads, the towels even from 6 flats would be lost in the cavernous drum.

And yet its only claimed to be for an 8.5kg load [:-))] like all proper commercial things it will withstand use far in excess of its rated capacity.

http://dfwfurniturestore.com/images/S6300313.JPG