Steam Cleaning

Seems like every man and his dog has one of these lately and they have been recommended to me over and over again.  I waited because surely you don't need another contraption to do what women have been doing for years with a mop and a bucket, a wipe and a spray and a good dose of elbow grease.  Well, I'm not saying i need it but bloody hell its pretty good.  I got one this week and though I'm still feeling the guilt of being a consumer, yet again, its had a pretty good workout this week.  

I like the idea that it comes with handy accessories that we will actually use.  The hand nozzle has been most used as it allows you to clear the grout between tiles (and i mean really clean them) with just water in the form of steam under pressure.  This one comes with a continuous flow water holder so you just keep pouring the water in, even while its going.  It takes 6 min to heat up.

Now before you all start saying how disgusting, this was a previously clean floor, or so i thought.  20 years of build up grime in the grout between the tiles, simply wasn't being removed by mopping.  I don't know why i am apologising but i work full time and i do not have the time and inclination to get down on my hands and knees with a scrubbing brush each weekend, each month or for that matter, each decade. If it got mopped it was lucky.  As usual, if there is a new toy going, the boys are all in.  Hubby after a full day's work, managed to spend several hours walking around the house testing it on this and that until i had to take it off him and send him to bed at 11.30pm.  Enough Already!!!

Now this one look really bad.  Honest I've got it under zoom.  No one would have thought my cupboard doors were so dirty.  But with steamed water only, they've come up almost new and instead of replacing them, i might just change the handles for a complete makeover (when funds allow).

As i said, its got a real workout this week and its been tried on windows, wooden architraves, tiles, white goods, honestly Tilly was lucky she could move fast.   Tom did the entire kitchen floor one day and so this weekend, after a sweep, i just steamed it and all the other hard floors clean in minutes, with just water.  It will come in really handy when the carpet has been replaced with bamboo (one room down, many to go).  It uses less water than a bucket with soap/vinegar and then another with rinse water.

The cloth on the end of the head needs to be changed regularly and they have provided one cloth which looks like a piece of nappy to me.  So instead of racing off to buy a box of them i tried a micro cloth folded into 3 lengthways and it fitted perfectly, giving a much better finish.  I will run up a packet of them in different colours for kitchen and bathrooms.

There are many brands to choose from in different price brackets.  I went to one store that was advertising them on TV and they were only interested in demonstrating one that was $1600.  WHAT????   This was a mid range one and it cost $340.  Hubby like the Karcher brand and he is a firm follower of German engineering.  We use a Karcher pressure washer on the cars and have always found them reliable.  So, though i know you can buy cheaper ones, i would recommend this one.

Thanks for Visiting Living In The Land Of Oz