Does Cleaning With Steam Really Work?

[whirlcool]

Last week we bought a HAAN steam cleaner and the dealer threw in a HAAN hand held steam cleaner too. What a deal!~

I love the HAAN floor steam cleaner. It does a great job on the slate in our bathroom as well as the marble in the foyer. It does a good job on the kitchen vinyl flooring tool. Lots and lots of steam and fast to instant drying.

Several years ago we bought a Shark hand held steam cleaner and it was quite anemic. So when we received the HAAN free of charge we decided to give it a go. After the experience with the Shark, we weren't about to buy another one.

The HAAN is not enemic by any means. Lots and lots of steam comes out under decent pressure.

BUT, I first used it to clean the microwave out. First I cleaned the exterior. On television they show the demonstrator just passing over the surface cleaning everything in its path.
With the HAAN, it's a rather tedious job. You can only go so fast. It took about a full minute of steam on the control panel to get rid of greasy fingerprints. It took about 10 minutes of steaming and wiping with a microfiber cloth to clean the front of the unit. I could have done the job in 1 minute with Windex and paper towels.

Next I cleaned the interior, which wasn't really dirty in the first place. The door had a few minor spatters on it. I went over it with the HAAN and most of the dirt came off, but about 10 small spots took repeated streaming and rubbing until they came off. In the end, the door looked clean, but still felt greasy.

In about 30 minutes, I completed cleaning the not so dirty interior. It looked clean and looked very shiny, but still felt greasy when completed. Usually I'll take a microfiber cloth, put some vinegar on it, then hot water, wring it out and clean. Then I repeat with another cloth with only water and wrung out. In 3 minutes or so the entire microwave is cleaned and not the least bit greasy.

Next, in our guest room we have a multipane window that is low to the ground. The dogs like to go in there and look out. The windows are always covered in dog nose prints. The HAAN hand steamer did a pretty good job, but it was slow and when it was done the windows looked clean, but if you ran your fingers over the glass, you felt a rough residue.

Is hand held steam cleaning all it's cracked up to be? Maybe I am doing something wrong? It seems to me that it's a trade off. Use chemicals for a fast, tedious job, or spend a lot of time for mediocre results. As far as disinfection goes, I don't think it does a good job of that as it leaves a residue behind.

What are your experiences with hand held steam cleaning?

 

[dustin92]

I bought a HAAN floor steamer not too long ago for $7.50 and it really works well but kind of leaves a cloudy residue on our vinyl floors. not sure how much these are new, but $7.50 seems about right...

 

[launderess]

Steam

Is quite good at cleaning, but there are many factors at play.

Much will depend on hot "hot" or rather "dry" the steam coming out of the machine. Also as you've found out certain soils like oils and grease which naturally are hydrophobic (repel water), may not shift easily with pure steam. Commercial appliations get around this by either increasing the pressure, and or applying chemicals prior to spraying steam in order to loosen soils/oils.

 

[whirlcool]

We had the same problem the first time or two we used the HAAN floor cleaner. It left spots, but after using it on the third time the spots went away. Each time we use it now, the floor is spot free. I think those spots come from a waxy residue on the floor. When the residue is gone, the spots go away. We also found that if we let the machine "warm up" a full 5 minutes after putting in the water it helps with spotting immensely.

Laundress, That's what I was thinking. Instead of removing greasy spots I think what's happening is that they are being melted and redeposited as a glaze on the surface being cleaned. To me this is not cleaning, just moving the dirt around. I guess a lot of people think if you can't see the dirt, it must not be there. But the additional time used to clean using steam is off putting. I don't have the time to play with it and then wonder if my surfaces are clean. Vinegar, water and a damp microfiber cloth cleans better and much, much faster. But it is funny that with the floor steamer, I don't have this residue problem.

The HAAN hand held steamer looks like it'd make a nice laundry steamer before ironing clothes. It does generate a lot of steam and it exits the machine with enough pressure to go through a cotton shirt with ease.

 

[ironrite]

Works Great

I have the Haan steamer as well. The one on wheels with the all the little accessesory things for it. I used only distilled water in it. Our regular water here is too hard. I used it to clean out the oven before running the self clean cycle. It blasted out all the burned on grease and gunk and shortened the cleaning cycle by an hour.

With the concentrator nozzle it is great for cleaning the grout between the tiles. (Allen, remember my unhousebroken dog issue, I still have that issue) When I do the floors I'll blast the grout, use a Koblenz to scrub, then the Floormate to clean up the water.

This unit really puts out a lot of steam and at a decent pressure. Initially it will spit some water, but that is actually useful in grout cleaning.

The microfiber cloths get tossed in the washer, a bit of detergent and no fabric softener. They still look good after having this thing for about a year now.

 

[volsboy1]

Yea I have one and they work great as long as you use distilled water in them,otherwise they won't last at all and they minerals cloud everything....

 

[Sanisonic]

I drank the steam Kool Aid a couple years ago and have had a few different types since then. As said above, it depends on the power, amount of steam, degree of moisture, etc. A good steam cleaner can be great at blasting away sticky, hardened messes. I tend to like them more in the bathroom than in the kitchen. I have also used them for things like blasting grease out the exhaust fan vents on my microwave that is above the stove.

Over the years I have gradually lost my enthusiasm for the amount of work and length of time to heat up when there are now so many good wipe products. I would say that someone with young children that wants an alternative to chemicals might find it worthwhile.

Chris

 

[paulg]

But for repairs???

I am rebuilding a greasy old bar-blender. I don't know if a steamer would be good for cleaning goo out our air vents and crevices... but I really wished I had one to try. (I ultimately cleaned by hand with toothbrush). However I wonder if anyone uses a steamer as a tool to de-goo greasy or gummed up gear that is being rebuilt?
BTW: I have officially declared "de-goo" a legitimate technical term.

 

[launderess]

HVAC repair and maintenance persons use steam to clean air conditioners, venting, et al all the time.

Agian one needs the proper sort of steam equipment and know how to go about it.

Steam is preferred to caustic chemicals that can potentially damage metal and other surfaces, and of course humans as well.

As for cleaning grease laden kitchen range hoods and fans, again this is done all the time commercially. However there is a world of difference between the high pressure "dry" steam used in those instances, versus what one gets from most domestic units.

 

[Sanisonic]

For someone that is serious about steam cleaning, a more heavy duty one like I have pictured here is very effective. This Steam Fast steamer (which has the Good Housekeeping seal) is excellent for cleaning the grill, detailing the car, cleaning the kitchen exhaust fan or even removing wall paper.

But as stated above, this takes several minutes to heat up and it is just too clunky to drag out just to remove a few finger prints off the fridge or to wipe off the kitchen counter.

 

[whirlcool]

Personally, after using a couple of steamers I think that the steamers designed for consumer use are too throttled back by consumer safety issues to be of any real use.

Now, if I could have the power of steam like you see used in commercial use (cleaning car engines, etc.) it might be worthwhile.

Like I said earlier, you either use chemicals and get the job done right in a short period of time, or spend a long time trying to clean it right with steam.

 

[kenmore700bill]

Allen I am in total agreement with you. I have a Steam Buggy, hand held steamer and the Shark for the floors. To me nothing like a bucket of water and a little elbow grease. Steamers are good if you are cleaning a clean house. Needless to say the Shark floor steamer did not last very long I did use distilled water and still was not satisfied with my tile floors. I will stick with a gallon of hot water a cup of white vinegar and a sponge mop with a towel rag wipe for my tile floors.