How do they work.... do they just blow steam, or is
there also a suction action to removed the dissolved
dirt? Is one worth having?

--
Tony Williams.

On Sat, 16 Aug 2003 08:40:40 +0100, Tony Williams
wrote:

How do they work.... do they just blow steam,

Steam +a mist of hot water droplets.

or is there also a suction action to removed the dissolved
dirt?

No, but some of them can be used with an absorbent pad applicator.


Is one worth having?


Not really, IMHO

Women like them because you can freshen up fabrics like curtains and
carpets, but to my mind they just leave them slightly damp making the
colours more contrasty, when they dry out, it's back to square one.

DG

On Sat, 16 Aug 2003 08:40:40 +0100, Tony Williams
wrote:

How do they work.... do they just blow steam, or is
there also a suction action to removed the dissolved
dirt? Is one worth having?

You can get either steam generation only or combined with a suction
action.

Take a look at www.polti.com for information. They make steam only,
(Vaporetto) and with suction (Vaporetto Lecoaspira). In effect, the
suction option provides a wet/dry cleaner as well.

We have a Vaporetto 3000, and that gets used pretty much daily in
various ways. There are a whole range of accessories that come with
it, ranging from a simple steam jet to various kinds of brush and
accessories that will take various kinds of cloth.

Depending on the application, the general technique is to steam
something and wipe with a cloth rather than to convey huge amounts of
steam and then water. In that sense, I am not sure how useful the
suction function would be, since that would probably require much more
wetting of the surfaces.

We find that it does a good and fast job on kitchen surfaces including
worktops, tiles and cupboards. It's also very effective for
bathrooms, especially the chinaware and tiles and the shower screen.
Cleaning windows is another good application.

We also bought the professional iron to go with ours. The quality of
ordinary steam irons seems to have dropped markedly over the last few
years but this one is a pleasure to use (if ironing ever is a
pleasure). The power for the sole plate is fed from the main
machine and is a neat solution. Having the steam coming from a
separate generator means that the iron does not cool producing it.
The volume of steam produced also means less pressing down and the
whole procedure is much faster.

Finally, if you take a churn of milk it will make great capuccino for
the entire road. Just kidding on that one :-)

This is one of the more expensive machines, and I can't vouch for the
more entry level models which may not have the capacity and therefor
take longer to use.....






..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

"Tony Williams" wrote in message
...
How do they work.... do they just blow steam, or is
there also a suction action to removed the dissolved
dirt? Is one worth having?

--
Tony Williams.


We've got a Goblin steamer, it was used loads till the hose blew - I really
must get around to getting a new one. It produced a good jet of steam which
was used for all sorts of cleaning purposes.

It doesn't have suction but has a fitting for attaching cloths which soak up
the muck. We never bothered buying new cloths but used squares of old towels
instead. In this mode it worked very well at cleaning the sofa suite which
is beginning to look decidedly grubby again.

Matt


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.509 / Virus Database: 306 - Release Date: 14/08/2003

In article ,
Matt wrote:

We've got a Goblin steamer, it was used loads till the hose blew
- I really must get around to getting a new one. It produced a
good jet of steam which was used for all sorts of cleaning
purposes.

I'll just reply to this last post, but thanks for the other
replies and opinions.

We have an asthmatic in the family and I was attracted to
the idea of killing moulds and dust mites in hard to reach
places.

I think we might buy a little one, just as a taster to
try on (say) the shower and around the kitchen. If it
looks worth it then we might later go for a serious one.

Thanks,

--
Tony Williams.

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 09:45:49 +0100, Andrew McKay
wrote:

On Sat, 16 Aug 2003 10:33:03 +0100, derek
wrote:

Women like them because you can freshen up fabrics like curtains and
carpets, but to my mind they just leave them slightly damp making the
colours more contrasty, when they dry out, it's back to square one.

Always makes me smile when I switch thru an advertising channel on
Sky, and they are doing one of these steam cleaners as a special deal.

Invariably they show this lovely steam cleaner removing the solid bake
on an oven door or around the gas hob. Like that stuff got there at
several hundred degrees C, and the steam is vapourising it at 100
degrees C.

Ah, the bliss of a marketing consultant. I'm just surprised they
aren't telling me it'll improve my pecs


It well might :-)

I would generally agree that on the small hand held machines that the
performance is limited, and probably the temperature.

The larger machines produce steam at over 130 degrees and will
certainly remove baked on grease on a hob. More to the point, we tend
to use ours most days on the hob which prevents any significant build
up in the first place.

I've used ours on the inside of the AGA oven doors (aluminium) of the
hotter ovens and this easily cleans off what little deposit is there.

I don't consider that cleaning the range is a pleasurable job at any
time, but this is quick and ready to go and does not require the use
of caustic or abrasive chemicals.


..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

Andrew McKay wrote:
On Sat, 16 Aug 2003 10:33:03 +0100, derek
wrote:


Women like them because you can freshen up fabrics like curtains and
carpets, but to my mind they just leave them slightly damp making the
colours more contrasty, when they dry out, it's back to square one.


Always makes me smile when I switch thru an advertising channel on
Sky, and they are doing one of these steam cleaners as a special deal.

Invariably they show this lovely steam cleaner removing the solid bake
on an oven door or around the gas hob. Like that stuff got there at
several hundred degrees C, and the steam is vapourising it at 100
degrees C.

Ah, the bliss of a marketing consultant. I'm just surprised they
aren't telling me it'll improve my pecs

Andrew

Do you need a handyman service? Check out our
web site at http://www.handymac.co.uk

I've got one of those Steam Buggies you see on TV. Didn't order it
myself - asked somebody to get it for me as a christmas present
(couldn't bear personally shelling out the ridiculous price for it).

It works by a pressurised steam jet. It's not like a wallpaper steamer
which is basically like a kettle with a hose on the end.

But the Steam Buggy works. It might be small but it really works. It can
shift grease and dirt that usually only soaking with bleach spray will
shift. My parents recently moved house and I did their kitchen with it -
sink, tiles, floor. Everything looked like new when I'd finished. It's
particularly good on alluminium sinks.

The trouble is that they're difficult to use. They have to "warm up" and
you get around 10 minutes out of one load of water. You then have to
wait whilst it cools down before refilling, Fill too soon and it spits
boiling water at you.

There's also no way of controlling the steam so if you want to wipe up
the mess or have a go with a cloth, you need to find a sink to point the
thing into whilst you're busy.

In article ,
Steve Firth wrote:

Tony Williams wrote:
We have an asthmatic in the family........

It didn't do much good for that purpose for me. In fact it made
things worse because the dampness encourages moulds to spore.
Best solution for asthmatics is a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA
filter, used often.

It was also the possible avoidance of chemical cleaners, which
seem to have become industrial strength these days. We long ago
stopped using spray cleaners, especially those spray-on oven
cleaners containing caustic. What a stupid thing to be allowed to
sell.... something that sprays caustic into an enclosed space.

--
Tony Williams.

In article , Tony Williams
writes
In article ,
Matt wrote:

We've got a Goblin steamer, it was used loads till the hose blew
- I really must get around to getting a new one. It produced a
good jet of steam which was used for all sorts of cleaning
purposes.

I'll just reply to this last post, but thanks for the other
replies and opinions.

We have an asthmatic in the family and I was attracted to
the idea of killing moulds and dust mites in hard to reach
places.

I think we might buy a little one, just as a taster to
try on (say) the shower and around the kitchen. If it
looks worth it then we might later go for a serious one.

Thanks,


Polti do some of the best and seem to be the originals.

The Aspira series seem to be the ones you want - these are both steam
cleaners and vacuum using water as a filter to get rid of the mites.

We have the 3000 Lux, which is just the steam cleaner. Note, they are
about 100 pounds cheaper in Italy. Over there, Gaggia, who make the best
espresso machines (similar technology), are becoming a major competitor
to Polti.
--
David Longley

In article , Andy Hall
writes
On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 09:45:49 +0100, Andrew McKay
wrote:

On Sat, 16 Aug 2003 10:33:03 +0100, derek
wrote:

Women like them because you can freshen up fabrics like curtains and
carpets, but to my mind they just leave them slightly damp making the
colours more contrasty, when they dry out, it's back to square one.

Always makes me smile when I switch thru an advertising channel on
Sky, and they are doing one of these steam cleaners as a special deal.

Invariably they show this lovely steam cleaner removing the solid bake
on an oven door or around the gas hob. Like that stuff got there at
several hundred degrees C, and the steam is vapourising it at 100
degrees C.

Ah, the bliss of a marketing consultant. I'm just surprised they
aren't telling me it'll improve my pecs


It well might :-)

I would generally agree that on the small hand held machines that the
performance is limited, and probably the temperature.

The larger machines produce steam at over 130 degrees and will
certainly remove baked on grease on a hob. More to the point, we tend
to use ours most days on the hob which prevents any significant build
up in the first place.

I've used ours on the inside of the AGA oven doors (aluminium) of the
hotter ovens and this easily cleans off what little deposit is there.

I don't consider that cleaning the range is a pleasurable job at any
time, but this is quick and ready to go and does not require the use
of caustic or abrasive chemicals.


I'll endorse that - perhaps the best use of our Polti 3000 is cleaning
grime off the cooker and bathroom.

--
David Longley

David Longley wrote:

In article , Andy Hall
writes

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 09:45:49 +0100, Andrew McKay
wrote:

On Sat, 16 Aug 2003 10:33:03 +0100, derek
wrote:

Women like them because you can freshen up fabrics like curtains and
carpets, but to my mind they just leave them slightly damp making the
colours more contrasty, when they dry out, it's back to square one.


Always makes me smile when I switch thru an advertising channel on
Sky, and they are doing one of these steam cleaners as a special deal.

Invariably they show this lovely steam cleaner removing the solid bake
on an oven door or around the gas hob. Like that stuff got there at
several hundred degrees C, and the steam is vapourising it at 100
degrees C.

Ah, the bliss of a marketing consultant. I'm just surprised they
aren't telling me it'll improve my pecs


It well might :-)

I would generally agree that on the small hand held machines that the
performance is limited, and probably the temperature.

The larger machines produce steam at over 130 degrees and will
certainly remove baked on grease on a hob. More to the point, we tend
to use ours most days on the hob which prevents any significant build
up in the first place.

I've used ours on the inside of the AGA oven doors (aluminium) of the
hotter ovens and this easily cleans off what little deposit is there.

I don't consider that cleaning the range is a pleasurable job at any
time, but this is quick and ready to go and does not require the use
of caustic or abrasive chemicals.



I'll endorse that - perhaps the best use of our Polti 3000 is cleaning
grime off the cooker and bathroom.


I'll second that - steam cleaners are well capable of removing oven
crud. Bit too well I find - rest of kitchen/me ended up covered in
speckles of said crud. Very handy when my youngest cat was a kitten and
we had a period before the adult flea killer could be used. Steam over
the carpets/furniture (with care)/cat bedding (but NOT the cat!) every
couple of weeks and it killed not only adult fleas, but the eggs, which
breaks the cycle rather effectively.

Velvet

On Sat, 16 Aug 2003 08:40:40 +0100, Tony Williams wrote:

How do they work.... do they just blow steam, or is
there also a suction action to removed the dissolved
dirt? Is one worth having?

Just bought a Earlex Steam Cleaner (primarily for stripping wallpaper)
but it came in very handy for removing dried emulsion paint* from the
carpet! Used the Earlex to steam the paint, and my Numatic George to
vacuum up the resulting mess.

A (cheap) winning combination of tools!

*Guess who walked it through the house on their trainers?

Steve

I purchased a Industrial Jiffy Steamer last week from
http://www.laundrysupplies.com

We own a small commercial cleaning business and will use it on
curtains in catering halls, etc... NOt sure what the "domestic
models" cost, but this one was under $250.00 and is made of corrosion
proof stainless steel with dual temp guages. You might want to have a
look at it.

-P.G.