Are they any use ?

SWMBO has my ear bent about getting one and can't decide (a) are they worth the spondulux and/or (b) which type to get. She sees herself using one to clean floors and windows (She already has a Karcher window cleaner, go figure)

As usual 'Which' only serves to confuse and want to shelve to whole idea

Anyone with worthwhile experience of them ?

"fred" wrote in message
...
Are they any use ?

SWMBO has my ear bent about getting one and can't decide (a) are they
worth the spondulux and/or (b) which type to get. She sees herself using
one to clean floors and windows (She already has a Karcher window cleaner,
go figure)

As usual 'Which' only serves to confuse and want to shelve to whole idea

Anyone with worthwhile experience of them ?

No, had one for a while and never really found it any better than any other
method. In the time it takes to get out of the cupboard, fill with water,
heat up, move around etc., you could use a decent can of cleaner and a cloth
to do just as good a job. It lived in the cupboard under the stairs for
months until we sold it.

Maybe you could borrow or hire one just to see if you think it's better than
the method you currently use.

"fred" wrote in message
...
Are they any use ?

SWMBO has my ear bent about getting one and can't decide (a) are they
worth the spondulux and/or (b) which type to get. She sees herself using
one to clean floors and windows (She already has a Karcher window cleaner,
go figure)

As usual 'Which' only serves to confuse and want to shelve to whole idea

Anyone with worthwhile experience of them ?


We use one on a daily basis to clean the floor in our burger joint, both on
the customer side of the counter, and on the prep / cooking side, and it is
excellent. In terms of how well they work, there seems to be little to
choose between an expensive one, and a cheap one. We are on our second one
now, and this is a real 'cheapy' from Dunelm, and about the only thing that
you would say is that it's not as robustly made as the first one we had,
which was a little more expensive from an electrical cash and carry, so I
would guess quite a bit more expensive retail. That one did eventually break
its on / off switch, which is why it was replaced, but not before it had
given sterling service. For the last couple of years before she died, my
dear old mum, bless 'er, had one that she used virtually every week for
doing her kitchen floor, and the carpet in her lounge. She even used to do
the settee with it, having seen all of these things demonstrated on the TV
on one of the shopping channels. She loved it.

Arfa

"fred" wrote in message
...

Are they any use ?

SWMBO has my ear bent about getting one and can't decide (a) are they worth
the spondulux and/or (b) which type to get. She sees herself using one to
clean floors and windows (She already has a Karcher window cleaner, go
figure)

As usual 'Which' only serves to confuse and want to shelve to whole idea

Anyone with worthwhile experience of them ?

Steam Cleaners per see are excellent, the problem comes when people expect
the results of a proper steam cleaner quashed into a tiddly little hand held
gimmick. My steam cleaner is "four man portable" (I use a fork lift!) and is
powered by a diesel engine and boils the water using diesel, and was
designed as a battlefield nuclear decontamination unit. It is also made by
Karcher. I guarantee it'll clean any window she wants, but she may not
appreciate the collateral damage G

AWEM

On Wednesday, January 23, 2013 10:25:19 AM UTC, fred wrote:
Are they any use ?

Yes. But ...

There are two types of steam cleaner:
- ones that spray out steam
- ones that spray out steam and then suck it up again.

The ones that just spray out the steam will often come with
marketing ******** about it being "dry steam". By this they
mean that it comes out of the machine at above 100C, so there
is no liquid emitted. What they omit is that the dry steam
will cool and become water - which just lies around making
everything wet (so now it is both wet *and* dirty).

The only manufacturers (that I know of) of steam cleaners
that suck the stuff up again, are Polti (the Vaporetto
Lecospira). They do a fantastic job of cleaning floors etc
- the problem is that they are really badly engineered.
There are lots of plasticky bits to fall off, and we keep
having reliability problems with the switches (I think water
is getting to them).

SWMBO has my ear bent about getting one and can't decide
(a) are they worth the spondulux and/or
(b) which type to get.

Are you hoping to gather evidence to help her make those
decisions? Good luck with that.

"Martin Bonner" wrote in message
...
On Wednesday, January 23, 2013 10:25:19 AM UTC, fred wrote:


SWMBO has my ear bent about getting one and can't decide
(a) are they worth the spondulux and/or
(b) which type to get.

Are you hoping to gather evidence to help her make those
decisions? Good luck with that.

Maybe we all ought to accept it's a done deal and should praise steam
cleaners to make him feel a bit better about the inevitable expense

On 23/01/2013 13:39, Martin Bonner wrote:


Are you hoping to gather evidence to help her make those
decisions? Good luck with that.


The adverts claim kills 99.9% of everything harmful to man but the small
print on the screen suggests only if steamed for 15 seconds or more.


--
mailto:news{at}admac(dot}myzen{dot}co{dot}uk

In message , alan
writes
On 23/01/2013 13:39, Martin Bonner wrote:


Are you hoping to gather evidence to help her make those
decisions? Good luck with that.


The adverts claim kills 99.9% of everything harmful to man but the
small print on the screen suggests only if steamed for 15 seconds or
more.

I really dislike the 99.9% quote, what about the 0.1% that is left? How
long does it take to multiply again? As another way of looking at it,
if I offered you a sweet from a jar of 1000 and said that one of them
contained cyanide, would you take one?

Apparently from a discussion I saw a while back the reason that they
only say 99.9% is to cover themselves in case something does survive. I
can see the reasoning behind it, but it still riles me :-)

PS
I've yet to find a steam cleaner that I'm even remotely happy with,
although AWEM's sounds like something I would enjoy!!



--
Bill

On 23/01/13 18:37, alan wrote:
On 23/01/2013 13:39, Martin Bonner wrote:


Are you hoping to gather evidence to help her make those
decisions? Good luck with that.


The adverts claim kills 99.9% of everything harmful to man but the small
print on the screen suggests only if steamed for 15 seconds or more.




http://xkcd.com/1161/

--
djc

In article , Martin Bonner wrote:
The ones that just spray out the steam will often come with
marketing ******** about it being "dry steam". By this they
mean that it comes out of the machine at above 100C, so there
is no liquid emitted. What they omit is that the dry steam
will cool and become water - which just lies around making
everything wet (so now it is both wet *and* dirty).

My mother-in-law seems happy with the one she got for Christmas.
http://www.lakeland.co.uk/23438/Shar...onic-Steam-Mop

Certainly it seemed to get dirt off a wooden floor that had been
mopped before. (It doesn't suck the water up - the microfibre pad
which soaks up the dirty water needs washing afterwards, at least
from time to time. The instructions are realistic about condensed
steam being wet.)

"fred" wrote in message
...
Are they any use ?

SWMBO has my ear bent about getting one and can't decide (a) are they
worth the spondulux and/or (b) which type to get. She sees herself using
one to clean floors and windows (She already has a Karcher window cleaner,
go figure)

As usual 'Which' only serves to confuse and want to shelve to whole idea

Anyone with worthwhile experience of them ?


I got one a few months ago as I was despairing trying to clean the venetian
blinds.
It did not clean them very well.
I used it to clean the oven, not very good.
It cost about 60 quid; I was not very impressed.

On 23/01/2013 10:25, fred wrote:
Are they any use ?

SWMBO has my ear bent about getting one and can't decide (a) are they worth the spondulux and/or (b) which type to get. She sees herself using one to clean floors and windows (She already has a Karcher window cleaner, go figure)

As usual 'Which' only serves to confuse and want to shelve to whole idea

Anyone with worthwhile experience of them ?

They are very good at some jobs, useless at others.

Overall, I think useless wins.

--
Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

On Wed, 23 Jan 2013 02:25:19 -0800 (PST), fred
wrote:

Anyone with worthwhile experience of them ?

Have a well made one from Polti I think. Very good for cleaning grout
between tiles and fiddly bits of cooker and that's about it really. We
bought it in an auction for £10 as I recall when they were selling new
for about £150. It was worth the £10 but not much more. They are a
fiddle to set up - so you rarely bother.

In message , Peter Parry
writes
They are a
fiddle to set up - so you rarely bother.

How so? Fill with water, turn on, wait (that's the annoying part -
repeatedly waiting while it gets back up to steam), use.

--
Simon

12) The Second Rule of Expectations
An EXPECTATION is a Premeditated resentment.

On Thu, 24 Jan 2013 06:32:50 +0000, usenet2012
wrote:

In message , Peter Parry
writes
They are a
fiddle to set up - so you rarely bother.

How so? Fill with water, turn on, wait (that's the annoying part -
repeatedly waiting while it gets back up to steam), use.

Get it out of cupboard, wrestle with hose, find jug of softened water
is empty. Wait for it to get up to pressure, when it runs out (quite
quickly) wait for it to cool and depressurise, open, refill and as you
say - wait again for it to heat up.

Ours was very cheap because it had been used for a short time but in a
hard water area so was clogged with lime scale. De scaling it from
that state required significant disassembly, they really don't like
hard water.

As a general purpose cleaner they are not particularly efficient and
take longer than most, often better, cleaning methods.

On Thursday, January 24, 2013 10:43:53 AM UTC, Peter Parry wrote:
On Thu, 24 Jan 2013 06:32:50 +0000, usenet2012

wrote:



In message , Peter Parry

writes

They are a

fiddle to set up - so you rarely bother.



How so? Fill with water, turn on, wait (that's the annoying part -

repeatedly waiting while it gets back up to steam), use.



Get it out of cupboard, wrestle with hose, find jug of softened water

is empty. Wait for it to get up to pressure, when it runs out (quite

quickly) wait for it to cool and depressurise, open, refill and as you

say - wait again for it to heat up.



Ours was very cheap because it had been used for a short time but in a

hard water area so was clogged with lime scale. De scaling it from

that state required significant disassembly, they really don't like

hard water.



As a general purpose cleaner they are not particularly efficient and

take longer than most, often better, cleaning methods.

Well a distillation of the above received wisdom has been passed on to the boss. Its her money buying it, not mine, so the final decision is hers.

Many thanks to all who contributed.

In message , Peter Parry
writes
On Thu, 24 Jan 2013 06:32:50 +0000, usenet2012
wrote:
In message , Peter Parry
writes
They are a
fiddle to set up - so you rarely bother.

How so? Fill with water, turn on, wait (that's the annoying part -
repeatedly waiting while it gets back up to steam), use.

Get it out of cupboard, wrestle with hose, find jug of softened water
is empty.

Ahhh, using softened water from new means we've had no problems with
scaling. And ours can contain sufficient water for quite a run so no
need to wait to cool & refill during one of our uses.

--
Simon

12) The Second Rule of Expectations
An EXPECTATION is a Premeditated resentment.

On 24/01/2013 10:43, Peter Parry wrote:
On Thu, 24 Jan 2013 06:32:50 +0000, usenet2012
wrote:

In message , Peter Parry
writes
They are a
fiddle to set up - so you rarely bother.

How so? Fill with water, turn on, wait (that's the annoying part -
repeatedly waiting while it gets back up to steam), use.

Get it out of cupboard, wrestle with hose, find jug of softened water
is empty. Wait for it to get up to pressure, when it runs out (quite
quickly) wait for it to cool and depressurise, open, refill and as you
say - wait again for it to heat up.

Ours was very cheap because it had been used for a short time but in a
hard water area so was clogged with lime scale. De scaling it from
that state required significant disassembly, they really don't like
hard water.

As a general purpose cleaner they are not particularly efficient and
take longer than most, often better, cleaning methods.

Very often the micro fibre pad is doing most of the cleaning.

--
Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

In message , usenet2012
writes
In message , Peter Parry
writes
They are a
fiddle to set up - so you rarely bother.

How so? Fill with water, turn on, wait (that's the annoying part -
repeatedly waiting while it gets back up to steam), use.

The Polti Vaperetto holds a couple of litres and will deliver steam
continuously until the water runs out, by which time you're ready for a
cuppa while the water reheats.
--
bert

"bert" wrote in message news

In message , usenet2012
writes
In message , Peter Parry
writes
They are a
fiddle to set up - so you rarely bother.

How so? Fill with water, turn on, wait (that's the annoying part -
repeatedly waiting while it gets back up to steam), use.

The Polti Vaperetto holds a couple of litres and will deliver steam
continuously until the water runs out, by which time you're ready for a
cuppa while the water reheats.

According to the Which mag that came today VAX S6 is the best and Polti
vaporetto evolution the worst and rated "Don't buy"!

Mike

On Friday, January 25, 2013 2:04:58 PM UTC, Muddymike wrote:
"bert" wrote in message news


In message , usenet2012

writes

In message , Peter Parry

writes

They are a

fiddle to set up - so you rarely bother.



How so? Fill with water, turn on, wait (that's the annoying part -

repeatedly waiting while it gets back up to steam), use.



The Polti Vaperetto holds a couple of litres and will deliver steam

continuously until the water runs out, by which time you're ready for a

cuppa while the water reheats.



According to the Which mag that came today VAX S6 is the best and Polti

vaporetto evolution the worst and rated "Don't buy"!



Mike

Dont think they posted the Vax best buy.

'Pros: Good at cleaning hard floors and glass, easy to use, very long steaming time, energy efficient

Cons: Very poor at cleaning wall tiles and bad at removing stains from carpets, long wait before you can clean'

On Friday, January 25, 2013 2:04:58 PM UTC, Muddymike wrote:




According to the Which mag that came today VAX S6 is the best and Polti

vaporetto evolution the worst and rated "Don't buy"!



Mike

and the one user review of the VAX S6 was very scathing.

As I said. Which only confuses and makes me want to give up on the item

In message , Muddymike
writes
"bert" wrote in message news

In message , usenet2012
writes
In message , Peter Parry
writes
They are a
fiddle to set up - so you rarely bother.

How so? Fill with water, turn on, wait (that's the annoying part -
repeatedly waiting while it gets back up to steam), use.

The Polti Vaperetto holds a couple of litres and will deliver steam
continuously until the water runs out, by which time you're ready for
a cuppa while the water reheats.

According to the Which mag that came today VAX S6 is the best and Polti
vaporetto evolution the worst and rated "Don't buy"!

Mike
I would be interested to hear on what basis?
--
bert

In message , fred
writes
Are they any use ?

SWMBO has my ear bent about getting one and can't decide (a) are they
worth the spondulux and/or (b) which type to get. She sees herself
using one to clean floors and windows (She already has a Karcher window
cleaner, go figure)

As usual 'Which' only serves to confuse and want to shelve to whole idea

Anyone with worthwhile experience of them ?

We got a £60 Ewbank Steam Cleaner recently when my son who has always
been very allergic to our cats was visiting.

Having vacuumed, I ran the steam over all the carpets & curtains,
(didn't tell him I had), and he commented on how much less itchy he was
this visit.

I tried it on cleaning the hob: it made a mess far greater than the
usual scrubbing and was ineffective.

--
Simon

12) The Second Rule of Expectations
An EXPECTATION is a Premeditated resentment.

In message , usenet2012
writes
In message ,
fred writes
Are they any use ?

SWMBO has my ear bent about getting one and can't decide (a) are they
worth the spondulux and/or (b) which type to get. She sees herself
using one to clean floors and windows (She already has a Karcher
window cleaner, go figure)

As usual 'Which' only serves to confuse and want to shelve to whole idea

Anyone with worthwhile experience of them ?

We got a £60 Ewbank Steam Cleaner recently when my son who has always
been very allergic to our cats was visiting.

Having vacuumed, I ran the steam over all the carpets & curtains,
(didn't tell him I had), and he commented on how much less itchy he was
this visit.

I tried it on cleaning the hob: it made a mess far greater than the
usual scrubbing and was ineffective.

We've got a Polti and 2 dogs. Use it to clean the tiled floors and
carpet. Does a good job and the room always feels that much fresher.
--
bert

On 23/01/2013 10:25, fred wrote:
Are they any use ?

SWMBO has my ear bent about getting one and can't decide (a) are they worth the spondulux and/or (b) which type to get. She sees herself using one to clean floors and windows (She already has a Karcher window cleaner, go figure)

As usual 'Which' only serves to confuse and want to shelve to whole idea

Anyone with worthwhile experience of them ?


We have the Bissell Which best buy. Wife likes it but makes two points.

We have a messy house with lots of dogs; if floors are dirty, use
conventional mop first then finish off with steamer.

Don't believe the claims, it leaves floors wetter than a mop; she does
it last thing at night to allow it to dry (with dogs excluded).

A friend has one of the models with removable stick, and likes it for
cleaning the shower. They are much cleaner than us though.