How to choose a steam cleaner for your home

Steam cleaners are controversial devices. Someone considers them to be a necessary item in everyday life, someone – useless. Let’s together with the site Our site figure out what functions and capabilities steam cleaners have and what criteria to choose and buy this device.

All functions of the steam cleaner are indicated by its name. This is a device that cleans surfaces with steam. What can be cleaned with this device? Almost anything:

• Car.
• Clothes.
• Doors.
• Window. By the way, Our site sovetov.ru has already briefly mentioned this in a separate article..
• Skirting boards.
• Floors.
• Kitchen countertops.
• Cooking surfaces.
• Mirrors.
• Bathroom tiles.
• Sinks and sinks in the kitchen and bathroom.
• The bath itself.
• Apron in the kitchen.

Actually, virtually anything. Only with the necessary attachments. Here is the first selection criterion for you – the more nozzles come with the steam cleaner, the more possibilities for its use, the higher the functionality.

It’s good if the kit includes:

• Separate brushes in different sizes for floors, windows and countertops.
• Narrow nozzles to reach corners and hard to reach places.
• Irons for steaming and cleaning clothes.
• Nozzles vacuum cleaners for carpets and carpet.

All steam cleaners work according to the same principle – water is poured into the container, which heats up and cleans the surface in the form of hot steam. Think of modern irons that have a steaming function. This is how the steam cleaner works. Hot steam is supplied under pressure, which allows this powerful stream to remove dirt from a wide variety of surfaces.

Important! Do not use the steam cleaner on soft plastics, delicate fabrics and other surfaces that cannot withstand high temperatures.

There are two main types of steam cleaners:

1. Hand-held, portable. They are lighter, more compact.
2. Stationary. More like a regular washing vacuum cleaner, only with additional functions. More powerful, but you can’t hold it in your hand, you need to transport it on wheels and use nozzles on the hose.

The benefits of steam cleaners include:

• An absolutely environmentally friendly device. The water heated to the state of steam makes it possible not to use chemicals during general cleaning. Everything is cleaned simply with a jet of steam, which is very attractive for allergy sufferers.
• Degreases surfaces.
• Disinfects, kills all germs and mold.
• No traces, streaks, limescale.

There are also disadvantages. In particular, during work there is a danger of being burned by hot steam; care must be taken that children and pets do not approach the operating device. In addition, some steam cleaners are too bulky, heavy, it can be inconvenient to use them for cleaning windows and ceilings in the bathroom..

And do not forget that after the steam cleaner you need to wipe everything with rags! Otherwise, the dirt will remain, but in a thinner layer. So you still have to work with your hands.

When choosing a steam cleaner, pay attention not only to the number of nozzles, but also to the following characteristics:

• There are devices with a boiler, there are direct-flow ones. The first ones are more convenient to use, but the boiler must be made of aluminum so that it lasts long enough and does not form scale.
• Tank volume. It should be big enough to finish cleaning without additional pouring and heating of water, but not too voluminous – it will be hard to work. For household use, a two-liter tank is sufficient. Although there are five-liter.
• Power. Compact hand-held steam cleaners typically do not exceed 1600 W. For floor-standing ones, it is higher – at least 2300 watts. The power depends on how quickly the device heats the water to the state of steam. Floor-standing models can do this in a minute, while hand-held models will warm up up to 8 minutes. However, the process can be accelerated by pouring pre-heated water into the tank. But not boiling water! Just warm. Otherwise, you can harm the device, spoil it.
• The ability to work autonomously, that is, the presence of a battery. This will allow you to use the steam cleaner outdoors, not to use carriers to clean the windows on the loggia. However, standalone steam cleaners are more expensive and weigh more..
• Steam pressure. An important point. If steam is supplied at a pressure of less than 3 bar, it will be less effective at cleaning surfaces.

As for popular manufacturers of steam cleaners, the leaders in our country are Karcher, Ariete, Clatronic, Hauslich, Kromax Odyssey, Grand Master. Prices are different, depending on the characteristics, from about 3 to 10 thousand rubles.

Important! Manufacturers advise using only boiled or distilled water in steam cleaners. This will extend the life of the device..