Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsORIGINALLY TORN, NOW TOTALLY SOLD!
Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2019
I'm ammending my original review after having done way too much research and experimenting with steamer cleaners.
First, No matter which machine you but, they are mostly all made in one of two or three factories. This is made by Techno Vap in Italy. They also make Daimer units. The primary differences between units are pressure, tank size and number and temperature. The higher the pressure a unit produces, the hotter the water gets before it turns to steam. Once you know these facts, it's really a question of what features you need in order to decide what product to buy.
This unit will do everything the $1000+ units will do... It may just take you a bit longer.
I bought this having never owned a steamer before and quickly decided I need this more than a vaccum I have a large home with almost 10,000sqft of travertine flooring, six baths and two kitchen areas. Realizing that this tank is very small for the whole house, I still like it for small jobs and I now use it in the guest house so I don't need to drag the bigger unit over there.
The tank on this holds about a half gallon if you bleed it out completely when you fill the tank. Unfortunately, there is no indicator of how much water remains in the tankat any point in time (which is true of most steamers although I don't really understand the why). With no indication of how much water you have left in the steamer at any given point in time, If you're doing a big cleaning job, plan to work for about an hour then break when the steam runs out to allow this machine to heat up a fresh tank. If you completely run the tank out before refilling you don't have to wait for it to cool down before removing the cap... It took a while to figure this out and I'm glad I did! It saves a ton of time if you need to refill it.
I know there are a lot of questions about using cleansers with or in these units. Dupray says certain liquids can be run through the machine, however, many professionals reccommend NOT running anything through the machine as it may affect the tank and shorten the life of hte heating element and thus the entire unit. Personally, having tried it both ways, I just don't see the need. Even doing a commercial style kitchen with this unit, running anything through the machine didn't make it clean any faster or any better than just water. If you really have something tough, like gum, then you may want to spray something on the area, but it's really more about the accessory you're cleaning with than the cleanser.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ATTACHMENT! One thing I've really learned is that these aren't designed to "mop" a floor clean if it has deep dirt. You're going to want a brush or detail type attachment to get the dark spots off. Maybe if your grout is sealed you may be able to keep your floors cleaner than I can keep mine, but the floor head is only going to get up surface dirt. However, that doesn't make this a bad idea at all. Even the small detail brush on this unit will go through grout lines in a snap. Even filthy grout (and mine gets gross fast!) goes much faster than I thought it would. Once I decided to try the brushes on the grout I was shocked by what I could get up. Even some of the excess mud that was used to fill the tumbled travertine and wasn't removed properly when the house was built ten years ago came off easily! My floors didn't look this clean when the house was built! We can actually walk around with socks and not get the feet black in an hour! That seriously never happened, even with the cleaners with truck mounted pressure washer units I used to hire every year.
Yes, I still wish the cord was longer, but I'll live with it for how easy this is to move around the room. Just know if you have a room that's larger than about 12' you'll be moving outlets and yes, you need to unwind the entire cord and slide the machine around, but it's not as big a deal as I thought it was after using it only a couple of times... After having tried many machines, this one REALLY stands out in value.
Another consideration is the cost of replacing the brushes. Dupray is pretty reasonable at about $2.90 per head. Additional accessories are also available on their site if you want things like stainless steel brush etc you can also get them at Daimler to fit this model's "steam lance" (The wand with the small hole at the end that the detail brushes fit over.)
It's size and price are terrific. It's a plastic body... and I don't know how long it will last. I've used it all day, every day for more than a month now - which in hours is probably more than most residential uses would use it in a year and it's still working as well as the day I bought it. For the money, if mine past on tomorrow, I'd still be happy with it. Just keep in mind that some of the factors that determine pricing on steamers include the body- plastic on this, the heating element, which is not removable on this, and the tank, aluminum and not stainless on this. Even full, it's light and it's not hard to carry. By comparison to similarly priced units the attachments are AWESOME!!! This was a HUGE advantage for this machine! McCulloch makes a unit that costs almost twice as much but the attachments feel MUCH cheaper than this unit! It you use the right attachment, you don't need to scrub, but steam is hot and the heavy material stays cooler. My granite kitchen island is 15'x22' and I can put the squeegee on the extension wand and go from one side to the other without ANY difficulty- which for me almost justifies having this unit on hand in itself. PADS: Another thing I really love and can't overstate the GENIUS of the clip that allows this unit to use almost any towel. I literally have seven different types of microfiber "mop covers" from assorted other failed attempts to find a compact floor cleaner. This is absolutely the best feature this machine offers! The first day I used the machine I went through every pad and towel I had and every one of them worked. The clips are solid, they will hold a towel that is a bit too large, even folded in quarters, and it doesn't slip as you mop.
BOTTOM LINE: You need to know how much you're willing to spend. If your budget is X, and this fits, you'll likely find this is the best unit in the price point. Dupray makes more expensive units, as does Daimer and several other companies and it's really just a question of what features you need in a given price point to be happy with the product. This unit should be able to do anything most residential users could ever want.
I would be glad to answer questions.
