Hand held steam cleaners-are they any good?

amandada · 18 October 2009 at 10:48AM

Well are they?;)

I'm looking to get one of these, mainly for cleaning my manky oven and microwave;).
Are they as good as they say on the tin or am I better putting the money towards getting a "pro" oven cleaner in to do the dirty deed?

Jake'sGran · 18 October 2009 at 11:18AM

I want a steam cleaner but for carpets and I read that Karcher do the best ones. Have a look at their site and also at the online catalogue of Argos. You might find something on the Which site about which is the best. I was looking for info about batteries last week and was surprised to find that Which actually gave results of their tests which they never used to do. They might do the same for hand held steam cleaners.

Raksha · 18 October 2009 at 11:43AM

I find my hand head really useful for those sorts of jobs - I think it was about £14.99, seen similar in Home Bargains for the same sort of price. It's also really good for defrosting the freezer - use the steam as a 'lance' to remove chunks of ice which can then be put in a bucket and left outside to thaw, rather than just oozing all over the floor while the food melts.......

amandada · 18 October 2009 at 12:50PM

Raksha, that's a brilliant tip about the freezer-my dad's asked me to do his!

MUMMYTO2BOYS · 18 October 2009 at 2:22PM

We had a hand held steam cleaner. It was fairly useles for cleaning microwaves and ovens. It'd do the hob if you spent long enough, but as already suggested it's best use was defrosting the freezer.

Errata · 18 October 2009 at 4:04PM

Microwave oven cavaties can be cleaned by putting a bowl filled with about a pint of water in and cooking on high for a couple of minutes. The water steams and softens the gunk which is easily removed with a damp cloth.

Jake'sGran · 18 October 2009 at 4:19PM

Errata wrote: »

Microwave oven cavaties can be cleaned by putting a bowl filled with about a pint of water in and cooking on high for a couple of minutes. The water steams and softens the gunk which is easily removed with a damp cloth.

I read somewhere that putting a lemon in the water helped too.
My husband is great at cleaning the oven and microwave so I let him get on with them. I had a lot of surgery - big stuff, heart etc, and since then he does a lot of cleaning and really seems to like it.

sparky40 · 20 October 2009 at 1:29AM

I use good ol fashioned vinegar for cleaning the microwave, a few capfuls in a bowl of warm water on high power for a few minutes breaks down the caked on food.

jimbo_the_jetset · 20 October 2009 at 8:22AM

Ditto on the freezer defrosting, works a treat.

Also good on grimy greasy surfaces.

Cleaning the bed etc. Ironing curtains.

And finally for all those nooks and places you'll never get to, you'll be amazed at the dirt that comes out.

Hmmmm, all this good advice above I should really use mine more!! Only a cheap one.

shykins · 20 October 2009 at 9:00AM

was thinking of getting one of these myself for similar reasons .... anyone got brands they would particularly recommend?

swanny1 · 31 October 2010 at 4:30PM

amandada wrote: »

Well are they?;)

I'm looking to get one of these, mainly for cleaning my manky oven and microwave;).
Are they as good as they say on the tin or am I better putting the money towards getting a "pro" oven cleaner in to do the dirty deed?

Like others on here tried my hand held steamer on most cleaning tasks and have to say with very poor results, only plus was for defrosting and that's the only job we use it for now.

Hand held steam cleaners-are they any good?

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