5 Best Steam Cleaners To Buy
1. Karcher SC1 Steam Stick review
The Karcher SC1 is a versatile steam cleaner that’s ready for any cleaning scenario
While a lot of steam cleaners are designed with one job in mind, the Karcher SC1 is a jack of all trades at a price that'll be attractive to most people. Its clever modular design and bundled range of accessories mean that you can use it as a steam mop for floors, and as a regular steam cleaner with a flexible hose for those hard to reach areas. The real question is, can this cleaner do a good job in all of these areas?
Design
The SC1 is the cheapest, lightest and smallest of Karcher's steam cleaner range, although with its mop and flexible hose it's certainly not lacking for features. Its small size is something of a bonus: weighing just 1.6kg, it's surprisingly nimble, letting you use the SC1 in a variety of different areas comfortably. Its sleek and compact body makes it easy to store, too, and there’s a bag for all of the smaller accessories too.
The steam cleaner is incredibly easy to operate with accessories and attachments easily attached and disassembled with ease. Karcher ships with SC1 with two 0.5m extension tubes, extending the reach for those difficult to get to areas, or doubling up to turn it into a steam mop with the mop head accessory. You also get small and medium brushes, plus two nozzles for more intense cleaning. All of these can fit on the short flexible hose provided as well.
If you’ve got children, the lock button is very handy, since the large button to produce steam is easily pressed. A large light on the side lets you know if the device is on, although it doesn't tell you when the cleaner's up to temperature. Instead, you have to wait three minutes for the SC1 to heat up, although you can hear a slight click (a bit like when a kettle finishes boiling) when steam temperature has been reached. For safety, you can't also unable to access the water tank when the Karcher SC1 is in use, with the internal pressure locking the screw-down lid in place. To refill the steam cleaner you either need to mostly empty it or allow it to cool down.
The water tank is quite small at just 0.2 litres, with average steaming time unsurprisingly coming up short at just over 7 minutes between refills. This is somewhat lacklustre compared to larger steam cleaners such as the 0.4-litre tank on the Morphy Richards 12-in-1, with its 14-minute total steam time. Given the SC1's size and portability, though, I’d say it’s a more than reasonable trade-off.
Cleaning performance
During testing the Karcher SC1 could easily handle any cleaning situation I threw at it. Using the nozzle for steam cleaning with the extended tubes, the 6.2m total reach meant that I could work all the way around our test kitchen. After a lengthy three minute heat-up time, which is considerably longer than the 20 seconds of the Vileda Steam Mop, I got to work on the wall tiles in the kitchen.
The handheld Karcher handled the mouldy grout between the tiles with ease and a clear difference could be seen between tiles I had cleaned and others that I left alone. It only took around 1 minute of solid work and parts of the kitchen were already white and sparkly again. I could access difficult to reach places thanks to the handy thin nozzle.
I did find that the Steam Stick was particularly heavy during extended use, proving to be quite taxing due to its one-handed design. Elderly users might struggle with it, especially considering the button needs to constantly be pressed down with one hand while the other is used to its hose. It would be best to get your thumb exercises in before using it. That said, the flexible hose means you can often set it down while cleaning.
The Karcher SC1 struggled a little when used as a mop, requiring multiple strokes to get rid of the stains, but did the job in the end. I did have to apply a fair amount of elbow grease to get rid of the tough stains. There’s no variable steam setting: you just have to make do with what you’ve got.
Conclusion
The Karcher SC1 Steam Stick is a handy and versatile steam cleaner, with a wide range of accessories included in the box, that’s able to handle pretty much any cleaning scenario you throw at it. The steam cleaner function is excellent and able to reach some particularly tricky locations, with noticeable results in just a few seconds.
It even held its own against other dedicated steam mops when cleaning hard floors and even got better results than some more expensive cleaners. Yes, the heat up time is long, the water tank is on the small side and the device is a little heavy during extended use, but the portability and sheer convenience of the SC1 Steam Stick outweigh these minor downsides. If you do want a purebred steam mop then check out the Vileda Steam Mop instead.
The handy and versatile Karcher SC1 Steam Stick is a great buy for anyone wanting that bit of extra help with cleaning around the home.
Click Here To Learn More About Kärcher SC1 Premium Steam Cleaner, Handheld and Steam Mop In One - Yellow.
2. Bissell Steam Shot review - a flexible cleaner for just £30
The Bissell Steam Shot is a nifty little steam cleaner, packing quite a punch compared to its bigger rivals
At just £30 steam cleaners don't come much cheaper than the Bissell Steam Shot. Despite the low price, it comes with a range of accessories, making it highly flexible and able to take on any little cleaning jobs around the home - just don’t expect it to stand in for a steam mop and clean large expanses of floor.
Design
The Bissell Steam Shot is nice and light at just over 1kg plus any water in the tank, which is significantly lighter than the somewhat similar, Karcher SC1 Steam Stick. The handheld can be stored away quite easily thanks to its compact design and is one of the smallest handheld steam cleaners I’ve reviewed to date. You should be able to fit this in your cleaning cupboard without too much hassle but you'll need to find a bag for the various accessories in the box as none is supplied.
The steam cleaner is very easy to operate, with numerous different attachments that can be swapped hassle free. The window squeegee is a nice addition, plus there are three colour-coded brush attachments, so you can reserve them for specific jobs. You can use a small nozzle or attached the short hose to help you reach difficult areas. It's handy but considerably less maneuverable than the hose for the Karcher SC1. I often had to fight with the unruly hose in order to get to go where I wanted.
The 4.8m cable, which is just under a metre longer than the Karcher SC1, was more than enough to work my way around the kitchen without having to find another plug socket. There are plenty of safety features for peace of mind too, with a red indicator light letting you know when the Steam Shot is plugged into the mains, eventually turning off when warmed up and ready to use. The cap can't be opened while the handheld is being used too, as the pressure inside locks it in place.
Cleaning Performance
With just a simple trigger on the handle controlling when steam is ejected, the Bissell Steam Shot gives is very simple to use. While it does come with a small mop attachment, it doesn’t really compare to the cleaning power of a dedicated steam mop and is only really to be used for small spills and stains, rather than whole floors. For those, you’d definitely be better off turning to the likes of the Vileda Steam Mop.
Cleaning grout from the tiles in the kitchen was effortless, getting rid of the otherwise tough to clean stains with ease. There wasn’t any struggling on my part in order to bring the grouting back to its former white glory. I noticed decent results in just a few seconds and without any great amount of scrubbing on my part.
Unfortunately, the button has to be pressed down constantly in order to emit steam and was incredibly uncomfortable to use even after a short period of time. My thumb started to ache after just 30 seconds and unfortunately you can’t relieve even the slightest amount of pressure without steam being cut off.
After a few minutes, the cleaner became noticeably hot too, even around the handle, forcing me to take a break from time to time. Sadly, the small 0.36-litre tank only gave me just over eight minutes of steaming time and as Bissell encourage that five minutes should be left between refills, I found myself sitting around waiting to clean.
Conclusion
The Bissell Steam Shot is a capable and cheap little handheld steam cleaner with small jobs. With plenty of accessories included in the box, the Steam Shot easily handled the varied cleaning situations I threw at it. The only downside is that it's not the most ergonomic design with the steam trigger and hose both frustrating at times.
While it isn’t a replacement for more dedicated and larger steam mops such as the Vileda Steam Mop, it is a competitively-priced choice for the odd bits of cleaning that need doing around the home. If you’re willing to part with a bit more cash though, the Karcher SC1 is highly recommended, as it comes with additional pole attachments to reach high areas and to double-up as a makeshift steam mop as well.
Find Here To Read More About BISSELL 2635s Steam Shot Handheld Steam Cleaner.
3. Vileda Steam Mop review
It may lack fancy features but the Vileda Steam Mop is good at what it does
While a lot of steam cleaners now ship with a huge range of accessories, to try and turn them into all-encompassing models that can clean absolute everything, the Vileda Steam Mop is refreshingly simple. This is just a standard steam mop, designed to help you get your hard floors clean, but its simplicity also means that it's comparatively very cheap. If you only care about cleaning your hard floors the, this certainly seems like an interesting cleaner.
Design
The Vileda Steam Mop is rather simple, but its slim profile means it can be stored easily in a tall cupboard and can handily stand upright on its own. Many other steam mops, such as the Vax Steam Fresh Power Plus, require a wall bracket to stay upright. With very few buttons, the Vileda is a great choice for steam cleaning newbies, being incredibly easy to use. The 0.4-litre water tank means you’ll be cleaning for longer (16m 13s in my tests) and won’t be waiting long to use it, thanks to the surprisingly short 15-second heat-up time.
Power consumption is low, with just 0.231kWh recorded during a lengthy cleaning session in the kitchen. Weighing just 2.5Kg, the Vileda is one of the lightest steam mops I’ve used and could easily be moved around the house, although it isn’t quite as lightweight as the Karcher SC1.
The heating mechanism heats water on-demand, with the tank always storing cool water. So, if you open the tank when the mop's on, you won't get a jet of hot steam pouring out, causing damage. You should be a bit careful around the tank and heater, though, as the mop gets very warm after it's been used for a while. It's also a slight shame that you can't control steam flow from a trigger, and even turning the mop off doesn't stench the flow, as you have to wait for the Steam Mop to cool first.
Cleaning performance
Limited to just floor cleaning, the Vileda Steam mop excels at removing tough stains, gliding incredibly well across hard surfaces. There’s no trigger to pull or button to press to get the steamer going, just turn it on and steam pours out at a steady rate automatically.
Taking just a few swipes and a couple of minutes to clear tricky breakfast spillages from the kitchen floor, I barely needed to apply any pressure, as some steam cleaners need you to add that extra oomph. The mop cover itself is only loosely held on with velcro, so I found that it would slip on occasion and would be tricky to use. Thanks to a carpet glider, the Vileda can also be used on fabric surfaces, albeit with a little bit more friction, requiring a bit of extra force to overcome.
Although perfect for clearing liquid stains, more substantial dirt was unfortunately pushed and smeared around the floor, making more mess, which left me feeling as though I reached a stalemate in the floor cleaning war. The triangular cleaning head was very manoeuvrable and could reach stains in the corners, but would sometimes click into place when moving it around as if it was vertically stood up.
Steam power can be adjusted by a simple knob, although I felt like I needed the Vileda to be at max power when cleaning, as I found the steam output lower down the dial to be pretty poor at getting rid of some pretty typical stains. I’d recommend trying the lower settings only for more delicate floor surfaces.
Conclusion
A stripped down and back to basics steam cleaner, the Vileda Steam Mop is a great choice for anyone who simply needs to get a hard floor clean. For full steam control, the Karcher SC1 Steam Stick is a brilliant choice and has a more flexible design. For those wanting something simple and easy to use, the Vileda Steam Mop is the steam cleaner for you. Don’t expect the Vileda Steam Mop to do everything, but what it does do (clean floors) it does very well.
To Learn More About Vileda Steam Mop - Black Click Here.
4. Bissell Vac &. Steam review - a hard floor specialist
The Bissell Vac & Steam excels on hard floors but isn't a true all-rounder
The Bissell Vac & Steam aims to do the job of both a vacuum and a steam cleaner. With a bagless cylinder vacuum and steam mop all in a single device it could, in theory, save you money and save on storage space in your home. Of course, with any two-in-one there's always the worry that it won't be up to either job, when compared to dedicated devices. While we can't imagine the basic vacuum will impress on carpet, the combination is an intriguing one for those with hard floors throughout their homes.
Design
As it isn’t just a steam cleaner but also a vacuum, the Bissell Vac & Steam is unfortunately pretty heavy, weighing a hefty 4.75Kg. Thankfully it doesn’t take up a whole lot of space, with a relatively slim profile and small footprint. You wouldn’t have any trouble with storage either, as it can hold itself upright when clicked into its base, like any respectable upright vacuum. The height of the handle can also be adjusted too, so it will even fit into shorter understairs cupboards.
Unfortunately, the controls are a little awkwardly placed and oddly the buttons are labelled upside down. As they are placed on the angled handle, you can’t see them when you’re using it anyway, so you'll have to just get used to which is which by touch alone.
Cleaning performance
When cleaning I could continuously use steam for just under 20 minutes without having to fill the tank up again. This is thanks to the 0.38-litre tank capacity. The water in the tank doesn't get directly heated, which is why the cap doesn't lock in use, so you can top it up as you go, although you should be careful how you handle the unit while it's hot.
While Bissell says that the Vac & Steam can be used on carpets, I found it really tricky to use on such surfaces and it really wasn’t its strong point. There isn’t an included carpet glider either unlike the Vax Steam Fresh Power Plus, so if you want to clean and vacuum carpet, you have to remove the pad tray. Just using the vacuum function, though, the Vac & Steam is perfectly functional and gave some decent results cleaning baking powder and cat litter from different carpets. Suction power wasn’t exactly impressive though and often just pushed dirt around rather than sucking it up. It did scrape a bit along the carpets too, again thanks to the lack of a carpet glider.
Of course, this is no replacement for a dedicated vacuum cleaner, but having a vac/steam combo is great. Many steam cleaners do tend to just drag dirt along for the ride, so it’s nice to have the option to suck up the dirt while you clean.
The Bissell Vac & Steam really shines on hard flooring, as expected, with incredible results when compared to other steam mops of the same price. Cleaning up breakfast spills on hard tiles was straightforward - while also sucking up crumbs on the kitchen floor too. While it isn’t the best steam clean I've seen, that goes to the cheaper Vileda Steam Mop, it was pretty good. Breakfast spills took a few swipes but it was left sparkly in the end. The vacuum function can get in the way of cleaning, though, as the front brush collects dirt and can smear gloopier mess around.
Conclusion
The Bissell Vac & Steam is a good multi-function cleaner, which cleans much better than it sucks. The vacuum setting isn’t the greatest, with poor suction that tends to just push dirt around, but it is somewhat functional and provides a helping hand for the steam cleaning setting. Steaming was excellent, getting rid of some pretty tough stains on hard floors, but struggling on carpeted surfaces.
Its mediocre carpet-cleaning performace means the Bissell Vac & Steam isn't a genuine all-round choice. That said, it's actually one of the better Steam Mops we've seen and the addition of a vacuum makes it great for sucking up those inevitable dust bunnies that run wild on hard floors. If your home primarily consists of hard floors and you like the idea of a single device then this is a good buy. Pair it up with a handheld steam cleaner, such as the Bissell Steam Shot or Karcher SC1 and you'll be all set to give the house a top-to-bottom clean.
Read More About BISSELL Vac and Steam 2-in-1 Vacuum Cleaner - White Red Find Here.
5. Vax Steam Fresh Power Plus review
The Vax Steam Fresh Power Plus has impressive detergent-assisted cleaning power
The Vax Steam Fresh Power Plus leads the brand’s steam cleaning range, with multiple different cleaning functions and even a detergent setting, which lets you use specially formulated detergent with steam power to remove really stubborn stains. Certainly, from the specs alone, this looks to be the big daddy of steam cleaners, with every feature under the sun, but does the premium price make it a cut above the rest?
Design
The Vax Steam Fresh Power Plus is rather top heavy, with the water storage tank placed at the top of the cleaner. Weighing 3.4Kg overall, it’s certainly not light and is quite difficult to move around the house. It doesn’t stand up on its own either, unlike the Vileda Steam mop, but it does come with a wall bracket for neat and secure storage. The mop extension can be detached, leaving a handheld unit, but it's still heavy and a little unwieldy.
The 0.3-litre water storage tank can be disconnected from the mop itself for easy filling. There’s also a detergent tank section, for the steam detergent supplied in the box, that can be used while cleaning to help get rid of tougher stains. There’s also plenty of attachments, including brushes and nozzles, to help you scour tougher messes.
A light turns on to let you know the cleaner is in use, but that’s it for safety features. The storage tank can be accessed during use, although the lid isn’t external, so you have to remove it from the cleaner first. The outside casing gets very hot to the touch during use, including the handle which made could be uncomfortable during longer sessions.
Cleaning performance
Variable steam controls are accessed via a four-way thumb control on the handle. This gives you plenty of flexibility, with different power modes and you can choose if want to use detergent. All settings worked perfectly well when put to the test, with plenty of steam power even at the lower settings.
The nozzle can be rotated in 90-degree increments, which was very useful when cleaning walls, just make sure not to rotate it towards your face, though. The Fresh Power Plus didn’t excel when put to the test against some dirty walls in our kitchen, seeming to not reach a high enough temperature to shift really stubborn stains, with less steam being produced than I’d hoped for.
Cleaning floors is definitely the Vax’s key strength, handling dirt and stains with ease. When put on the higher setting with detergent, it really shines and you can see a clear difference almost instantly. The steam mop has given me the best clean I’ve seen when using the detergent, managing to quickly break up stains and make the hard floor shiny again.
It is a shame that the use of detergent feels necessary when cleaning, as a steam cleaner should really just do its job without added cleaning solution. The mop head did struggle to stay velcroed to the base when using it on hard surfaces too. Overall steam time was pretty poor at just over 8 minutes, although at least the water tank heated up in a relatively speedy 60 seconds.
Conclusion
The Vax Steam Fresh Power Plus is a decent multifunctional steam cleaner that’s let down by a few flaws. While hard floor and carpet cleaning is great, especially with the use of the detergent, it struggled to get rid of grime on wall surfaces.
There are definitely some cheaper and better alternatives out there. If you’re looking for a very effective steam mop that can handle floors incredibly well without forking out too much, the Vileda Steam Mop is a great choice. Alternatively, if you want a multifunction steam cleaner, the Karcher SC1 is better placed to handle numerous tough tasks.
Click Here To Learn More About Vax S84-W7-P Steam Fresh Power Plus Multifunction Steam Mop
