Anybody Own a Real Steam Cleaner?

[fessie]

I've been reading reviews and trying to figure out which one's worth buying - geez, talk about opinions being all over the place!

I know a lot of people buy them just to clean the grout in their bathrooms, that's probably what those $40 units do well.

I want one that will treat the carpeting in our guest bedroom. We had an infestation of carpet beetles, which is discovered via our Hoover "Steam Cleaner" carpet cleaner (not actual steam, just hot water). It does a reasonably good, but that room still smells buggy and I've read that genuine steam is great for killing tiny bugs and dust mites (as well as mold). I'd like to tackle our couches, too - I figure it's cheaper to clean them than to replace them.

Do I have to spend $300 to get something that works? Anything in the $100 range that would do the job?

[SanibelMan]

Sorry, no answer, just wanted to bump this up as I'm curious as well.

[Jayrot]

Most of the grocery stores here in California rent out something called the Rug Doctor for about $20 per day. Not steam, but rather hot water, though they are pretty significant, industrial strength machines. We rent one from time to time and do a full carpet treatment in addition to couches and even upholstery/carpet in cars.

I find it works well and if you really blitz it you can get it all done in one day for only $20.

[fessie]

Yep, I've done the rug doctors. In the right environment, they're great - actually I own a similar machine, made by Hoover. It's come in handy for a lot of cleaning applications.

When you're trying to clean mold and dust mites, though, using a wet process (as opposed to genuine steam) can simply make it worse, since it takes a while for cleaned carpets to dry. Depending on the carpet, the allergens and the humidity, cleaning your carpet can actually make your allergies worse because the critters multiply so quickly.

[fessie]

One thing, though -- I did go ahead and buy the Kenmore Progressive vacuum cleaner (Consumer Reports' "Best Buy") and damned if it didn't clean the smell out of the carpet! I'm convinced it was carpet beetle feces, and nothing else took it out (including hours & hours of cleaning with my Hoover).

It's great being able to open that door without having my lungs go berserk!