General Cleaning Issues - Floorcare, car valeting, buying and selling businesses, pricing, staffing, market research, etc.
"dry steam" cleaningPosted by A_to_Z_Clean (A_to_Z_Clean), 28 October 2003
Hi,
I found Steam Cleaning mashine on internet ECO PRO 3000.This mashin cleans everything( on promo movie 
)
So, it is true or not that the steam is very good to clean all surfaces?
Many thanks
Adam
AtoZ CleanPosted by petra (petra), 28 October 2003
they kill all thoes little germs and bug and that, but we used a steam cleaner to do a deep clean in a [/b]mens [b] toilets , and it was easier with a bit of elbow grease........but they are good on carpets...(this is my personal opion)
PetraPosted by Mike_Boxall (Mike_Boxall), 29 October 2003
Hi Adam
No, its not true - they can't do 'everything'! Dry steam cleaners are often over-sold. Unfortunately, there is no single machine that can do everything and the way some manufacturers promote these machines is extremely misleading. However, there are a number of specific tasks that the machines are good for and they can be worthwhile if you get the right one for the right job.
Was there anything specific you had in mind?
By the way, I've not seen the forum for a week or so - did you buy the Bissell machine in the end?
Regards
MikePosted by A_to_Z_Clean (A_to_Z_Clean), 30 October 2003
Hi,
No i did not buy any machine yet. The thing is I really need machine to be universal. I like to steam clean bathroom walls, kitchen oven, maybe carpets. Because I doing one off cleans you never know watch kind of machine you need. I don’t want to have 3 or 4 machines in van.
I’m not so often on forum because I’m practicing my English( he he 
)-joke.
Just a lot of hard work on the moment, 8000 flayers to distribute. 
Regards
Adam
Posted by DP (DP), 30 October 2003
Can I ask a question on the use of steam in deep cleaning commercial kitchens?
I used to have a small business degreasing commercial Kitchen hoods and ductwork. At that time we did everything by hand in situ with cold chemical, including if need be getting inside with scrappers.
However whenever possible we would strip out the entire system including taking down the stacks motors etc, pressure wash and reinstall the system all in one day (using a 5-6 man team)
I now notice that there is an overseas franchise doing this, using a poly tent system inside and hot pressure washing the hood "eekk", however shooting the water into a container. Hell of a lot of setting up but I guess it must work.
Question:
How would the larger commercial steam units fare with the commercial kitchen deep cleans. Could they handle the heavy grease removals of a commercial kitchen?
Has anybody had any experience with the heavy stuff?
Mike don’t you supply some of the large equipment for this?
I would like to start this again, however we could no longer do it using our old methods (nor want to) and pressure washing anything inside is scary to say the least. My insurers might have something to say about that.
DP
Posted by Dynafoam (Dynafoam), 31 October 2003
Adam,
Read Mikes' post again!
If you want to do such a wide range of things properly you WILL have a number of machines on your van.
As to cleaning carpets with "dry steam" - definately not.
Removing soil from carpets & fabrics requires extraction. Even the steam generators that incorporate low-power vacuums are incapable of providing the rinse- action to remove large amounts of soil from textiles.
John.Posted by Ian_G. (Ian_G.), 1 November 2003
I cleaning supplier told me that steam was a good way to clean curtains rather than dry clean method.
Do ant of you use this methodPosted by Mike_Boxall (Mike_Boxall), 3 November 2003
Hi Dp
Yes we do the larger ones and yes they can be used for deep cleans. The smaller ones do struggle because they simply dont have the output to do anything other than move the grease about. The hand held units are good for small awkward areas that you cant reach with cloths and scourers but you can't use them for larger flat surfaces.
A lot of the larger machines go into production facilities but tends to be more on a maintainance task than a deep cleaning one. We've recently put the larger machines in to the likes of BMW, Cadbury's, BOC and British Pepper for this sort of thing. We've also supplied the Mclaren F1 team with steam cleaners but I'm still waiting for my tickets
Ian, they're definately not a substitute for dry cleaning curtains - dry steam cleaners aren't actually dry it's just that they use far less water than steam pressure washers! I have seen them used to remove water marks quite succesfully but generally speaking they're not for use on fabrics (maybe the one exception is mattreses. We do have a customer who has set up a business cleaning and 'de-bugging' hotel beds!)
This is the range we stock: http://www.express-cleaning-supplies.co.uk/shopbask/cg140001.htm
Regards
MikePosted by Ian_G. (Ian_G.), 3 November 2003
Mike
As you will see from another post There are a lot of Salesmen trying to sell steam cleaners for every application
Regards
IanPosted by Mike_Boxall (Mike_Boxall), 4 November 2003
There are Ian - the one that really gets me is one advertised on the shopping channels where they wave it at a curtain from 18 inches away and imply that it they are cleaned and sterilised. This is simply not the case, it's just misleading!Posted by Perry_White (Perry_White), 6 November 2003
dry steam - the term is totally misleading as there is no such thing! Water can be made so hot that it turns into a vapour (steam) that is invisible and 'dry' - i.e. it is in a freely gassing state and has not cooled sufficiently to absorb atmospheric moisture - the 'steam' that most people talk about. The nature of our atmosphere ensures that 'dry' steam reverts very quickly to its natural state - water - very quickly indeed. Only in places with extremely low relative humidity - deserts etc - is the moisture content of the air low enough for 'dry' steam to last for any appreciable length of time. 
Posted by Musicman (Musicman), 6 November 2003
Wow Perry - so is that 'blinding with science' or 'baffling with bulls**t'?
Anyone for cleaning in the Sahara?
Personally I feel that steam cleaning has it's place in the market as long as it's not seen as the solution to everything.
I unblocked my shower drain with my Duplex last night - did a fine job. Then went on to clean the grouting and tiles - wife very pleased. Tried steam cleaning the kids before they went to bed - not so happy!!!
Musicman
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