5 household items to steam clean—believe us, you'll want to!
Couches and cars can get pretty gross
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It’s time to ask the question: Is your house really getting clean? You can only do so much with soap and sponge. For difficult-to-clean surfaces like upholstery, carpet, and grout, the answer isn’t a specialty cleaner—it’s steam.
While a steam cleaner may not seem like a necessary tool for your cleaning arsenal, it’s crucial if you want to sanitize and clean surfaces without any added chemicals.
If you’re ready to purchase a steam cleaner—or already have—use it to its full potential. Here are five things you should be cleaning with steam.
What is steam?
Steam is water in the gaseous state. Water moves from liquid to gas when the temperature is increased, therefore loosening the bonds between molecules.
A steam cleaner creates steam by heating water hotter past boiling and then applying pressure by pushing it through a nozzle or hose, which then releases the steam.
How to use a steamer
To get started with a steam cleaner, you need to fill the water tank. Read the set-up instructions carefully as many steam cleaners require only distilled water be used because regular tap water causes mineral build-up.
Once filled, plug-in and turn on the cleaner as expected. It may take several minutes for the steam cleaner to start running as the water has to be heated past the boiling point. When the steam cleaner is ready to go, make sure your desired steam head is placed on and begin steaming.
The steam is as hot as boiling water, so use caution when cleaning as it can cause severe burns. You should avoid cleaning delicate fabrics and surfaces with steam since the heat and water will cause damage. However, on all other surfaces, you can press the nozzle or cleaning head directly to surfaces to apply steam.
When finished cleaning, allow the water tank to depressurize. It will be extremely hot so allow it to fully cool. Otherwise use heat protection when handling.
1. Mattress
A steam cleaner is a good tool for cleaning your mattress and killing off any bacteria that lives in it.
You must clean your mattress with a steam cleaner. You can use a vacuum to suck up dust mites that live between the coils, but for a better clean, use steam.
The moisture of the steam will loosen dirt and debris that ends up on the upholstery of the mattress. But most importantly, the steam sanitizes the mattress and kills germs and bacteria lingering beneath the sheets.
Got bed bugs? A steam cleaner is the most effective way to kill them without calling the exterminator. The heat from the steam is hot enough to kill bed bugs in any stage of life.
The Dupray steam cleaner's microfiber head is perfect for steaming mattresses.
2. Grout
You can steam clean your grout, too.
Stop spending hours scrubbing the grime that lives grout. Instead, allow the moisture and heat to lift away dirt.
One of our favorite steam cleaners, the Bissell Steam Shot Deluxe, comes with a grout tool that specifically targets the area between tiles so you can get in there.
Take home the power of steam with the Bissell Steam Shot Deluxe.
3. Your couch
A bottle of fabric spray, coupled with the Bissell Steam Shot Deluxe, is a great way to steam clean your couch.
From unwinding at the end of the day to hosting friends for game night, couches are the hub of your home. Between the fibers of the upholstery are germs and grime that fabric spray can’t always reach.
A steam cleaner will be equally effective on couches as mattresses, listing away germs with heat and steam. Among its many attachment heads, the Bissell Steam Shot Deluxe includes a window squeegee that doubles as a fabric steamer.
Optimal for cleaning fabrics, the wide head glides over the upholstery and covers more space in less time. After steam cleaning, let the cushions and fabric air dry completely. No one wants to sit on a wet couch!
An antibacterial fabric spray is effective to use between steam cleans.
Take home the power of steam with the Bissell Steam Shot Deluxe.
4. Carpets
Steam clean your carpets for a quick and easy refresh.
Hardwood and tile floors are easy to clean; you pull out the broom and mop. Carpets are a different story. You can vacuum, but that won’t get to what’s hiding in the fibers—only steam can do that.
The Wagner Spraytech tackles carpets beautifully. For cleaning carpets, get a steam cleaner, like the Wagner, that can run up to 40 minutes, providing you plenty of time to clean wall-to-wall.
For steam cleaning carpets, the Wagner Spraytech covers you from wall-to-wall.
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5. Car—inside and out
Cleaning with steam is a great way to remove smells and stains from cars and car seats.
Stop paying for expensive car detailing and do it with a steam cleaner. Those stains left behind by kids in the backseat aren’t set in stone, not when there’s steam to lift them away. But beyond cleaning a car seat with a steam cleaner, you can wipe away grime from every surface inside and out, including the dashboard, windows, and tire rims.
For car cleaning, you need a steam cleaner that will reach outdoors. A heavy-duty machine, like the McCulloch MC1375 because it has an 18-foot long chord, so I can plug into an outlet but still reach your car outside. Additionally, a heavy-duty steamer cleaner has the advantage of a 7-foot steam hose to get into the nooks and crannies.
An 18-foot chord and 7-foot steam hose, makes getting outside to clean the car easy.
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