By Mercia Tapping,
President of Allergy BuyersClub.com Index


What is Vapor Steam Cleaning? How does vapor steam cleaning
work? What is "Dry" Steam Vapor steaming and how does it differ from the
steam cleaners I have seen around? What tasks can I use a Vapor Steam
Cleaner for? What are the specific applications for a Vapor Steam Cleaning?
I want to clean carpets- What are my options?
Are chemicals used in the Vapor Steam Cleaning process?
Where does the water of a Vapor Steam Cleaner go?
How much pressure does a Vapor Steam Cleaner generate?
What is the improvement over just scrubbing away with abrasives ,soap
or other cleaners? So where does the dirt end up?

I have allergies to dust mites and molds. Why is Vapor Steam Cleaning
helpful? What about Chemical Sensitivities? Does Vapor Steam Cleaning Help? I hear Vapor Steam Cleaning originated in Europe? Are Vapor Steam Cleaners used commercially ?

There are a number of different vapor steam models available on your site.
How do I know which is the right one for me? What are the features that I can look for to distinguish between Vapor Steam Cleaning Models?
Where can I find more details about particular vapor steam products?

Q. What is Vapor steam Cleaning?
A. A vapor steam cleaner often looks like a vacuum cleaner but there the resemblance ends. Vapor steam cleaning originated in Italy, and uses true steam, usually 240 to 260 degrees Fahrenheit , and occasionally hotter, in good residential machines. Vapor steam cleaning sanitizes, deep cleans and deodorizes in one easy operation without using the chemicals found in supermarket cleaning materials. Of particular interest to allergy sufferers, is that the heat of the steam penetrates the pores of any material being cleaned, so that the dry steam instantly kills dust mites, viruses, molds, and fungi. You will notice the improvement in the freshness of the air around your house immediately. Vapor steam cleaning can be used for a wide variety of difficult cleaning household tasks. Only tap water is used in vapor steam cleaning. No regular cleaning fluids are used in the vapor steam cleaning process, making it the most ecologically friendly, as well as the most effective cleaning system. It is the lack of chemicals which make it particularly attractive as a cleaning method for allergy sufferers.

Q. How does vapor steam cleaning work? Is it a Vacuum?
A. No, vapor steam cleaning is NOT a vacuum , although there are some products which will soon be on the market which attempt to combine the two technologies. A vapor steam cleaner uses remarkably little water, less than a gallon of tap water in an hour's worth of continuous cleaning .All vapor steam cleaners use low moisture vapor which leaves almost no damp residue on the surface which has just been cleaned. For instance, a carpet will be completely dry in 15 minutes, leaving no possibility for mold spores to start proliferating in a damp environment. The heat of the vapor steam itself, plus a little light rubbing action does all the work. Moisture evaporates immediately after the vapor steam makes contact with a surface. Surfaces cleaned can be hard [like countertops] or soft [like upholstery]. No buckets, mops, sponges or emptying out dirty water are needed. This is an almost "mess free" way of cleaning. We say "almost"
because we have found in our testing of machines and dislodging dirt from baked-on or ground-in areas, that naturally, you need to wipe up the dislodged dirt particles with a towel on hard surfaces or vacuum a carpet subsequent to vapor cleaning. We stress again that a vapor steam cleaner is NOT a vacuum cleaner. A vacuum cleaner uses a technology which pulls dirt from carpets into a dust bag. A vapor steam cleaner will loosen dirt in carpet fibers which rise to the surface where it is absorbed usually by a
towel fixed onto an attachment. You use a vacuum cleaner after vapor cleaning since your vacuum will be able to penetrate more deeply after the vapor steam has loosened the fibers.

Q. What is "Dry" Steam Vapor steaming and how does it differ from the steam cleaners I have seen around?
A. Dry vapor steam cleaning machines produce both a high temperature, and a low moisture vapor. The vapor steam contains only 5% to 6% water, surprisingly less moisture than in the air we breathe. Hence the term "dry steam". Many products that are being sold as "steam cleaners" only use hot water and no steam at all is being used. The term "steam machine" for these products a complete misnomer. These "steam machines" use gallons of water and leaving a wet residue on the surfaces they clean.
Usually, carpets are left sopping wet, needing hours to dry off, an instant invitation and breeding ground for dust mites and mold. Vapor steam cleaning machines operate completely differently. They use only a miniscule amount of water to produce thousands of gallons of dry steam per hour. The biggest area of contention, is over which technology to use to clean carpets. Even with its disadvantages, most people will prefer hot water extraction units for cleaning very large dirty areas of carpet. Vapor steam cleaning of carpets is a slow process and best used for the upkeep of new or lightly soiled carpets. If you have allergies and want to use vapor steam cleaning for your carpets, you would best advised to take a small
area of carpet each week, rather than tackle all the carpet in one fell swoop.

Q. What are the specific applications for a vapor steam cleaning?
A. Killing of dust mites in bedding, upholstery, carpets, clothing. Dust mites, fleas and eggs are killed without the use of any chemicals or residue. Helps kill germs, viruses. Just think, a quick vapor steam of your bedding, and dust mites are gone. (You will still need to repeat the vapor steam cleaning frequently to keep dust mites at bay.
Killing of mold spores in bathrooms, basements, window encasements, other damp areas where mold spores flourish. We have found that this is huge advantage of vapor steam cleaning. It will not eliminate the mold which is now ingrained into grout between tiles. Steam cleaning clothes gets rid of both toxic dry cleaning fluids and wrinkles. Some vapor steam cleaners come with an optimal steam iron- a quantum improvement over a traditional iron. Disinfects and cleans cat litter box, and pet odor laden areas. It provides instant deep cleaning and sanitation. Particularly useful for veterinarians, and pet breeders. Cleaning of bird-cages. Instant deep cleaning and sanitation. Useful for bird owners and pet store owners.
Detail car interiors- upholstery, carpet, infant seats, engine wheels (do not use on body work, it is too hot). You can also degrease the car engine, car tools without solvents or toxic fumes. Brake dust can also be removed from car wheels. Vinyl tile, marble tile, smooth concrete quarry tile for dirt and wax removal and grout cleaning. It is in the grout cleaning both on the floor and in the bathroom where you should notice the most improvements.
Carpets. You must first vacuum and pre-spot with a natural non- toxic surfactant. Natural solvents are useful in pretreatment of carpets with stains and heavy soiling. We have found vapor steam alone will not remove all stains on carpets. You still need a surfactant of some kind. Vacuum again after using the vapor steam cleaner, to vacuum up the additional dirt which has been loosened up during the vapor steam cleaning process. Do not vacuum until the carpet is dry, otherwise it will rust out your regular vacuum cleaner. Wall paper stripping with a special attachment. Makes steaming off wall paper a breeze. Cleaning of soiled paint-work,(do not over heat and use a thick towel on these surfaces.) We think this is particularly useful in washing down a large area of grimy wall. This can give your present paint job on your walls at home ,a longer lease on life.
Vents, returns and ductwork entries, which often accumulate tremendous dirt, pet hair, dust and allergens Sliding glass door floor sliders for French windows. Look at the dirt in those sliders and you will see what we mean.
Golf club cleaning .It just whisks off the dirt here. Our golf clubs were never so clean.
Kitchen: the baked on grime and grease of stove -tops and oven hoods and
interiors. The cleaning and interior of microwaves .The accumulated hardened spilled foods and mildew at the bottom of refrigerators (this one is a real boon) The dust, grime, and pet hair, on the underside of your refrigerator. Grimy bottoms of household pots and pans. Sanitizing of kitchen drains. Your kitchen contains more bacteria than any other area of the house[even the bathroom],so vapor steam cleaning provides total sanitization. Bar-B-Q grill cleaning. Using a wire brush and with vapor steam you can actually clean the grill rack(the one with all that caked on crud).
Hospitals who are concerned with maintaining a clean germ and virus free
environment. The sanitation applications in a hospital environment are endless. Bathroom and kitchen sinks, faucets. Using a wire brush attachment, the grout surrounding sinks is cleaned. The amount of dirt that is removed is quite enlightening! Cleaning of bathroom tiles, floors, bath surrounds, toilet interiors, shower curtains, shower stall doors. All the areas of the bathroom which harbor bacteria, germs, viruses, mold and odors. Your bathroom will smell fresh and be completely sanitized. Vapor steam cleaning is very effective in bathrooms. Wood paneling or decks, outdoor furniture, especially useful for not only the cleaning of dirt but also for mold removal. RVs and decks and trim of boats. Metal venetian blind cleaning. Just steam and wipe. Mirrors and windows. Use the window attachment and windows sparkle without using soapy water. Freshen up and sanitize children's stuffed animals [you would be shocked at how
much bacteria they contain]. Complete sanitation of the children's nursery.
Jewelry. Sparkle and shine in moments.

Q. I want to clean carpets- What are my options?
A. Let's compare traditional hot water extraction machines to vapor steam cleaning. The "steam cleaners", you may be familiar with or seen used by a rug cleaning service are all based on water extraction. The ones that are truck mounted, can cost up to $30,000! Home based systems are only a few hundred dollars and their performance is more often than not congruent with their price. Low price equals low performance. The extraction units that are truck mounted can indeed do a good job on cleaning large areas of carpet although you still have the chemical residue problem. These hot water extraction units do not use steam, they pump large amounts of water through jets accompanied by chemical containing cleaning fluids onto your carpet. These machines agitate with some brushing action and then "extract" most of the water and chemicals out of your carpet. The disadvantages of lower end water extraction systems, and indeed some of the more expensive ones, is that the soap and chemical residue is both harmful to the carpet and your health. Really damp carpet is a breeding ground for mold and dust mites. However, extraction units have been traditionally, the most efficient way to clean a large area of dirty carpeting. Results produced by lower end machines or cheap services are often indifferent, producing streaking and a great deal of dirt left behind which has only been redistributed, instead of cleaned. This is why your carpet seems to get dirty again so quickly. In comparison, our testing of vapor steam cleaners on carpets has seemed to be rather a laborious process but it provides some advantages. In using a vapor steam cleaner to
CLEAN your heavily soiled carpet (as opposed to killing dust mites in your carpets for which it is superbly well qualified), you should first vacuum up all loose dirt (you have do this task with an extraction unit too).You then should pre-treat the area, by spraying on some natural ecologically friendly surfactant. Vapor steam alone will not take out all the stains. Then use a good quality vapor steam cleaner (the lower priced ones are simply not up to the task) over the carpeted area and gently rub with the toweling applicator to absorb dirt. The last part of the process is to vacuum over the carpeted area ,which will now have the carpet fibers opened up by the heat and more accessible for vacuuming .You should leave it to dry for a few minutes(15 to 20) before using a hepa vacuum cleaner to collect dead dust mites and extra loosened dirt. If you use your vacuum cleaner while the carpet is still damp, you will rust it out- JUST DON'T DO THIS.
This method while tedious will give you the best results.

Q. Are chemicals used in the vapor steam cleaning process?
A. No chemicals are used in vapor steam cleaning. We do need to stress that we still advise using a natural surfactant on heavily soiled and stained carpeting. Also some bathrooms may need some extra surfactant help. Vapor steam cleaning is best used in tiling bath surrounds not fiber glass. Our testing of residential vapor steam cleaners showed us that you will find steam alone will not be sufficient for these kinds of cleaning
challenges. However, you will be pleasantly surprised at the variety of tasks for which steam is not only adequate but far surpasses regular cleaning.