Vapor Steam Cleaning

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.

The Improvement

Vapor steam is faster, cleaner and more effective than regular cleaning methods. Dirt is loosened up amazingly fast and the dry steam penetrates the pores of surfaces. We never saw our kitchen countertops so clean as when using one of these cleaners. Vapour steam cleaning appeals to those who want to get their house really clean. It is also a natural sanitizer, great around pet and nursery areas. Vapour steam cleaning is a cleaning process that does not leave a residual from a supermarket cleaning fluid, so surfaces are left cleaner.

How Does It Work

A vapour steam cleaner uses remarkably little water, less than a gallon of tap water in an hour's worth of continuous cleaning. All vapour steam cleaners use low moisture vapour 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 vapour steam itself, plus a little light rubbing action does all the work. Moisture evaporates immediately after the vapour 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.

The water is put into a special boiler. The better grade vapor steam cleaning systems allow for continuous refill of water without allowing the system to cool down between fills. The less expensive vapor steam systems have a heat sensitive safety cap which does not allow you to refill the system until it has cooled down. These boilers fast heat the water, which is discharged as "dry steam" which contains 6% water. This way carpets and floors dry quickly with little moist residue and are fully dry in a matter of minutes.

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.