A handheld steam cleaner is one of those cleaning tools you never knew you were missing until you got one and saw just how much it can do for you. Steam cleaners are highly effective cleaning tools that use steam to deep clean all kinds of surfaces, with a focus on indoor surfaces. The good steam cleaners are powerful enough to actually disinfect and sanitize the area on which they are applied, not just clean it superficially.
The principle behind the operation of a steam cleaner is pretty straightforward. The unit contains a water boiler, which is used to bring tap water to high temperatures – up to 240F-310F. However, the cleaner does not use the boiled water for cleaning purposes because it will probably be too harsh for many types of surfaces. Instead, it uses low pressure, low moisture water vapor (steam) which makes it very efficient at cleaning while maintaining a light touch. Thus, it can be used for cleaning windows, rugs, carpets, curtains, drapes, some parts of the bathroom, upholstery, glass showers, over doors, kitchen countertops and even clothes or some toys, such as stuffed animals. A steam cleaner is also useful for cleaning some outdoor objects, like patio furniture and the interior of your car. As you may notice, one of the biggest advantages of using a steam cleaner is that it does not rely on any kind of chemicals for the cleaning process. That means introducing less artificial agents to your environment, which is beneficial for general health and cost effective. Probably more environmentally friendly too!
It is pretty amazing that all of those things can be cleaned efficiently with a single cleaning device. It is even more amazing how easy it is to use a steam cleaner. Knowing that there is a boiler in the steam cleaner, you might be imaging a very large and obtrusive device. However, since steam cleaners have become more and more popular, companies have developed many different types of steam cleaners – some industrial-grade, some commercial-grade. Among the latter there are even handheld steam cleaners, which are very easy to use, to carry around and to store. This article will be talking about precisely that kind of steam cleaners. We have prepared three handheld steam cleaner reviews for you today. Each one of these cleaners is made by a different company. All of them have a listing price below $100. So if you want to go beyond your usual cleaning and actually be certain that all your furnishings, upholstery and other problematic areas around the house are perfectly clean, then read on these reviews and find out more about three different steam cleaners.
Comforday Handheld Multi-Purpose Pressurized Steam Cleaner
The first one of our handheld steam cleaner reviews is about the Comforday Handheld Multi-Purpose Pressurized Steam Cleaner. It has a plastic outer shell with a yellow and black color palette.
Its dimensions are 9.9 x 5.6 x 9.2 inches and it weighs 3.3 pounds. Thus, as you can see, it is a very light device that should be easy to carry around when you have different types of jobs to get done.
Also, with such small dimensions, it will be easy to find a storage space for this cleaning device.
One of the best things about the Comforday Handheld Multi-Purpose Pressurized Steam Cleaner is that it comes with a variety of attachments specifically developed for certain cleaning jobs. It has about 7 different nozzles and extensions. There is an extending connecting spray nozzle which can be used in conjunction with other nozzles for some extra reach. There is a long spray nozzle that should be used for directing the cleaning power toward hard to reach areas. There is a round brush nozzle for spot cleaning and a bent spray nozzle for crevices. There is also brush plate and a towel sleeve particularly useful for flat surfaces. There is a special spray nozzle for doors and windows and a general nozzle for everything else.
Some other important features of the Comforday Handheld Multi-Purpose Pressurized Steam Cleaner are the warm up time, water capacity and running capacity. The warm up time is very quick – it always took between 2-3 minutes to have it going for us. This steam cleaner has a water storage capacity of 8 ounces. It can be used for 15-20 minutes continuously for dispensing pressurized powerful hot steam. That is long enough for most cleaning jobs around the house. Of course, this being a handheld steam cleaner, it is not intended for large cleaning jobs. Rather, it is intended for regular maintenance of various parts of the house. For example, steaming the shower door, especially in the corners and edges should be easily doable within 20 minutes. Lastly, we should mention the price of this product, which is about $35! That makes it the cheapest device in our handheld steam cleaner reviews.
DBTech DB-8561 Multi-Purpose Pressurized Steam Cleaning and Sanitizing System with Attachments
The second one of our handheld steam cleaner reviews is about the DBTech DB-8561 Multi-Purpose Pressurized Steam Cleaning and Sanitizing System with Attachments.
It is similar to the device we reviewed previously in several ways. Firstly, they both provide similar cleaning power and a cleaning process which is 100% free from any chemicals.
This steam cleaner is also a multipurpose device which can be used for a variety of lighter cleaning tasks around the house (such as removing grime, grease or soap scum deposits) as well as for removing wrinkles from clothes and curtains.
Like the other device, this one also comes with a lot of different attachments, including the extended connecting spray nozzle, the bent, long and round brush spray nozzles, the one for doors and windows as well as a general spray nozzle. Even in terms of design, they look very similar, with one obvious difference being the color palette – this one is colored in blue and black. Runtime capacity is practically the same too – 15-20 minutes of continuous operation. The dimensions of the DBTech Multi-Purpose Pressurized Steam Cleaning and Sanitizing System are 8.8 x 5.3 x 11.2 inches and it weighs 3.2 pounds.
One notable difference is that with this cleaner you can refill water immediately after one fill has been used up – there is no waiting time. Conversely, with the Comforday Handheld Multi-Purpose Pressurized Steam Cleaner you need to wait for the device to cool down before you can refill it. This is specified in the safety instructions, which we strongly recommend you follow to the dot – playing around with hot steam will almost certainly not be any fun. Another notable difference is the price – the DBTech Multi-Purpose Pressurized Steam Cleaning and Sanitizing System is more expensive, with a listing price of about $60.
The last one of our handheld steam cleaner review is about the Xtech Electric Easy Handheld Steam Cleaner.
This steam cleaner has the same power capabilities as the other two we reviewed and also has many of the same attachments.
It actually has two more attachments that the other two do not, which are related to the treatment of clothes. Those are the clothing attachment and a Terry cloth cover for it.
In terms of price, size and weight it is also comparable to the other two – the listing price is about $50 and its weight is less than 4 pounds. Design-wise, it looks almost the same as the DBTech Multi-Purpose Pressurized Steam Cleaning and Sanitizing System, with the slight difference that the black elements there are gray here.