Dry Steam / Vapor Cleaner User Thread

[peabody58]

A good quality Dry Steam Cleaner (super-heated steam ~5% moisture) is certainly not an inexpensive item, but with the potential health benefits, time savings and pursuit of a ‘greener’ cleaning experience, these Steam Cleaner machines could be considered by some a budget saving device. Dry Steam Cleaning is being used by most industrial businesses (house cleaners, restaurants, hospitality, assisted living, car detailing, travel, etc., etc.) with great results. Although Dry Steam Cleaners have been around for a long time, the use in residential settings is only now really ramping up.

I’m starting this thread because we recently had a presentation of a high-end Dry Steamer system and we were quite impressed. Our stove top was cleaned in minutes vs. ‘many hours using chemicals and lots of scrubbing’. Our shower stall clear doors and tracks are spotless and look almost new. Grout lines on our tile are amazingly bright.

DW said she now wants a Dry Steamer, and I said I’d look into it. The high-end demonstration model at a discounted price of $2,500 was a bit steep for me, and I wanted to do some research first.

After a few days of on-line research I discovered these key points:
- Prices can range from $400 to $2,800 plus and higher in the Commercial range.
- Most brands make excellent units from entry level residential models to high end Commercial models.
- The higher the temperature/pressure available is better as it will clean faster. 70 psi and up is getting into low-end Commercial units.
- Boiler Auto refill capability is preferred if you plan on cleaning for > 90 minutes at a time.
- Units with pressure control are beneficial to one-pressure units (usually low end).
- Most of the dry steamers are from Italy.
- All brands are selling like hot cakes due to the Covid pandemic and the need to clean a lot of areas. Restocking is out into November for a lot of units.

Brands I looked at in no particular order include Vapor Clean, Giant Steamer, Hyla (new to market), LadyBug, Dupray, Daimer and a whole lot more (just google Dry Steamer and learn).

We narrowed our selection down to the Vapor Clean Pro5, Giant Steamer 75 and the Dupray Tosca models. All great units IMO. After evaluating what our needs would be (everyone is different), and carefully weighing each model's features, we finally ordered the Giant Steamer Single PRO 75 along with the Extended Warranty. The price was great (on-sale), it was in stock (now Out of Stock), is considered a Commercial Grade unit (Stainless Steel), has a manually pressure adjustment from 0-85 psi (320 deg F), great customer support (owner has already chatted with me), pressure gauge vs electronic display, I like their accessories (optional floor mop) more than other brands, and my favorite: the tank heater (1750 w) is external to the stainless steel boiler hence no calcium build up on the heating elements requiring yearly descaling.

But is a Dry Steamer really a ‘budget’ item? We look to the time savings in cleaning, having a safer/cleaner living environment and being able to eliminate most of our cleaning chemicals as a very wise budget focused purchase (YMMV). Plus, we’ll actually clean stuff like windows, BBQ and car detailing that I’ve put off for a long time. And if we can hold off a few more years in hiring a house keeper, then it should almost pay for itself.

So looking forward to receiving our new Dry Steamer next week after we get back from our first post-Covid WDW trip (see how I made this thread Disney related!). Oh the things I’m going to clean!! DW is already starting a new Covid Project list as I finished the last list a month ago!

So share your thoughts, experiences, recommendations regarding the newest home cleaning trend of Dry Steamers. And please remember that there is no ‘best’ unit, only the unit that is best for the individual.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

We use some brand I have never herd of.. we bought it at harbor freight for 149...
I wanted to make sure we would use it first and it has not died so we did not replace it with a " better" model. We have had it about 6 months.

 

[peabody58]

We use some brand I have never herd of.. we bought it at harbor freight for 149...
I wanted to make sure we would use it first and it has not died so we did not replace it with a " better" model. We have had it about 6 months.

Glad your unit is working for your needs. Love happy stories!

Not sure which model you have, but the one at Harbor Freight right now is not a true Dry Steamer because it only heats the water to 212 deg F (not super-heated/pressurized). However for a lot of simple cleaning tasks, this can be sufficient for ones needs, and is an excellent way to dip one's toe into the water.

We dipped our toes into the water with a Shark Steam Cleaner (212 deg F) a few years back and it did a poor job of cleaning tough jobs (stove top, shower doors), and left a lot of moisture in the process. It did not meet our expectations for what a steam cleaner should be. The unit died in less than a year due to scale build up on the heating elements. At that time I was not even aware of Dry Steamers. I was always convinced that steam cleaning was the way to go because as a sailor in the Navy (MM1/SS), I always used high pressure steam to clean our bilges and stuff. It was fun (and slightly dangerous). So now with Dry Steamers I can have the best of both - efficient cleaning and low moisture.

Clean on!

 

[_19disnA]

Don't own one but think they are probably most useful in some sort of business where you are interacting with a lot of customers. Stores, restaurants/bars, beauty parlor, etc. are types of businesses that need to sanitize surfaces due to covid all day long or after every customer. At home, it would mostly be your immediate family and seems like the many types of cleaning products with bleach/alcohol are probably more practical and would only be used periodically.

Would also want to see reviews from reputable 3rd parties to verify the product even does what they claim since there are plenty of dubious companies trying to capitalize on the whole covid situation. Clearly, the typical homeowner has no way to prove if such products actually do what the company claims.