Polti Lecoaspira steam/vacuum machine (any model 700 or 900 series).

[Tim]

Has anyone got one of these machines?

I'm interested as our carpet gets icky quickly due to baby's feeding habits ;-o as well as random hairs and dirt.

I like the idea of steaming as it may be:

a) Quicker to dry compared to VAXing (wet shampoo) b) No deteregent residue left c) Kills bugs.

Does it work well cleaning short pile carpets? Does it really suck all the scunge out after the steam has done it's job?

Used just as a vacuum cleaner, is it OK?

What's it like as a basic steam gun - eg cleaning ovens?

They're quite expensive so I'm not sure I would risk my money without some good feedback.

Hope someone can tell me :-)

Best wishes

Tim Southerwood

[Huge]

Machines? There was I thinking it was a bacterium.

[Velvet]

Not the only one. I have a steamer (well, had, it's currently on long term/permanent loan to the parents). Did seem to lift the dirt out of the carpet but didn't have a vacuum side to it, just blasted steam in through a bit of towelling wrapped around the floor brush head of it, the towelling collected the grease/dirt etc that got blasted out the carpet.

Was hard work to use, would also produce wrinkling in the carpet where the carpet stretched temporarily (it is cheap thin carpet that's even thinner now) but wouldn't expect that on decent quality carpet unless you really over use it on one area.

Very good at eradicating a explosion in the flea population though after getting a new kitten. Kills adults, eggs, and all the ones inbetween, so breaks the cycle very effectively, and if you can do it every couple of weeks till the kitten's old enough to get a decent flea treatment it stops the explosion happening in the first place.

So, very useful devices, steam machines.

Velvet

[Tim]

Sure it means something nice in Italian(!)

The steamer sans vacuum I have deliberately avoided. I know steam shifts stuff - just with a carpet, where's a steamer going to shift it to? I can see half the muck staying in the carpet if one is trying to rub it out with a cloth while steaming. That's why the bacterium-sounding vacuum model interests me. Big question of course - without pushing much water through the carpet - can the vacuum actually get any purchase on the now emulsified dirt to suck it out?... That's the big question in my mind.

I've used a VAX before but I usually have to go over twice - once with shampoo then once with plain water to get the rest of the scunge out. I can see carpet cleaning becoming a frequent necessity in my house these days.

Hmm. Carpet's probably cheap - came with the house when it was built. Only the best for Laing/Wimpy/Ideal/whoever ;-|

Also kills all the random bugs round the loos (I HATE carpeted bathrooms - alas it's a rented house, otherwise the bloody lot whould be out and replaced with vinyl and laminate or something else smooth and spongeable.)

Have you tried cleaning cookers/ovens with your steamer. Or windows? The latter scares me - can the glass really stand the heat? If so, it could be useful for killing off the mould we've built up over winter on the frames.

Cheers

Tim

[Andy Hall]

We have the Polti Vaporetto Eco Pro 3000 Lux. This one comes with a bunch of accessories.

For surface cleaning it is either a case of a blast with steam followed by a wipe or using one of the attachments that can take one of their cloth type socks that stretches over the attachment. The cloths are machine washable and re-usable afterwards.

There is a window cleaning accessory with squeegees which works well. If using just the jet, then the recommendation is to not hold it too close to the glass.

It's certainly good for cooker cleaning and works especially well on the top of the Aga.

We bought the iron attachment separately. This is a commercial grade iron which is electric but takes a steam supply from the steam generator. The results are quite remarkable. We had become fed up with the typical steam irons that one could buy that don't do a good job or last that long.

We've used the machine to clean out marks on carpets and curtains but not to do complete carpets, in any case we are gradually slinging all the carpets out of the house.

.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

[Velvet]

From the way the towelling turned a rather disgusting colour I'd say it shouldn't be too hard for a vac with a steamer to suck the stuff out, but I've never tried one so can't really offer any practical advice, alas.

Yes, rented here, yes, carpet around the loo.. yes, it used to get used for that too! That's the one thing I do miss about not having the steamer. The flea population isn't a problem these days cos the cats are treated with continuous protection stuff.

I've tried cleaning cookers and ovens. Would never do it again. Yes it's great at shifting the dirt, but it comes with a pointy nozzle (at least, mine did) that directs the steam far too forcefully. End result, dirt splattered over EVERYTHING in sight, you included. Never tried it on windows, thought it too risky after the effect on the oven! I'd imagine if held a fair distance away and brought nearer to the frame with care, you might be ok. Like I said, I've not tried that - I have double glazing so I'm especially cautious in case it causes it to fail.

[Rick Dipper]

I got a steam cleaner for carpets, it sort of works.

It loosens the stains, which is good, but then what happens to the stain, the steem dries, the stain stays put, in the carpet. You need to use it with a carplet cleaner, to "suck" the stain up once its loose.

You can get a steem carpet cleaner combo machine, but it ain't cheep.

anyway my steem cleaner went out again, did not do the job I got it for. On my budget, a carpet cleaner was best. I found the one from this hire shop is ace, and decided to rent it often, rather than buy, bucasue I get so much better a machine.

Rick

[Tim]

dries, the stain stays put, in the carpet.

Ooh - I know... I've no doubt Polti are a good make (I'd expect it to last) but that's a bit useless unless it does what I want it to.

budget, a carpet cleaner was best. I found the one from this hire shop is ace, and

Can I ask which make of machine you rented?

Ta

Tim

[Peter Parry]

I have the standard Polti steamer (£5 in an auction, about the right price) and an acquaintance has a device by them which seems to be what you are describing.

Not as well as a conventional cleaner, it also can cause localised patterning.

Not really, certainly nothing like as well as a carpet cleaner.

Apparently it is an adequate but by no means good vacuum cleaner.

Total waste of time. Steam cleaners are good at a few jobs such as cleaning tiles but tiresomely slow and relatively poor at must other jobs compared with detergent cleaners. Used on some curtain/upholstry fabrics they can cause permanent marks by altering the pile direction.

There is no way in the world I would buy one of these steam cleaners at full price, the person who owns the cleaner steamer would not buy another and considers that they have wasted their money.

[Tim S]

Hmm - persuading me against the idea. Thanks for your comments.

Ta

Tim

[Andy Hall]

That is not generically true.

There is quite a difference between the smaller and larger models. The larger ones have larger tanks and so produce steam for a longer time without refilling and the steam is produced at higher pressure and volume. We tried out one of the small ones and it certainly did take longer than our current large model.

The large one deals with cooker cleaning extremely quickly, even doing so with our old electric oven. The key to it is to clean the oven before it gets so bad as to become a major chemical operation, then it's very quickly steam cleaned without the need of caustic chemicals.

That's true of any form of cleaning, steam, chemical, water or other. It is a question of appropriate methods and materials.

I'm not sure that I would buy one of the combined vacuum and steam machines however, but mainly because we have very few carpets and the number is decreasing because they are dirt traps no matter what you do. Rugs, where appropriate at all are a much better solution because they can be taken up and professionally cleaned.

.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

[Andy Dingley]

I have a steam wallpaper stripper and I have a wet and dry vacuum (admittedly a very noisy one). As an occasional task, they do a good job on cleaning spills out of carpets. They're certainly _far_ cheaper than a dedicated steam vacuum cleaner (although that's a wonderful idea in a SteamPunk manner).

Unless you're running a hotel with particlarly sloppy guests, I can't see how an expensive combo machine can really justify its cost. It's a good thing, but it's just not an everyday kind of job - even with a barfing baby on hand.

[Peter Parry]

This is a Polti Dampfer, 1.5L, 3 bar, 2.5kW, not sure where that fits in their range.

Caustic? Tray of 8080 ammonia left in overnight. Cleans oven and lungs in one go :-).

There is a problem with steam cleaning though that on some velvet type fabrics even a single pass of a steam brush can mark them irrevocably. On many fabrics a steam cleaner will cause more patterning than any other (reasonable) form of cleaning.

[Tim]

I'm a looney - but not *that* much of a looney ;-o

That doesn't bother me too much - I view steam cleaning as too powerful for all but the more robust surfaces (carpets, tiles, loo, cooker, car engine)

But does noone in the world (or at least this newsgroup) actually have a Lecoaspira? If only I could write italian, I could ask on it.cleana-gagitio or whatever ;->

Cheers

Tim

[Peter Parry]

Nothing wrong with 8080 Ammonia.

Car Engines? No effect at all, I thought Italian car, Italian steam cleaner - must go together - not a chance. Gallon of Gunk followed by the steam cleaner worked quite well though.

I'm pretty sure my colleagues is this model - will ask him over the weekend. As I said whatever he has he is not overly impressed with but will ask SWMBO as well.

[Tim S]

If head is hermetically sealed in plastic bag? I thought that stuff was a bit nasty.

My favourite here is gunk, followed by a drive to the garage with the jetwash. The heating on really gets the gunk to work.

Ta muchly :-)

Tim

[Peter Parry]

Only for the first few seconds whilst the nasal cells and the throat are destroyed.

[Andy Dingley]

.880 ammonia is a bit nasty.

8080 ammonia is OK, becuase it's usually via a proxy.

(I need to get off the Internerd and get a life)

[geoff]

Hmm, got some upstairs

now where's the iodine ?

[Rick Dipper]

It was a karcher. It has a VERY powerful suck, and a very small, long thin nozzle to suck it through. For bad stains I scrub the carpet with a brush, and suck the water out.

Rick

steem dries, the stain stays put, in the carpet.

budget, a carpet cleaner was best. I found the one from this hire shop is ace, and