Just got one of those wallpaper steamers, =A325 from B&Q. Invaluable for removing wallpaper which has been painted over.
My question: Has anyone used one of these wallpaper steamers for general purpose steam cleaning? I have some old tiles in the kitchen and maybe a steam clean would brighten them up a bit.
Bruce
Hi Bruce
The boiler part will be almost identical, just the tools are different. If you can find a way to fit a very absorbant cloth like a terry toweling nappy over the pad it should work. The steam softens the muck, the towel absorbs it.
Dave
different.
Thanks. The "tool" currently has solidified emulsion paint all over it. One must be able to buy replacements, its only a bit of plastic.
Bruce
Is it an Earlex one? I've seen various attachments for those in B&Q (don't know how standard the couplings are between brands, but they wouldn't fit my current Bosch one)
David
(Can't you remove the solidified emulsion? Maybe soften it with a steam stripper.... er...)
Yes, its an Earlex. I seem to remember in the box it came in, there was a leaflet listing available extension tools. But I threw it out. I'll have a trawl on the web, see what I can find...
Bruce
All the tools are listed on earlex.co.uk i could probably just wrap a towel round the end, though, to the same effect. When I've finished wallpaper stripping, I might have a go at steam cleaning that old carpet in the back bedroom. Hey, the golden age of steam power is back!
Bruce
One of mine is an Earlex. As a cleaning nozzle I just use a length of HDPE waterpipe, pushed crudely over the flexible hose.
British Airways air-hostess galley gloves are the best things ever made for protecting your hands when steaming (there's a chap who was shifting them on eBay). Long gauntlets and steamproof. Lousy for conducted heat from an overn, but they're just the ticket for steam. The posh new silicone "lobster claw" oven gloves are good too, but they're clumsy.
My question: Has anyone used one of these wallpaper steamers for general purpose steam cleaning? I have some old tiles in the kitchen and maybe a steam clean would brighten them up a bit.
Bruce
I've got the steam cleaning kit from Earlix & used it for a number of chores, including cleaning grout and it does a reasonable job. It's pretty good at clearing dirt that's not actually 'baked' on, and for the lip between hobs & sinks and worktops. and it's the absolute mutts nutts for defrosting freezers. Not a good idea to steam leather settee cushions tho', it turns them grey & crinkly, a bit like SWMBO's face when she saw it :(
Keith
How much is this? I want to have a shot at steam cleaning an old carpet -- if the kit is too expensive, I'll try wrapping an old tea towel on the end of the wallpaper tool!
Bruce
I discovered yesterday that they although it is pretty sucessful are removing the painted wallpaper in our bedroom it appears to do this by removing the plaster :-(
Paper still firmly attached to the plaster that is now on the floor :)
Oh well, I need more plastering practise anyway...
Darren
If the plaster isn't blown already you're probably overheating it.
No - the plaster was well and truely knackered before I started tbh.
For the last 5 years I've been tapping the wall gently and muttering "ooooo must sort this out sometime". Sometime appears to have caught up with me :)
Darren
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