With the weather starting to get a bit more Fall like, I have been working on changing over my closet from summer to winter. This annual event is filled with a great deal of shifting of shoes (as you may have guessed, I have many shoes). Into the closet go the sandals and out of the closet come the boots. I also use this transition to review my clothing and clear out items I no longer use. Some are put aside for clothing swaps. Professional items are separated out for donation to the Career Wardrobe and the final pile goes to Planet Aid or Goodwill.
All this cleaning got me thinking about new ways to clean my house which has mainly tile and some hardwood flooring. I have been using the Method mop and cleaner with reusable microfiber pads. I prefer this solution to a mop and water, but I wanted to get a deeper clean, remove the cleaning product and see if I could find an easier solution.
Enter Steam Cleaners. I recently saw an ad for the Shark Vac-Then-Steam that piqued my interest. I investigated my options online and there are several products for under $100 that will steam clean tile, hardwood, etc. Many got good user reviews and I did consider them, but you have to sweep or vacuum before you use them - 2 steps with 2 appliances and not much difference from my current program.
The Shark Vac-Then-Steam performs both steps with one machine. It retails for a bit more - $149 at a local Target. It comes with several washable microfiber pads. I added a little white vinegar to the water for a little boost. It did a great job in my kitchen in a few minutes and utilized less than a full tank of water.
Is it greener? Maybe not. It does use water and electricity, while my Method system relies on "green" cleaner and muscle power. But it does perform 2 functions with one appliance, will reduce the use of my monster Dyson and does get a deeper clean while cutting my cleaning time in half.
Maybe the compromise is to use the steamer for the heavy cleans and the Method system in between. Either way, steam cleaning is coming to home near you.
16 comments:
I was just thinking about products like this because of a commercial I saw. The woman was using an old fashion mop and bucket and realized it was useless because her dog walked right in on it. Then she had her dog dunk in soapy water and roll around. I also was thinking about this becasue I need a new vacuum for my new apartment and saw how expensive they were when we bought one for my current one. Although my new apartment is completely carpet, I am in the market for a reasonably price vacuum that will last! I don't think any of these products last very long at all!
I have seen various commercials for seam cleaners, as well and infomercials about, well you know, just about anything. My dad oversees janitorial jobs and knows a lot about different cleaners and things like that. Every time infomercials are on he always makes a smart comment about it and how it won't work, however when he does see something for steam products he always makes a comment about how well steam works for not only cleaning, but also for killing germs. I think that it's a great investment!!
I would love to get a steam cleaner for my furniture. College furniture has it's own special hygiene issues come junior year, and it would be pretty nice to clean it deeper than just vacuuming with a hose once in a blue moon. I think there are smaller, hand held steamers on sale as well, for jobs like this. It seems like a worthwhile investment, though I am not sure about a green advantage in this case.
I agree that the steam clean is a once in a while thing. They are available to rent at home depot for that very reason. I would venture to guess that not many people use that as their primary cleaning method. Usually a quick swipe of the Swiffer will suffice. That being said, my floors are in desperate need of a deep cleaning! hey, can i borrow it one day? haha
The house we are living in right now hasn't had its carpets thoroughly cleaned in probably 8-10 years. When I saw this I immediatly went on Targets website to look into purchasing a steam cleaning vaccuum. Giving your carpets a really good clean every one in a while would really benefit a lot of things including your health because it would clean all the dirt and dust that is packed into them that the regular vacuum doesn't get. I also feel like we are constantly spilling on our carpets and then using bottle after bottle of carpet cleaner that still never seem to work just right. This is something I would really look into getting.
The way to make this process a little "greener" is to save the steamer for use only once in a while. I am a clean freak and I am definitely drawn to a product like this. The steam vacuum would allow for a more thorough cleaning, since it kills germs and therefore would improve health. However, my vacuums never last too long... I would like to try a steam vacuum out before investing in something like it.
I'm not really a big cleaning type of person but this keeps me intrigued. I always feel the wooden floors in my apt's kitchen dirty even right after I mop them once in a long long while. $199.80 is out of my range for a steamer that is just for hard floor. I'm actually looking for a good steam cleaner for carpets and furnitures right now. Although steam cleaners are doomed to have to use water and electricity, there are some more Eco-friendly products out there that we can look into. Keeping the floors deep cleaner are good for our health and create a clean environment.
My roommates and I have issues with our carpet in our apartment because no matter how many time we vacuum dust still remains around the edges where the wall are and you can still see the noticeably darker patches in the carpet. I agree that $199.80 is not affordable at this point in time but I also think that it is way too much for a good carpet steam cleaner. I think that in this economy if using these better products is going to cost that much more people are not going to care if it's "green" or not. I did some research and there aren't many steam cleaners out there. That is something that the cleaning market needs and something many people are interested in.
I think that the most interesting part of this post is the concept of a compromise. Sometimes we can't always have a greener option when needing the deepest clean possible. But the way that you become green is by using things less. With laundry, hand wash things in between your big washes, or even with those that sell locally manufactured goods; many of these shops do have certain things that were manufactured internationally, but what makes them green and what makes their effort sustainable is the concept of the compromise. If they need certain things from overseas, every once in a while, this is offset by all the goods that are manufactured locally. With cleaning there are certain devices that are superior to all the others and although they are less green, they can be used only once in a while because of just how strong they are. As long as people realize they don't have to use these all the time, then they are perfectly acceptable. The problem with our non-green retail world isn't always the product itself, it's the buyers over-use and over-consumption.
I think that using a steam cleaner in conjunction with the Method mop is an effective way to keep an extremely clean home. Although it would be nice to use only the Method system, sometimes you need that deeper clean. In those cases I think the steam cleaner would work wonders. I would love to try one in my apartment.
I am lazy. When it comes to cleaning I will buy method products if I am Target or other green alternatives, but the most important factor to me when cleaning is time and least amount of chemicals I have to deal with. I basically live off clorox wipes and swiffer wet jets and until they make a green wet jet I ain't quitting that glorious device.
I agree that this product may not be "eco friendly" but in the one time it is used it is very efficient. Getting a thorough cleaning in furniture and carpets is better than using certain products over and over again because it just wont get the job done. I as well have seen so many advertisements for cleaning products for kitchen floors and hardwood floors, such as mops versus a swiffer, and I never know which is more efficient because I have used both and sometimes the outcomes are similar. If there is a way to make steam cleaning less costly and used more often it will definitely benefit our "not so clean" products or furniture.
I've always wondered if products that I've seen advertised on television such as steam cleaners worked well. It's good to know that, for such a high price, the product does in fact do a great job cleaning. As someone who hates spending time cleaning, I think that the Shark Vac-Then-Steam was a good investment. Although it might not be the greenest option, it provides a deep clean and saves time.
I agree that this isn't the most "green" option, but it does save time and energy. I think the Shark Vac-Then-Steam would be a great investment to always have and use whenever you need a good deep clean, but you could still use the Method mop on other normal occasions.
I recently saw a commercial for this steam cleaner and I was fascinated! I think it is a very efficient way to clean your carpets every once in a while. I know my carpets could definitely use a good steam clean. I don't think we realize how much bacteria and dust accumulates in carpets over the years and I don't think regular vacuum cleaners pick everything up. I think the steam cleaner will actually kill the gross stuff that lives in our carpets. I don't even want to know the kind of gunk that is under my carpets in this old college apartment!
My roomate just got this. Living in a house with six girls, the carpets tend to get a little messy; especially over the weekends. Over the thanksgiving break she went to Taget on black friday and bought a christmas present for the house. It works wonders! Our room lost that weird funky smell, the kitchen and living room actually don't look like college students live there, and that weird stain that was in the hallway when we moved in has disappeared! With this awesome shark vac-then-steam it literally took her all of 20 minutes to steam vac our entire room. I am obsessed, and although it may not seem green, it has saved us atleast three times vacumming and all the resolve we could ever use.
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