Hand held Steamers?

[camprunner]

Has anyone used one of these? I've watched a few infomercials on it and they stress how you don't need chemicals and it looks so easy. What do you think?

[KellyB]

They are AWSOME!
You can get them anywhere...they're only like $15....you'll never iron again!(not that I did before...lol...)

[kellybelly]

I bought one that had many attachments: for use on floors, surfaces, etc. It was supposed to just blast stuff away with the steam, and I was really excited to try it. My shower didn't have a huge buildup of soap scum or minerals, but the little stuff it did have did not come off as easily as I expected with the steamer. It was great on baseboards and those nasty little screw covers at the base of the toilet. You do have to take a rag around with you to wipe up the condensation and dirt that pools up. I thought it really worked best on my kitchen floor.

My overall experience with it was okay, but I took it back and got the Bissel steam mop since that was really all I was going to end up using it for. Those other uses (besides the toilet screw covers, LOL) did not work for me. It was easier just to use my mix of water, vinegar, dish soap, and TTO.

All that aside, I my steam mop! HTH

[camprunner]

Thanks for your replies. What I really wanted it for was the shower door so I guess that won't work If you know of anything else that gets a thick build up of soap scum off shower doors let me know.

[kellybelly]

If you have any Calgon water softener powder in your house, you can put some of that on a damp sponge and it will help break up the soap scum. (If the soap scum is very thick, you may need a textured sponge or some other glass safe scrubber.) I tried this on my shower door and it beat the pants off my vinegar spray. I'm not sure how natural it is though, but it has to be better than some of those nasty bathroom sprays. It also might depend on your water type.

(I've also read that a fabric softener sheet can be used to remove soap scum from shower doors, but never tried it.)

[melissa17s]

KellyBelly- what kind of steamer did you have that did not do the job you wanted? I was thinking about getting one, too. Quite awhile ago, I had been sucked in by the home shopping channel showing one. It looked so appealing, but I don't want to be a victim of consumerism and tv shopping.
Kellyb- is the steamer you are talking about only for "ironing"?

[kellybelly]

The one I had was called the Enviro-steamer, and was yellow. Here are some pics: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...79101?v=glance

Some people in the reviews mentioned water dripping out; I had that problem too. I bought mine factory reconditioned so I don't know if it was working properly or not.

[mommy2be]

i bought the scunci steamer for around 50.00, it didnt do anything for me. i tried using it on my sinks, refrigerator door, etc. it seemed like i had to push the nozzle right against the surface to get anything clean. maybe my stuff just wasnt "dirty" enough to see that much of a difference, but i highly doubt it. my dad, on the other hand, has the same steamer and absolutely loves his. i wanted this one FOREVER, then finally got it and was totally disappointed. as far as ironing goes, i didnt use it for that. maybe mine was just defected? who knows!

[mamaana]

I'm still awaiting delivery on a TR5 vapor cleaner which heats the water to 295 deg. This one is made in Italy and from stainless (no plastic, yay!). I'll post later on how well it works.

ana

[Colorful~Mama]

dh bought me one for christmas from homedepot and it sucked. lol. It just didn't do anything. We stood there and steamed for 3 seconds. 3 seconds. 3 seconds. per the directions. shirt was still damned wrinkled.

we took it back and got me a conair haircutting kit. lol

[Bookworm]

I have a cheap steamer that does nothing. My mom, however, has a portable, packable steamer that I swear works as well as one of those huge ones they use in clothing stores. It's an Esteam. They're about seventy dollars on Amazon, I think. Made in Union City, TN, I believe my mom said. I borrowed hers to steam my drapes and the wrinkles really fell out.