# Steam Cleaners for £12.00.



## Mirror Finish Details (Aug 21, 2008)

Evening Chaps.

Saw an ad for the Origional Factory Shop and spotted a small steam cleaner for £12.00. www.theorigionalfactoryshop.co.uk.

Picked on up on the way home and tried it on the wheels that were filthy.

More than impressed with it, it only holds 175ml of water but more than enough to do the 4 wheels and comes with loads of adapters.

Won't be a replacement for the other steamer I have but for a small quick job seems ideal. Also got myself a new cap for £4.

Cheers
Steve :car:


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## Warwickshire Detailer (Oct 11, 2009)

If only there was one near me


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## lpoolck (Jul 25, 2009)

what would these be like for interior/upholstery?


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## Mirror Finish Details (Aug 21, 2008)

lpoolck said:


> what would these be like for interior/upholstery?


Greeat fro upholstry and interiors, I rarely use chemicals inside a car normally only steam.


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## caledonia (Sep 13, 2008)

What is the spec like Steve.
I would be more concerned by the steam pressure and steam temp.
Gordon.


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## lpoolck (Jul 25, 2009)

caledonia said:


> What is the spec like Steve.
> I would be more concerned by the steam pressure and steam temp.
> Gordon.


what pressure and temp should be safe for the interior/upholstery? I see screwfix are selling one for £40. Any views on this? Its 1800W, 50HZ 3.5bar max pressure. Steam flow rate 35g/min


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## chillly (Jun 25, 2009)

nice tip fella:thumb:


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## caledonia (Sep 13, 2008)

lpoolck said:


> what pressure and temp should be safe for the interior/upholstery? I see screwfix are selling one for £40. Any views on this? Its 1800W, 50HZ 3.5bar max pressure. Steam flow rate 35g/min


3.5 Bar is probably the lowest pressure I would go for, in a steamer.
There are a good few members that have purchased on of the same spec. But not this model. They found out yes it did do a good job on interiors, glass and lighter duties. But took slightly longer to achieve he desired effect. But it was beyond the steamers power to remove tar, heavy grease and some heavy oils.

If this is not required then I dont see a problem with this steamer. Water tank ever so slight small. But again this just means you might have a few minutes down time. Waiting on it reheating.

No mention of steam temperature though, which does concern me a bit.
Although the heat is quite powerful.
Hope this helps.


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## lpoolck (Jul 25, 2009)

caledonia said:


> 3.5 Bar is probably the lowest pressure I would go for, in a steamer.
> There are a good few members that have purchased on of the same spec. But not this model. They found out yes it did do a good job on interiors, glass and lighter duties. But took slightly longer to achieve he desired effect. But it was beyond the steamers power to remove tar, heavy grease and some heavy oils.
> 
> If this is not required then I dont see a problem with this steamer. Water tank ever so slight small. But again this just means you might have a few minutes down time. Waiting on it reheating.
> ...


Theres no mention of the steam temperature on the screwfix one also. What are is a 'safe' range of temperature for the steam for seats? Your thread with the Nibus is fantastic by the way, made me want a steam cleaner, but £200 is bit too pricey for my liking! Great Stuff:thumb:


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## caledonia (Sep 13, 2008)

The nimbus runs at 145C. This cannot be adjusted as the temperature. But you can adjust the volume of steam escaping. You can have to hot really as all your need to do is move the nozzle or steam out put further from the item you are cleaning.

Any less than 120C you will have trouble using it to disinfect areas or cleans. Hygienically. This would be my concern.

I have had a look at the one in screwfix also. But there is no mention of any adjustment to steam out put.
I know many people bought the Vax one on the bay for a couple of £ more. I am sure this is adjustable. But a better person to ask would be Bigpikle as he has a Vax model. 

Gordon.


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## lpoolck (Jul 25, 2009)

caledonia said:


> The nimbus runs at 145C. This cannot be adjusted as the temperature. But you can adjust the volume of steam escaping. You can have to hot really as all your need to do is move the nozzle or steam out put further from the item you are cleaning.
> 
> Any less than 120C you will have trouble using it to disinfect areas or cleans. Hygienically. This would be my concern.
> 
> ...


So really it needs to be over 120C in order to disinfect? Ok cool I will look at the vax on on ebay, thanks for all the help and advice mate, much appreciated! :thumb:


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## Guest (Oct 31, 2009)

The VAX is adjustable. Wouldn't reccomend it though in all honesty, try and get something more powerful.


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## Guest (Oct 31, 2009)

lpoolck said:


> So really it needs to be over 120C in order to disinfect? Ok cool I will look at the vax on on ebay, thanks for all the help and advice mate, much appreciated! :thumb:


A few things you might like to think about:

a) How close do you hold the nozzle to what you are trying to steam?
b) How far away is that in inches?

You can hold your hand 6 inches away from the nozzle and the steam is cold.

c) If the steam was hitting point of contact at said temperatures, it would melt dashboard plastics, and could distort synthetic carpet fibres.


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## Mirror Finish Details (Aug 21, 2008)

This little steamer is not the most powerfull but burns if I put my hand 6" away from the nozzle.
Just saves me having to get the other one out and set it up, it was basically bought for cleaning the tiles in the bathroom.


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## caledonia (Sep 13, 2008)

Even after all this time you still have not got you head around steam cleaner. Slightly disappointed as I never put you down for a defeatist and thought you would have persevered ans tried to master this.

As for the dash, any other plastic or vinyl areas. I would never apply direct steam to these areas, to clean then. Place a MF over the area and apply direct steam and pressure on this. The heat and very warm water slowly heats the area, aiding in the braking down of oils and dressings. But when cooling, as it cools from the surface the grime adheres to the MF and not the original surfaces. Gentle wipe over with a further clean cloth removes the rest.

I have just recently removed dye transfer from leather seat by this method. There the owner had almost given up, trying different cleaners and the like.

As for the vax i personally cant comment. So I will this leave this to this to any person that has one.


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## Guest (Nov 1, 2009)

caledonia said:


> Even after all this time you still have not got you head around steam cleaner. Slightly disappointed as I never put you down for a defeatist and thought you would have persevered ans tried to master this.


I am not a defeatist, I am a realist. Using a steam cleaner (like basically all things detailing) is not rocket science, as much as you may want it to be, it's not. The steam cleaner takes a bit of getting used to by all means, but I don't think more practice with waving the nozzle around is gradually going to make it work better. It has it's places, such as your dye removal thing, but it is still limited.

All I am trying to point out is that don't read too much into the claims that it can sterilize and sanitise, because for the most part, it doesn't.

Your nimbus may admittedly be a different matter, I am speaking about my VAX, of course.

Try cleaning greased up door hinges with a steam cleaner, and watch it fail miserably.

Infact, I have a picture of what my steam cleaner did at removing grease off door hinges, see if you can spot it, this was held at basically point blank range. It just pushed it along.


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## Mirror Finish Details (Aug 21, 2008)

Arnt hinges supposed to be greased though.

I never remove grease from door hinges, even if it means it does not look detailed.


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## little john (Jun 10, 2007)

I got one of the vax v081 during the week to defront a freezer, it worked perfectly I am yet to try it on the car. i also don't remove the grease from the hinges, but the above picture I would remove it and regrease them, I hate it with white grease all over the hinges like that, I keep it in the areas it needs to be.


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## mattsbmw (Jul 20, 2008)

Mirror Finish said:


> Arnt hinges supposed to be greased though.
> 
> I never remove grease from door hinges, even if it means it does not look detailed.


Only on the loving parts, not all over the other bits.


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## Mucky (May 25, 2006)

Mirror Finish said:


> Arnt hinges supposed to be greased though.
> 
> I never remove grease from door hinges, even if it means it does not look detailed.


the pivot pin can be greased but the whole hinge like the one in the pic,no

spray grease is better but most of the time they lather it on to make you see something they have done


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## lpoolck (Jul 25, 2009)

G220 said:


> A few things you might like to think about:
> 
> a) How close do you hold the nozzle to what you are trying to steam?
> b) How far away is that in inches?
> ...


The main thing I would do with it is to clean my upholstery/carpets really. The dashboard I would just use my interior wurth cleaner. Maybe clean the underside of the wings/suspension like caledonia did a great job on.

Will be buying the one for £12 for use in the bathroom, and possible for the carets etc if it would be up for the job?


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## Guest (Nov 1, 2009)

Mirror Finish said:


> Arnt hinges supposed to be greased though.
> 
> I never remove grease from door hinges, even if it means it does not look detailed.


I use ferrosol, maybe you should too










(after I stopped messing about with steam cleaner and put some surfex on it)

By all means at £12 can't go wrong though


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## jordanP (Jul 14, 2009)

Has anyone tried the VAX 085? It looks like a new version of the VAX 081. 

The handle looks a bit long on both. Is there an attachment to allow for working in confined areas?


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## alan_mcc (Oct 28, 2008)

I've got a Factory Shop near me, quite fancy one of these actually.


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## carl123uk (Jun 16, 2008)

did anyone manage to get one?


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## Scott2 (Jan 4, 2009)

would like to know if these are still for sale???


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## beany_bot (Oct 6, 2008)

^^ same


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## markc (Mar 4, 2009)

I've just seen a steam cleaner for £9.99 in B&M bargains seemed ok for the price.


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## Guest (Jan 21, 2010)

G220 said:


> I am not a defeatist, I am a realist. Using a steam cleaner (like basically all things detailing) is not rocket science, as much as you may want it to be, it's not. The steam cleaner takes a bit of getting used to by all means, but I don't think more practice with waving the nozzle around is gradually going to make it work better. It has it's places, such as your dye removal thing, but it is still limited.
> 
> All I am trying to point out is that don't read too much into the claims that it can sterilize and sanitise, because for the most part, it doesn't.
> 
> ...


From my understanding and experience, in the above instance a steam cleaner will just emulsify the grease allowing you to wipe it away easily.

A steam cleaner does not vapourise grease/dirt, it emulsifies or loosens it so that it may be picked up by something else. However, the force of the steam jet may well blast stuff out/away from the area being cleaned.

I suspect it will more take a more powerful steamer than the Vax-081 style of machine to clean a greased-up door hinge - you are going to need quite a bit of heat and pressure to get all that grease to emulsify (I would have thought).

Having said that, you could have tried a small brush nozzle covered with a sacraficial m/f cloth - that might have had more success.


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## AM1 (Jan 9, 2010)

seems like a good offer, cheers.


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## Scott2 (Jan 4, 2009)

markc said:


> I've just seen a steam cleaner for £9.99 in B&M bargains seemed ok for the price.


thanks I shall check it out this weekend!


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## JCW85 (Oct 29, 2009)

alan_mcc said:


> I've got a Factory Shop near me, quite fancy one of these actually.


Firstly I can't believe Mirror Finish picked one up for £12.00 mine cost £15.00 from there, haha.

It does have limited capacity for water but good for around 10-15mins. It did an ok job though at the lightweight duties. If I do get another one I'll be trying the vax as have read good reviews.

Chris


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## wrxmania (Apr 15, 2007)

What's the best way to clean the leather/alcantra seats in my Impreza? I also have a Penguin 2 steam cleaner, which is very good, but don't want to risk that on the alcantra...

Brian.


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## Guest (Jan 23, 2010)

Phisp said:


> From my understanding and experience, in the above instance a steam cleaner will just emulsify the grease allowing you to wipe it away easily.
> 
> A steam cleaner does not vapourise grease/dirt, it emulsifies or loosens it so that it may be picked up by something else. However, the force of the steam jet may well blast stuff out/away from the area being cleaned.
> 
> ...


Without wanting to sound rude I would suggest the best thing is for you to try it yourself and see what happens, and post up pictures, like I have, the steam cleaner was getting absolutely nowhere. It does not even emulsify the grease.

Steam cleaners will not emulsify oils and grease very well at all, fact.

I did not have all day to waste messing about, 5 miunutes with some surfex was more to my liking.


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## Scott2 (Jan 4, 2009)

I checked out my local B&M on Sunday and they didn't have any steam cleaners.


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