Hoovering carpets may remove dust and hair from the pile but after years of abuse I have finally found a way of getting mine to look as good as new without having to get on my hands and knees with a bucket of soapy water. I bought a steamcleaner, to be precise, I paid £129.99 for the Karcher SC1122 Steam Cleaner from Betterware after their catalogue popped through my door at the beginning of summer.
A little bit of a doubting Thomas I was uneasy with the claims that the steam cleaner ideal for all of my home cleaning requirements but went with it as my hall and stairs carpets had turned from a pale beige into a deep brown that was frankly embarassing and unsightly.
The cleaner is very light and hold up to 1.2 litres of water ready to be converted into steam. When filled to the top it takes 9 minutes to heat up to the optimum temperature and it is disappointing in the fact that it has no sort of alert system to tell you when this has happened so when I first used it to say it was hot and miss is a bit of an understatement. Sometimes hot jets of steam would fly out of the nozzle and sometimes nothing would happen at all and it was a bit frustrating. Once you have gauged how long it takes to heat up certain levels of water using it couldn't be easier as the trigger is well located and requires little pressure to unleash the steam power of the cleaner.
The hose that runs from the main unit is 2 metres long making it simple to use on stairs and ceaning my entire hall and stairway took only 30 minutes and to be perfectly honest I really enjoyed doing it as I found the whole process a bit of an eye opener with regard to the amount of dirt being removed as I moved along. It also has the boys toy feel to it when you fire off a jet of steam which meant that after I had cleaned one area I could resist doing the whole house, then moving onto curtains and then my car seats!
Depending on what you are using the cleaner for there are a series of nozzle attachements pretty much for any type of cleaning. As standard the cleaner comes with a bristle nozzle to help get a deep clean into the pile of the carpet, a window squeegee to wipe down windows (something which does away witht he need for a window cleaner) and towelling cloths for upholstery and curtains. All of the attachments are easy to fit and remove and are made from a hard and very durable plastic in the Karcher yellow you can see in the picture.
Noise levels as the water heats up are acceptable but still lower than the average vacuum cleaner and as soon as the optimum temperature has been attained it gets even quieter leaving just the hiss of the steam through the nozzle as you use it. Again, the boys toy element comes into play but any potential buyer should be aware that the steam that is fired from the nozzle is scalding hot and the trigger has no sort of safety features to avoid you shooting yourself, something I found to my discomfort for days after holding the wand in one hand and trying to retrieve my mobile phone from my pocket.
Overall I am delighed with my Karcher SC1122Steam Cleaner. My carpets now look like they did the day they were laid, my curtains look spotless and my car seats no longer have any chocolate or drink stains on them. The fact that I don't have to pay a window cleaner now as well is just another in a long line of plus points I have discovered from buying my own steam cleaner. I have had mine now for 2 months and haven't had any problems with loss of pressure, the motor or the build.
£130 is a lot to pay out for a steam cleaner but over the time I have had it I have saved £30 by cleaning my own windows so by the end of the year it will have paid for itself. If you have carpets at home and want them cleaning, you should buy a Karcher SC1122 Steam Cleaner.
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Sledge - Water Capacity:1.6 - Max Boiler Wattage:1800 - Steam Pressure in Bars:3.5 - without Vacuum Function - without Steam Iron Function - with Variable Steam Regulation
Handheld - Water Capacity:-1 - Max Boiler Wattage:1500 - Steam Pressure in Bars:-1 - without Vacuum Function - without Steam Iron Function - without Variable Steam Regulation
The Kärcher SC 1122 cleans completely without chemicals. The steam is coming out through ... more
the steam gun in dosed amounts . The SC 1122 can be used everywhere in the home: on floors, on hard surfaces, shower cubicles, on window surfaces, fittings and t.....
Karcher SC1122 Steam CleanerThe SC 1122 Deluxe is a lightweight, portable high performance ... more
domestic steam cleaner.The heating times are very short on this unit perfect for all domestic steam cleaning requirements such as kitchen work surfaces, ovens an...
Karcher KARSC1122 - SC1122 Steam CleanerThe SC 1122 Deluxe is a lightweight, portable high ... more
performance domestic steam cleaner.The heating times are very short on this unit perfect for all domestic steam cleaning requirements such as kitchen work surfac...
Postage & Packaging: free Super Saver Delivery Availability: Usually dispatched within 6-10 business days...
Advantages: Nice bright yellow colour, cleans well if you're very careful Disadvantages: Expensive, messy to use, no timer on water heater, possibly dangerous
Advantages: Nice bright yellow colour, cleans well if you're very careful Disadvantages: Expensive, messy to use, no timer on water heater, possibly dangerous
Sep 9th, 2007
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