The family members were coming over for a holiday dinner and I decided
to tackle a few areas of our house with the WhiteWing
steamer to give it an extra sparkle, and do some of those forgotten
spots which my otherwise wonderful cleaning lady skims over. My
experiences are recounted below. While this is by no means an exhaustive
audit of all this steam cleaner's capabilities, but for those of
you with similar cleaning problems, I think you would find it interesting.
1. Filling the WhiteWing was done more easily with
my large plastic water pitcher than the squeeze bottle provided
by the manufacturer. The steam cleaner heated up just fine in
about 15 to 20 minutes.
2. The first area I tackled was the grimy cranberry
colored stair carpet, which looked terrible despite it had been
cleaned with a conventional carpet cleaner the week before. This
was definitely a "hands and knees" job. I sprayed each
stair with the Formula
212 Spot Cleaner and then using the triangle brush covered
with a towel I worked the brush quite vigorously on each step.
The results were not perfect, but the difference was amazing and
very visible. The stair carpet was no longer a focal point of
shame! I think with a second "going over", I will achieve
perfection. I was very rushed the first time, and knew a little
more time is needed to lift out all the dirt! However, the results
were sufficiently effective that I revised my "we need new
stair carpet plan".
3. We have a white color tiled kitchen floor, which
had to have been installed by a designer who never uses a kitchen.
Steam cleaning a tile floor is very satisfying as it gets to all
that dirt which collects around its edges of a tile floor and
those annoying stubborn dirt specks or sticky globs.
4. My favorite task with a steam cleaner is the
kitchen counter top, which is currently Formica and was satisfyingly
silky smooth to the touch after steam cleaning with the WhiteWing.
Our counter top is biscuit colored and any juice spill on the
formica tends to stain and cling to the surface even after a spray
and wipe. The change was subtle but visible So much so, that one
of our holiday dinner guests asked me later whether I had installed
new countertop. Even my husband remarked on the cleanliness as
well as the "clean smell". I think both of us were getting
tired of pungent citrus spray cleaners.
5. An area that is a dirt trap in our kitchen is
the sink rim on the countertop. Using a fine nozzle attachment
to the steam cleaner, I blew out a simply disgusting amount of
dirt.
6. I sprinkled some cleaning agent on the pale biscuit
ceramic kitchen sink and allowed it to sit for a while. Then I
took the small circular brush and steamed around the sink . The
combined action of steam and cleaning agent is much stronger than
cleaning agent alone. For the first time in a while, the sink
actually looked clean and not tired and shabby. It even dare I
say it, ‘sparkled".
7. I was on a roll, so I cannot rationally explain
why I even bothered before a dinner party to steam clean the inside
of the microwave and a grease and dirt trap around its fan, and
the stove top, but I was in the mood for a mini cleaning blitz.
8. The storm door window pane was in a sad state
after the winter, so a quick going over with the triangle brush
which I prefer to the squeegee, and my guests the next night would
not be greeted with a winter grimy door
9. The stains on the living room couch where my
dear husband leaves greasy food droppings from his nightly snacks
needed some emergency attention; as I did not have time to steam
clean the whole couch and chair. A little pre-action with 212
cleaner and then using the large triangle brush of the WhiteWing
steamer eradicated the memory of those annoying little stains!
10. One of the places which needed a lift before
guests arrived, was my husband's bathroom, where he has the habit
(driving me crazy) of leaving the remains of toothpaste all over
the bathroom sink. A few strokes of the small circular brush around
the sink and a nozzle brush around the toilet bowl rim and I was
ready to receive guests.
11. A few hours later after our family dinner the
memory of clean perfection long was gone. A greasy kitchen floor,
stained countertops, chocolate cake smashed into the kitchen floor,
and more were staring me in the face. After a 48-hour party recovery
period, I just took out the steam cleaner and with less than 30
minutes cleaning everything was satisfyingly clean again, and
you would never know that 19 people came over to dinner.
12. I have to say that steam cleaning for me is
truly a preferable and more effective way to clean. I decided
I should really try and train my cleaning lady on how to use it.
So one day recently, I did an at home demo with the WhiteWing
steamer. My cleaning lady, who is a cleaning fanatic, eyes grew
rounder and rounder as I put this steam cleaner through its paces.
Her first reaction was to ask how much it cost so she could use
it for her other clients! I can understand why. Once you start
cleaning with a steam cleaner there is no going back!
The WhiteWing
vapor steam cleaner is an AllergyBuyersClub.com exclusive and
is available at $449.95 (regular price
of $699.95). The Formula
212 Spot Cleaner is available at $39.95 for a gallon size.
For a complete range of steam cleaners that we carry,
and their advantages and disadvantages please refer to our vapor
steam cleaner comparison chart.
First Published: April, 2004
Updated: February 2007
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