Thinking about buying a steamer...opinions please

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grambow

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I am just a weekend hobbyist that details his two relatively clean cars in the driveway. I am thinking about buying an inexpensive steam cleaner (under $100) for cleaning wheels and interiors.

My questions are:
  • Is a cleaner from HD or Lowes even worth it or do I need something stronger?
  • Does anyone use steam on their wheels?
  • Do I need to worry about damaging clearcoat etc?
  • Is steam even strong enough to thoroughly clean wheels?

    Like I said, I dont want to spend a ton of money here....just add another useful tool to my arsenal. I dont want to waste money either...if a $100 steamer isnt going to do the trick, I will just save my money for other things. Thanks in advance for your insight.
 
You might want to look into a bissel little geen machine or the small bissel proheat. Both are $99, a couple people on here use them. As for tires/rims. For tires I use ARO(amazing roll-off) and P21S tire gel for the rims.
 
The best cheap steamer is the McCullough MC1275. It does a fine job in the interior. It not a super-high pressure steamer, but it does have nice pressure for the $$.
I paid 75.00 at HF using a 15% off coupon. IMHO, it's worth the money.
I'm certain you could do more with a steamer that runs $3000.00, but for your purposes, it'll do.
It's nice around the house and on jewelry too.
I wouldn't go for any hand-held steamer.
 
With the price of fuel expected to arise, I think a steamer is a great idea--here's a 1924 Stanley.

 
I just bought a Shark. Literally... I was looking around on here for ideas and everyone seems to have their own so I did some research online and this is supposed to be one of the best ones. The Shark and the McCullough machines people say are the best in the price range. Bought the Shark cause that's what I ran into first at Lowes. I got it home and immediately filled it up with water. Took about 10 mins to heat and it had no problem at all blasting away the mildew and dirt in the shower tile grout. Cant wait to try it out on the dealership cars tomorrow!
 
You are better off IMO with an extractor. Extractors clean better.
 
I have a mighty lite. Steamer is for fabric and door panels, steering wheels, etc.
 
As a hobbyist I have found much less use for the steamer. Wheel cleaners and APC's seem to work faster on the occasion side job I do detailing someones car. I did use it to get candy out of a tundra's carpets that was smashed in there 6 months eariler... steamed it soaped it and scrubed it out. As for stains on seat I get same results using water+carpet cleaner in seperate spray bottles a scrub brush and a shop vac as I do with a steamer n the mix.

just my 2c

Please let me know if anyone had found good places to use the 100$ steamers in their detailing line up that speeds up the work and utilizes the money spent
 
steamers use less chemicals&are alot faster for door panels seat belts/steering wheels/dash vents
 
I got to use mine today on a 96 mustang that the owner had smoked in. I did a little test. I first went over the vinyl and plastic with my normal routine of spraying with an apc and wiping everything down really well. It looked clean. I then turned on the steamer (the Shark) and began steaming. To my amazement the water rolling down the panels was a brown nicotine color! Panels after steaming looked 100 times better. They had their rich new looking color back. Plus no more smoke smell!!! Workes really good also for small cracks and air vents that take forever to clean like on the seatbelt where it says "PRESS" the steamer just blows everything out! I love it. Will be getting much use out of it. Go buy one and see. I was a non believer too.:xyxthumbs:
 
I think i need to try it on dirtier cars to see the time investment. I have one i used it on my truck and my fathers truck.. and on my aunts near new corolla... I just didnt see th eadded gains but all these cars where well maintained... maybe ill tackle my GF's acura wit it and see what it pulls out of the interior...

Anyone use i ton wheels? does it make cleaning wheels faster/easier does it remove the nasty of the nasty? or is it just another method and cheaper then P21 :)
 
I have a desderio steamer and it works awsom....It is a very expensive machine but it has a lot of power. I never use it to clean rims/wheels but it works awsom for dirty interiors. Cleaner interiors I dont use it on since they just need a simple wipe down and taking the machine out, letting it warm up, moving it around the car....etc just isn't worth it for a car that just needs a wipe down. however it is a great tool for really dirty interiors.
 
SpotlessDetail said:
I just bought a Shark. Literally... I was looking around on here for ideas and everyone seems to have their own so I did some research online and this is supposed to be one of the best ones. The Shark and the McCullough machines people say are the best in the price range. Bought the Shark cause that's what I ran into first at Lowes. I got it home and immediately filled it up with water. Took about 10 mins to heat and it had no problem at all blasting away the mildew and dirt in the shower tile grout. Cant wait to try it out on the dealership cars tomorrow!
Click to expand...

what model did you purchase?
 
I mix a little DP interior cleaner in mine--works great
 
I am intersted in one steamer too, but dont know what to buy or where to get it...
 
premium said:
You are better off IMO with an extractor. Extractors clean better.
Click to expand...

I'm reverse on that one. I have stoped using the Extractor I bought a few months ago. I can't ever get stuff clean using it. Yes, I use many different things to clean the carpets before I use the Extractor. The Steamer I bought, not too long ago, works very well for me. I mainly use the Steamer and Foam Cannon on my interior work. I will only use my steamer on leather seats and door panels. I will either use the Steamer on headliners OR the Foam Cannon. It just depends on what the interior looks like.

My $.02
 
SRHTX said:
I'm reverse on that one. I have stoped using the Extractor I bought a few months ago. I can't ever get stuff clean using it. Yes, I use many different things to clean the carpets before I use the Extractor. The Steamer I bought, not too long ago, works very well for me. I mainly use the Steamer and Foam Cannon on my interior work. I will only use my steamer on leather seats and door panels. I will either use the Steamer on headliners OR the Foam Cannon. It just depends on what the interior looks like.

My $.02
Click to expand...

I heeded your advice Stephen and got me a steamer as well....while it cleans super well i still think the extractor is needed in some carpet cleanings. Using them together produces awesome results as well. The steamer will destroy the stains but the extractor actually pulls the dirt out.
 
T Riddle said:
I heeded your advice Stephen and got me a steamer as well....while it cleans super well i still think the extractor is needed in some carpet cleanings. Using them together produces awesome results as well. The steamer will destroy the stains but the extractor actually pulls the dirt out.
Click to expand...

Well, I only use the extractor to make nice marks on the carpets since that is all it does for me.
 
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