I joined Anthony and bought a Steam Cleaner - YAHOO

**SamIam** · 11-04-2005, 06:29 PM

After reading Anthony Orosco getting great use out of a steam cleaner, I went looking. I bought a cheap Scunci and took it back the same day. Paid $75 or so, and it was worthless. Figured I was going to have to spend a few hundred, so I did what every cheap guy does, I went to ebay.

While there, I saw a few different ones for sale, including one made by Saeco, an Italian company. I looked at the specs, and while I wanted at least 60PSI, this one had 50. The cheapest one I found with 60 PSI sold for about $300, and over $200 on ebay. I was ready to pony up the bucks, but thought I`d see what the Saeco Piccolo went for on ebay. It was a buy now price of $99. As I thought about it, I went to Costco.com and typed in Steam Cleaner in the search field. It brings up a long list, mostly carpet cleaners, but there I see the Saeco Piccolo, retailing for $200 elsewhere, is for sale for $45! Tell you what, for $45 I will try it and if I don`t like it, I can return it to the local Costco.

Got it this week. $45 plus shipping, another $15 or so. Fired it up, cleaned my grout great. :clap: Just used it on the car, and it worked great. Deep cleaned the doors, as well as the sill. Took off all the gunk, and now they look as good as new. WOW. Best $45 bucks I ever spent! I am loving life. The extra power would be great, but for what I am using it for, I can live with the 50 PSI. At least for now!

By the way, here is the link: http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...pnav=&cat=&s=1

Thanks Anthony. I am going the minivan and Audi tomorrow, and am going to be doing a neglected Porsche 968 either this week or next. This thing will make me fly!

Highly Recommended!

SamIam

**White95Max** · 11-04-2005, 06:35 PM

Glad to hear you`re happy with your purchase. It`s too bad we don`t have Costco stores around here, otherwise I`d consider buying one too.

**Anthony O.** · 11-04-2005, 06:55 PM

Sam,

Great to hear of your newest purchase and that you are so pleased with it. You`ll find new uses for it all the time.

My wife is always using it around the house to clean this or that....cleans up my daughters parrot cage quickly and my kids like to use it to clean their bathroom.....they like it cause it`s fun to use :LOLOL

You also got a great price :xyxthumbs

Anthony

**SamIam** · 11-04-2005, 07:28 PM

Anthony, yes I was amazed at the price. I know it`s not industrial strength, but heck, people pay more than that for a bottle of polish, or a tin of wax.

A neighbor`s new tiny puppy wet on her car mat. She cleaned it with Woolite, but couldn`t get all the soap out and so it was matted. A minute with the steam machine, and it was as good as new!

I used it on the tires a while ago, and the crud just dripped off them.

I read a thread where I believe you said you spray, let it dwell, agitate, hit it with the steam, and then extract. Is that the correct methodology? I have a spotter/small extractor and was planning on giving it a try tomorrow.

Also, how do you use it to clean leather. I read that you said it opened the leather`s pores, and the theory sounds similar to Leatherique`s method of application. Thought I`d give that a try also.

Any other tips?

Thanks again,

Sam

**gmblack3** · 11-04-2005, 07:53 PM

Originally Posted by White95Max

Glad to hear you`re happy with your purchase. It`s too bad we don`t have Costco stores around here, otherwise I`d consider buying one too.

Looks like you can mail order it from costco, if you are not a member they add 5%.

So do you just steam the dirt on door jambs, then wipe off the excess?

**SamIam** · 11-04-2005, 08:53 PM

You can spray some cleaner if it`s really tough grease, but for instance on the door sill, I used it to try to get off some tough, ground in dirt. The interior is tan, so the plastic tan doorsill looked pretty bad. I hit it with the steamer, and the dirt just exploded away! It is pretty cool to watch.

In some areas, were it is really ground in, it`s almost like you are sand blasting it away. On carpets and cloth door trim, you hold it 6 to 10 inches away, and the steam just seems to dissolve the dirt. You blot it and it`s clean. The 50PSI steam is not just coming out. It is powerful. The pro models must be something with 60 or 75 psi.

You do wipe the excess. Cool part is it disinfects and leaves a really clean smell.

**gmblack3** · 11-04-2005, 09:29 PM

Originally Posted by SamIam

You can spray some cleaner if it`s really tough grease, but for instance on the door sill, I used it to try to get off some tough, ground in dirt. The interior is tan, so the plastic tan doorsill looked pretty bad. I hit it with the steamer, and the dirt just exploded away! It is pretty cool to watch.

In some areas, were it is really ground in, it`s almost like you are sand blasting it away. On carpets and cloth door trim, you hold it 6 to 10 inches away, and the steam just seems to dissolve the dirt. You blot it and it`s clean. The 50PSI steam is not just coming out. It is powerful. The pro models must be something with 60 or 75 psi.

You do wipe the excess. Cool part is it disinfects and leaves a really clean smell.

Excellent, thanks for the info.

I did a google search and this model goes for $200 at some places. :shocked

**SamIam** · 11-05-2005, 05:28 AM

Yes, I saw it going for $100 on Ebay! Costco rules on this one.

I just saw it for over $200 on Ebay. This price rocks.

**03SilverDak** · 11-05-2005, 05:56 AM

is this the same price at costco stores. we have one around here. or is it on line only? I might get one. been wanting a steam cleaner for some time now.

**zippymbr** · 11-05-2005, 06:22 AM

I would love to buy a steam cleaner. My wife wants a steamer for removing wrinkles from cloths. I wish we could get one steamer for cleaning that would have the clothing attachment. Have any of you on your searches found a dual purpose machine?

**Roadster J** · 11-05-2005, 06:25 AM

Sam,

Great deal. I`ve been thinking of getting a steam cleaner and was about to pick-up a Scunci-style cleaner from one of those catalogs that has odd lots of various things; so I guess I was about to go down the same road you did. Thanks for the heads-up on the Costco deal, thats enough of a bump to get me to pull the trigger for one of these.

**Anthony O.** · 11-05-2005, 08:09 AM

Originally Posted by SamIam

Anthony, yes I was amazed at the price. I know it`s not industrial strength, but heck, people pay more than that for a bottle of polish, or a tin of wax.

A neighbor`s new tiny puppy wet on her car mat. She cleaned it with Woolite, but couldn`t get all the soap out and so it was matted. A minute with the steam machine, and it was as good as new!

I used it on the tires a while ago, and the crud just dripped off them.

I read a thread where I believe you said you spray, let it dwell, agitate, hit it with the steam, and then extract. Is that the correct methodology? I have a spotter/small extractor and was planning on giving it a try tomorrow.

Also, how do you use it to clean leather. I read that you said it opened the leather`s pores, and the theory sounds similar to Leatherique`s method of application. Thought I`d give that a try also.

Any other tips?

Thanks again,

Sam

Hello Sam,

I just did a 96 MB that had some coffee or tea spills in it and after I pre-spotted those areas (plus general dirt) I let it dwell for just a few minutes, lightly agitated those areas and then steamed them. I made slow passes and the coffee stains pretty much emulsified and turned into liquid and I then used my extractor to inject clean water and then quickly remove it. Some areas this had to be repeated but it all came out.

On the MB seats and dash I again used the steamer with the triangle head attachment. The seats were very dry, the steering wheel, controls and also the seats were white with body oils plus general grime. The steamer just melted all that stuff and then following with a MF towel to mop up the emulsified gunk those areas looked good as new.

The really odd thing was when I cleaner the driver seat. The lady who owns the car wears some very nice perfumes. She smells great :woohoo: So when I steamed the driver seat I could smell her perfume rising up as the steamer opened up the pores of the leather and released all those years of her spraying while in the car :grinno: I had to look around because I thought she was standing next to me but she wasn`t, it was just her perfume I smelled :lol

When you use a steamer on headliners be very careful. On older cars you can easily loosen the adhesive and the the headliner will sag. I usually clean headliners by applying a cleaner to a towel first then to the area to be cleaned. This prevents overwetting and also helps prevent any cleaning "ring".

Anthony

**Anthony O.** · 11-05-2005, 08:11 AM

Originally Posted by zippymbr

I would love to buy a steam cleaner. My wife wants a steamer for removing wrinkles from cloths. I wish we could get one steamer for cleaning that would have the clothing attachment. Have any of you on your searches found a dual purpose machine?

This is no problem if you get a steamer with multiple cleaning heads. My steamers triangle head and even the window squegeecan both double as a clothes steamer.

So if the Costco steamer has a head with multiple holes in it then it can steam clothes also.

Anthony

**zippymbr** · 11-05-2005, 09:50 AM

Originally Posted by Anthony Orosco

This is no problem if you get a steamer with multiple cleaning heads. My steamers triangle head and even the window squegeecan both double as a clothes steamer.

So if the Costco steamer has a head with multiple holes in it then it can steam clothes also.

Anthony

Great, thanks Anthony for the tip.