Start small when buying a steam cleaner

Steam cleaners are an environmentally friendly way to clean, said Mercia Tapping, who founded AllergyBuyersClub.com. The devices use heated water to sanitize items, instead of chemical cleaners. (WIQAN ANG/GLOBE STAFF)

One of the more promising cleaning innovations to hit the US consumer market in recent years is the vapor steam cleaner. Using only tap water, these clever devices disinfect, clean, and deodorize all in one simple process.

Typical buyers are allergy or asthma sufferers, as well as anyone who is germ-phobic. The very hot, low-water-content steam that the machines emit can kill dust mites, viruses, bacteria, molds, and fungi, and do it all without chemicals, which themselves cause allergic reactions in some people.

The better steam cleaners come with attachments that allow you to clean everything from kitchen floors to heating vents to carpets to clothes.

But buying a steam cleaner is no simple matter. You can pay less than $100 for a small machine up to several thousand dollars for a large, multipurpose device.

"I would approach it by educating myself first," says Mercia Tapping, founder of the Waltham-based website AllergyBuyersClub.com and an allergy sufferer herself. "There is a big amount of difference between the least expensive steam cleaner and the top of the line."

Steve Hanson, cofounder of TheJanitorialStore.com, a Brainerd, Minn., firm that sells products to cleaning companies, says: "The best advice is to match the machine to your needs."

Tapping says before you start shopping, you should understand how steam cleaners work.

First, they boil water in a tank. Then, when you pull or press a trigger, steam comes out and sanitizes whatever you are trying to clean. The steam then rises into the machine and is trapped in a towel that is attached to the device.

"They look like vacuum cleaners, but they don't vacuum anything up," Tapping says. "They use heat to draw it out."

The better and more expensive steam cleaners make the water hotter, and some newer ones have a patented technology that actually changes the molecular structure of water, according to Tapping.

"It's called TANCS, which is an EPA-registered disinfectant. It uses nanotechnology," she says. "It's more effective than chemical disinfectants."

About 10 years ago, Tapping turned her quest for relief from allergy symptoms into a website, which offers product reviews, newsletters, a blog, and community forum, as well as products for sale. She uses steam cleaners regularly in her home in Newton.

"They are a breakthrough in cleaning technology," says Tapping. "The benefit of steam cleaning is both from the cleaning aspect and the health aspect and the fact it is the greenest way you can possibly clean."

Hanson says his customers, who are cleaning contractors or companies that clean their own buildings, use steam cleaners mainly in restrooms because of their disinfecting properties. They are good on spots and stains everywhere, he says.

"You wouldn't clean your entire living room with it, but for spots they are fantastic," Hanson says.

According to Tapping, paying more for a steam cleaner will get you a more versatile machine with more attachments. The attachments allow you to shift easily from rugs to drains to a barbecue grill to clothes. Tapping uses hers to get cigarette smells out of her clothes if she has been in a room with smokers.

It's not necessary to spend a lot of money to start enjoying the benefits of steam cleaners, according to Tapping.

"If you just want to stick your toe in the water, you can get a $100 model for your kitchen tiles," she says.

But read the manual.

"They are not intuitive machines," Tapping says.

The better models come with elaborate instructions and often a video, and Tapping cautions against buying one that has only three pages of instruction. Hanson says to try to get hands-on instruction if you can.

"A person needs to use common sense," he says. "You are using water that's 225 degrees."