When buying a steam cleaner, you must be sure that you are getting a device that is not only easy to use, but more important, it is powerful enough to do the job that it is expected to do. Some stains are very strong, and in things made in fiber, such as carpets, they are contained deep into the layers. But how can you compare the effectiveness of different steam cleaners and can decide which is one is more suitable for you.

How Steam Cleaning Works?

Steam cleaning is one of the most powerful techniques of removing stains, dirt and smell. Hot water is sprayed over the affected areas which loosed up the dirt. The debris can then be easily sucked up using a vacuum cleaner. Sometimes other chemicals and detergents are also added, depending upon how strongly the stain holds the surface and how long it has been there.
Before steam cleaning, carpet cleaning was done using shampoos and rotating brush heads. The affected areas were treated with chemicals and then round brushes were agitated against the surface of the carpets. This was considered as an effective cleaning method at that time, however it came with an inherent disadvantage. Such agitated abrasion often harmed the texture and novelty of the carpets. So if your carpet has gone through such cleaning an number of times, it may lose its charm.
Steam cleaning completely revolutionized the process of carpet cleaning and sanitization. This method allows soap (or other chemical) and water to move deep inside the different layers of fibers and get stains and dirt out. Once they have been thrown over the surface of the carpet, it can be easily picked up and dried by using a simple vacuum cleaner.
Although the steam cleaning is a famous method, you still need to consider this fact that not all devices are equally effective. For instance, I bought a steam cleaner a few months ago from a departmental store. It used a 20feet hose which you would attach to a hot water faucet. I thought that it would get rid of the stains that had been housing on my carpets for weeks but it was an utter disappointment.
Due to the unnecessarily long hose, the steam cooled down as it reached the surface. Moreover, the device significantly lacked pressure which is required to reach the deeper ends of fiber. Therefore it is important that you consider a number of components and see if it has the power and temperature to reach the results that you desire.