Steam cleaners can be the best weapon in your housework arsenal. They offer a cleaning method that gets rid of germs without the need for any chemicals or detergents, which makes them gentle on your home as well as the environment.
In fact, steam cleaners, when used properly, can zap up to 99.9 per cent of germs. What’s more, they’re brilliant at lifting otherwise-tough-to-banish stains and dirt. You can use steam cleaners on fabrics, such as curtains and sofas to refresh them. They can also tackle hard floors such as sealed wood, laminate and tiles. And they’re useful in the bathroom and kitchen too, lifting mould, limescale and grease without you having to scrub for ages.
There are a few different kinds of steam cleaners. Handheld steam cleaners are quite like a kettle. Pour in water, switch on and, once the cleaner has reached the right temperature, you’re good to go. A trigger button will let you control when the steam blasts out. These steam cleaners are great for small areas – stains on carpets or rugs, say – and windows, kitchens and bathrooms. They usually have attachments to tackle all of these areas.
A steam floor cleaner, or steam mop, usually looks like a mop but it plugs in. You fill the reservoir with water, much in the same way you would with the handheld options, but then you push it around the floor. Some even propel and scrub as they go, so it’s just a matter of you directing where you want the mop to go.
Things to consider when buying a steam mop are where you’ll be using it. If you just want to cover your hard floors, a steam mop is a sound investment. If you want to do a range of different jobs, a handheld or something like the Dupray neat (more on that below) is going to be better for you.
How we tested
We spent more than a month blasting our house with hot jets of steam. Testing took in all different types of cleaners, and they were used for all different jobs. Stains on carpets were tested to see how they budged; finger-print-heavy windows were zapped; our stove underwent several brutal facials, and our bathroom grout has never been so clean. What we were looking for were steam cleaners that actually worked, and did what they claimed they would. We wanted easy-to-use machines that elevated our clean, rather than being just another gadget that grows dusty in our cupboards. Here are the ones that got a clean sheet.
Handheld options are great when it comes to carpet stains and smaller areas
(Zoe Phillimore)
The best steam cleaners for 2024 are:
- Best overall – Dupray neat steam cleaner: £159.99, Dupray.co.uk
- Best steam mop – Shark steam and scrub automatic steam mop S6002: £139.99, Sharkclean.co.uk
- Best budget buy – Tower THS10 handheld steam cleaner: £25, Asda.com
- Best handheld steam cleaner – Bissell steam shot handheld steam cleaner: £59.99, Bisselldirect.co.uk
- Best detergent and steam cleaner – Beldray detergent steam cleaner: £42.99, Beldray.com
