When it comes to cleaning your home these days, many health conscious people are forced to choose between harsh chemicals that will kill the germs, but potentially harm the environment around us, or the eco-friendly "green" cleaning products that do a great job of removing dirt, but do nothing to disinfect.
Another option is buying a steam cleaner. But picking out a steam cleaner is not always an easy task either because there are so many out there, and the prices seem to be all over the place.
There are basically two types of steam cleaners you can buy for your home. The first are the ones that are about the size of a small vacuum, or a handheld steamer. The larger steam cleaners have the advantage of having a larger reservoir with which to produce steam, and will typically get your about 30 minutes of pressurized steam. These cleaners usually come with attachments that will clean everything from your floors to your shower tile. The large steamers will cost about 300 dollars.
The smaller handheld steamers are typically a quarter of the price, however they are not as versatile with their cleaning capabilities, and will only hold enough water to produce about 10 minutes of steam before you have to turn of the steamer and wait about 20 minutes for the unit to cool before you can add more water.
The Shark Handheld steam cleaner is different. You get the advantage of a small steam cleaner price with the benefits of large steam cleaner capacity. The biggest difference between the Shark handheld steam cleaner and the other handheld steam cleaners on the market is its water reservoir. The water is actually separate from the heat and pressure canister and uses a pump to move the water from the reservoir into the heating canister. The result is you can refill your steam cleaner as much as you want without having to stop and wait for the unit to cool down.
The Shark Handheld comes with a variety of attachments including a squeegee, a terrycloth wedge, and a duster giving a decent amount of flexibility with your cleaning. The only downside is the Shark does not come with any type of floor attachment, thought they do sell a separate unit just for floors.
The Steam produced by the Shark Hand Held steamer is steady and relatively powerful. The temperature of the steam right our of the nozzle is about 190 degrees.
So far the unit seams very durable, which was my main concern. However I have cleaned every room in my house with it and the unit is showing no signs that it is worse for the wear.