Polti Vaporetto Comfort Steam Cleaner, Black/Silver

I had a mite problem after saving a clutch of birds I had to hand rear indoors during the winter. Unlike dog fleas or red mite, bird mites are very hard to erradicate once infested. So I was looking for a steam cleaner to aid in the fight. I almost bought a vax for £99, but there were as many bad reviews as good ones. While reading these I noticed many were praising or compairing to "Polti" Steam cleaners. I couldn't afford an expensive model, so I took a punt on this mid price range model.I was Very pleased. Amost everything nowdays, (regardless of Brand name) is plastic crap made in china.. built to a price, rather than a specification. So I was expecting something of this price to be the same. But it's pretty good quality as far as design and build... OK it's not an industrial model as sturdy as a cattepiller tractor.. but it's also not so flimsy that you will be sending it back within a week.If... (like I was), you are wondering about the accesories that are not shown on the picture.. it's because they are all stowed away under the tank in the lower part where the wheels are. Theres a nice selection too. You get the big floor brush that is shown in the picture docked to the body, but theres also a smaller brush head, that doesn't have bristles, and that also has an attatchement to add onto it for cleaning windows. theres also some round brushes that attactch and another with brass bristles. Although I haven't yet used the nylon brushes, they look a bit more subtantial than usual.. thicker, shorter, and densly packed, they don't look like they will melt and fold over on the first use, but as I said I haven't tried those yet. you also get a short lance section that concentrates the jet into a fine point.. and a nice touch is that there are curved bits that fit on the end of the lance to get under sills and in arkward crevaces.Another suprise was the rather flimsy looking triangular extention sections. you get three of those to make up whatever length you want.. the hose from the tank to the handle is already 6ft, and the three sections give you another three feet on top.. so easily enough to reach the average ceiling with comfort and also over beds that are against walls etc. at first glance, the sections look really flimsy and you think "Oh no this'll last five minutes" But fear not, they are very solid with an inner structure surrounding the strong round tube that goes through the middle, this tube has a double flanged seal to keep the steam inside and each section clips together with an assuring solid action (well for a bit of plastic). the result is you get no leaks anywhere along the pipe. and it's very light, even if you use all three sections.. plus you can hold it anywhere along the length with your free hand without fear of getting burnt or scalded.The hose itself is just right in my humble oppinion.. it's strong enough to take an accidental tug, (if you are at full stretch), but it's also very flexible and comfortable.. you never feel like you are fighting it or untwisting it, like with some vacuum hoses. No leaks or hisses on this either by the way.Ok now for some tech specs that I never saw in the advert Which is why it was a bit of a punt for me.The Tank holds 1.6 litres... you get a jug and a funnel to fill it.. the jug holds 700ml. so you have to fill the jug twice (1400ml), then a final 200ml. I've been using polti's "Kalstop" solution to keep the tank scale free, so I measure the jugfulls into a big old bleach bottle, add the kalstop give it a shake, and then pour it in the tank.but you can just pour into the tank directly keeping count of course.I used the short lance with no extentions and timed it.. I got 45 minutes blasting away happily all the time, before the tank ran out.I was suprised that it gives full pressure all the time during that 45 mins. i'd read reviews in other brands where people complained that you had to keep stopping and waiting for it to get back up to pressure.. no danger of that with this. once its reached its pressure and the green light comes on, it's constant till the tanks empty.I can't find the pressure rating anywhere but I think it's the normal 3barThe power rating is 1800 wattThe intruction book says it takes ten minutes to reach it's pressure, but to be honest it seemed quicker, more like 6 or 7 mins.. maybe because its brand new and no scale around the element yet, and ten mins is an average.The mains cable is a generous 6 metres (18 ft) which is handy if you plan dragging it out onto the patio. Theres also a velcro strap sewn onto the cable so you can loop it together and strap it tidily for storage.Noise wise, theres no worries.. if you are using the carpet brushes, it's no noisier than a normal steam iron. If you are using the short lance tool, it's about the same noise as when you light a penny banger firework and the fuse is fizzing. but nothing to loud as to annoy anyone.It's worth reading the instructions just once, as there are some warnings that you tend to overlook once you are happily cleaning away to you hearts content.. for instance.. re-filling the tank.. You have to pour in the new water very gently so that it doesn't hit the red hot walls inside the tanks and spit out at you.Polti give you a two year garantee with this model.. but to be honest there are so many stipulations as to the opperating conditions and normal wear and tear and correct opperational proceedures, that I don't know wether it would stand up in real life.. maybe if you bought it, put it in a glass case and never used it, they might take it back :-)But to be honest. i think if you take care of it, it should do you a fair while.. theres not much to go wrong with steam cleaners except when you wrench and yank on hoses. the only iffy area are the saftey circuits in switches and sensors and such. I think they are the only thing that might let you down one day.But all in all. I'd recommend this little fella, as a great little performer at a fair price.

I got this yesterday and have to say i'm impressed ,it's compact,very sturdy and it's cleaning power is amazing,tried it first on a stained carpet ,came up not too bad ,may take a few goes though to completely eradicate stain.I like the fresh smell after everythings been cleaned,i will save a small fortune on cleaning products . I have a lot of pets so it will be great for cleaning dog beds and bird cages ,with the added bonus of knowing germs and bacteria will be killed with a few blasts. I knocked a star off as there is no water tank indicator so your never sure when your going to run out of steam and the hand grip has given me a blister on my hand as its quite sharp to hold but i wrapped a cloth around it so it's ok.For once in my life i'm looking forward to cleaning!

After my 6 year old Vax Steamer gave up, I was unsure what steamer to replace it with. Being no stranger to Polti steamers, as my mum as had once for as long as I can remember but was always to expensive for me (when I bought my Vax which cost £150 the cheapest Polti was well over £200!) When I saw this one for £65 I had to have it. I was of course worried about the quality of it being so cheap, but knowing how good a brand Polti always has been I descided to take the risk and I'm so glad I did.The quality of all the parts are MILES better than my old Vax and I love how all the attachments are stored in the storage compartment underneath the device and how you can clip the brush on to the back for storage.The only down side is the pressure is not as strong as my old Vax, but its fine for me as I never had the Vax up at full strength anyway and I knew the pressure would not be as strong from reading the listing.For the price and quality I'm very happy with my purchase of this item.I steam absolutly everything in my house, kitchens, bathrooms, ceilings, walls, floors, windows, doors, curtains, mattresses etc. I've even steamed inside the car.

I was using an old hand-held steamer to clean around the bathroom but decided I would upgrade to something a bit more versatile. This is a lovely little machine, great to clean round the bathroom, kitchen, etc. and I also use it on the floors.It's quite light so can be picked up and moved around easily and the attachments are easy to change.We have pets, so great for sanatising when there have been little accidents and I also give the carpet where the dog sleeps a clean with it every couple of weeks.I looked at quite a few reviews before buying this machine but I think if you are looking for a steamer that is small and versatile for around the home but you don't want to spend a fortune then this one has to be well worth considering.

arrived much earlier then as expected tried it for the first time yesterday to make sure all working ok WOW BRILLIANT GADGETused it on lime scale on bathroom sink you could see it coming offhas made our stainless steel kitchen bin look like newas for windows wow less then 10min to do a double window and patio door which was in a bad state thanks to our dog pressing her nose against it all the time but now sparkles again ( only problem now is any flying insects keep crashing into the glass )yes you do need to use a cloth to dry away some moisture and polish things up a bit but then again it is a machine not a cleaning persondid have a hand held steam cleaner a good 10 years ago which was so awful that I have been extremely doubtful about getting another one but have to admit this machine is brilliant 11 out of 10 !!also much more stable then as a lot of these machinesspend hours going through reviews but extremely happy with my choice sofar