What is Steam Cleaning and How Does It Work
Steam cleaning is definitely one of the most popular methods of getting a number of surfaces clean and fresh. The process is actually quite simple to understand. Water is put into a device which uses any one of a number of different processes to super heat that water and shoot the resulting steam at a surface. The intense heat kills bacteria and disinfects surfaces almost instantly.
Steam cleaning is used for a number of different applications. For instance, it is one of the most popular methods of carpet-cleaning. It can also be used in an industrial setting to remove grease or it can be used by private individuals in their home to clean surfaces in the kitchen or bathroom.
When it is used to clean carpets, water is poured into a device that converts it to steam. That becomes part of a liquid that shoots down into the carpet. The liquid is a mixture of hot-water and detergent that gets deep down into the carpet and loosens any dust, grime and other particles that might be set deep. As the devices runs over the liquid, it sucks the detergent and hot-water (along with any particulates and dirt) into a collection bin that is situated on the top of the steam cleaning machine using a powerful vacuum.
The proof that the process really works is in the collection bin. Even though the process starts with clean hot water, the water that is left over at the end of the process is often dirty, brown and foul smelling. The biggest advantage to using steam cleaning over other forms of carpet-cleaning is that this process is able to reach deep down into the carpet and grab dust and dirt particles that other methods just cannot get to. The process can be done rather quickly and usually only takes one person.
However, it is important to remember that steam cleaning is not only used for cleaning your carpet. There are a large number of handheld devices that are referred to as steam cleaning ‘wands’. These devices allow you to direct the steam flow at a particular object. They can be used to disinfect kitchen surfaces after food preparation, loosen grease in the oven, remove pet messes and spills, or even to steam clean your clothes. Many times, these devices mix the steam with an additional cleaning agent so it is even more efficient at killing bacteria.
Using steam as a cleaning agent has a number of great advantages. For instance, since water is the main component in the cleaning process, it is a relatively inexpensive cleaning method. The intense heat also does a great job of disinfecting surfaces by killing bacteria and other germs. You just have to be careful about where you point the steam because it is possible to burn your skin if you are careless.
With the amount of different surfaces that steam cleaning can disinfect, it is no wonder that it is one of the more popular cleaning methods around. Using steam is relatively safe, very efficient and inexpensive.