Vapor steam cleaners or steam vapor systems are cleaning appliances or devices that use

steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

to dry, clean, and sanitize surfaces. The steam is produced in a

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centra ...

that heats tap water to high temperatures to produce low-pressure, low moisture water

vapor In physics, a vapor (American English) or vapour (Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is a substance in the gas phase at a temperature lower than its critical temperature,R ...

Operation

The steam cleaner's ability to clean is based primarily on its heat. The steam is applied to cleanable surfaces via a variety of insulated tools and accessories, releasing contaminants into water suspension, after which they can be removed by wiping or vacuuming.

Advantages

Vapor steam cleaners typically consume less water compared to carpet cleaners or other cleaning devices, which use hot water instead of steam. They can also remove excess vapor from the air. A vapor steam cleaner can help to remove scents absorbed by materials.

Applications

The low-moisture characteristics of vapor steam cleaners make them suitable for use inside buildings and residences. Vapor steam cleaners are frequently used in

hypoallergenic Hypoallergenic, meaning "below average" or "slightly" allergenic, is a term meaning that something (usually cosmetics, pets, textiles, food, etc.) causes fewer allergic reactions. The term was first used in 1953 in an advertising campaign for co ...

environments because they do not require the use of additional cleaning chemicals. Steam has been shown effective in combating

mold A mold () or mould () is one of the structures that certain fungus, fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of Spore#Fungi, spores containing Secondary metabolite#Fungal secondary metabolites, fungal ...

bacteria Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...

viruses A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Viruses are found in almo ...

, and other forms of bio-contamination.

Steam mops

A steam mop is a mop that uses steam to clean floors and carpets. Unlike a regular mop, which requires cleaning agents such as

bleach Bleach is the generic name for any chemical product that is used industrially or domestically to remove color from (i.e. to whiten) fabric or fiber (in a process called bleaching) or to disinfect after cleaning. It often refers specifically t ...

detergent A detergent is a surfactant or a mixture of surfactants with Cleanliness, cleansing properties when in Concentration, dilute Solution (chemistry), solutions. There are a large variety of detergents. A common family is the alkylbenzene sulfonate ...

, a steam mop uses

heat In thermodynamics, heat is energy in transfer between a thermodynamic system and its surroundings by such mechanisms as thermal conduction, electromagnetic radiation, and friction, which are microscopic in nature, involving sub-atomic, ato ...

from steam to

disinfect A disinfectant is a chemical substance or compound used to inactivate or destroy microorganisms on inert surfaces. Disinfection does not necessarily kill all microorganisms, especially resistant endospore, bacterial spores; it is less effect ...

the floors. A microfibre pad is often placed right underneath the steam jet to trap dirt. Most steam mops have a small water tank, and often provide dry steam. The steam mop was first envisioned by Romi Haan in 1998 in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. She developed a prototype in 2001 and in 2004 the steam mop would hit the mass-market. A steam mop works by heating up the water inside the reservoir to temperatures of about 120 degrees

Celsius The degree Celsius is the unit of temperature on the Celsius temperature scale "Celsius temperature scale, also called centigrade temperature scale, scale based on 0 ° for the melting point of water and 100 ° for the boiling point ...

(248 degrees

Fahrenheit The Fahrenheit scale () is a scale of temperature, temperature scale based on one proposed in 1724 by the German-Polish physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736). It uses the degree Fahrenheit (symbol: °F) as the unit. Several accou ...

). Many steam mops have one jet of dry steam (but may have as many as 15 jets), moistening a

microfibre Microfiber (microfibre in British English) is synthetic fibre finer than one denier or decitex/thread, having a diameter of less than ten micrometers. The most common types of microfiber are made variously of polyesters; polyamides (e.g., ...

pad placed underneath. The steam helps soak the pad and dirt is drawn off ground. Unlike regular mops, steam mops do not leave a residue on the floor and often clean through the dirt. The heat of the steam can kill about 99 percent of the

and

dust mite House dust mites (HDM, or simply dust mites) are various species of acariform mites belonging to the family Pyroglyphidae that are found in association with dust in dwellings. They are known for causing allergies. Biology Species The current ...

s. Steam mops can disinfect floors, restore shine, kill

dust mites House dust mites (HDM, or simply dust mites) are various species of acariform mites belonging to the family Pyroglyphidae that are found in association with dust in dwellings. They are known for causing allergies. Biology Species The curren ...

, and remove some stains. Some feature a two-sided, flip mop head that allows you to clean twice as much floor before changing the mop pad. One pad is soft for use on delicate flooring such as

hardwood Hardwood is wood from Flowering plant, angiosperm trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostl ...

and

laminate Simulated flight (using image stack created by μCT scanning) through the length of a knitting needle that consists of laminated wooden layers: the layers can be differentiated by the change of direction of the wood's vessels Shattered windshi ...

s. The other pad has built-in scrubbing strips that facilitate cleaning tough messes.

Manufacturers

There are several manufacturers of vapor steam cleaners, with products ranging from higher-end industrial products to inexpensive consumer models.

Sterilization testing

Vapor steam cleaners are cited as examples of

green cleaning Green cleaning refers to using cleaning methods and products with environmentally friendly ingredients and procedures which are designed to preserve human health and environmental quality. Green cleaning techniques and products avoid the use of pr ...

because of their ability to kill germs and in some cases disinfect without the use of chemical disinfectants. Steam vapor has also been cited as effective in killing

in carpet, bedding, and upholstery. Additionally, dry steam vapor has shown to be effective in killing bed bugs and their eggs when reaching temperatures of 150–170 degrees. In 2005, the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

tested a steam vapor system in restrooms and reported labor savings and hygienic improvements over previous methods.

References

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