Polti PTGB0077 Vaporetto Smart 100B Steam Cleaner

Author: Andy

Rating: 5

Review: This review is for the Polti Go version of this cleaner, there is another version called the Handy, that seems pretty much identical in terms of power, variable steam pressure, attachments, reservoir size (750 ml) etc. The only difference, as far as I can tell, is that the Handy comes with some kind of fragrance dispenser in the handle, as far as I understand it, never having used this model. The Go model does not have that. (There are also several other similar models. Check the Polti website to see which model would suit your needs.) I have had mine for a couple of weeks now and so far it has performed very well. I have cleaned carpets, rugs, a cooker, washing machine, tumble dryer, fridge, roller blinds, (in situ) tiles, taps, bath, sinks, vinyl kitchen floor and freshened curtains, plus kitchen utensil containers a stainless steel bread bin kitchen cupboards, doors and paintwork artificial flowers, trainers and defrosted a freezer. It is astonishing how many things this device can clean. It also gets into nooks and crannies, that usual cleaning methods don't get to. Don't be surprised to see gunk coming out of places you thought were already as clean as you could get them using cloths and sprays, especially, cooker knobs and the like. Really bad stains, such as those embedded in a carpet or rug, can sometimes be blasted loose, by holding a cloth at one side of the stain, and by holding the concentrator attachmentat an angle to the stain and blast down into and across the stain towards the cloth, you can blast the stain loose from the carpet and on to the cloth. This technique, takes a little while, to get the knack of but it works very well. Don't blast directly down into the stain but blast into and across it. Again take care, if you are holding the cloth with your other hand, as you will be blasting hot material towards it.. Use a thick cloth. It takes a while to get the hang of it, how much steam to use, how long to leave it on there etc. Most of the time, it is common sense. On delicate materials, such as curtains, turn down the steam dial and use less, plus move over the surface quickly. I actually steamed a dry clean only, pair of lined, lounge curtains, using this method and they came up beautifully and to no harm. DO BE CAREFUL, when first starting the machine, after first heating the water or after having let it stand for a while, as some water will come from the endof the pipe or attachments, when you first press the trigger, before the steam comes through, in a steady stream, so you can aim it at the cloth, to collect this extra water, if you are working on something, you don't want to get over wet. On thick carpets, or tiles, I just used this extra moisture, to help loosen, stubborn grime or stains, before steaming properly, so it was not a problem in those areas, it was a help... On delicate artificial flowers in a vase, I found, that once the steam was up and running clear, a quick half second blast, sweeping quickly across them, cleaned all the dust from all the intricate folds of the petals, obviously leaving it on these for an extended period would damage them. The same with cleaning down doors or cupboards, a quite blast and wipe down with the cloth removes all the grime. The other handy thing, is that you have fresh, clean, hot water, with you all the time, so if you need to, you can spray hot water on the cloth and use it to wipe down. Again BE CAREFUL, if you do this, as the steam is very hot, so it will burn your hand if you are not careful, it will make the cloth very hot too, so exercise care... Another tip, the smaller window cleaning head, comes with what they call a sponge or sock. This is just an elasticated, terry cloth pouch, which turns the window cleaning head into a cleaning pad, very useful for cupboard doors, curtains, clothes, upholstery etc. This can be a little fiddly to fit and remove it gets dirty. You can get spares but I found, that if you get a standard, microfibre cleaning cloth, such as can be found very cheaply, almost anywhere, you can wrap this round the window cleaning head, secure it, by twisting an elastic band around the neck twice, this works just as well and it very quick to remove and attach. When cleaning windows, especially in the cold weather, make sure there is no water in the pipe, as this could cause the windows to crack, don't spray the hot steam at, directly on the window, spray the steam into something near the window, such as a sink and let the steam rise on to the window. If need be, spray across the room a distance away from the window and let the windows steam up or spray from a good distance away from the windows 3 ft or so, to let the windows steam up uniformly and naturally. I usually find, that cleaning something else, automatically causes the windows to steam up, so they get cleaned incidentally, by a quick switch to the window cleaning tool, when I notice it has happened. It has several attachments, which cover nearly every cleaning task. It has 8 twist on attachments that connect to the multi adapter, which also serves as a short lance and steam concentrator, for various medium to tough jobs and gives you a little more reach, than the steam gun on its own. Also includes a spatula, grout cleaning brush, wire bristle brush for really tough jobs and an an angled, even finer steam concentrator blaster, for round the base of taps and fiddly jobs like that. You will be amazed what junk falls out of your tap water outlets, if you give them a blast, with this tool, also deblocks your shower head and restores full water flow, almost instantaneously. It has a carry strap, which allows you to carry it around leaving both your hands free if you wish. The tube extenders are click in, press to release and come in three sections. This can make it feel a little over flexible and make you wonder if it's liable to break, especially when you sweep the floor/carpet brush, from side to side. I discovered, the trick is, to let the steam and stiff brush bristles, do the work. DON'T press into the floor/carpet/rug too hard. Alternatively sweep from one direction, then change position, and sweep at right angles across the area, just covered. You can also, one, two, or all three of the tube extenders individually or in combination with each other, to reach particular areas, to which they are best suited. I cleaned my rug by first running the uncovered stiff brush over it first, while releasing steam, to loosen the dirt, then ran over it again after attaching the cleaning cloth. Did a great job, the stiff brush, dug out and gathered up, all sort of debris, that must have been hiding in the carpet pile for years. The cloth attaches by plastic teeth, on a separate springed lever, on either side of the head. The supplied one, does tend to hang a bit loose but once it is on the floor or carpet, the bristles keep it in place and this doesn't seem to affect, it cleaning ability. Again DON'T press too hard, let the steam do the work. If you constantly pour out steam at the top pressure, you will get around 20 minutes - half an hour of cleaning. If you use it, as it probably more usual, intermittently steaming and wiping/sweeping in between, you will get 50 minutes - 1 hour of cleaning. You tend to clean more than you expected, in a shorter time than you expected, because you can clean so many things with it, just by changing a nozzle and it also cleans many things, much faster, than other methods do. For example. I cleaned the fridge, when I finished, I had loads of steam left, so I cleaned the kitchen floor as well.. The windows steamed up so, I did them as well All the connectors, are kept in the base underneath the cleaner, so are with you all the time and you don't have to hunt round for them. The base releases with a tab lever press and clicks back in by inserting the narrow end first and lowering the back into the cavity. Very easy, when you get the hang of it. My advice, would be to watch a couple of you tube videos on this machine, read the manual properly and put in a little practise with it, you will be very pleased with the results it achieves, I think. So far I am delighted with this device and though it took a few goes to get the hang of so far, it is working, extremely well.. It does take a while to cool down, before you can refill it but you have usually done so much cleaning by then, you generally want to have sit down, survey your handywork and have a cup of tea while you wait. It doesn't take that long. It has a safety device, that won't allow the filler cap too open, while it is under pressure. To assist in refilling quickly, if you need to. When the steam has stopped working, wait a few seconds and then press the steam trigger, ensuring that there is no more steam being released by the machine and that there is no pressure left in the tank. Then give it a few minutes to cool down, check that the indicator button on the cap, is signifying that the cap can be opened (it should be in the fully down position) and open the filler cap with a cloth, just to be safe, as any air and possible remnants of steam in the tank will be hot. Then refill with the funnel and jug as normal. DON'T leave the funnel resting, inserted in the opening of the hot tank, as this may damage it. That's about it for this review. I can't speak for the reliability or longevity of this machine, as I haven't had it long enough but hopefully, this might have helped someone out there, to decide, whether they want to give one a try or not. I found it to be excellent so far. Quick added tip..I discovered after a few weeks use.. When jet blasting a stubborn, ground in carpet stain, using the lance or steam concentration nozzle, held at a steep angle. You can put a cloth on one of the cleaning heads, even using a section of extension tube, to aid in holding it in position if required and place it at the opposite side of the stain from where you are jet blasting, this kee

Author: J W

Rating: 3

Review: Bought this about a year ago, but have only yesterday actually used it. The instruction booklet is all over the place and in many different laguages, so it takes a long time of flipping through forward and backwards to line up how to assemble it. This took ages, but we eventually got there. I wouldnt recommend this to someone who struggles with instructions at the best of times as it isnt just a simple clear instuction booklet, and you need to follow diagrams to put it together and they arent clear as names of things are not familiar to me that they use in the instructions, and the numbers and diagrams are small and unclear. I've never had a steam cleaner before so i had to read in full as to how it went together. I assume others may also need to do that so be prepared to give yourself plenty of time to read it before you can just assemble it. The hose connection that fits into the machine didnt snap shut as it was supposed to do with a normal push on, but needed to be really forced on before the snap was heard. The jug and funnel that comes with it is handy as you know exactly what to put in it waterwise, but once the water is in there is nothing to tell you whats left in there or what will need to be emptied at the end of the job. However, the steam can be released by pulling the trigger over a bucket once the appliance is switched off, but on using it today after yesterday it still had quite a bit of water left in it. Its not wonderful but did the carpet ok, but then when it dried there were still marks there, and i'm thinking it may need several goes once its dried and vaccumed as the dirt and dog fur came out the carpet more than i thought possible, after i vacuumed well with a Dyson vac. The cloths i was not impressed with,as the large head cloth is massive and just hangs in a saggy bag from the head, no elastic fitting to it at all, just a long floor cloth. The other small sock like thing is thin material that was already falling apart before it had been even used, so not happy with that. The floor tool seems ok, and i used this without a cloth on it, as the cloth on a carpet was useless. The steam was quite good and to begin with i used the steam rate at half, and it did a reasonable job on the carpet. I still need to go over it again however as now its dried the marks are still heavily there. I tried to use this machine for doing the doors and paintwork, but all it did was run water everywhere and i had to get a cloth the clean up, so i gave up on it and got out the bucket and cloth. The small tools kept inside the base of it seem ok, but i have yet try them, other than the one i tried on the paint work that failed to do the job. The handle grip steam release trigger has to be held all the way through cleaning and it really hurts your hand and can also burn your hand if you move your hand backwards and touch the bottom part of the handle. The hose gets very hot and i advise you to cover your legs when using it, and be aware of where the hot parts of the machine are at all times as the hose and handle are only thin plastic. My hands are today blistered from the rough hard plastic gripper on the handle, and short of either wrapping it in something or wearing a padded glove i can only imagine the designer didnt think of this, and it could have had a softer gel pad put there considering you must grip it all throughout the cleaning. The hose tends to twist a bit as you use it, and the machine tipped over several times off the little wheels it has on the bottom. The bottom of this machine holds all the tools inside and lifts up to allow access. This is a good idea and you can't mislay the tools with this handy storage place built into it. I did buy this for doing all the jobs that take time and bending down, like paintwork etc, but i am disappointed in that when i tried this, all i got was soaked and had to mop up after it. Also it took off the paint in places on the walls. I do think the tools may not last to long if you are going to use it daily, and the thin hose may begin to leak as may the way it all fits together as i noted it was covered in some kind of sticky residue at all the joints when i unpacked it, so when this dries will it mean it then leaks everwhere? Its compact, it has a little clip thing at the back to stand the hose up on, its handy as you dont need something to find to lean it against. I didnt use the carry strap but would imagine that could be handy in some jobs, and will maybe try it out another time. All in all theres many things for and against it, one being that today after yesterdays big clean it dosen't seem to be as powerful, and there is more water than steam today, where yesterday it was just steam and this is only the 2nd time of using it! I am seriously wondering how long it will last, and am seeing its not going to do the things i wanted to use it for. Had i of used it straight after buying it i think i might have returned it as its not quite what i supposed it would be after reading the reviews. I am disappointed in the fact i will only be able to do the floors and not much else with it as i dont want water pouring all over the floor and up my arms when trying to steam the paintwork/doors etc. I think from what i first read in reveiws when i bought it and now after using it that it tends to be how each machine will work, and its not a constant, so its a bit luck of the draw as to what you get with your machine as what you can do with it and the way one machine will work for someone dosent mean the one you get will do the same. It does need improvements and more thought put into things like the cloths and the heat in the lower part of the handle and the handle itself that really hurts your hand.