Day 23: First Impressions of the McCulloch MC-1275 Heavy Duty Steam Cleaner
First of all, I have always loved the smell of steam. I knew that if I found a steam cleaner that was good, that I would become obsessed and use it long after bed bugs.
Is the McCulloch Mc-1275 that steam cleaner? I’m not sure. It got 131 reviews on Amazon, for an average of four stars, and one of the featured reviews gushes about its abilities to blast the mold off her bathtub.
I had to pack to go to my parents’ house for the weekend and then get to bed so I wouldn’t sleep through the 4:00 am alarm that would get me to my 6:30 am flight on time, so didn’t really get a chance to steam thoroughly. Plus, the residual on my floor is good through August 14, so I’m not going to be steam cleaning my floors any time soon.
Here’s the lame ass photos of me steaming a wicker table that DON’T SHOW ANY STEAM but I swear a good blast of it is there!
I used only the basic hose, with no attachments. The steam would turn into liquid upon contact and the liquid would cool quickly on the surfaces of the things I steamed, so that made me concerned that it wasn’t getting hot enough. (The instructions explicitly state that you should not put your hands in the path of the steam, as the steam will burn.)
I am excited to try steaming my curtains and plan to steam my air mattress right before I finally put it away and replace it with the Sealy Posturepedic which I have put on hold indefinitely for now.
The MC-1275 is compact and cute and well built, sliding easily on its little wheels. I had it delivered to my work and carried it in the manufacturer’s box (not the Amazon box) all the way from the Financial District to Woodside by myself.
Overall, I’m glad to have the steamer around. I have faith that it gets hot enough to kill any eggs or bugs it comes into contact with. It’s reassuring to know that you can debug some of your stuff on your own without calling the PCO. It’s recommended, if you use it on your mattress, to buy a vapor steam cleaner, which run $600 and up, to prevent a possible mold problem. I am not using mine to clean my mattress.
Just today, the Bedbugger FAQs were redone– I added one on steam:
http://bedbugger.com/faqs/pestcontrol/faq-killing-bed-bugs-with-steam/
(So there’s no more steam in the FAQ you link to, though it does have a helpful link out to the new location.)
Sorry for that!
Just FYI, dry vapor is not only relevant to mattresses. Mold can grow on walls, in floor cracks, on furniture, etc.
nobugs
August 4, 2008 at 12:28 am
It took a little longer than usual for the page to load but i’m glad i waited.
Gary Rockhopper
February 25, 2010 at 6:42 am
Were you actually trying to kill bed bugs with it? Or more just as a preventative step?
I’m not totally convinced this smaller units have enough heat/power to effectively kill bed bugs. Most demonstrations I see using them on a mattress show them slowly misting across the seams of the mattress but the way people talk about it, it seems like they INSTANTLY die on contact.
When’s the last time you saw a bug die on contact with some hot water? Many times the temperature at the nozzle is a lot lower than it’s actually rated for.
-Chris
Mr. Steam Cleaner
Mr.Steam Cleaner
June 27, 2010 at 2:49 pm