I hate sounding like a housewife with a fixation on cleaning, but perhaps that's how I sound to my husband when I discuss things like this steam cleaner. Oh well. After all he is a typical bloke for whom dust stops being much of a problem after about 3 years. Anyway, this review is not about my husband, it's about this little yellow steam cleaner. I bought it to reduce the amount of detergents I use and, hopefully, the time and energy I spend on cleaning as well. The steam cleaner (ordered from Amazon) arrived in a big box with some manuals and warnings and a tonne of interchangeable nozzles, but I am still using the standard one and it seems to be fine. Maybe I am missing some amazing nozzle functions and don't even know about it. Shrug.

I've had this steam cleaner for a few months, but haven't been using it much as in most cases it is still easier to clean things the traditional chemical way. This could count as one of the drawbacks, but rather than writing an essay, I prefer to do the good old pros and cons...

Pros:

1. This steam cleaner is pretty small and easy to use. It is not bulky and is fully portable.

2. Due to its small size, it boils the water rapidly.

3. When used persistently, it does clean even difficult places which you might have considered hopeless before and which certainly would be hopeless with standard detergents and sponges.

4. Some people complain water runs out too quickly. I didn't notice it. In my experience, there was enough water for a whole cleaning session.

5. Even with its basic nozzle, the steam cleaner manages to reach all sorts of difficult places in the shower or kitchen. Perhaps other nozzles are also useful for their purposes.

6. It is not too expensive and it does the job (although not immediately and not without some help from a sponge scourer and, in my case, usually some baking soda or soda crystals).

Cons:

1. For the first few uses it stinks. I mean really really STINKS. This cheap plastic heats up and releases probably some deadly chemicals that can give you a headache and make your throat sore. Actually, I still get a bit of a sore throat after using this steam cleaner in the limited space of the shower.

2. As I mentioned in the beginning, despite the steam being generated quite quickly, the steam cleaner is unlikely to be your first choice for doing some quick routine cleaning here and there. I usually prefer to reserve it for the big, hard jobs.

3. Even though it works, it does not clean surfaces in seconds, so do not expect all your cleaning problems to evaporate.

4. It can be a bit scary to use, especially at first. It's a small hissing thing full of boiling water after all. I am still very careful with it when I need to clean the shower doors from the inside.

5. Some people might find it too small and running out of steam too quickly, although I did not face this problem.

These are probably all my impressions for now. For a £20 gadget, this steamer is a really handy thing and I do not regret getting it. But I do wonder if other, more expensive steamers are made from better materials.