Polti are an Italian manufacturer that specialises in top of the range steam cleaners, vacuum cleaners and irons. Their main selling point in regard to their steam cleaners is that they enable you to use ordinary tap water, in the form of high-pressure steam, to perform a variety of household cleaning jobs, without the use of chemicals and detergents.

From my own experience and from consumer reviews, including a number on Dooyoo, I have come to the conclusion that Polti products do perform to the high standard requires by a £200-£400 price tag. That is, with the exception of the 2001R.

Having seen a Polti demonstration on 'TV Shop' (using the well-known red 2400 model) I was convinced of the benefits of owning a steam cleaner and scoured the Internet for the best price. Prices for the 2400 range from £300 to just under £400, but I also found the new 2001R with a free Polti Iron on sale from 'freeNet' (www.freenet.ltd.uk) for £292, including delivery. As we needed a new Iron (the Polti Irons attach to the main steam unit to give a continuous supply of steam) I thought that this was too good to miss and ordered one.

It arrived the next day, via omega securicor and performed as we had expected. Over the next few days we cleaned down the kitchen, bathroom, blasted out spiders from behind the radiators, removed some stains from the carpet and had begun to steam clean the three-piece suite. We then tried the iron, with no problems; my wife loved it and said she had done her ironing in half the time.

The Polti 2001R has two switches, one for the power and one to turn the accessory output on and off i.e. when you change over from the cleaning attachment to the iron and vice versa. It was when I was doing this that I noticed the accessory switch did not always engage and sometimes took four or five presses to do so. Thinking there must be perhaps a reasonable explanation I rang the Polti helpline.

To my surp
rise Polti said straight away they would exchange it for a new one via 'City link' which they did the next day as a straight swap. As it was a new model, direct from the manufacturer, I thought there would be no problem, how wrong could I be. In all I have now been the proud owner of three Polti 2001r's the original one and two from Polti all with the same switch fault. Polti even offered to send me another replacement, but only the same model and suggested I perhaps contact ?freeNet? to resolve the matter. This is exactly what I did and by paying an extra £37 I have upgraded to the Polti 2400, which included an iron at half price.

If you decide you need a steam cleaner get a Polti, they are the best, but if you are going to spend £300 + pay a bit extra and get their best and most popular model the 2400, don't waste your time or money on the 2001R.