I am always on the lookout for smart ways to clean my home without having to rely on chemicals. Not only does it save me money in the long run, but it also helps me detox my space.
Nothing has been as positively impactful as my Black & Decker steam cleaner. I have been able to find a use for it in every room, on everything from floors and walls, to clothing and upholstery. It's worth every penny and even better that the steam cleaner is reduced right now on Amazon for Black Friday.
Here, I break down all the ways I use H&G's number one best steam cleaner around my home for a thorough low-tox cleaning routine, and why I would never be without it.
Every way I use my steam cleaner in my non-toxic home
It cleans everything from floors, to clothes and grout. Best of all, no chemicals are required as it harnesses the natural power of hot steam. Just fill with tap water and let it do its thing!
So far as non-toxic home essentials go, my steam cleaner is by far my favorite. I bought the seven-in-one Black & Decker steam mop, which came with attachments to clean everything from tiles to soft furnishings, including both hard floors and carpet.
Here's how I make the most of my investment around my home:
1. Cleaning my tiles
One of my favorite ways to use the steam cleaner around my home is cleaning shower grout. In the past, I used to clean with vinegar and an old toothbrush to scrub at the grout, relying on sheer elbow grease and determination to get the grout gleaming. In the worst case, I used to wipe it down with a cloth soaked in bathroom cleaner, skipping the scrubbing altogether and hoping for the best.
Now, I can clean the shower with only one tool. Better yet, only one attachment. I use the handheld one with the grout and tile brush to wipe over the shower walls, melt away soap scum and get rid of hard water stains. Then I scrub lightly along the grout lines to remove soap and bacterial stains, making the grout bright white again, as seen above.
2. All my flooring
My house has a mix of linoleum flooring, low-pile carpet, and cozy rugs. While my best vacuum cleaner does a lot to pick up hair and debris, it doesn't tackle grime and stains.
Instead of having a mop and a carpet cleaning machine cluttering up my already limited home storage, my steam cleaner covers them both. With microfiber pads and a carpet glide attachment, the steam cleaner allows me to flow from one room to the other.
For hard floors, as in my bathroom and kitchen, the steamer melts away sticky spots where I may have spilled sauce or some toothpaste. When cleaning carpets without a machine, the steamer loosens dirt and kills bacteria, neutralizing odors and making my home smell nice. It takes 30 minutes to dry, when I vacuum away any additional loose debris.
I said goodbye to chemical floor cleaners two years ago when I got this Black & Decker steamer and I haven't looked back since.
If you are just looking for a standard steam mop, the 2-in-1 variation comes with fewer bells and whistles, but the same outstanding cleaning power.
3. Upholstery and soft furnishings
I am a homebody through and through, which means my upholstered furniture and soft furnishings get a lot of use. That means an increased need to freshen up everything, from cleaning a couch to cushion covers and washing a comforter.
I can't exactly put all of these in my washing machine every other week, so I have come to rely on my steam cleaner and the upholstery attachment to kill bacteria and clean soft furnishings on a semi-regular basis. As a result, I probably clean them more often than if I relied on traditional cleaning methods, making my home more sanitary.
Steam cleaning a couch is simple. I remove all the additional pillows, vacuum up my biscuit crumbs, and then glide the steam over the surface to kill bacteria, loosen light stains, and remove odors from upholstery without having to clean with baking soda (which is a messy process that can damage your vacuum).
I follow the same process for cleaning chairs, pillows, and my bedding (I still wash bed sheets as usual every two weeks, of course. This is just an additional extra).
The only thing I cannot use my steamer for is cleaning a mattress, as it is made from memory foam which may melt or warp under high temperatures. Instead, I rely on a mattress protector that can be washed easily when doing laundry.
4. My oven
Cleaning an oven without chemicals is a top priority in my household, as my partner has food contamination OCD.
The steam cleaner with the oven brush is the only way I have successfully managed this. Other DIY cleaning solutions have left me with a dead arm and an oven still full of grease, while steaming melts the grease away, making it easy to mop up with paper towels.
I switch to the SteaMitt attachment (the glove might look scary when dealing with steam that can burn you, but your hand doesn't even feel warm when using it) to clean the glass oven door too without the fear that it will shatter. My oven looks brand new every time, even when I have put off cleaning it for far longer than I should.
6. Kitchen essentials
Steam cleaning is my new favorite way to cut kitchen cleaning times in half. So much so that I now clean my kitchen with only one tool.
Besides my oven, I use the SteaMitt to clean my microwave and clean the kitchen sink. It cleans kitchen grease instantly while killing bacteria that can lead to food contamination and illness.
6. Clothing
There are several ways to steam clothes without a traditional steamer, but I like to use my Black & Decker. It is a bit clunky to pull out to steam just one top, but it saves me money and space in my storage ideas to have one device I can do so many cleaning tasks with.
This is especially useful for my hand wash and (some) of my dry clean-only clothing. I hang the garment inside out on a hanger over the back of my bedroom door and steam them gently with the lowest steam setting. It quickly helps to get wrinkles out of clothes and kills odor-causing bacteria to freshen garments up between washes and keep laundry smelling nice beyond laundry day.
7. Dealing with pests
Luckily, using a steam cleaner to get rid of fleas is something I have only ever had to do once, but it was incredibly effective and meant that we didn't have to use harsh, hazardous chemicals.
When getting rid of fleas inside the house, I rigorously steamed basically everything we owned in a day (even pulling all the furniture around the room to reach every inch of carpet). It was very hard work that I wouldn't have been able to do without help, but it cleared the problem up in a day and we didn't need to call in experts or risk our health. Plus, my house was the cleanest it had ever been.
All these ways of using a steam cleaner around my house has gone a long way in making my chores easier, quicker and my household healthier. It has certainly improved my quality of life.
That being said, there are some things you should never steam clean in your home that you need to be aware of to avoid causing irreversible (and potentially costly) damage, like some mattresses and home tech.
