For the past few weeks the phone at Healthy Spaces has been busy with calls from people from coast to coast calling for information regarding Vapor Clean equipment. I’ve asked myself what has prompted this sudden rash of calls and the answer isn’t too surprising. This Spring, people increasingly are ‘Going Green’ with their Spring cleaning. In this case it means finding products that clean effectively, efficiently and economically without the use of toxic chemicals. And, as if chemicals aren’t toxic enough in the home, they end up in the sink or toilet, then into the sewer and into our rivers and ground water.

When you put all those requirements together, there are few products that fit the need - especially if one is looking for a product that cleans everything from tile, to wood floors to carpet, to windows. If such a product were a herbicide or pesticide, it would be labeled as “broad spectrum”, meaning it addresses a whole host of needs. While people coast to coast are aware of the Vapor Clean brand, few people right here in Rip City, the city recognized as the heartbeat of “Going Green” know or ask about Vapor Cleaners. Diane and I found them nearly four years ago and have many customers around the country who have purchased these units from us.

We found Vapor Clean the way we have discovered most of the products in Healthy Spaces; We were looking for a solution to a personal need. Thus began our search for the highest quality machine we could find.
These machines are built in Italy and are widely used throughout Europe. The first model we purchased was the TR-6 and it was vastly superior to anything we had previously used. As we experimented with the machine cleaning grout, windows, tile, stainless steel, my dirty beyond description truck carpets, we kept thinking about how much more we could do with even larger machines.

We then bought the Desiderio model. This top of the line, commercial quality machine has it all: a built in vacuum, called an extractor, continuous fill, and an injector. The vacuum is cleaner than a HEPA vacuum and vacuums both wet and dry. Continuous fill means it has a reservoir that pumps water into the boiler so you don’t need to stop working every 90 minutes or so - very desirable in a production environment. And the injector is designed to inject sanitizers and deodorizers for specialty cleaning needs. (I’ve never used the injector, more on this later.)

What makes these machines unique is they super-heat water to around 350 -400 degrees and deliver low moisture content vapor at around 280 degrees at the business end of the machine. The heat kills germs and bacteria. It also kills dust mites and their eggs. It kills bed bugs on contact. It dissolves oil and grease, and with the extractor, removes it from the surface. Now, what it isn’t.

It isn’t a steam cleaner. Steam cleaners deliver hot water, usually mixed with chemicals, to clean surfaces, usually carpet. They leave carpets wet for up to 24 hours or more - a fertile media for regrowth of mold and mildew. Most steam cleaners don’t produce enough heat to break down oil and grease. They depend on soap and hot water to do the trick. As a result when a steam cleaner is finished, the surface dirt is gone. The carpet looks clean, but the dirty spots keep coming back. Why? Because the oil/grease is still in the fabric waiting to trap the next layer of dirt tracked in.

Uses of vapor cleaners are virtually endless. You really can kill dust mites in your bed in the morning and sleep in the bed the same night. There are vapor cleaners available to fit any budget and any need. I would encourage anyone purchasing a machine to buy as much machine as your budget allows. While in our experience each model of Vapor Clean performs as stated, the TR5&6, Unilux 3000, Gaia, and Desiderio models are the best for meeting full spectrum cleaning needs. Like me, once you have a Vapor Cleaner, you will be using it for all your cleaning needs! Some of the uses I have found either from personal experience or from our dozens of satisfied customers include:
auto detailing, carpet cleaning, Bed Bug eradication, dust mite eradication, cleaning windows, tile, wood floors, defrosting refrigerators, sanitizing kennels, sanitizing bird cages, cleaning air ducts/registers, cleaning stainless steel, cleaning BBQ Grills, steaming wrinkles out of clothes, killing mold and mildew, cleaning up liquid spills in one step etc. Anyway, you get the picture.

Come by Healthy Spaces for a demo of Vapor Clean technology- you, and the community we love will be glad you did. Or give us a call and we’ll ship one to you within the week and help you over the telephone in whatever way we can.

Happy “GREEN” Spring Cleaning!!

Mike