There are a lot of different ways to clean stubborn stains and spills. Sometimes it's about finding the right solvent, sometimes it's about finding the right scrubbing tool, and sometimes it just requires copious amounts of elbow grease, no matter what you do. But there's one thing that can usually help: Steam. A quality steamer can help you degrease kitchen surfaces, remove soap scum, mildew, and hard water deposits from bathrooms, revitalize fabric upholstery, clean your car's seat belts, and blast
dirt from hard-to-reach crevices. Those who like to shop at Harbor Freight may have noticed that the store sells a 1,200-watt handheld steam cleaner. You may have even wondered who makes Harbor Freight's steam cleaners. The answer is the company's in-house brand Grant's, which also makes most of Harbor Freight's microfiber towels, rotary foam pads, and other automotive detailing equipment.
Grant's handheld steam cleaner is corded, holds up to 11.5 fluid ounces of water, can heat steam up to 200 degrees Fahrenheit, and comes with a wide range of accessories. It's currently available for just $39.99, making it very affordable, even if it isn't ranked among the best handheld steam cleaners for deep cleaning your home. If you've never used a cleaner like this, you might have a few questions about how it works, including how to assemble it and how to use it safely and effectively on different surfaces.
Read more: 10 Amazon Tools Under $25 That Are Actually Worth Buying
How To Assemble The Grant's Handheld Steam Cleaner
Once you open the box with Grant's Handheld Steam Cleaner home, you will find several items inside. The cleaner comes with a funnel, a measuring cup, a general spray nozzle, two spray cups with round brushes, a bent spray nozzle, a long spray nozzle, a window spray nozzle attachment, a nozzle extension, a towel sleeve, and a scraper. That might seem like a lot of tools and accessories when it all comes tumbling out of the box, but putting it together is actually pretty straightforward.
Open the tank cap on top of the steam cleaner and then use the measuring cup and funnel to add water to it, filling it no higher than the 250 milliliter mark and being careful not to overfill the tank. According to the User Manual, you should only use distilled water in the cleaner, and you should not add any chemicals or cleaning agents. Once this has been done, replace the tank cap and turn it clockwise until it's securely tightened.
After each use, you should release the trigger and unplug the unit, allowing it to cool for at least five to six minutes before attempting to open it. This should reduce both the temperature and tank pressure inside the unit so that the tank cap can once again be opened safely. You'll then want to empty any remaining water from the tank before refilling it. Be careful when emptying, as the water, the cap, and the tank inlet may still be hot. Once the cleaner is set up, all that's left is to choose your attachment and get to cleaning.
How To Use The Grant's Handheld Steam Cleaner
The spray cups and bent spray nozzle are the best options for fabric. To connect them, you simply push the attachment into the short spray nozzle. This has a rubber seal that connects the two. Next, the general spray nozzle, long spray nozzle, and nozzle extension are good for cleaning countertops, stoves, ovens, sinks, toilets, grout, and tight spaces that are otherwise difficult to reach. To connect these, you'll need to hold the extension to the short spray nozzle, aligning the single-line mark on the extension with the double-line mark on the short nozzle.
You'll then press it in and then twist it so that the double line marks line up on both pieces. Finally, the window spray attachment is suited to cleaning windows, shower doors, mirrors, oven doors, and tile. To use it, you first need to attach the general spray nozzle to the short spray nozzle. Once that's done, you'll need to install the two hooks on the window spray nozzle to the suspension lugs on the general spray nozzle, then hold the attachment's hook before pushing the attachment up and securing it to the general spray nozzle's body.
Once you have the appropriate nozzle attached for your cleaning project, you'll want to plug the steam cleaner into a dedicated 120-volt outlet. A red power light should turn on while it's heating, and that will turn green when it's ready to be used. After that, you'll just need to press the trigger to begin steaming. Keep the steamer moving at all times to avoid oversaturating a single area. Once you're done, wipe the area with a cloth to remove the loosened dirt or other staining substance from the surface you are cleaning. You can also use the included scraper.
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Read the original article on SlashGear.
