Side by Side Comparison of: Steamfast vs Prolux

Update: I have used the window cleaning head on numerous occasions. As with the first time I used it up to the last time I used it, the rubber strip on the squeegie comes out on every other swipe. I keep putting it back in thinking I got it in tight enough this time. Not happening. I am hoping that the piece is just defective and can be easily replaced. What say you seller?

WOW! What an amazing little machine. I'm cleaning everything in my house. I love the fact that it has long attachments and you do not have to press and hold the steam button. It has a button that can lock in place for continuous steam. It holds lots of water for steam. I simply love it.

This steamer is fantastic. I am able to clean grout that was impossible to get clean before without a lot of exhausting scrubbing. When you entire home is tile floors it is pretty impossible to scrub every grout line at one time. I have had three or four other steamers prior to this one. This one has the largest water reservoir and is the easiest to push for a quick mop of your floors. The grout tool is awesome. I also like that it can be locked into the on position so you do not have to hold the button in the whole time you are steaming. The performance on this steamer is what I was hoping for, but I was prepared to be disappointed based on the performance of past steamers. I was not disappointed. I do not usually write reviews, but since I tend to rely on them for larger purchases, I felt I should write one in this case. I would definitely recommend this steamer!

I love this little steamer. I got this steam cleaner to clean the interior of my truck and it worked really well, once it reaches full temperature it puts out a nice steam and cleaned my dirty carpet in my truck very well, I also used it on my dash and seats and I was very happy with the results. This unit comes with several attachments including some small brushes that you can easily attach to the tip of the handheld tip and scrub as the steam loosens up the dirt and grease. I have no complaints at all but I did not use any of the extensions for doing flooring so I can't speak to the usefulness of those parts that come with the unit. The steamer seems very well made and gets up to temperature in about 5 to 7 min. I would recommend this unit to anybody, as I am very pleased with my purchase and have used it several times now since I purchased it.

Early Review Notes: Got this unit a day or two ago and have tried it out. It works well and seems to be pretty stoutly constructed for its functions. It cleaned a really greasy gas stove in fairly short order. One of the best capabilities of this unit is that it really gets into corners and is excellent at cleaning the plastic control panels on appliances. Much, much better than a paper towel and 409 or Windex would do.

A couple of thoughts after using for a couple of hours:
1. Remember that this unit will loosen and flush heavy grease, but it does not really remove it. You may still need to wipe the cleaned surface - up to several times - in order to get the grease completely gone, but it comes up easily;
2. Use a narrow-throated funnel to load the tank with water. The included cup is fine, but difficult to get to pour into the small opening without a lot of spillage. A plastic funnel should be fine if you wait for the unit to appropriately cool before refilling.
3. The small brush heads for spot cleaning will get gunked up cleaning a greasy stove, for example. Check it periodically as you clean, and remove and wash off as needed. Wait for it to cool a bit before removing ... it may be very hot.

Product review: I purchased this steam cleaner from Amazon with great intentions to thoroughly clean my house as soon as it arrived. But of course I stuck it in the back room once it was delivered and totally forgot about it. After having the 3 cans of pop explode in the freezer I was really frustrated trying to clean it up and then remembered the steam cleaner! I pulled it out and used it and OH MY GOSH!! The inside of the freezer looks brand new! And it worked fast. Less than 1/2 hour to do freezer top to bottom. I highly recommend this product!!

Seemed a little pricey at first until I saw the performance first hand. Very versatile, easy to assemble, easy to clean and disassemble. The only down side I noticed was that when you use the extensions to use the carpet scrubber, it seems a little flimsy. Can't beat it for the money! Update: I am an auto detailer and tried using it on very stubborn stained seats...it worked amazingly on them. Just need to wrap a micro fiber towel around the head so it catches the dirt as the steam lifts dirt to the surface. Love this tool!

This cleaner does everything. It's light and super easy to use. My husband and soon have their own bath rooms that just about kill me to get the tub and toilet areas clean. With the scrubber wand and super high steam... with awesome reach wand. My back and cleaning success has reached new ground. The best way to put it is, "the yuck came up w/o breaking my back! "

Lots of power lots of attachments. Great machine

I have been cleaning my nasty grout with this product and it has worked GREAT!

Love this steam cleaner! Easy to use, not over complicated at all. It's light and easy to move around. You cannot see how much water you have in it, but I have used it a few times, and have yet to be in the middle of a job and have ran out of water. The best little cleaner around!

Great product great product it really works well well worth the money

Really good at cleaning tile floors and grout. We clean our grout with a brush and solutions, but this does a much better job. Much better. So, we clean the tile more often than in the past because it cuts down on time by quite a bit. The only problem is that the grout brush will only last a short period of time and needs frequent replacement.

I love this machine. I would give it 5 stars except for the fact that some of the attachments (the small round one with the green pad and the nylon brushes) didn't hold up well after the first use. Admittedly, I excited to use this and was hard on them the first time, but I would have expected more than one use out of the round green pad. One the first use the green pad detached from the plastic and left me disappointed. The small nylon brushes are still usable, but showing great wear after one day. With all that being said I love this machine. I headed quickly and I was amazed by how much grime this thing removed from my oven. The machine holds true to its word about how long the steam lasts per use. The floor pad is very thick and I was able to use across my whole floor while cleaning. The mop handle is a good length (which i was concerned about) and easy to maneuver. The wheels roll easily while you are mopping and the machine isn't extremely heavy so its easy to move while steam mopping. I'm so excited to use this again as its going to change the way I clean. My husband does woodworking and is planning to use the device to help steam wood as well. I didn't purchase this with the intention of using it for that, but it releases a huge amount of steam so its going to be perfect for that also. The attachments are easily added and removed and hold securely to the machine.

I really like this machine. It came yesterday and so far I've cleaned my stove, refrigerator door, some kitchen drawers, bathtub, mopped my kitchen floor (bamboo) and cleaned a door and door frame. All of these things were pretty dirty. I'm not the world's best housekeeper and I cook a lot, so there was some old built-up grease in the kitchen, and our bathtub was nothing less than shameful. I try to clean it with Comet and a brush but it doesn't seem to make a dent.

I used some no-scrub cleaner on the soap scum in the bathtub and then the squeegee attachment. What a disgusting but fantastic result! The scum was coming off so beautifully I had to keep rinsing off the squeegee. Gross. There was some problem with the corners of the tub, so I switched to the corner tool with the scrub pad attached. Finished the job. A good rinse and my tub was sparkling.

It cleaned the door handle to my fridge when nothing else would; magic erasers, cleaner, degreaser......nothing got into the little teeny pores of the plastic. It was an embarrassment. With the pressure nozzle attached; boom! Clean and white.

The corner attachment with the sponge cover works beautifully on walls; you do have to follow yourself with a rag or paper towels to wipe up the dirt dislodged by the steam, but it's faster and less nasty than a bucket of cleaner. The nozzle is awesome for that place between your base trim and the wall, where dust likes to hide and live unopposed by regular wiping down.

I have to ding it though, because the sponge/scrubber accessories are flimsy; mine almost immediately need replacing. It feels a little like you're being given your first "treat" for free; the rest you have to pay for. The small round scrubber that attaches to the pressure nozzle is a dream; except it falls apart after one use. The sponge and scrubber covers for the corner tool are the same. I can see buying those green flat dish scrubbers and making those work as replacements, but the sponge cover is so frail, it fell apart as I was doing my wall. I wasn't even using that much pressure, and when you're cleaning, you're using pressure!! I figured out that I can double over an old washcloth (I buy the 20 pack at Walmart for around $4.50) and attach it to the corner tool, and that worked relatively well. With a little tweaking it will be fine. The little round scrubber I haven't figured out yet; again, I'm thinking of cutting up green dish scrubbers and gluing them somehow to the plastic attachment.

The cover for the mop is washable and seems durable enough; you get two, so replacing those won't be a monthly thing. It made my bamboo floor so pretty and clean!

And as another reviewer said, it would be nice if there were a funnel. It's hard to get the water in without spilling.

All in all I'm happy and ready for some seriously deep fall cleaning. I recommend this product, with my caveats.

This small, leightweight steamer will sanitize your floors, bathrooms, walls and doors, etc. in NO time at all.

With a full boiler (I use bottled or distilled water), the steamer is ready in 8 minutes and lasts about 40 minutes, as indicated in the instructions. Once empty, the boiler can be refilled instantly (no water = no steam = no pressure). Wait another 8 minutes, and you're good to go for another 40 minutes, more than I need to sanitize my small apartment of about 800sqf.

Great plus: the steam lock switch, which allows for continuous steam output without having to hold the trigger down. Without it, your hand/fingers would quickly cramp up.

Regarding the attachments:

The only 2 attachments I regularly use are (1) the mop, which I use for floors (with the extension wand) and walls and doors (without the extension wand), and (2) the jet nozzle with the black nylon or brass utilty brushes, which work great on grimy grout joints, corners, faucets, toilet parts, etc.

I had high hopes for the scrub tool, but unfortuntately was very disappointed: when I first used it on my kitchen cabinet doors, the scrubber layers came apart after only a few minutes (apparently due to the high heat) and the steam output contained excessive amounts of water that ran down the doors. I stopped using it right then as it seemed about to disintegrate. When it cooled down and dried, the scrubber sort of regained its original shape but I haven't used it again since that first attempt.

The corner tool with its pads is supposed to work on corners and crevices, but in my opinion, the jet nozzle and brush are better suited for that, at least in my case; so I never use it anymore. The same goes for the squeegy tool. I find it easier to clean my windows and mirrors without steam, i.e. using conventional methods.

I was also looking forward to steam cleaning some of my furniture, but the only available tool for that seems to be the above mentioned corner tool, which only works between the cushions and not on flat surfaces. Now that I'm thinking about it, however, I suppose I could use the mop head without the microfiber pads. I'll try that next time.

That said, the mop and jet nozzle are really all I need to keep my floors, walls, doors, appliances and faucets sparkling clean. I love the fact that I don't have to use cleaning products, and for those of you with a keen sense of smell, you'll definitely notice the difference before and after: the rooms actually smell clean and fresh, despite the lack of (chemical) fragrances you get from cleaning products. And that's what makes this steam cleaner worthwhile.

So, if you have a small appartment/house and want to quickly sanitize your floors, bathrooms, etc, I'd recommend this model. I'm sure there are better steam cleaners out there, but they're more expensive, too. This one may not be perfect, but it does the job and I'm glad I got it.

Today is day 2 of owning the Steam-fast Steamer, so at this point I am still enamored.

Pros:
Good steam output
Handy for removing wall paper (hint: use the squeegee attachment)
Great for cleaning floors and doing detailed cleaning.

Cons:
No water level indicator. The unit only allows 48 oz (which is plenty for 30-45 minutes of use), but you can't top it off as you go.
No funnel - the fill hole is small, so you really need a funnel. Surprised that one isn't included.
Small pad for flat surfaces. There is a round scouring type pad, but it is very small. There is also a "corner tool", which accepts a larger scouring pad, but I don't know how useful this would be to clean a shower/tub.

Tips:
Buy extra floor pads. If you have a lot of hard floors to clean, extra pads are handy.
Steam does not replace scrubbing or wiping. The steam serves to loosen dirt, not clear it away.

I hope that this lasts a while because it is a nice thing to have.

When I use the wand directly to clean my grout it works great. If I used the floor attachment it did nothing for the grout.

This is my third or fouth steamer like this. One of my machines was ruined by hard water deposits, one was dropped down the stairs, and one was ruined when a bad plug fried it.

This is my first time to buy THIS BRAND. This one works like all the rest, except one huge flaw-- the handle, where you are supposed to hold it, gets terribly hot. Uncomfortably hot. So I have to use gloves to protect my hand from being burned. It gets this hot within 5 or 10 minutes of using the machine.

I got this for Mothers Day from my husband (because I asked for it! LOL). I have a relatively new home with lots of tile including a huge shower that was showing signs of aging that I wasn't ready for. Slimy in the corners, slick floor, calcification, even mold. This cleaned mostly all of it up! Small signs of calcification remain but I'm hopeful that it too will disappear after a few uses. It gets very hot! Its easy to use, and did a pretty good job on the shower. I also was inclined to purchase this steamer over others because of the window cleaning capability. The squeegee attachment, however, was disappointing. It just allowed water to run down and get everywhere, which might be ok for the outside of the windows, but certainly not the inside. I was disappointed. So I tried using the floor attachment with the included microfiber cloth, so only steam was applied to the windows. They stayed mostly dry and I was able to shine them up after a steam application, with a dry microfiber cleaning cloth and that worked very well. A little awkward since the mop head is quite large, but none the less, no mess and no streaks and very fast! It comes with a few attachments, but wish it had more. I don't plan on using it to clean my tile floors because I prefer my hoover hard floor cleaner for that.
UPDATE: 5/27/15 Hard to store, bulky, and hard to empty. I'm already not using it for things because I don't want to have to deal with it.

I bought this for steam cleaning and killing bacteria and other stuff in the carpet. It works really good and heats up fast. Downside is the fill hole is super small and hard to fill. Also the light does not work to tell you when it is warming up or ready to go. Not sure worth sending back but why the review is not a five star. I've used it about 6 times on walls, floors and bathroom toilets worked great.

Great cleaner, has plastic parts (the button that holds the attachmens to the nozzle) that broke quickly. Virtually unusable without. Wouldve given 5 stars if it hadnt broken so quickly.

GREAT Cleaner, BROKE after 35 days, TERRIBLE customer service from SteamFast (they didn't respond to emails to customer support). BUT - AMAZON is AWESOME for replacing it for me even though it was just outside the return window.

My review for just the cleaner had it not stopped working or SteamFast acted quickly would have been 5 stars. This sucker is super powerful. I was able to get years of grime and dirt off the shower floor that I couldn't remove with any other cleaner, no matter how hard I scrubbed. Made quick work of easier grime.

Doesn't hold temp for long at all so you hear it up steam for about 3 minutes and then wait for it to heat back up. That is frustrating when you want to power through some cleaning.

Arrived damaged

The first one I had started releasing steam from the handle. It was within the warranty and the company replaced. The replacement stopped working after one year.
I really liked the machine, when it worked.

Poorly made poles give this steamer and bad feel for me.
It did push out a lot of steam to sanitize but the notation and claim that it cleans is defiantly False.
I bougth this for a few things.
1) Stove top for baked on grease around gas burners. Failed. Took off the enamel finish before the grease. This stove is 1 year old.
2) Ceramic couter top that is my kitchens germ infestation. Well I cooked the little bastards. But for getting noticeable results? Nope.
3) Kitchen vinyl tile floors got a good sanitizing, that's all it got.
4) My oven, well it didn't do much for the stove top, can you guess what it did for the oven.
NOTHING!
5) My truck rims. On this it actually punished some grim to my aluminum rims. But not enough to keep this.
Back it went.
For steaming of bed bugs I would buy it for that.
For steam sanitizing baby items and surfaces I would buy it for that as well.
But over all, all steamers are just that. Steamers with variations of construction and capacity.
Folks, there NOT cleaners.

I would not recommend this steam cleaner. I bought this over a traditional steam mop because of the various attachments it comes with. Well, they're all useless. I figured that out pretty quickly. Additionally, the mop feature doesn't seem to work very well. The directions tell you to push forward and pull back- but it leaves marks on the floor in the spot where you change directions. Very, very frustrating. Also, you are supposed to be able to set the button in an "on" position, but mine "pops" every 3-4 seconds, which means i'm forced to hold the button pressed down for the entire 20 minutes or so that i'm cleaning. Not only annoying, but painful, too. I find that the pads are also hard to get clean.

First day I used it...piece by piece it fell apart! I am only using the short nozzle part for what I need to do, it works great but the long piece broke...cant fix it fo r the bottoms (blue) are too small? They keep falling out. Anyways, the short piece with the nozzle is now duck taped for the pressure forces it off. It works...i can use it for my floors but it does work for now....I used it for 60 hours so far.

It does make steam and lots of it. It does it rather quickly too. Pressure? eh!
PRO: Heats fast
Easily portable
Trigger locks on

CONS: Pressure is created by the tiny orifice (laws of physics). You must have the tip RIGHT next to anything to get high pressure.
Orifice can clog from being too close.
NO OPTION for replacement brushes--they are not listed online nor in the manual. ***UPDATE--Brush 5-packs now show when clicking Accessories under SF-370 listing.
No information on if or which accessories from other models will fit.

*** UPDATE 5/36/2015--It was time to clean the rear seat in my car before putting on seat covers. I immediately went to the "microfiber head" for the mop, thinking a gentle but usable option. It is NOT MICROFIBER AT ALL! It is 70% Polyester and 30% cotton. Microfiber has NO cotton in it. It is Polyester, nylon, and another polydimide. Therefore, this sheds and does NOT pick up like a true microfiber.
That left me to using upholsdtery cleaner and my real MF clothes; follewed by steam and another MF cloth.
SInce the pad is marked ROC, it is just another Chinese fake out of what you thought you were getting.
Tie a real MF cloth around the head and you'll be fine.

Just not a fan. The cord is too short barely enough to reach an entire room. My home is average size 1560 square feet so rooms are not that large and I have to change plugs. The steam does not last for 45 minutes you have to wait in between to have it heat up. I can NOT recommend this product Oh and the floor attachment poll is short so you are bent over to do your floors. I have not used any of the other attachments so I can't weigh in Don't waste your money

This unit does not produce hot enough steam to actually "clean". I first tried the mop attachment on my tile floors, halfway through I questioned its temperature and sure enough I could keep my hand in front of the nossel; it was producing maybe luke warm mist. I thought maybe it's just because of the long attachment and won't work well for floors so I tried one of the little round scrubbing attachments on my shower tile and it produced slightly better results, but still not hot enough to sanitize.
Also only expect to use the brushes as a one-time use, they wear out easily.
The only good thing about the unit is its portability and it's very easy to maneuver.

Had to return the item. Does not stand up to the use. Steam pressure is weak and does not do a good job at cleaning grout and oven grease.

The extension wand for floor cleaning clicks together, with the use of spring-loaded plastic buttons. (The buttons are already assembled/in place when you buy the product.) Within just two minutes of its first use, both the buttons and their springs popped out, and steam started coming out through those holes on the wand instead of through the mop head. I replaced them -- they clicked smartly into place, and then popped right out again. This is indicative of cheap components. I bought this, then was out of town for a month, so didn't use it until I came back and was beyond my 30-day return window. Thankfully, I had a great customer-service rep, Carla D., who made an exception when I explained the problem in full. So if you DO buy this, give it a good trial right away. A steam-cleaner is supposed to do heavy-duty tasks; this ultra-cheap plastic construction is unacceptable. I'm including four photos; the last is of the scrubber head component. The green scrubby material came off the plastic component in about 4 minutes; guessing the steam melted the adhesive. I didn't pull on it at all.

This steamer is horrible. The plastic lever that is supposed to start and stop the steam doesn't work and steam pours out constantly soaking everything. There is no way to stop the steam. It is supposed to have a button if you want constant steam, but it doesn't work at all and just steams constantly. It is very, very dangerous. Horrible design with very cheap plastic buttons to regulate the steam. Had it on for 1 minute and the steam was just shooting all over. Avoid this at all cost!

Doesn't work. Worked one time. Just sprays out water.

Stopped working after 13 minutes

After 3 uses it was leaking and hot to the touch. I purchased based on the good reviews. I'm afraid to use it anymore. A lot of money for 3 uses. It is flimsy and doesn't even do a good job. I was hoping to find a better steamer as I have had several, I don't like to use chemicals. This is by far the worst one I have ever had. Would return it if I could.

This product heated up quickly, but I had to continuously adjust the dial between cleaning upholstery on chairs. The water would come out heavy when I moved to the next chair although I didn't change the setting. It didn't remove the stains on my chairs so I returned it. Also no return label was provided because my reason for returning wasn't a good enough reason. So I paid the return shipping fee at USPS for 41.00. After reading all the good reviews I thought it would work. I won't buy or recommend this product or company. Will try a Bissell steam cleaner next.

Mine died after two days. The seller gave an immediate refund without troubling me to send it back which I appreciate. When it worked it worked really well. I needed a steam cleaner for a time sensitive job and when this one died I was forced to waste a whole day driving around looking for another steam cleaner. I purchased a Shark model that is much better than this Prolux. It doesn't have the assortment of attachments that the Prolux has but it's a better built, more robust machine that really cranks the steam.