Side by Side Comparison of: Wagner vs Silverline vs Zinsser

I recently purchased a mcculloch to replace this and I regret it with every fiber of my being! Every time I use the mcculloch, I'm reminded of how great this machine was in comparison. It has excellent pressure! The only down side was that the pressure was intermittent, but you got some pretty good pressure out of it. The heat on this thing is hot enough that I wouldn't stick my hand in front of it to test the temp, where my mccolloch, I can hold my hand about six inches from the nozzle barely be effected. If you are debating between this and mcculloch, order this. I can't wait to save enough money to purchase this again. I NEED it back in my home and am so upset that I didn't repurchase it.

I have used the heck out of this machine. Wall paper falls right off. Will help remove paint off of a shower wall. Stubborn glued linoleum 3 layers thick with nails removed fairly easily. Will steam the glue off after you get the linoleum up.It got what had to be 20 years of cigarette residue off a ceiling. Will help remove grease and rust. I am not much for boasting about products but this thing just gets the job done. The effort and time this saves is just work this.

Once you get the hang of it this little guy puts out PLUMES of steam and definitely would be great for any heavy-duty application. Though despite being so robust it isn't bulky or hard to manuever. I bought a every steam cleaner available at the local stores just to get an idea of what to expect & to use as a baseline comparison for this guy. I tell you that this thing blew them all away and was head & shoulders above anything else I was able to get my hands on..

Best purchase I have made in a long time! Highly recommend it. I read the reviews prior to purchasing so felt like I knew what to expect. The product exceeded my expectations. I used it to clean tile and grout in two bathrooms. Prior to using I was thinking I would need to remodel the bathrooms but this steamer along with using a scrub brush did a fantastic job. I also used it on our laundry room sink which has been a utility sink for 30 years with paint and other product on it from many odd house jobs and it looks almost new. I recommend purchasing the extra nozzle brushes as after one bathroom of scrubbing I opted to use a new brush for the next bathroom. I've also used it to wash all the baseboards in the house. I'm already planning new uses for it. Honestly, really a good purchase.

Honestly, I would give this 10 stars if I could, and I'd still give it 5 stars if it worked half as well as it does. This thing is fantastic. Once it's "charged", it runs for well over 30 minutes on a single fill, and I can't believe what a brilliant job it does.I recently picked up a winter car that's 10 years old, and unfortunately the previous owner was a heavy smoker. It took me about 2 hours in the driveway, but when I was done - using only this steamer, a few towels and some elbow grease, you'd never know the car was smoked in. The headliner, seats, carpets - even the vents and little nooks and crannies are now spotless and there is NO smoke smell. I am flat out thrilled at how it turned out! Even the engine bay cleaned up like a shiny penny.It's a heck of a lot of fun to use, and I can't wait to get to trying it on the rest of my home. 5 stars all the way, the perfect gift for any car nut. It does a professional level job at half the cost of a professional steam cleaning.

So far I really like it. Used it on my kitchen tile floor and truly amazing, my floor looks like new. This steamer is easy to use, light weight, attachments are okay but feel like they could be a bit more sturdy. I learned that I needed to hit the control switch to allow some of the water to flow first to get the steam going, at first I was getting too much water before the steam came (probably operator error) The only downfall for me is that I tend to overfill it with water. If it had a see through container where I could see the water level that would be great and case to store it and the attachments together would be a plus :). I would recommend this product

Works as intended with good water capacity and hot steamy flow. Definitely not a miracle machine, doesn't clean as well as i expected. Machine works as intended though. Will keep machine. Nice not to use chemicals.

It's great for getting the funk from the cracks and crevices that are hard to reach with traditional methods. Takes a lot of effort out of cleaning tasks too, a whole lot. The brush on the tip is a great design to effectively scrub and keeps my hands away from the hot steam and is all that is needed to get at the filth that builds up that rags or mops just can't remove. It's big enough for average house cleaning, I've been able to clean a room on a full tank and knowing the power of steam to truely clean surfaces has cut the cost of detergents. It seems to take longer than I would think to heat up but at 1500 watts, once it's ready, I can typically get the job done. Be careful of heat sensitive materials such as paint, just use quick short bursts and a towel will be fine. The only negative for me is that there isn't a gauge to see how full it is. The power cord seems a bit short but I appreciate how easy it is to store away and I just use an extension cord anyway. And don't be a cheap a$$ and use tap water, I've had a few other steamers and clogged them up with the crap in our water supply, distilled water is your best bet. So if you like a clean house but hate cleaning, this is the gadget for you.

It works great! Cleaned everything I needed it for, my oven, cracks between the fridge and cupboards, counters and stove, bathroom, my daughters step 2 play kitchen. It's the only cleaning tool I use now!! I especially love that there are no chemicals being left behind for my daughter to get exposed to!
I only have 2 issues with this product and that's why I took off 1 star. The first issue is the trigger not having any sort of safety feature. I would like if it at least had a trigger lock so you don't run the risk of getting sprayed and burned while you're moving things around, or it could potentially get in the wrong hands and just be bad obviously I key my daughter away while I'm using it, but it only takes a spilt second for something to happen. The other issue is not having a water level indicator. You can't over fill it and you can't run it dry, but there's no way of knowing how much water is in it until you either over fill it, or you run out of steam. If those 2 things got added this would be a 5 star product!!!!

For the size it is pretty impressive how much power it has. I am guessing it is the all metal pressure tank. We didn't have any issues getting continuous supply as I have only tried it on the tile grout. It does take out all the gunk. May be per-treating the grout with some sort of chemical may make it even more cleaner. But works well with out it as well. The brass/metal brush does wear out quick; we cleaned our kitchen and part of the living room and I can see the that it will need replacement before we are done with dinning and great room. The wallpaper remover attachment is pretty usless if you dont have wallpaper to remove. I tried to see if it can be used for some other purpose but cant think of anything.
A waterlevel indicator would have been great but I think that will make the take prone to leaks as it will need to be cutout from the metal. We have not tried any other attachments so cannot review on them.

well...is my bathroom cleaner? probably
does it save me time and work? no way
i ended up returning it as it just releases way too much water with the steam for me. I live in the damp and cold NW coast region and adding that much water into the house just doesn't work. If i lived in a warm climate and could open the windows and had a tile/concrete house would be fine.
The window squeegee was worthless as the water just flew everywhere and left a large puddle on the floor and walls. The steam was a wonder on the toothbrush holder and sink drains and under the rim of the toilet though. That was not enough to store another machine in the house for me. Perhaps a handheld will work better. Also, my trusty home made bathroom cleaner did a better job in the shower.

I've yet to find anything inside that this is my go-to appliance. Don't get me wrong; for a sub-$100 unit it's very well constructed, with lots of attachments and no leaks (impressive, since even brand-new $3k units sometimes leak). It produces a decent jet of steam once it's up to full power, and it's plenty hot.

But... it's not for everything.

The first big project I tried it on was general dirt in the carpet, especially by the edges. I'm sorry to say that it didn't do any better than plain water; I ended up switching back to my ironically-named carpet steamer and soap. It didn't damage the carpet, but it didn't really help, and there was the added risk of smashing your drywall into paste.

Next I tried it on the range & oven. It's pretty messy; imagine using a low-powered pressure washer inside your house. Again, you kinda need to use whatever soap or cleaner you would normally use, and it's not like it's any better at breaking up stained-in cooking grease. All in all, not worth it.

So I figured if it's going to make a mess, what better task than using the squeegee attachment on the shower doors? But just like the other two experiments, this was a deafening 'meh'; it didn't really help with water stains or soap scum any more than regular water would. I also tried it on the shower pan, but again, using some cleaner and tapwater worked better. Ditto for a toilet bowl as well.

So what should you get it for? I can't speak to wallpaper removal, but it's not bad for some things in the garage. If you need to spray something like your lawn mower, for example, I think it works better than a normal pressure washer with less risk of peeling up the paint. It might work for some small degreasing projects, but only if you can do it outside and contain the leavings.

All in all my suggestion would be to try one before you get it, even an inexpensive model like this, if you don't have a specific project already in mind.

Our old steamer had finally bitten the dust. This steamer works fine (just used it the other day), but is not quite as good as the previous model. Unless the green "GO" light is on, I can almost put my hand in the path of the steam. It does work well when the green light is on. The electrical cord is also too short. You need to have a heavy duty extension cord in order to reach farther than 5 feet from the electrical socket. I'll have to look at other options when this one bites the dust.

I am a senior with health issues. Cleaning the house is a struggle for me, especially the bathrooms which are all tile (not by choice). I was hoping the steamer would help so I wouldn't have toget in and bend, stoop, scrub so much because doing so lays me out for several days. Well, the steamer does take paint of the wall and it did remove dirt,etc. from the tile grout but did not touch the mold which is what I was hoping for. I contacted the company and even though you can not use any cleaners in the tank itself, you can put cleaners on the surface you will be spraying, then steam them off AS LONG as the product can be used with steaming water.
My husband tried it on the engine of a car he is restoring and it did nothing. It constantly needs to keep re-heating (according to the light indicators). I also agree with other people that have written in that it really needs some kind of way to let you know that the water level is going down. I keep putting water in it because I'm afraid it will dry out and blow. That is a major design error. I have not used it on the floors yet because actually, it looks like a lot of work.
My husband through out the box before I decided to send it back so I will use it for somethings around the house but not like I thought I would.

We bought this steamer in order to help with the removal of wallpaper from several rooms in our home. Based on several days of use so far here's what we think:

The Good: Using this steamer beats using chemicals hands down at a price far less than either using chemicals or renting a steamer if you have a large removal area or will need a steamer for more than a couple of weekends. Depending on how many layers of wallpaper and the substrate (for us it was either bare plaster or paint over plaster; worst case was 3 layers of wallpaper on a bare plaster surface, best case was a single layer of wallpaper on a painted surface) you have it's reasonable to expect you'll be able to remove 15-25 sq. ft. of wallpaper per tank. Between steaming and scraping each tank of distilled water lasted ~ 1 to 1-1/2 hours. The wallplate attachment fits reasonably well and flush to the surface. While removing wallpaper is never fun it was great to be able to peel off wallpaper in large sections instead of having to chip away at it when we used chemicals.

The Bad: When using the wallplate for the first time after filling the tank a gush of hot water precedes the steam. That's not a bad thing when you're working 2-3' or higher on the wall (the hot water simply soaks into the wallpaper and loosens it up) but if you're closer to the floor it can cause a stream of very hot water to soak your floor (not very desirable and possibly damaging). Luckily this effect becomes less pronounced at the tank empties.

While the wallplate does effectively steam off wallpaper you'll find that a fair bit of steam escapes from the uneven contact of the plate with the wall surface. A better design would include a foam border to enhance the seal between the wallplate and the working surface to better concentrate the steaming effect.

Lastly, there is no place to attach the wallplate for safekeeping during the periods when you're scraping. There were several points where we had to use a stepladder to work on the upper portions of the wall and there was no way to safely secure the hose/wallplate when we were done steaming. The manual states that the wallpaper attachment should be pointing bottom side up when not in use to avoid accidentally steaming the floor. What they didn't consider is that, in that configuration, if the trigger were accidentally engaged that a blast of steam would go straight in the air...maybe into someone's face...with potentially dire results. The design of the unit should be modified to include a way to afix the steamer handle to the case with the attached tool facing downward and away to prevent accidental discharge. The design should also include a positive safety lock in the trigger mechanism to prevent accidental discharge as well.

Suggestions: When using this tool to remove wallpaper we've found it helpful to use a spray bottle containing hot water and wet the wall surface while you're waiting the 20 minutes or so for the steamer to get to operating temperature. The extra water helps loosen the wallpaper and enhances the effect of the steamer, especially when the tank start to run dry.

Overall this is a good and very useful steamer. Once the wallpaper job is done we'll still be able to use it for multiple other cleaning uses :-).

I paid for a new steamer, was sent a used one. It did work great however, so I kept it and got a discount/partial refund.However, ten months later, it is dead. Will not power on at all.Other cons: only has one floor cleaning pad (it'd be nice to have several included or easy option to buy more). Short electrical cord (minor quibble really).People that said it doesn't stay hot enough in use need to read the instructions manual. It worked great (when it was working). The lights go back on while heating during use, but you can continue to use it.One star for breaking in less than a year and shopping company sending me a used model, second start just cause it worked great when it was working

Does not heat up enough or stay hot. It did scour off the discoloration caused by water and soap scum on my tiles, but it wasn't fast and I had to wait for the steam to build up a few times. Overall, it's a good clothing steamer but for cleaning I am still looking for a better tool.

I dunno, maybe I'm doing something wrong. It's really not cleaning much. It just makes things wet.Also, it doesn't last 30 minutes on a full tank.

Pros - CompactCons - Lack of water level indicator, this can cause one to overfill the water compartment and/or have no idea when the water level is very low. Water doesn't always get to a steam level and spouts warm water all over the place. The cord isn't very long and the cord thickness is more of a vacuum cleaner cord than what was expected for a product of this watt. The cord seemed to get a little warm to the touch. Placement of water compartment is in the back of the machine and down inside of a tight enclave, causing difficulties while attempting to take water compartment cap off. When the device did decide to get to a steam level, the water wasn't an actual steam, the consistency more of a mist. The ergonomics aren't of a user comfort design.When this product arrive, was excited to give it a go, that excitement fizzled rather quickly.

As soon as I bought mine, it was recalled for a malfunction making the handle hot to the touch while using it. I sent my unopened steamer back in and waited to get my new one. Got it, set it up, within minutes the handle was burning hot. It doesn't stay charged up very long. Every time I shoot steam out the light comes on to stop using it so it can build up more steam. The cord for the plug is seriously so short. You'll absolutely need an extension cord if you plan on moving anywhere while using this steamer. It's just not very powerful. Huge disappointment.

I really wanted to like this steam cleaner; It got good reviews both on Amazon and other consumer websites. Perhaps I'm expecting too much as I've never used a steam cleaner but I would best describe this cleaner as a toy. Serious cleaning duties are not within the steamer's abilities. You've got to constantly wait for the steam to reheat (even when mopping your kitchen floor). Do no expect this steamer to clean your grill, car, engine or other "serious" tasks (as clearly pictured on the box by the way) without a lot of scrubbing with the included wirebrush and waiting. If you're scrubbing with a wire brush how much work is the steam really doing? In short, it makes a lot of noise and a lot of steam (for limited periods of time) but it doesn't really do anything. Maybe it's good for cleaning your stove or counter or something?

Bought this to strip all of the wall paper in every room of a 1980's house. The heater did not heat up the water and all it did was soak the wall with water. Because this house was at a remote location, I didn't get to try this and find out that it did not work and get it returned in time. So now I have a big paperweight.

The one we received seems to be defective, sprays a luke warm stream of water and the steam it produces is cold.

After further research it appears to be a consistent problem with these.

After 6 months the steamer stopped working. Thought it was first class product.

I was very excited to receive this steamer and finally get the wallpaper down from my newly purchased home. I planned to use it to also do some major deep cleaning. I read all instructions and followed them exactly. I waited for the steamer to heat up and began. Less than 15 seconds later the red light came on! I wondered why no steam seemed to be generated while I was working - all 15 seconds at a time. I let it heat up again and tried it again and again and again. I wanted to give the machine a chance to actually work. It didn't get better. It got worse! I was doing better spraying water on the wall with a dollar store spray bottle and dollar store putty knife! (I even broke out my good putty knife.) I am not impressed at all with this machine. It is worthless. I would do better using my steam iron! (Then it's a good brand and older and probably can't be found any longer - at least not one made that well.) I have never used a steamer before. I have always just used "elbow grease" to clean and remove wallpaper etc.

Waste of money!
I am very unhappy with the Wagner steam cleaner.
This steamer does not heat up to the level of producing steam and this is after waiting 30-45 minutes for it to get hot. I could put my hand on the vapor coming out and it was barely lukewarm .The green light came on but it never got hot.