I am allergic to everything, especially dust. For this reason, I have no carpet - only hardwood floors, or tiles in the kitchen and bath. I saw an infomertial for some Euro-steamer thing, where they touted how well the "steamer" cleans hardwood and tile floors with water and no chemicals. I figured I'd buy through Amazon for quicker shipping. However, most of the reviews explained that the unit was cheap, and that it would break in just a few uses. Other people burned themselves. One reviewer suggested this McCulloch steamer.
I bought the McCulloch MC-1272 in December 2005, to clean all the floors in my apartment. I've used it every 2-3 weeks since. In general, using this steamer is a little more inconvenient than a vacuum because you really don't want to bang it around or tug on the hose.
Here are the negatives- it doesn't have a handle, which makes moving it from one room to the next a bit of a pain. But I guess that's because they don't want you walking around, carrying a tank of super-scalding pressurized water. Nuff said. Also, the device ships with one cloth that's used for the floor-cleaning attachment. It wears pretty fast, so if you're getting the steamer primarily to clean floors, I highly recommend you order some extras right away. They are machine washable. Also, I recommend you get a six or eight inch funnel from your hardware store, for filling the tank. If you try to use the spout of a pitcher, you will spill water everywhere - but that's mopped up pretty easily once the beast is fired up.
Here are the positives- fill it up, turn it on, in about 10 minutes you're steamin' away. The hose is quite durable, and despite the warning stickers everywhere, none of the surfaces on the attachments have gotten so hot that they could have burnt me. This was a subject of many complaints with the EuroSteam thing. Also, none of the attachments has sprung leaks, or melted - another common complaint with cheaper steamers. With a gallon of water, this steamer pushed steam for about 45 minutes, which was ample time for all the floors in my apartment. I figured I'd plug in some of the wire-brushes and attack all the mildew in the shower while waiting for it to empty. The jury's still out on the shower; I think a few squirts of Tilex do a better job on grout. But for cleaning hard surface floors, I have found nothing better than this steamer.
The bottom line- if you're thinking of getting a steamer, here's what you should consider: this model steamer is the low-end of the "good" quality devices. Anything cheaper will be a waste of money, and will only be good for a few uses before it breaks, melts, or springs a leak and burns you. If you have the cash and can spend more, do so - you DO get what you pay for. There are more expensive models with fancy features, and greater capacity. However, if you're like me and trying to get the most bang for the least possible buck, this machine is where innexpensive and quality meet. It has been reliable for me, for the past 5 months.