Customer Reviews

Scunci SS1000 Hand-Held Steamer - 1000w

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

I bought this machine at Target for $60. The cost was low and I figured I would try it. I brought it home and did not use it for a week. During that time, I looked at all of the reviews here. They were either super bad or stellar. So, I wasn't really sure what to think.

From the bad reviews, I'm guessing that QVC must have been selling these at some point and must have demonstrated it poorly by using unrealistic examples of the applications of the machine. For those of you that buy into buying products that way - let me just say that those people are like used car salesmen and I wouldn't buy anything from them.

After reading the info that came with the unit, I realized that a certain amount of respect and understanding is necessary when using it. I followed the instuctions of the manufacturer. I did accidentally overfill it on one occassion when turning it off half full, forgot, and filled it again. I did notice that the machine did get hot at the handle, but wore work gloves to compensate. I found the harness that came with the floor package very helpful and did also notice that the machine seems to function better to some degree when it is held above the work you are doing. It functioned ok the other way too, but seemed to prefer being over the work.

After working on three projects with it, I realized that this machine is not a fix all for people that do not clean on a regular basis. So, if you haven't cleaned your rims in some years, do not expect results with this machine.

I worked on a storm door that had mud on it from the dog and the sliding glass door in my wife's shower as well as her tub.

The storm door was in quite a state with mud on plastic. The plastic had a texture that really took to the mud. With the Scunci, I quickly realized that it was not going to spray away months of built up, sun baked mud off without some help. 409 got all the surface dirt off the door, but the texture of the door would not let go of much of the dirt even when I soaked it and let it sit. Now the Scunci was off and running, doing a fabulous job getting the door back to a "like new" color. It looks great. It cleaned and cleaned and I got carried away with it - cleaning the stoop and more.

Off to my wife's tub, I found a situation similar to the door. Lots of soap scum, mold and such. without any other cleaning, I started with the Scunci with the same results. The machine is just not going to take the place of taking normal care in cleaning your home. I don't know what those people at QVC were selling, but I can imagine that they said stuff like it would clean the the weeds out of your yard and can power spray the drive way and stuff like that.

After cleaning the tub as it should have been done (with elbow grease), I still had stains from water and mold in the corners. The Scunci powered through it. However, it did not clean the corner mold as I thought it would have, but noticed that it was blowing the caulk out of the seems and saw that the caulk needed to be removed and redone. My bad! Other than that, the tub looks, again, "like new."

The glass on the shower was in the same condition. Using the glass attachment I saw all kinds of crud building up on it before using "elbow grease." So, same story! Cleaned it, Scunci-ed it and now it looks awesome.

I did her toilet in there too. The toilet is no less than 50 years old and has a water stained ring on it from years of use. The Scunci did not get all of the stain out and I wasn't surprised by that. It did make the tank, base, rim and seats look great, but it couldn't quite power through years of stain and that is probably going to be the way it is. I think if I didn't have the stain in there, took care of the toilet as I should, and maintained it with the Scunci, I think that would be a better situation.

I spent quite a bit of time with the machine and liked what it did for me. I would recommend it, but with the reservation that the machine needs to be respected (because it makes steam), and understood (that it is not a cure for lazy people who do not take care of their stuff). Also, it takes some time to get used to the machine as far as understanding when it is empty of water, how to hold it, timing betweening empty and full, and so on.

To the manufacturer I would ask:

You should come up with a better handle/trigger thing. It gets too hot and would be nice if I could just leave the thing running so I don't have to constantly hold the trigger down and use my other hand to hold onto something (like when I'm standing in the tub).

It should have a "fuel gauge" so dummies (like me) know when it is empty or over filled.

The little accessory bag thing needs to be a little bigger.

I really like the Scunci and recommend it to anyone who wants to take clean to a higher level. It's a great, helpful tool.

I just received this item and tried to use it in the bathroom. The steam not only comes out of the nozzle but also the trigger that you press down. The handle becomes so hot with the steam that you can not hold it. I put on dishwashing gloves to use this item and it was still too hot to handle.

I called Scunci to see if the item was defective they said to use it without the attachments. What good is it if you can't use it with that attachments. I listened to what they said tried it without but the steam still poured out of the trigger making it impossible to hold.

Please do not buy this product!!!!!!!

I tried it in the bathroom and on tennis shoes without luck. The only thing it has worked on is the grout on my tile floor. I'm considering returning the steamer.

My sister has one of those steamers from vapor-systems dot com. I've used it and I really like it. Cleaning without harmful chemicals is really the way to go. But the vapor-systems are more than my budget allows. So I got one of these Scunci steamers instead. What a mistake. Should have saved my money and followed the advice of sis. This is a toy compared to the powerhouse she has. Plus her steamer goes much longer on a tank of water. And it does not leak or leave things real wet. Oh well, live and learn. You get what you pay for.

The Scunci Steamer takes longer to use than more conventional ways of cleaning. Because of possible personal injury by steam, you must: wait for steam to begin (naturally); wait several minutes before changing from one cleaning tool to another; wait to unscrew lid to refill so you will not receive burn injury; wait again for steam to begin, etc.; you should not use on "cold" glass (can cause cracks); did not steam out wrinkles from several shirts of various fabrics. Terribly inconvenient and time-consuming product to use. You must be careful at which angle you hold the unit; otherwise, you could receive injuries. It did not clean bugs from the front of my car. The steaming process didn't last long enough to finish most chores. It did not clean well under the rims of the toilet. Greatest thing about it?? The container doesn't take up much room in the storage closet, where it now resides. Very disappointing product.

Got one of these and what a mistake. Total junk. Looked at them steamers at vapor-systems.com and contacted a lady on the testimonial page. They seem much better. Man o man are they expensive though. Don't know how we can afford one but we're saving. Steamers are the way to go without chemicals. Forget this junk though.

Believe what you read in the other reviews. I received the steamer and I couldn't wait to use it. The upholstery and clothes attachment worked OK, but when you put on the attachments which hook up to the small nozzle, it SCALDS you, the trigger and the crack under the trigger emit steam. Burned my hand and returned the steamer according to their instructions. That was 3 months ago, and, despite repeated requests, I still have not receieved another. DON'T BUY IT!

Despite the other negative reviews, I figured I should at least try this steamer. At $60, it is a total waste of money. From it's un-ergonomic design to it's worthless cleaning ability, (not to mention it's incredibly loud) I am returning this crap and getting my money back. It barely got the wrinkles out of a cotton shirt and did nothing to my filthy oven OR the grout in my bathroom. Oh well. Guess I'm back to elbow grease and my $60 back in my pocket.

I have tried it in the bathroom without much luck there. I tried to clean tennis shoes without luck. The only thing that it has helped on is cleaning the grout in my tile floor. I didn't have the problem of steam coming out in other places than the nozzle and it isn't hot to hold. I'm considering returning the steamer.

I watched the infomercial and read all the reviews. Here is what I've experienced so far:

Positives:

+I used this in a hard-to-reach groove at the bottom of my shower door. I gasped in astonishment as the build-up was instantly blown away. After cleaning my shower with the steamer, it looks brand new and is far cleaner than it ever was when we first moved into our house. The same is true for the burner covers on our stove.

+I was able to use the steamer to remove wood stain from my tile floor. When our woodwork was stained, the person doing it got stain on our tile floor. I've tried everything to get it off, but the steamer peeled it off easily.

+It's great for cleaning hard-to-reach or hard-to-clean areas where dust builds up. I love to run it along the baseboards in my bathroom and along the edges of my mirrors. It blasts everything right out of the cracks.

Negatives:

-It takes a long time to use it because it is very detail oriented cleaning and the steamer constantly runs out of water. I spent several hours cleaning my shower because I did every grout line, the door, the shower head, the shower rack and the faucet. The scunci holds only a certain amount of water, so it needs to be refilled several times while cleaning something. You have to wait at least 5 minutes before refilling, so there is some downtime while completing a job. I try to fill this wait-time by cleaning mirrors or woodwork, but the time adds up.

-This may seem obvious, but everything ends up soaking wet. I haven't quite worked out the coordinated effort of holding down the button, holding the nozzle and quickly wiping the excess water away. I need one extra hand, especially when cleaning something that could drip onto a surface I don't want to get wet (like appliances close to the wood cabinets or hardwood floors.

-It doesn't do the same magic on everything. I didn't have as much luck with hard water stains as I'd like, but it did break it down somewhat.

All in all, I'm extremely happy with the steamer. I look forward to using it because things really are sparkling clean afterwards! It's good for the environment and our family, too, because it uses no chemicals to get the job done. I would recommend giving it a try!