Customer Reviews

Wagner Power Products 282018 1-Gallon Wallpaper Steamer

5 star:		(84)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

A friend and I decided to strip her walls of wallpaper so she purchased the Wagner wallpaper steamer. It worked great, but since only one of us could use it at a time, I purchased the Wagner 905 on-demand steamer to get the job done faster. This review is a side-by-side comparison of the two units.

The main difference is when you plug in the wallpaper steamer, it heats the water and steam rises naturally through the hose whereas the on-demand unit has an on/off switch, heats the water in a sealed container, building up pressure. The fill port is sealed by a serious, threaded bolt. Steam is released as desired by depressing a button at the end of the hose where various attachments can be clicked in. (It can be locked in an open position if desired). Note that a certain amount of water comes out with the steam with either unit and you'll need some towels handy whenever you're using it.

I would have thought steam rising naturally in the wallpaper unit would be useless and the on-demand unit would simply be better in all situations, but that is not the case. There are some advantages to the wallpaper steamer unit and if all you want to do is remove wallpaper, it's the better choice.

Wallpaper steamer:

The wallpaper attachment is very lightweight and puts the steam more directly and closer to the wall than the wallpaper attachment of the on-demand unit which directs the steam through small openings underneath the attachment. The result is the wallpaper unit is a little faster at removing wallpaper than the on-demand unit. It's also less noisy and less fatiguing since its wallpaper attachment is lighter than the on-demand attachment and doesn't have the additional steam-release button section which adds weight (not much, but if you don't have a lot of upper body strength, and you have lots of rooms to strip, every ounce counts). You can pull the attachment off and use the hose alone to target the narrow wall areas the flat attachment won't fit into (use gloves!). The water reservoir is somewhat translucent so you can judge when to refill and the port opening is big so refilling is easy.

On-demand unit:

Steam is under pressure and a multitude of attachments are included enabling one to target the steam appropriately for the job at hand. The wallpaper unit only comes with a wallpaper attachment. The on-demand unit comes with a little plastic cup and funnel essential for filling the water reservoir. It holds 3 cups maximum (as per the instructions) but the steam lasts quite a long time - certainly enough for handling things like steaming floors or cleaning sinks, etc. It is difficult to tell how much water is remaining in the unit if you don't run the steam out, though. And if you do run the steam out, it'll take some time (10 minutes?) to heat new water sufficiently. My friend and I kept water heating on the stove to shorten the downtime whenever we needed to refill our units. I didn't pay attention closely to how long each unit lasted before refill, but they seemed similar even though the wallpaper unit holds 1 gallon and the on-demand holds only 3 little cups. I think it was because the on-demand unit only dispenses steam when desired. To get the wallpaper unit to stop, you must pull the plug and wait a little bit.

I found the wallpaper attachment in the on-demand unit worked very well - but as I said above, the other unit was slightly better. The narrow, directed steam attachment worked better than just using the hose on the other unit since steam was coming out under pressure. Note that this pressure is quite noisy.

The floor attachment was OK, but I felt like I was just pushing wet dirt around and the cloth got dirty almost instantly. I found just using the directed steam attachment with a bunch of towels and sponges worked better - but it's too much effort to use for routine cleaning. Cleaning stainless steel sinks was fun and the faucet handles on my friend's faucets looked like they had been installed that day despite being over 25 years old. However, the water stains on my shower door did not come off, nor the water stains on the chrome part of the drain in my sink. So steam doesn't perform miracles. I used it to clean the barbecue and it was great. I didn't have to preheat the grill plates and with a little elbow grease, everything came out quite well.

All in all, I recommend both units and I don't understand why they aren't carried in hardware stores, Home Depot, Costco, etc. No matter which unit you choose, you'll probably need to use some elbow grease to get things perfectly clean. The wallpaper unit is much simpler, lighter, easier to fill, you can judge the water level and it does a slightly better job removing wallpaper. I don't know how useful all the attachments of the on-demand unit will prove or whether having steam under pressure is absolutely essential. The one big advantage of the on-demand unit is, well, you get steam "on-demand". That may tip the balance in favor of that unit depending on your needs.

I went to buy the Wagner 705 and ended up with the Wagner 905 (about $95) because it had a trigger as well as a small nozzle for tight areas. For years, off and on, I had been renting wallpaper steamers at $39 per weekend. They are heavy and tend to trip my electric breakers. While they hold more water they spew steam constantly (not a good thing). The 905 has wheels, a long hose and the trigger allows you to put the steam where you want it, when you want it. It works great, not only for stripping wallpaper but also for getting the old glue off the walls and baseboards. I stripped a 12' x 16' bedroom with 9' ceilings in one long day that had five layers of wallpaper. I'm anexious to try the squeegee on glass windows.

This steamer is a great investment for 'do it yourself' people who are looking to remove wallpaper. Using this tool, a paper scoring tiger, and some patience; I was able to remove all of the wallpaper in my kitchen in about 6 hours. If you score your paper thouroughly and hold the steamer onto the wall paper for a good amount of time, the paper will just peel off. Wallpaper removal is a messy job, but a steamer like this Wagner will save you time and frustration from traditional removal methods.

Not much engineering has been put into the device. It feels inexpensive, hey, it is compared to a professional.

Lessons I learned:

This machine works much better than any chemical application or fabric softener! It's messy but it's a different messy. Like Florida heat vs. New Mexico heat.

Do not do any steaming of wallpaper without long pants and shoes. I know, that's a no brainer right? Well, when you're working on your own home one tends to get relaxed - throw on a t-shirt, some shorts or maybe even wear socks. Or if you are working in a confined space you will get hot and want to strip down a bit. That is NOT a good idea. The hot water will definitely burn the skin.

As much as kids will want to help NOT a good idea.

Cover any baseboards you have. The pieces you remove from the wall will stick on your baseboards then you have to deal with taking it off that.

There is no way to turn the device off. Steam will keep being produced so you should have a small bucket to throw the handle in should you need to set it down for a minute or two. COVER YOUR WOOD FLOORS and carpet.

The Wagner Steamer works well, but has a few minor problems. One problem is that it does not have an on/off switch. You plug it in to turn it on and un-plug it to turn it off. Another issue is that sometimes hot water drips down the wall while you are using it. Also, the hose gets very hot! I wouldn't recommend using this product around children.

Overall, I found the product easy to use and reasonably priced.

I purchased a Wagner Wallpaper Steamer to remove layer upon layer of old paper from our recently purchased 200+ year old home. The next day I ordered another one! I've rented a clunky ,heavy old steamer from our local hardware store for $15 a day. This steamer is a far superior product,lightweight and lots of steam quickly. I wanted an extra so my husband could be as productive as me. I gave it a 4 because I'd have liked to have had an attachment for small areas,so it's not quite perfect.

My wife and I were surprised at how well it removed the paper and the ease which with it came off. I would not be without it. Do yourself a favor and purchase the attachment to do small areas.

The Wagner 705 beats ANY of the chemical wallpaper removers hands down. Quick, clean, and no messy chemicals. Definitely worth every penny if you have a lot of wallpaper to remove.

This is one of the best products I've ever purchased. It saved me hours (maybe days) of headaches. I tried to use DIF enzyme wallpaper remover and it took me a 4 hours to do 1 wall. I gave up and went to buy this at Home Depot. The entire rest of the room took me 1 HOUR with the steamer!

As much as I love Amazon, I do have to say that it's only $49.99 at Home Depot and comes with the smaller head for tight spaces. I would recommend checking out your local Home Depot before buying it here, just to see if you can get a better price with the extra head.

All of the wallpaper in my house is OLD and PAINTED OVER, so removal is no easy task. When I tackled the first room, I rented a big, bulky professional grade steamer from the local machinery rental store. What a horrible experience. Yes, I got it all off, but it took 30+ hours. The weekly rental was $50. After reading reviews on this steamer I decided to give it a try. I am so glad I did. Everything is lightweight and so easy to move around. The hose is very long. If you put hot water in it, then it heats up quicker than the specs say and the steam lasts longer than the specs say. Maybe the wallpaper is different in this room, maybe fewer layers of paint, I don't know, but this removal job is going much faster. I'm mad that I wasted $50 on the rented one the first time around. This is my best home improvement purchase in a long time.