McCulloch MC-1275 Heavy-Duty Steam Cleaner
by McCulloch
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of McCulloch MC-1275 Heavy-Duty Steam Cleaner
Customer Review: Many pros, just a couple of cons
Summary: 4 Stars
I had a Shark steamer that I thought worked well -- until it broke down a year later. I bought the McCulloch because it seemed better-reviewed than most small commercial units. While it's probably true that its temperature doesn't approach the sanitizing temperatures of some of the super-heavy-duty (and super expensive) models, it's plenty hot enough for cleaning my kitchen counters, wood floors, and shower. I've only had it for a few weeks and haven't used all the attachments, so I can't comment on that, but I find the floor-cleaning brush head to be very useful. I like that this steamer (unlike the Shark and many other models) holds the cleaning pad in place with spring clamps rather than Velcro strips, which wear down over time and with repeated washings. I can use any type of cleaning pad with the McCulloch, making it very easy to switch to a new one with each room or item I'm cleaning.
Heating time could be faster -- it takes about 10 minutes -- but it's still quicker than other units I've used. The "constant steam" button is sometimes hard to push into place or release, but that's a minor irritation. The unit rolls well over my wood floors and doesn't get stuck on its own cord or hose, and the top handle makes it much easier to move than a model like the Shark. It also holds more water (NOTE: use distilled water with any steamer; mineral buildup from tap water will eventually clog hoses) than most units of comparable size, so you can get up to 1.5 hours cleaning time, and you don't have to wait as long for it to cool before adding additional water. Like other reviewers, my biggest complaint is that the unit doesn't have a built-in storage case for attachments.
Overall, for the cost, I think the McCulloch is a good value. It has worked well for me so far, and my complaints are minor. I'm especially happy with the way it cleans my bamboo floors; it removes every little spot or spill easily, dries quickly, and doesn't damage the finish. As with any steamer, just keep it moving (i.e., don't stop in one place for more than a second or two) and it's fine.
Customer Review: Necessary addition to tools need to clean really nasty grout.
Summary: 4 Stars
In preparing our home for sale, I decided to tackle some really dirty grout in the foyer and kitchen. An accumulation of dirt and wax (which the cleaning lady should have never applied), and who knows what in the kitchen had created a very hard nasty looking layer over the grout. Initially I tried soaking the grout with hot water containing TSP and then scrubbing with a wire brush, and met with very limited success. The glaze seemed impenetrable.
Shopping around for other solutions, I saw mention of the McCulloch MC-1275 steam cleaner in a number of web sites. I ordered one from Amazon, and received it in just a few days. I finally had great success by soaking the grout with plain hot water, blasting it with steam, scrubbing with a wire brush, and then using a final blast of steam to remove all traces of the glaze. VERY time consuming, but then I'm retired and have the time. The only other alternative would have been to hire professional help, and given the prices they charge, I easily paid for the steam cleaner.
My minor complaint (and my rating of 4 stars) is how quickly the wire brush attachment to the steam emitting wand wears out when scrubbing grout, and the cost of the replacements. I ordered 4 more of the brush attachments, since it helps to use it a little as the steam is being blasted on the grout. But I would have gone through many of these little brushes if I had relied only in them, thus, the need to use a wire brush.
One more thing - we have VERY hard water in our area, so accepted the additional cost of buying distilled water for use in the cleaner. Added expense, but the only way to avoid shortening the life of the cleaner when used in our area.
I'm Looking forward to using the steam cleaner on other tasks around the house and workshop.
BTW - I had to negotiate with the supplier to sell the wire brush attachments to me at the price and shipping cost listed in a flyer that came with the steam cleaner. Initially, they wanted to charge me a higher unit cost AND higher shipping costs.
Customer Review: Good home cleaner
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this steamer one year ago mainly for the bathroom and kitchen.There are a lot of crevices in these rooms and wiping just didn't do the trick. I also hate cleaning the tile walls around the tub so that was a major reason for getting this.
Pros
1. The tank holds a lot of water. I have never run out of steam while cleaning both the kitchen and bath
2. Love the way it steams out gunk from crevices. Think dishwasher crud, stuff that gets under the flashing around sinks, corners of tubs and such, grease on the stove. An excellent cleaner for these things.
3. Long cord and hose means I'm not always unplugging and moving the unit when I move about.
4. Good steam pressure for home use. Not great as it won't "push" everything like a deck washer would but more than enough pressure the kitchen and bath cleaning. I don't intend to use it on the car so I can't say anything about that.
Cons
1. Storage is a problem. There is no place to wind the rather long cord and the hose is long too. It's messy to store and needs lots of room.
2. It's somewhat heavy, but it's a pressure steamer so I expect it to be. It's not overly heavy but heavier than most vacuum cleaners and awkward to carry. But that's balanced by the long cord and hose so when you get it to where you're going to use it, you don't have to move it around.
3. I don't find it really good for soap scum. Yes, it'll remove it but way too slowly. I now use scrubbing bubbles to loosen the scum and my steamer to rinse it all of. That works really well.
4. It has an attachment for cleaning floors, which I love using and works well but I can't find replacement pads. Yes, they are machine washable but after a while you just want a clean one. I end up making my own.
Overall I'd recommend it for the uses above. I certainly like using it and it does a great job. I gave it 4 stars because it's hard to store and it could use a bit more steam power for larger areas. And as usual with Amazon purchases it was delivered quickly and in good condition.
Customer Review: What other steam cleaners only wish they could become
Summary: 5 Stars
Well after seeing those little hand-held steam cleaners all over the place, I decided having a steam cleaner would be worth it. Of course never ever trusting an `As Seen On TV' product, I ran across this McCulloch steam cleaner. I noticed two very positive reviews on Amazon so I decided to order one.
My first impression upon opening the box was very positive. All the steam fittings were a heavy copper and tight fitting. The plastic hose, extension pieces, and accessories were all very heavy plastic and looked like they would hold up quite well. I also found it interesting that they would bother to package a long shaft screwdriver (a pretty decent one) for the solitary screw needed in assembly (and by assembly I mean attaching a small plastic bracket for holding the handle when not in use).
After using it for a couple of days I was just as impressed. On 48 oz of water (max amount) I could easily use the steam cleaner for the 40 mins estimated in the manual or longer. This is not just 40 mins of spot use either...I can literally use the trigger lock and have constant steam shooting out the nozzle for almost the entire time.
I don't recommend one of these cleaners for anyone wanting something for small spot cleaning (as the heat up time doesn't make that practical), or planning to make cleaning much faster. Cleaning my stove top, covered with baked on/burnt splotches from my most recent batch of chili, took roughly 30 percent more time (Although it did get it cleaner then I ever think it was before).
Over the past few days I've used the cleaner on my floors, sinks, essentially everything in the bathroom, and refrigerator with good results. It is a bit noisy to use, but no louder then the average vacuum cleaner. Also the attachments and handle can get a bit warm, but they've never been uncomfortable to use.
If you want an alternative to using chemical cleaners and don't mind having another household gadget around, I highly recommend buying one and believe they should hold up to years of use.
Customer Review: It's takes me 2 different machines but it's worth it
Summary: 4 Stars
My first steamer was a heavy duty handheld, with simular attachments. It was heavy, and hard on the hands and arms to lug around. The tank lasted for 10 minutes and often required filling even when it wasnt empty. It finally broke down and I bought this one.
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I had recently purchased a hard floor scrubber, a hoover floor mate plus and it was fine except it couldn't take out some of the really ground in dirt out of my light colored floor tiles.
The steamer took out all the dirt and quite rapidly that the floor mate left behind. The nice thing about steamers is it doesn't require you to buy chemicals like the lysol machine hard floor cleaner for the floor mate.
The steamer leaves alot of water behind, and I use the floormate with water in the soap tank and no lysol and it not only does a great job of picking up the dirty water, I can add an extra rinse to the floor and vacuum it up at the same time with the floormate. I'm getting alot of dirty water in the floormate after using it behind the steamer.
The reason for 4 stars instead of 5:
The heater in the steamer will come on when you've used it continously for about a minute and requires about 3 minutes for the light to go off(indicating it's ready? I think they got it backwards, but the only light that comes on means the heater is heating up the water again and you'll have reduced or no steam)
On the handheld, as long as you held the button down there was steam.
I can steam about a 2' x 3' section before the unit needs to heat up again. I use that time by running the floor mate over the section I just steamed to rinse and pick up the leftover water. Then the steamers ready light goes off and that means its ready to steam again.
All in all I think it's a great steamer, the water capacity is great and the attachments are a nice bonus. I've tried straightening out the bristles while they were still warm (not hot!) and they are holding up as long as I don't use to much pressure on them.