Vax S5 Kitchen and Bathroom Master Compact Steam Cleaner and S5 and S6 Floor Head Cloth Kit Bundle

I can honestly say that this cleaner passed all expectations.You get a lot of kit for your money - and its all useful too!The cleaner is not that large or heavy, but beautifully designed for ease of use.It is solidly built, but more importantly, everything works well together. There are a number of items which need to be slotted together, but the fittings are well made and clunky (in a GOOD way!) and do not come apart in use. Smaller fittings are carried in side pods to the main unit and it is possible to assemble the long handle (from three component pieces) with the floor brush/mop and slot this into a fitting on the rear of the main unit, with the steam hose/trigger handle at the top. It is then possible to wind the mains cord (which is of Silicone rubber - MUCH softer and flexible than cheapo hard-plastic cords on vacuum cleaners) around lugs on the assembled handle for easy storage.I have a doubt about doing this for space saving storage as the slot-in fixture on the back of the base unit would probably fail if there were "accidents" and too much pressure were placed on the handle stored in this position.The main base unit rolls along nicely on four casters (two of which swivel), so on pulling the steam, hose, it dutifully trundles along behind you.Both the hose length and mains cord are of ample length for most jobs - but the base unit is light enough to lift up onto a higher surface if necessary.The instructions are pretty basic but quite sufficient.The filler cap is solidly made from brass, covered in an easy grip rubber glove.Removal of this requires the cap to be depressed first. The supplied measuring jug and funnel allow for accurate filling to the recommended 70 ml. capacity - although the blurb on the box says it has a tank capacity of 1.2Lr.It takes about 5 minutes to get steam up to working pressure after switching on the power.In use, the green light goes off as steam pressure falls - just wait a few seconds for the boiler to recover if steam demand is too high.There is a simple to use twist knob control for steam pressure adjustment.I used the cleaner on bathroom tiles/stained grouting. There is a supplied "grout brush" nozzle in the kit. This works extremely well. In short order and with minimal scrubbing, the grime/mould was lifted away by the steam and mucky water was drooling down the bath to be mopped up later. All very quick and painless.The "fine" nozzle worked a treat around taps, bath handles, mirrors and the like. I resorted to using an old toothbrush in hard to reach areas with the fine nozzle, but with the steam pressure maxed out, I could get the worst grime moving first.I can only compare the results with a small hand-held steam cleaner (marketed as a "Penguin" but very similar to a host of others) costing nearly as much as this one.The "Penguin" by comparison is utterly useless and a waste of money.There is more than enough steam on tap with the Vax - at a far higher pressure than before and very much quicker to get up to useable pressure.Everything you need is packed into one simple unit and it is far more robust in construction and materials.The only slight critical note is that I fear I shall wear out the grout brush quite rapidly - I hope spares of these are available. The bristles of the supplied brush look a little careworn after one use!I have not tried the handle/mop yet, but I suspect that it will do the job very well - given the amount of steam so quickly available.A word of warning - after use, switch off the mains, squeeze the steam control until no more steam is expelled from the gun, but watch out. On releasing the filler cap - do it slowly - the tank is still under quite some steam pressure - which escapes around the loosening filler. If you are not careful, you could scald your fingers!!At the price - this is a really good buy and well worth the outlay.

I bought the Vax S5 3 weeks ago and feel I have used the machine enough to now write up a review.I had previously owned a Karcher SC1.010 steam cleaner and this review is a direct comparison. Both steam cleaners are 1500W. The Vax takes 12mins to heat up the Karcher 8mins. The Vax has a water capacity of 1.2litres and the Karcher 1litre, so really, the extra 4mins is not a problem.Both steamers are gun operated, I instantly found the Vax to much more comfortable. After about 10mins of use my hand used to ache with the Karcher, I don’t have this issue with the Vax.The Vax is also smaller in size and wheels around easily. A good length cable too allows you to whizz around the kitchen with ease.One obvious advantage the Vax has over Karcher is that there are far more accessories available and they all sit nicely in the unit behind closed flaps. Karcher give you one detail nozzle, one brush and one floor head. The measuring jug/funnel is very useful as you know how much water is actually going in. With the Karcher I had to guess.Once the water has heated up, one of the biggest problems I had with the Karcher was that a lot of water was released before the steam actually started to flow. The Vax also does something similar but only does this on the first use. Once the steam starts to flow very little water comes out after.You are supposed to get 30 mins usage with both machines, but I found as you stop/start the length is more like an hour before you have to refill. If you were cleaning a large area like a bathroom wall of tiles, I have easily gone past the 30 mins with continuous use.The best way to use a steam cleaner is to clean a bit at a time. So I steam one worktop, wipe it down with a sponge and then buff with a microfiber cloth. Then move on to next area.The extension pipes you get on both machines do their job to get to hard to reach places, but do not expect miracles in their sturdiness. They get the job done with a little patience.So what have I cleaned? I started off with the extractor fan in the kitchen above the hob. We cook a lot in our kitchen and a lot grease can build up. I used the small brush and within seconds saw the grease just melt away. I then cleaned the filters. I used the metal brush (bought separately) to clean these. Again they look like brand new as the amount of grease that was stuck in there. I did have to spray them first with de-greaser, but the steam cleaner certainly loosened up the grease nicely.I then did the hob and frames. I used the small brush for the hob and metal one once again for the frames. Am very happy with the results.Other items included the inside of the oven doors, the racks inside the oven, the worktops, the dustbin, microwave, washing machine and fridge. Please take care NOT to use the small brush on white appliances as the polish on them will get damaged. The best accessory to use on these is the window squeegee you get and just put the upholstery cloth on there. If you do accidentally damage the finish on the fridge door for example, the only remedy is to dry the door and gently rub some olive oil or any other cooking oil on top and buff with a microfiber cloth, this is an old trick I learned many years ago and trust me it makes it look like brand new.The grout cleaner is fantastic and really cleaned my tiles in the kitchen and bathroom nicely. I used the larger brush to clean the tiles.The best results I’ve seen was on the stainless kitchen sink and any chrome taps you may have. Once again I used the metal brush for the sink but the small brush and detail nozzle for the taps. Finally I cleaned the windows and mirrors with the squeegee. So quick and easy. Just work your way up from top to bottom in horizontal lines. Wipe and buff.Once the kitchen and bathroom was done, I cleaned the curtains. Nothing to say apart from they look nice and spruced up. I did also steam my mattress. Was amazing to see how clean it was after. Once again I used the squeegee with the cloth on top. Make sure you do allow your mattress to dry for a few hours before putting bed sheets back on.The other advantage over the Karcher is the variable steam controller. To be honest, I’ve not turned it down from maximum yet, but now the initial de-cleanse has been done, I probably don’t need to use such a high outage of steam, especially on the windows.WARNING: The only criticism I have is the noise the steamer makes. It is horrendously loud and will make your ears ring if using for a long period of time especially if you don't use the extension pipes. So the closer you are to the cleaning head, the louder it seems. When I first used it I was almost tempted to send it back, but now I just use earplugs if I'm doing a lengthy cleanse and it’s fine!The only other thing is that if using a steam cleaner for the first time, the brushes will flatten out if you’re really having to use some elbow grease. My small brush was practically ruined, but I just bought a replacement pack of ALL the accessories that fit on the unit for £8.99 from Amazon, which was great as it had the metal brush in there.First4spares Brush Nozzle and Window Cleaning Pad Tool Accessory Pack for VAX Steam CleanersTo finish up, you will need to wait for the unit to cool down before you can unscrew the cap and empty out/refill the unit. Sometimes it can take up to 15mins to cool down. Just be careful not to allow the steam to hit your face when unscrewing. But don't let this put your off. You can clean an entire kitchen on one fill.I have given it 4 stars purely because No steam cleaner manufacturer has been able to make accessories that don’t need replacement and also the noise issue. Otherwise I would have given it 5.

Very powerful compared to my previous steam cleaner but there is one tool (which gives a fine, powerful jet of steam) that all the other small tools attach to and I do find it fiddly attaching these other tools as well as needing to put on reading glasses to find the tiny arrows that need to match up (this alone could be improved simply by using a different colour for the arrows). The window squeegee tool isn’t as flexible as the previous cleaner I had and find difficult to use effectively, I also find it difficult opening and closing the main valve to fill/empty. To sum up, in many respects far superior to anything I have had before but there are areas such as small tool connectivity which I feel could be greatly improved. The connection for the floor cleaner is much better and easier to use and the big bonus is its mobility and robust structure.

Non l'ho ancora provata ma la vaporella è esattamente come in foto.Ha molti pezzi e include alcune spugne.Spero sia potente come promesso.