MC1275 Canister Steam Cleaner

After some research and contemplation, I bought this unit to clean and disinfect bathrooms and other household stuff. By in large, most of the observations from the reviews here have been consistent with what I've seen. PROS: 1. Steam lasts a very long time. The manual says it can hold up to 48oz of water from which to generate 2 hrs of steam. This appears to be right if you're holding the nozzle open constantly. In reality, its longer because you have to steam-wipe-steam-wipe repeatedly, letting the machine rest during "wipes". I can get a good 3 hrs of cleaning done on one full tank of water. Also keeping you from holding open the nozzle is that you have to give it time to "recharge" since it appears that it does not generate steam as fast as you use it. 2. It works on what it claims: most "organic" build-ups like soap scum, toothpaste, dirt, etc. Cleans darkened grout nicely. Doesn't damage the finish on fixtures. I was expecting a little too much on the calcium deposits from hard water... steam just wasn't effective. 3. Nice supply of attachments (brushes) although its unclear what types of surfaces these brushes can be safely used on. In particular, I refer to the smaller round brushes. For example, my guess is that the brass brushes are not meant for highly polished finishes. 4. Good enough to clean hard to reach crevices like sliding door tracks (shower doors or patio doors), faucet details, etc. 5. Works well on car wheels. Brake dust is very fine and a pain to clean by hand. Not to mention that the chemicals are often not meant to touch the brake disc surface (I have yet to figure out how splashing water from a hose can be directed only to the wheel and not the brakes within). 6. Steam is the only option for cleaning chemically-prohibited surfaces (I never knew chemical cleaners were not recommended in microwaves!). CONS: 1. Its loud! Not the machine, but the steam as it comes out of the nozzle. I strongly recommend hearing protection while you use it when indoors. My ears were ringing for about an hour after my first session. 2. Steaming takes time. If you're not opposed to using chemicals, often I find that bleach works as good, if not better, than steam. Compared to 5-10 mins steaming a polished chrome bath fixture to get it sparkling, it took 30 secs using your household bath cleaner with bleach. 3. Steam just doesn't work efficiently on mineral build-up. Chemicals are far more time-efficient. Hard water stains and deposits require lots of time and lots of elbow-grease (scrubbing). And even then, I'm not convinced it was cleaner than using chemicals (i.e., judging from the "gleam" off the surface). 4. The steam pressure is not very high. It isn't very low either, but definnitely not high enough to "blow" debris away more than an inch or two from where the steam jet hits. The best approach seems to loosen with steam then wash away with water or wipe away with sponge. Hence, I don't recommend using this for something like cleaning a car engine where neither wash nor wipe are feasible. (I guess you could steam long enough so that the condensed water from the steam was enough to wash away the gunk on its own, but that would take forever.) 5. It needs time to build up steam pressure while you work. The light is supposed to turn off when it is ready. While in use, the light will come on when the pressure reaches some threshold. Continued use beyond that point without letting it rest means you work with less pressure. When the tank is full of "condensed" water, the light comes on more frequently. As the water is depleted and more volume in the tank can accommodate vapor steam, the light comes on less often. 6. The width of the brushes simply do not permit reaching into 90 degree crevices or those really tight spaces. This is minor, however, but a flat or low-profile brush attachment would have been nice. A medium bristle toothbrush is a nice companion in my cleaning adventures... Overall, pretty happy with this unit. To be efficient, I've found using a combined balance of chemicals and steam is best. It definitely reduces the amount of chemicals I need to use. For hard-to-reach or delicate surface areas, steam wins outright (with the mentioned toothbrush).

I honestly was not expecting that much from this machine when I purchased it, but it has DEFINITELY impressed me. We recently moved into a home with all tile/hardwood flooring and I began researching steam mops, now I reeeeally hate uni-taskers, I want a product to multi-task if I'm dropping more than $100 on it. And this baby really delivers, since I've received it I've cleaned nearly all the grout in the house with ease. The kitchen grout was actually black, we soon found out its really supposed to be a light grayish color...ew. I included pictures of the kitchen floor, which I cleaned with relative ease in about 20 mins or so(taking a couple breaks to let it reheat >.> we filled it to its maximum capacity so it took a little while to heat up). I went over it once or twice just to get the steam to loosen up the gunk, then went over it a tiny bit with the plastic scrubbing attachment. I also cleaned the bathroom tub/tile with this machine, I admit I did use some Lysol during this process because I wanted it to really shine, and now our shower looks like new (yay!!!). The steam mop attachment works, although the pad included really isn't that absorbent, I purchased some giant microfiber cloths to use instead of the pads because I thought this product had "heavy duty clips" to attach ANY cloth... it does not, the review I read misinformed me. I purchased a couple of clips from Lowe's for a few bucks and easily clipped the cloths on. It works like a dream, and there is less water left on the floor after mopping because of the sweet microfiber cloths. Its winter right now so I'm not able to use it outside quite yet, but from the results I've seen I'm super excited to try it out! The grill we got from a family friend is just filthy, and now I'm actually curious to see if this thing can handle it, I'll update the review once I've tried cleaning it. There is also a nifty squeegee attachment that works surprisingly well, I wouldn't use it inside on mirrors, but with all the hose attachments it'll make quick work of the outside windows, with relatively little to no streaking (depending on how anal you are, I went over a mirror inside twice to test it and had no streaking, but it does take some getting used to). Overall I am very happy with the product, even my hubby agrees that this was a good buy, recently he put a pack of tortillas on a hot stove-top -.-, he was in charge of cleaning his own mess! Which he did using some elbow grease and the steam cleaner. The only thing that can get pretty annoying is how loud it can get, but it is a HEAVY DUTY steam cleaner so its to be expected, right? I really can't say how long this product will last maybe a year or maybe ten, but right now I'm very happy with all of the jobs it helps me with around the house.

It was a rough couple of weeks. First a red wine spill, and then an accident with a sick dog - the area rug in the den was definitely taking more damage than it should. Cleanup consisted of the normal spray carpet cleaner, plenty of lathering, and scrubbing with clean towels. That was enough to dispatch about 80% of the stains, with relatively faint hints of the horrors from before at center-mass. I figured that it would be nice to have some more cleanup tools at my disposal, so I started researching my options. Generally speaking, I wanted something small and portable, since I normally need spot duty (and not Dexter-level) cleanup. I'd previously bought larger carpet cleaners (with heated or unheated water) that were essentially combo-wetvacs. I never found those to be any better than what I could do with cleaner, a nylon brush, water, and a regular wetvac, so I took a pass this time. I settled on steam, and specifically this unit. Reviews and price were probably the biggest draws for me, but I did notice that my particular use case was different from the bulk of the reviewers. Packaging/build quality The unit arrived in a small box with no real inner pack material. The item is simple and durable, so it did not sustain any shipping damage. Some care should be taken while unboxing the item, since the power cable and long steam hose are unbound within the box - depending on how the steamer is sitting within the box, a boxcutter could damage important components. There are some plastic bags for the accessories. The unit requires minimal assembly, as the handle perch comes in one of the bags. The screw that attaches it to the base is already set in the riser, which is good because the riser is pretty long. Since many are not likely to have a screwdriver that can reach the screw, McCulloch was nice enough to include a screwdriver specifically for the job. While it's not the highest quality tool, you will not be tempted to throw it away after use. The reservoir cap is pretty heavy-duty... brass, with a decent amount of heft. It's an important safety feature, as you're working with a pressure vessel. The selection of attachments is impressive, but I really only plan on using the nylon brushes (I already have a steam mop for the tile floors). Usage The steamer is pretty straightforward. Open the cap, fit the funnel, pour in water, close the cap, and turn on the unit. I recommend that you don't put in significantly more water than you will use in your cleaning session. Also, if you're in an area with hard water (as I am), I suggest you buy some distilled water to use. I have no idea what the heated surface looks like in the bowels of the unit, but you probably want to avoid scale (and I wouldn't want to use vinegar or CLR in the device). There's a coil-reinforced plastic hose running to the control head of the device. You affix the accessory of your choosing to the end. The control head has a couple buttons to control the steam. Results I had luck removing the remnants of a red wine stain from a week or two before. I also was able to remove the rest of the pet accident (from a few days prior). It was a great result, but the nylon brush did cause some premature wear on the area rug. Overall, it was a great result. Buoyed by the favorable result, tried the cleaner on some OLD (like 2016) stain remnants on carpet. The results were much more modest, but I don't consider that an indictment of the unit's performance. Conclusion This unit is inexpensive, to the point where you should probably buy one if you think you will have occasion to use it ANY TIME WITHIN THE REST OF YOUR LIFETIME. Having to wait 2-3 days for it to arrive may be way too late to do a proper cleanup job. Most of the tools that come with this cleaner are intended for hard surfaces, but I don't really plan to use it for that. This device will not fix all of your problems, but it will definitely help if you have pet vs. fabric/carpet/rug incidents. RECOMMENDED Notes The hose is not insulated in any meaningful way. While it didn't get overly hot in my use, I didn't use a massive amount of steam through it in a single session, so YMMV. The hose is also not particularly heavy-duty. While the hose doesn't have to hold significant pressure, it is important that the hose not have any punctures or holes caused from wear/fatigue, since the operator could conceivably be burned.

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.

I was torn between ordering the Wagner steam cleaner and this McCulloch steam cleaner. I decided to order the McCulloch as it came with the brushes I thought I would use the most. I borrowed a friend's steam cleaner a couple of years ago, and I liked the way it cleaned, so I made a commitment to buy my own to do some messy cleaning around my house. This steam cleaner is easy to use. It comes with several types of nylon bristled brushes, a floor mop head, terry covers, a metal bristle brush, and hose extensions. Fortunately, McCulloch sells spare brushes - the nylon ones will probably have to be replaced if you are a heavy user of them! There is also a funnel and cup measure to measure out the water for the tank. There is no way to see how much water you have left, so you should probably drain out the tank when done. I used distilled water (manual recommended). You can use white vinegar to clean mineral deposits from the device, but if you use distilled water, this shouldn't be an issue. The small brushes could store on board under the little door to the water cap, but the brushes got in the way of screwing off the cap, so I am using a large clean cat litter bucket (yes, I buy it in buckets - I've got two very territorial cats)for all the accessories including the bottle of distilled water I use while cleaning. The steamer has a long cord and hose and is wheeled, so it makes it nice to pull it along without having to unplug and pick up the steamer. The product photo of the steam cleaner DOES NOT show the extension cord and long hose - I ended up looping up the cord and hanging it from the handle securing it with a velcro strap and kinda wrapping the hose twice around the top of the cleaner and tucking it to stow it. I hope that the manufacturer comes out with a hose and cord storage system on its next version of the steam cleaner. I bought this steam cleaner with several cleaning jobs in mind. The most horrible job that I was frustrated with was solved with this cleaner. I wanted to clean the fiberglass in my shower stall, and was not having success. The soap scum has gotten so built up that I can't get it off with conventional cleaners. Forget scrubbing bubbles - you need to soak this stuff in white vinegar to break up the water minerals and soap scum, and the steam to really loosen things up! I initially used the little scrubbie brush attachment to do this job and cleaned a small area to see how it worked, but it really is a small brush, the nylon bristles got bent back and it was coated with the soap scum. I washed it up in the dishwasher. However, the portion of the shower tub floor is again white! Yay! Next sections I will use a separate hand-held brush with the steam vapor after soaking the tub floor in white vinegar for a few hours. I think it'll work just fine! The second job I bought this steamer cleaner for was to clean pet stains. My elderly cats have taken to throwing up on the painted basement floor, and by the time I find the puke, it's dried and like cement! Yuck. I think that this cleaner will help this chore a great deal. I'll report back on this within a week or so. The last job I wanted to try this cleaner on was cleaning upholstery on some furniture. I wanted to freshen up the cushions on these chairs we were given, so I cleaned them last week with steam. It seemed to do the trick, although I have one chair that I want to redo with upholstery cleaner, then steam clean it again to get some stains out from the dog drooling on the cushion, and see how clean the cushion gets. I know some of these descriptions are gross, but cleaning up after a man, a 12 year old boy, two elderly puking cats, and a young dog isn't a fun job. This cleaner will make it a little more tolerable. Signed, I-hate-to-clean-but-no-one-else-is-gonna-do-it.

I purchased my "Moe", back in Oct. I haven't been disappointed. I call him Moe because he is my robot buddy following me around cleaning up after me, like in a certain robot Pixar movie. Anyway,Moe has helped me clean bathrooms, tile/laminate floors, soot out of the fireplace, the bbq grill, throw up in the car, mirrors, windows, chairs, tables,oil stains on concrete, mattresses, carpets, walls, bookshelves, plastic toys, a desk, the desk chair, baseboards, hangers, dress clothes and I am sure there has been more but I think the idea has been conveyed. I got this steamer to help with a bedbug problem. Our family went on a multi phase strike to wipe those nasty buggers out. I feel very strongly that we would not have reached success so quickly without Moe. Since then I have found a million other things that he is handy at helping me with. I did not give five stars for the reason that the attachments have the tendency to fall apart after a few uses. The glue on some of the scrubbers doesn't hold up, but I wouldn't trade him in for anything. He has earned his keep. I wanted to give a 4.75 star rating, but alas they only like whole numbers. The steam noise is loud, so use caution with small pets around. Our little dog is not happy to see Moe come out to work. And I disagree with other reviews saying it doesn't get hot. It does! So if you have children it's a wonderful tool to clean up all kinds of spills, but careful when they are around. Some have said that it is awkward to not have a place to put the scrubbers and such. I have a gallon zip top bag that most all the pieces fit in except the squeegee, I keep everything all together in a canvas tote with extra rags to wipe excess water. When I am finished with Moe and he gets tucked away in his corner I hang the bag on his spout/nozzle holder. It works well for me. We have cut down our household chemical expenses drastically since our purchase. I think with proper care we won't have any problems. He has proven to be a true work horse. ****UPDATE 2016***** I purchased my "moe" in 2012. I have now been using him for four years. We are a military family and move a lot! So every house we move into and out of this is my go to cleaner. It blasts through years of grime at rental homes we are moving into that do not have my standard of clean. I use it when we leave a rental home and we ALWAYS get our deposit refunded and usually we get the remark that the property management company do not have to send in a professional cleaning crew. I have not had any issues with my steamer. And I use "moe" every week. EVERY WEEK! When we move this goes in the car with us. I do not leave him behind. We are getting ready to move again so we will add another house to our conquered list. I have UP GRADED to five stars because it's still going strong. As I have mentioned the accessories are not the greatest but it is easy enough to use other scrubbers and such. The accessories that I really need the power sprayer, the floor steamer, and the squeegee are still top notch shape. The pads to the floor attachment are kind of sad and do not want to adhere to the attachment but after four years of constant use I am really ok with that. I hope this updated review is useful.

I just received this steamer today.It took me 1hr and 20 minutes to do my room.This is better than a handheld steamer because it puts out a lot more steam at one time.On my handheld steamer it used two cups of distilled water to do my room with this McCulloch steamer I use 6 cups of distilled water to do my room.The more volume of steam help kill the bedbugs better.This steamer still has one problem it does not get hot enough to do a good job killing bedbugs.When I was steaming my vinyl sheet flooring a lot of times I would feel the floor afterward and it would only be warm.I saw on youtube bedbug tv That the area you just got steaming should be hot after you steam it to get correct tempature to kill bedbugs.This steamer work very good at killing bedbugs on my vinyl sheet flooring I have only 3 vinyl floor seams going across the width of my room.When I am doing a area of floor I put my 6 way outlet boxes on top of a plastic half size milk crate I bought from the container store.I do a area and if the next area has 6 way outlet boxes and sometimes where the two extension cords connect I put it on the half plastic milk crate.I connect the floor mop attachament directly to the handle and get on my hands and knees to do the underneath my bed ,metro rack,and underneath the sink.I stand up and bend over when using it on the floor with nothing to go under.I hold the attachment 1 to 2 1/2 inches above the floor do not put the mop pad on use it without the mop pad and put it on continuious steam.For the edges and hard to reach places I use the triangle attachment because the floor attachment is to big to get in a small areas.This steamer might be a 4 or 5 stars steamer if you compare it with other 1500 watt steamers in its effectiveness to kill bedbugs.Maybe the only difference is some 1500 watt steamers have a valve that lets mostly only steam come out then no valve I am only guessing.I always try to place the steamer postioned horizontally on the floor with the steam hose going thru the carry handle going down thru the front of the machine this makes the steam ready light easier to see.I sit in a chair with the machine horizontally in front of me.When the steam ready light goes off I pick up the machine and postion it horizontally in the new area where I am going to steam this way when the steam ready light goes back on I can stop steaming.This takes some time to learn how to do this because you need to get used to where to postion the machine in the area you are steaming first. After using this machine 6 to 8 times you should be able to do this.This steamer probably will not kill bedbugs in carpet and do a so so job killing bedbugs on upholstered furniture.But for me that am steaming my vinyl floor I am not supposed to be steaming it work good because a hotter steamer would ruin my vinyl floor.Plus it only pulls 12.5 amps and will not trip my electrical breaker.So this steamer is a perfect fit for my bedbug situation.A update about my steamer I have stopped using it because it does not cover my furniture where clutter is where bedbugs are coming and leaves no residual poison so I am using a spray you mix in a one gallon sprayer and Phantom aerosol,delta dust and Cimexa for my bedbug problemI was getting to many bedbug bites everyday.You need to use something that leaves a residual poison to kill bedbugs or you will have a big bedbug problem.I have since changed to using pesticides and this has solved my problem.

I would marry this steamer. I would ask it on a first date to a high-end sushi place and not even bat an eye at the bill. I would meet its parents, ask it to move in with me after things got serious, support it pursing its dreams of higher education. I’d propose on a brisk December day, the heat from our breath foreshadowing years of warmth to come. Took years of hardened goo and grime off my cabinet doors like it couldn’t believe I’d waited so long to find it. That’s when I knew it was the one.

Really neat steam cleaner BUT as a safety warning be cautious of letting the machine. cool off before adding water/ opening the reservoir. i had it explode and got burnt. as there is no warning indicator regarding pressure on this machine nor is there a pressure release valve from what i recall.. SO SAFETY IS VERY IMPORTANT YA'LL!

This machine electric specifications were not fit for this country it needs 120 volts not supplied in this country. It also needs 1500 wat our supply can't cope so I had to buy a transformer to fit this specification. which was not cheap (mine cost around £70). The delivery delays were appalling they kept shifting the dates and one of the texts said that the order has been lost and whether I should get my money back then it came after 2 days. Any way the machine arrived and it was fantastic in every way. So here are my advice fellow citizens of the UK if you are willing to pay extra for a transformer and wait a long time for delivery, but get a powerful machine then go ahead. i

Este limpiador -junto con mi aspiradora- me permiten limpiar mi departamento en menos de una hora. Es mil veces mejor que un trapeador y facilita mucho el limpiar varias superficies.

Me encantó el equipo, tiene todo lo necesario para hacer una buena limpieza, eso sí, utilicen agua destilada que es lo que se pide, me gustó igual que llegó mucho antes del tiempo mencionado. No esperen que la máquina quite toda la mugre, igual hay que limpiar igual.

Great machine. Love how long it last and how it is versatile to clean bathrooms and clean floors. The other things I do not like are... There is no place to wrap up the cord when your done! I hate that I have this long cord and no spot to wrap it up on. I dont like that after long use the handle gets hot Those brushes they give you give of to clean (forget what they call them), they give you so many because after one good scrub around your house with them they are garbage. Dont last long at all. I wish there was a safety button that would stop it from coming on for small children. None the less, if your looking for a steamer for general cleaning I think anyone would love this machine. It has power, stays hot and cleans floors and I even use the floor cleaner on my walls for little kids finger prints! Great buy!