45 Ways to Use a Steam Cleaner in Your Home

Have you ever wondered what the big hype is about steam cleaners? They seem to be gaining popularity all over the internet but you wonder if it’s really worth all the hype. Well I’m here to tell you that there is an unlimited member of uses for a steam cleaner and YES, it is worth all of the hype!

One thing to be aware of when deciding on a steam cleaner is that steam cleaners come with many different attachments and features. Many of the small steam cleaners have limited uses and capabilities. Not to mention that the water tank is so small you have to refill the water quite frequently.

For the purpose of this article, I will be using my Dupray Neat Steam Cleaner that comes with several attachments that allow me to clean various types of surfaces.

1. Steam Clean your Grout

Of all of the things that I have used my steam cleaner for, the thing with the biggest WOW factor for me has definitely been the grout in our kitchen. Previous to using my steam cleaner on it, I wasn’t even aware of the original color of the grout.

It was one of the most satisfying cleaning jobs I’ve ever done! You can see the before and after pictures for yourself and how incredible it looks! I was blown away!

2. Inside Your Oven

Cleaning inside your oven can be one of the most irritating tasks of them all. Baked on food can be extremely difficult to get off to stay the least. In my experience I found that cleaning the oven with the steam cleaner alone just wasn’t quite enough.

I did have to spray a light layer of easy off and let it sit in the oven previous to using the steam cleaner. But after the cleaner was allowed to sit for a while the steam cleaner made the job even faster! My oven looks brand new!

3. Oven Window

If you have had the unfortunate experience of having food fall between the glass of your oven, then this is definitely something that you’re going to love! Look online for a tutorial on how to safely remove the glass piece of your oven so that you can get to the interior portion. After you have disassembled it, you can easily use the steam cleaner to get off any marks or drip marks that exist there.

4. Behind Your Oven

This is probably somewhere that most people don’t typically think to clean until your oven breaks down and you need a new one. This happened to me and I was mortified when the repairman had to see all the junk that was behind my oven! I didn’t even realize how gross it was because it’s just not something that I think about cleaning. But my Dupray Steam Cleaner made this super gross job quick and painless.

5. Refrigerator

Oftentimes people forget to clean the refrigerator and they wonder why there are mysterious smells! But regularly cleaning out your refrigerator can do wonders for keeping a fresh-smelling fridge. It is even easier to clean your fridge with a steam cleaner! Especially in all the cracks and crevices that seem difficult if not impossible to get off with your typical cleaner and water. Not to mention that the steam disinfects and leaves everything smelling nice and fresh.

6. Backsplash

The backsplash of your counters can often be a forgotten area to clean but cleaning them with a steam cleaner makes it quick and painless. I am always in search for methods to make cleaning easier and this is definitely an easy way to get your backsplash clean! Say goodbye to those spaghetti stains!

7. Inside Garbage Cans

Garbage cans can be home to many yucky smells. Especially if you do not use a garbage can liner. But despite using garbage sacks and liners, there are often spills that happen inside your garbage can that you don’t realize. Using a steam cleaner to clean out your garbage cans can make a sticky job go by really quickly. The heat and the steam from the steam cleaner melt away sticky messes and you only have to wipe the mess away!

8. Hard Water on Faucets

Hard water stains that are left at the base of your faucets can often be very difficult to remove. Depending on the attachment of your steam cleaner, this can be an easy clean up. If you’re still having a hard time getting hard water off, I suggest using vinegar or something similar on the hard water and letting it sit for a few minutes before using the steam cleaner. Let the tools do all the work for you so that you have to put forth little or no effort.

9. Counters

Countertops are one of the most used surfaces in our entire homes. And for that reason they can also be the dirtiest! Despite wiping counters multiple times a day, your counters may be covered in bacteria and germs. Using a steam cleaner with a rag or a mop attachment is an easy way to sanitize and disinfect your countertops.

10. Tabletops

Just like countertops, table tops can also be a very germ-infested area of your home. Sanitizing tables with your steam mop can be a great way to disinfect and sanitize between meals.

Just like countertops, tabletops can also be a very germ-infested area of your home. Sanitizing tables with your steam mop can be a great way to disinfect and sanitize between meals. In cases where the table top has become overly stained or has developed a rough texture over time, considering a process like sandblasting before resealing the surface can also be beneficial.

Sandblasting will not only clean the surface thoroughly but also create a smooth finish, ready for a fresh coat of sealant or paint, ensuring a cleaner and more hygienic surface for your future meals.

11. Chairs

If you have kids, this is going to be an especially great feature for you! I’m not sure what it is about kids and slimy hands but steam cleaners are really great for getting dried food, fingerprints, and dirty marks off of chairs. It can be hard to get into small crevices and you would have to be careful if your chairs are wood but still very useful for softening stains and caked-on food so that you can easily wipe it away.

12. Window Tracks

Window tracks can be a really irritating place to clean because of the small crevices. Because of the powerful steam that comes out of a steam cleaner, it’s like having this super small crevice brush that easily gets in every single corner. The steam blows out all of the dirt and gunk from the corners so that you can easily wipe everything away with a paper towel or a rag. This is something that would normally take me 10 or more minutes to clean out one window track whereas with a steam cleaner it only took me two.

13. Sliding Glass Door Tracks

Another one of my favorite uses for a steam cleaner is on sliding glass door tracks. They are cleaned the exact same way as window tracks. In no time at all the steam loosens all of the dirt and debris from the sliding glass door track and you can easily wipe it away.

14. Inside the Dishwasher

Over time our dishwashers can seem less effective than they used to be. But a lot of times that’s only because our dishwashers need to be cleaned and maintained just like any other appliance that we own. A steam cleaner is a great way to remove caked-on gunk and food that gets left behind after washing our dishes on an almost daily basis. Simply use the steam cleaner to scrub away any gunk from filters or any other areas that look like they need to be cleaned.

15. Floors

Another use for steam cleaners is to clean flooring. Depending on the type of flooring that you have you need to be cautious with how much steam you allow to touch the flooring. Hardwood floors are especially delicate and are prone to warping at the seams. So take caution when using a steam cleaner on floors until you learn the tolerance that your floor can handle. Tile floors are especially great if you have a steam cleaner.

16. Removing Carpet Stains

Using a steam cleaner to clean up carpet stains might not something that you would typically think of but it can work! Instead of spraying the steam in a downward motion towards the bottom of the carpet, turn it so that it is at an upward angle while still shooting into the carpet and place a rag on the opposite side in your other hand so it can catch the dirt in the rag. I personally haven’t tried this before but I’ve seen it done in videos and it works great!

17. Windows

Some steam cleaners come with a window attachment that works great on windows! Simply glide the window attachment and squeegee along the window and watch fingerprints and smudges melt away before your eyes! This does leave quite a bit of water on the window so you’ll want to have a microfiber drying rag or ready to go to wipe up leftover steam and water so that it doesn’t leave hard water spots on the window.

18. Walls

Cleaning walls with the steam cleaner is one of my very favorite things to do! Because I have three kids, my walls naturally get dirty and have tons of fingerprints all over them. Typically I would spend hours going all over the house with the magic eraser and a damp rag trying to wipe away all of the yucky stuff off the wall. but it’s the easiest thing in the world if you have a steam cleaner! It takes no effort whatsoever and my walls look freshly painted! I’m no longer embarrassed to have people come to my house because of the fingerprints that used to be everywhere.

19. Baseboards

When you are cleaning the walls using your steam cleaner, you can use the mop attachment to also clean the baseboards at the same time. As you continue along down the wall all you have to do is angle the mop head so that it cleans the tops of the baseboards. It’s extremely simple and doesn’t take any extra effort

20. Doorknobs

Along with light switches, door knobs can be just as gross. Simply spray the steam nozzle towards the doorknob, getting all the angles. After you’ve sprayed the entire doorknob you can simply wipe away the dirt with a clean microfiber rag. If you have particularly tough gunk that’s having a hard time coming off then just let the steam sit on it a bit longer and it will just melt off!

21. Door Casings

Just like walls, door and window casings can also get just as dirty from little fingers. Because casings are typically painted white, they can look extra dirty! Use the steam mop head feature of your steam cleaner to do a simple swipe or two down the casing and it will clean up right before your eyes.

22. Inside Garbage Cans

I don’t know about you but I’ve seen some pretty nasty garbage cans in my day! And the funniest part is you wish that you could get a picture of yourself with your head inside the trash can trying to get the very bottom of it clean. Either that or you don’t even attempt to clean it! The steam cleaner melts all the sticky mess in the bottom of the garbage can so that you can easily wipe it away without getting lost in the bottom of a garbage can! It’s especially helpful to clean garbage cans with a steam cleaner if you do not use garbage can liners.

23. Sanitizing Bathrooms

Everyone knows that a bathroom can be one of the dirtiest places in your house. Particularly if you have young kids! Heaven knows that there are so many surfaces. Heck, I could spend an entire blog post telling you how you could clean a bathroom with a steam cleaner! But one thing that comes to mind, in particular, is cleaning the toilet. You know what I mean, all the creases and cracks on the toilet seat lid hinges and other areas around the toilet that are near impossible to get to. Simply spray the steam onto those areas and the stains melt away and you can wipe them up with the rag! No scrubbing or elbow grease required!

24. Glass Shower Doors

Glass shower doors can also be cleaned using a steam cleaner. Hard water and minerals build up easily on glass shower doors and they lose their beautiful appearance! Steam cleaning can help wipe away hard water stains when you use a soft bristle brush.

25. Shower Walls and Floors

All the other parts of the shower can also easily be cleaned with a steam cleaner. Shower walls and floors can have an obscene amount of hard water build-up and soap scum. There are some cleaners out there that can help with that but not without breathing in dangerous fumes as you lock yourself in the shower to try and clean it! That’s one of the reasons why I love using a steam cleaner so much! Typically you don’t need to use any cleaners and you are not harming your lungs by inhaling those dangerous chemicals.

26. Mattresses

You may not think that you need to clean your mattress but bed bugs, dust, and allergens are a huge part of a dirty mattress! One of the best things that you can do for your mattress is to use a steam cleaner to steam away all of the dust mites, bacteria, viruses, and germs that reside on the surface of your mattress. This can also help to decrease allergens and help with your allergies! Simply use a mop attachment with the rag and run it along the mattress in rows. Allow the mattress to completely dry or go over it a second time if you feel like it needs it.

27. Upholstery

A really difficult place to clean that often gets left unnoticed is upholstered furniture. It’s nearly impossible to vacuum upholstered furniture and it can easily be stained from body oils and or food if you allow people to eat while sitting on your furniture. Steam cleaners can be a great way to clean upholstered furniture because it isn’t soaking the furniture with tons and tons of water. Oftentimes when we attempt to clean off stains with water or cleaner, it can leave watermarks that are just as unsightly as the stain. Using steam is a gentle way to clean upholstered furniture in a safe way. Please make sure to try it in an inconspicuous area first.

28. Drapes and Curtains

Drapes and curtains can be a really difficult thing to keep clean. But you can also use a steam cleaner to iron the wrinkles out of wrinkled drapes and curtains. Simply run the mop head attachment along the drapes in a vertical fashion and the wrinkles will simply loosen and disappear.

29. Getting Wrinkles out of Clothes

If you hate ironing then using a steam cleaner on your clothes can be a particularly effective method. Simply hang your clothes on a hanger and run your steam cleaner along the wrinkled parts of your clothes. Because of the steam and the heat, this loosens the fabrics to go to their natural patterns and textures instead of maintaining the wrinkles in the fabric.

30. Patio Furniture

Patio furniture can also easily be cleaned with steam cleaner. The steam cleaner can help get stains off of cushions or it can even easily get into the nooks and crannies if you have wicker patio furniture. Those are really difficult to clean typically and the steam can really help to loosen the dirt, hard water, and debris that comes along with outdoor furniture.

31. Outdoor Grill

Cleaning an outdoor grill with a steam cleaner is really easy! You do have to be cautious of which attachment or brush tip that you use so that you don’t scratch your grill. But simply turn on the grill, attach a semi abrasive brush tip and go to town on cleaning those grill grates! The heat of the steam cleaner loosens up all of the food, grease, and build-up on the grates and it makes it extremely easy to clean up.

32. Pet Cages and Crates

I am not a pet owner but I know for a fact that cleaning pet cages is one of the more disgusting chores that you can do. So why not make it easy on yourself? Pull out all bedding at the bottom of the crate. Throw any fabric betting into the washer and wash thoroughly. Next, take your steam cleaner with a soft brush tip and scrub all areas of the pet crate. This not only loosens dirt and debris but it also sanitizes and disinfects. It also helps to get rid of pet smells.

33. Pet Beds

In addition to cleaning pet crates, you can also use a steam cleaner to pay particular attention to certain areas of your pet’s bed that may have stains. The high heat focuses and concentrates on those areas to help break down tough stains. As I’ve mentioned before one of the best things about a steam cleaner is that it is a deodorizer as well; which can be particularly great with pet bedding that tends to get smelly fast!

34. Kids Toys

Anyone with kids knows how quickly the toys and surfaces can get sticky and messy. Toys in particular often get overlooked as the items that should be cleaned but they are one of the most important things that we can clean for our kids. Steam cleaning with a nozzle attachment can even make this job significantly easier.

Simply spray the steam over parts of the toy that are dirty. And pay attention even to parts that don’t seem dirty be careful as you are spraying steam onto electronic or battery-powered toys that too much steam doesn’t get into the interior of the toy and ruin it. Just a nice light steam on the toy’s surface can help to dampen and loosen dirt so it can be easily wiped away with a microfiber cloth.

35. Baby High Chair

I have three kids so I know all too well how messy feeding time can get with babies and toddlers. I always remember regretting the moments when I wanted to put off cleaning the high chair until the next day. Without fail, I always made so much more work for myself! But sometimes even if you are in the habit of cleaning off the high chair after every male, there still are tons of crumbs and leftover food that gets caked on in random places.

36. Car Seats

When my kids were little I remember being super frustrated with the supposed car seat rules that you weren’t supposed to wash the car seat padding. I remember thinking to myself, have the car seat makers ever even had children before?! Because let’s be real, there isn’t a person in the world who hasn’t had a kid cute in their car seat! Or drop apple juice all down the car seat.

So cleaning my kid’s car seat was always a must. I can’t tell you how much I would have loved to have the ability to clean small stains and messes from my kid’s car seat without having to disassemble the entire car seat and put it through the wash. Steam cleaning car seats would have been a huge time saver for me!

37. Strollers

Cleaning a baby stroller is even more difficult than cleaning a car seat. Many strollers do not even have covers that come off or that can be removed for cleaning. In this situation, steam cleaners would really come in handy! Make sure to take a vacuum to vacuum up all loose debris first. If you use the steam cleaner on crumbs it will only turn it into mushy food and may make it even more difficult to remove. So first you need to she got all loose debris and food and then used the steam cleaner!

38. Golf Clubs

This might be one of the most unique things that you can clean with a steam cleaner but often times golf clubs can be difficult to clean. Especially in all of the grooves! Use the steam cleaner with the gentle brush tip that will allow you to get in the creases of the golf club both on the handle, the shaft, and the end. People spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on their golf clubs so learning how to take good care of them will really help them to last a long time.

39. Bikes

Because of all of the pipes, spokes, and crevices that go along with a bike, learning to clean your bike with the steam cleaner can really speed up the process. It would probably be the most helpful to use a small brush tip that can easily get in between all of the small spaces of your bike. Make sure to have a microfiber cloth ready to wipe away dirt and grime after it’s loosened by the steam cleaner.

40. Gym Equipment

Gym equipment tends to get dusty and dirty really fast. Especially when combined with sweaty dirty hands! Use a steam cleaner to get into the crevices that are typically engraved into gym equipment such as dumbbells. This is also a great way to clean and sanitize gym equipment so that people aren’t transferring germs from one person to another.

41. Home Gym Floor

Most home gyms tend to have some sort of foam-padded flooring but it can be very difficult to clean! If you have a steam cleaner with a mop attachment, then this can be a really easy task! Simply turn on the steam cleaner, let it get to temperature, and then attach the mop attachment and mop the flooring just as you would any other floor. The benefit is that it sanitizes and deodorizes the flooring while cleaning it at the same time. You may need to switch mop pads several times depending on how dirty the floor is.

42. Car Interior

Cleaning your car interior with a steam cleaner can make your deep cleaning job significantly faster! This can easily melt away sticky soda pop spills in your cup holder, sanitizing all parts of the car, and getting off sticky kids handprints that tend to litter the entire car! Just use caution when using a steam cleaner that you don’t leave the steam on a particular area for too long.

If you have stains on the roof of your car, take care not to leave the steam on for too long. The fabric that lines the ceiling of your car is applied with an adhesive. If you keep the steam on there for too long then it can loosen the adhesive and the fabric will come apart from the ceiling and you will be left with a giant bubble!

43. Car Engine

I am definitely not a car engine guru but I’ve seen several videos of car detailing gurus using a steam cleaner to clean the nooks and crannies of a car engine.

44. Car Tires and Rims

It’s not a secret that brake dust can really collect in the rims and tires of our cars. Typically you have to use a very strong chemical to remove brake dust and dirt from wheels and tires. But if you use a steam cleaner, it can get into all the nooks and crannies that you need it to without using dangerous chemicals or damaging the rims. Just be careful not to use an abrasive brush tip when cleaning the rims so that you don’t scratch them.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this article and all of the different ways that you can use a steam cleaner!