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by: Richard Gerardi, May 2003
Consumer Tester

I had fun rampaging through the house last night with the new WhiteWing steam cleaner. I spent about 4 hours while my roommate occasionally watched me in hysterics. Boys with toys ya know.

My mission tonight was to:

1) Clean the kitchen top to bottom

2) Clean the bathroom floor, toilet, shower door, sink, walls and radiator.
3) Clean 300 Square feet of wooden floors in the dining room, living room and hallway
4) Not bug my roommate as she finishes her final paper for her graduate degree at Boston University due at 9:00 AM the next morning.

Introduction
The first job was filling the WhiteWing This was my least favorite part about the machine aside from giving it back. The bottle that comes with the machine is a pretty cool design. It has a top nozzle that when pressed down empties the water into the WhiteWing The water took a good 4-5 minutes to fill the machine. The next day I mentioned this to a few people who had also used the WhiteWing and they looked at me like I had two heads. “Richard, it’s a plastic bottle, give it a little squeeze and the water will come out faster,” they said. I have since tried again with the squeeze method, and it works wonderfully. I blame the original attempt on being overtired. That’s my story, and I’m sticking with it. The WhiteWing took the expected 10 minutes to warm up, and I was ready to go.

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Steam Pressure
The first thing I noticed was the steam pressure was noticeably higher and cleaned out crevices faster than the other units I have tried in the past. The higher pressure made me want to keep on going, because I was getting more accomplished in less time than my previous attempts with the other models. I found that when my progress was slower with the other machines, I had less desire to continue on. That always meant more procrastination in front of the TV. There’s also that whole thing growing up a guy that using anything with a trigger was always cool. Squirt guns, the backyard hose, play guns. I think this whole steam cleaner thing was invented by either a woman who wanted to get her husband to help out more around the house, or a man that had no choice but to help out.

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The Kitchen

5:40PM
My first project was the stove. I’m almost ashamed to admit that parts of it changed so drastically that it looks like a different stove now. The buildup on the ledge over the burner knobs is now shiny, and the amount of dirt and whatever else was up there that came off was a bit disturbing. The oven door handle was a breeze and the door was now reflecting images, and I got caught by my roommate making funny faces in it. It would have been great to have an attachment that could get down between the sides of the stove, instead of just spraying down there. I’ll have to put in a request to the engineers.

6:00PM
For the counters and sink, I used the larger triangle brush with a towel attached. The towels attach very easily by clipping on to the brush. You will definitely find that you will want to go down to your neighborhood home center and pick up some more towels. They’re pretty cheap and they sell them by the dozen. I suggest buying a couple bundles. I also suggest getting yourself a small plastic garbage basket to put the dirty towels in while you work.

The counters were easy enough, and the sink was sparkling clean. I wasn’t brave enough to go inside the fridge, but the outside looks brand new. Take all your pictures and take-out menus off the fridge and using the triangle brush, just wipe down the side.

The spray nozzle also worked great on the neoprene gasket, which is always impossible to clean otherwise. That’s the piece of rubber inside the fridge door.

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6:35PM
Time to change to the floor brush, another towel and attack the tiled floor. See, I told you to get more towels. I was told by someone here to put a little of orange cleaner on the towel and start cleaning. They recommended that over pouring it on the floor because it wastes the cleaner and is slippery. I used orange cleaner, because that seems to be the trend now. Remember when everything was lemon scented. Not anymore. Now it’s all orange or citrus.

I have a pretty big kitchen and lots of tile. I love my tiled floor, but when you have a four year old and cook as much as I do, it gets dirty quick, and there is only so much space under the fridge to sweep dirt. The tools maneuvered very easily under cabinets, although I recommend a quick sweeping first because those towels fill up with dirt quick and although it’s not too painful changing them, you certainly don’t want to change them every couple of minutes. Generally, it was painless and quick. For tougher stains you have to hold the steam a little longer to get the stains off the floor. There is a great smaller triangle tool included with the WhiteWing that clips on and either spays out of the bottom or if turned one click
clockwise, it sprays into the corners. Fantastic for tough to reach corners.

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Aside from moving furniture around, this part is easy. After the floors were done, I used the large triangle brush and spray nozzle to clean the radiators. Be careful not to burn off the paint on your walls and radiators. You do avoid this by pushing the steam button for a few seconds and letting go. Then run the towel over the wall or the radiator as in this case. I noticed a little of the radiator paint on the towel the first time I did it wrong. No harm done but be careful.

7:25PM
Snack in front of the TV. This is actually a very important part of the cleaning process. Breaks are very important. They are a reward for your hard work. It takes discipline to be able to get up though. The key is to watch something that’s not very interesting. Anything that’s on TV that can hook you into grabbing a pillow and blanket will hook you, and your done cleaning for the day. For the guys I suggest Lifetime Television for Women, and for the ladies ESPN Classic Sports. For this evening’s activities I have chosen the World's Worst Drivers. Fun to watch, but easy to walk away from.

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7:45PM
Time to do the bathroom. At this point I’d recommend always doing the bathroom first. Motivational speakers always recommend you do the thing that you usually put off, first, and you will meet your goals every day. I however have made the mistake of leaving the worst for last this evening.

I don’t care how much you like cleaning, there is nothing worse than getting down on all fours to clean the toilet. The only time anyone should ever be in that position is after a long night down at the pub. Here’s where the wand comes in really handy. With the exception of wiping it down with a cloth, I actually cleaned the entire toilet without having to bend over at all. That’s worth the purchase price alone if you ask me.

Next was the shower door. It’s amazing what a clean shower door looks like. The triangle brush is definitely my favorite tool at this point. I did the door inside and out. It doesn’t look brand new, but its close. The high pressure from the nozzle really got out the crud that forms in the door tracks.

The floor, sink and radiator were quick and easy. A lot of dust and dirt came out from behind the radiator, so I advise doing them first and sweeping up after before the rest of the floor. The exact opposite of what I did. We learn by trial and error.

8:30PM

I think that’s enough for me tonight. Let me sum up my experience with the WhiteWing for you.

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Maneuverability. Moving the WhiteWing around the house with all the tools, towels, and basket were a big thorn in my side. I highly suggest getting the cart accessory to put the machine and all the tools and towels in. You’ll still spend less money than buying one of the other units.

Adjusting the steam. As I said before, it’s a great feature being able to control how much steam comes out of a steam cleaner with buttons or levers at your fingertips. Whether it’s necessary for you or not is up to you. For myself it was definitely something I thought about every time I bent over, but when I thought about the difference in price those thoughts quickly faded.

Steam Pressure. I’m still waiting for technical numbers on the pressure of the steam, but I can tell you it’s as good or better that everything else I’ve used so far.

Bang for the buck. I would have to say by far this is the best Steam Cleaner value on the whole website. Those people, who have been holding off buying a steam cleaner in the past because of price, should have little excuse now. The WhiteWing steam cleaner gives the big boys something to strive towards in terms of value. I can’t wait to get one. Next time my projects are going to be the bathtub tiles, windows, rugs and mattresses.

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