Kmart Anko Handheld Steam Cleaner

It's boiling steam... Everywhere – Did a test run before actually cleaning, it generates steam out of the spout at a fairly decent pressure hence the two stars. Fatal flaw is that the handle heats up to unbearable levels, and steam comes from every nook and cranny including where you need to place your thumb to activate the nozzle. May be a defective unit, but a very dangerous defect which can steam burn your fingers. Returning for refund

Must have in every home! – Was looking for a hand held steamer to use for our regular bi-yearly house inspection and saw rave reviews on steamers to clean hard areas of the house like the stove top and grout in the bathrooms. Checked bunnings and the steamers costs more than $50. Out of sheer luck, Kmart released this amazing product for $25 and had to drive to a shop that didn't have this out of stock.

This thing is a-ma-zing! The steam jet clears built on grease on the stove top and inside the oven as well. Cleaned my entire kitchen with this.

Also used it on my carpet that has flattened due to being stepped on a lot in the living room area. It made the carpet fluffy again.

It's great on soap scum in the bathroom as well especially on those hard to reach areas that a bristle brush can't reach.

The window glass attachment with the squeegee makes dirt on the glass easy to clean.

Haven't used on clothes yet but it also has an attachment. With the amount of steam coming out, I bet there'd be no issues with it.

Only qualm with it is that the water compartment is only 1 cup (250mls). So if you were like me that used it in my entire house to clean, you'd find yourself refilling this baby a lot.

Useless after the first use – Worked okay at first but the cap will NOT come off to use again. I read and followed the instructions carefully but the cap will not budge. Show details

Unsuccessful – Bought this to clean the grout in the shower but not successful. Haven’t tried it on anything else so only giving it 2 stars as the grout was the reason of buying it. Show details

Not worth the trouble – Not worth the trouble. The cap to open and refill with water is difficult and it has to be filled every 10 minutes. I guess for $32 you can't expect to much. I've bought a lot of Anko products and have been very happy. This one is a definite no from me. Doesn't clean well either.

The answer to Your "I cant get the cap off!" dilemma – FYI The pressure caps on this product are NOT faulty at all, they are designed with multiple safety features in place to minimise as much as possible, the risk of harm or injury to any person, especially children, trying to remove or playing with the cap. these pressure caps are designed to be virtually impossible to remove while the cannister… Read more

itself is under pressure.

I noticed through my own personal experience, yes i own one... once you are finished operating the machine, when you turn the machine off KEEP A HOLD OF THE TRIGGER MECHANISM to release ALL the pressure - until the hissing stops. Allow approx 5-10 mins depending on quality of machine to allow device to cool enough to release the cap. BEFORE trying to release the cap, AGAIN HOLD THE TRIGGER MECHANISM DOWN to ensure all pressure is released (no hissing sound), then by pushing down on the pressure cap as you would a medicine bottle, turn ANTI Clockwise - 2 turns whilst continuing to hold pressure cap down. Release pressure cap and gently turn without pushing down to unscrew completely. There is basically no other way of doing it without possibly causing yourself or someone else harm.

Hope this post helps you all out Keify George

Can’t open screw cap so can’t use a second time – Bought this. Love the first use but couldn’t open lid, despite trying repeatedly. Thought it faulty, exchanged it for new one. Same problem for the second one. Tried all the hints on this website from others who have experienced same problem. No luck. Waste of time, money and energy and now I’ve got a sore hand from trying to open it. Would be a great product if it worked more than once! Ridiculous. Show details

Absolute rubbish – As other reviewers have experienced, I was unable to use this steamer as it was impossible to get the cap off. I finally tried jimmying it open and broke the plastic. I wish I had read the other reviews before purchasing and saved myself the frustration. Unable to return as I didn’t keep the receipt. Total waste of money, time and effort. Show details

7 out of the last 8 Reviews tell you the problem – The cap is impossible to get off. I spent ages attempting it. I finally got it off filled the tank, steamer worked for maybe 15 seconds and you had to refill - but I couldn't because as prev. reviews have said - you cant get the cap off. Taking it back tomorrow. THis is a product not fit for purpose and that batch should be removed fr. KMart Shelves. Show details

Useless – Worked great to clean. Unable to open lid after first use. Wasted 30 minutes trying to open it. Turned it on and off over and over and it won't budge. Show details

Poor pressure and my cap won't come off – So I wanted to use this device to clear some cobwebs and some grubby surfaces on my balcony. It barely made the tiniest difference. I thought "okay that's disappointing, I'll just refill it and try it on my clothes and in the shower" Then I came to the same point that everyone else here has reached. The damn cap doesn't come off. I've tried… Read more

everything from releasing all the pressure to heating device up and holding down the lock switch while attempting to remove the cap.

It just won't budge at all. I'll returning this absolute garbage. Not pleased at all

Not very good at all – unfortunately with Kmart items its very hit and miss This one, unfortunately, to me, is a miss! I bought this to use it for car cleaning however it's pretty useless. Steam last about 30 seconds before I have to let it heat up which makes it below average. I can clean the stove with it if I am quick enough and I will say, it helps with that. I… Read more

mean, I don't know what else to say about it. The brushes are pretty useless too as I found them to just melt and bend so they don't even last long.

Not worth buying – I bought the steam cleaner today was looking forward to using it , tried it out in the kitchen, tiles taps, around the sink, started of good , then steam started coming out near where you hold it to use , burning my fingers, very dangerous, emptied it packed it away taking it back, guess you get what you pay for Show details

Not highly recommended – Used it to do our dining chairs, not the best, constantly dripping even though I had followed all the correct steps. After every use I would clean it out and refill but I found it useless Show details

Stopped working after 3 uses – Worked really well for as long as it lasted but randomly stopped working after a few uses. Wouldn't recommend as it should have lasted longer. If you're looking for something that you only need once or twice then this it for you otherwise, it is a waste of money. Show details

Literally exploded after 5 uses – After around 5 uses, a loud explosion occurred inside the body of the steamer. Luckily I was not hurt by the explosion. Needless to say, the unit was non-functional after this. Show details

Doesn't work as advertised – Based in product reviews gave this product a try with bathroom tiles and oven cleaning on mind. Following instructions unplugged device from mains when control lamp went off. Design flaw 1, unlike a kettle, this device doesn't have a detachable electrical cord, so you must carry a lead with you as you deal with hot steam, slippery, wet surfaces.… Read more

Design flaw 2, the aperture for cooling the device relies on a 10mm diameter hole in the top. So it takes a long time to cool down to repeat. Fatal design flaw 3, steam lasts for 30 seconds only. Not enough time to see any improvement of tiles that I tried to clean or grouting. When tipping out the water to empty, there is as much water as when first started using included measuring cup. Definitely returning goods!

Fantastic steamer for $25 – This steamer is amazing works a treat on windows and tiles - not so great in the oven but for the price you pay its definitely amazing value for money. The only downfall is the attachments are flimsy and snap but the steamer itself is sturdy and well constructed. Show details

Hand held steam cleaner – I would just like to say that I had one of these steam cleaners I borrowed it to clean my oven took a week but by the end of the week my oven was perfect no grime or fat anywhere Steam did it's job and I am buying one because these Steamers are awesome Going to keep my stove clean and my shower floor white they are not useless and you need to wait till it has cooled down to touch the top

Extra use for steam cleaner – With the cleaning pads removed this is an excellent method of killing grass and other weeds from between pavers or pebble gardens without the use of chemical weed killers - David Shuttler, Montrose, Tasmania

Don’t waste your money – Steam that came out of it was high pressured and it would work well only that every time I held down the button to get it going the steam was coming out of it and burning my finger. So that is why I am saying don’t waste your money. Maybe i just had a dodgy one. The lid was a pain in the butt to open also. Show details

Waste of money – Thought I would try this product as heard some positive reviews, firstly some parts were missing from the box as were the instructions. The water doesn't last long and it's a pain to refill constantly, the steam is not hot enough and there is no pressure. You need 2 things when it comes to steam cleaning, hot steam and high pressure this had neither. Will be returning for a refund today. Show details

Returning back to store – Just brought this today, followed the instructions to a T and low and behold the results were disappointing to say the least. I let it heat up for 5 min and could hold my hand directly in front of the steam it was lukewarm enough, there was barely to none pressure. I rechecked the plug, the lid and nossel, they were all on as tight as could be. I… Read more

will be returning to the store. If they have any in stock left I will try a replacement and hope for a better result. Apart from it not preforming at all I will say it does come with a great bunch of attachments, the machine its self is quite heavy.

Cleaned years of stubborn water spots and soap scum – Ran my shower for 5mins to 'warm up glass', steamed and lightly scrubbed the stubborn soap scum and water spots with the little brush attachment (especially the bottom of the glass) and then wiped it all away with a cleaning cloth. Took 15mins total and now looks brand new. I used it to steam and scrub the shower tiles and grouting which was… Read more

built up with soap scum that just wouldn't budge - wiped clean off, no effort or scrubbing required.

Will probably only need to use it in bathroom once a month to tame any build up.

Highly recommend buying one of these. $25 from Kmart and does an amazing job.

Useless, impractical product – Used on bathroom tiles, didn't really remove the brown/black grime in between tiles even with the brush. Each refill only lasts for a minute or less. Steam needs to be released and cooled down before being able to refill the steamer with water and re-boil. Do not buy, impractical and useless product.  Show details

Didn't work on glass hard water stains – Bought this after reading the reviews on here. Using the glass attachment, the steamer did not remove all the calcium deposit from hard water and soap suds from the shower glass - glass still looks cloudy when dry. With a bit of scrubbing using the brush, the streamer did a great job cleaning the grout and tiles. Shower floor looks really… Read more

clean. Just a warning that you shouldn't press too hard or scrub using the brush as that will distort it and Kmart does not sell accessories for this streamer separately. Overall I would still recommend it as its cheap and easy to use.