Few tools in your cleaning arsenal can do it all — carpets, grout, hard surfaces, plus disinfection and deodorization — while also being truly green. Steam vapor equipment in the right configuration accomplishes these goals and more, including mediating infection risks from MRSA and other emerging pathogens.

Green carpet care
Among the benefits of vapor cleaning carpets is that it cleans and sanitizes without chemicals, kills molds and pathogens, deodorizes, leaves no residue, causes no noticeable change in texture or appearance of the face fibers, and dries in 15 to 20 minutes, much faster than traditional extraction cleaning. It is best suited to smaller areas of carpeting, such as that in homes or offices, and is especially effective for carpet spotting.

Green grout and hard-surface care
Steam vapor also enables deep cleaning of grout and other porous and non-porous surfaces — without harsh chemicals or hard scrubbing — removing deeply embedded or sticky soils and eliminating mold at the source, all in less time and with fewer chemicals than required by traditional methods.

Green disinfection and deodorization
Lastly, newer types of steam vapor equipment disinfect surfaces in less time than required by topical chemical disinfectants, and with a higher margin of user safety, eliminating infection risks due to contamination by emerging pathogens such as MRSA, VRE and C. difficile endospores.
   
David Mudarri, Ph.D. and former senior indoor air quality scientist for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, suggests that, “[newer] steam vapor technology has resolved the dilemma posed by cleaning and disinfecting agents that must use potentially harmful chemicals and/or long dwell times to be effective.     
   
Those interested in green cleaning, health and the environment, should review the data validating this new technology using treated steam vapor from tap water as the only ingredient. Tests consistently demonstrate effective disinfection of a variety of bacteria, viruses and mold with a seven-second application of the system.”