hi everybody,
i want to know how a steam cleaner works, do you just
spray the cage down (i have bar cages) with the steam
cleaner, dry with a rag?

can you also use the steam cleaner on walls, furniture,
wood flooring?

any information will help.

regards,
nancy in detroit

the wagner 905 is a pro wall paper steamer. I use the floor attachment and cloth for the bars. it has a hot power steam to it. lots of other uses but great for cages. its the only steamer i recommend. its about 80 bux at a lowes

since its a power steam, it only blows a lot of steam not suction like a floor steamer. so i do wipe the cage bars dry quickly after steaming myself. works awesome. couldnt live without it myself. hope that answers some of your questions

Kristy -

Since I know you are such a clean freak(!) (I mean that in a good, "I'm so jealous" way), I take your recommendations seriously! Thanks!

thanks for the inf. kristy.

regards,
nancy in detroit

LOL alden! you know me too well! i have seen a lot of steamers but nothing has compared to this for me. I dont have to power wash the cages outside and the hot steam will technically kill just about anything if you are bringing in new gliders, quarantine etc. If its an entire deep clean in the tight crevices of the cage you can use the long bar headed attachment (if that makes sense) and actually super power steam out any cage crevices. I get my cages back to new practically when i do that. I love it and so do a lot fo others that have the steamer. Its great if you live in the freezing tundra like i do as well.

I bought the Wagner 905 for my cages, but made the biggest mess ever! I had bits of poo and food all over the floor and walls when I was finished. The cage itself DID look good though!

How do you control the mess Kristy?

It does an awesome job on what it was designed for - removing wallpaper. I had some of the old wallpaper in a downstairs bathroom that I though I would have to chisel off. The Wagner softened the glue, and I could then just peel off the paper!

LOL! I usually wipe my cages down quick beforehand with a 10% bleach solution as i'm a bit OCD. yeah if there is that much mess, definately do a quicky wipe down of tray etc. I have never flung poo or anything. are you using the floor attachment with the provided cloth that it uses? BTW i bought three extra colths online so when one is in the wash i have extras. if you use the super power steam handle that is straight like a tube, then yeah i can see where the power can fling stuff, however wiping down very quickly shaking the tray out etc, you shouldn't have these issues at all. My glider room and cages are very clean. The drop pan i have disposable liners for, so when i remove them and replace....the pan is still looking brand new.

oh and gloider kitchens are a must in this house. I have white carpet under my cages and they stay very white still. I use the standard double stack cages from A&E so its easy for things like food to get flung around if you dont use glider kitchens. the ferret igloos are what i use and i dont have a lot of vacuuming to do compared to if i didnt use them.

I have a Wagner 905 Steamer (got on sale for 50 at Costco) but I own Repts. I also use kitchens and Have a Custom Cage liner. All these things are what helps me keep everything clean.

Tish - does the steamer shrink your mesh covers on your repts? This is my biggest concern with steam cleaners, that they will shrink the mesh significantly.

Nope, never had that problem. I have done steaming on the frame and off it, I prefer on.....it's easier and dries faster.

I steam most of the time but if I think it needs it, I'll take the mesh off and throw it in the washer. Washing has caused me the shrinking, but the steaming doesn't seem to affect my mesh......I started doing the steaming thing in November and haven't had any more shrinking since.

(One of my 175 mesh I have that I know I'll have to replace sooner is the one I got first when all I did was toss it in the washer weekly......the other 175 mesh I got after I started steaming and it is in better shape than my first one was months after washing)

thank you so much!

what about the pvc cages that use that plastic hardware cloth or whatever its called- its like plastic fencing ? will the steam melt that?

I don't believe the steam will melt the vinyl coated wire or the PVC coated wire... I have a handheld McCulloch steamer that I use on my PVC coated cage... the steam is REALLY hot, but it cools quickly as well.

nope wont melt, no worries

good to know