FULL STEAM AHEAD!

Designed to blitz bacteria and dirt from surfaces, steam cleaners can also be used to clean mattresses and upholstery to help tackle the spread of Covid-19. Here are our top three…

BEST CYLINDER STEAM CLEANER

Kärcher SC 5 Easyfix

Premium £499.99; kaercher.com 93/100

Water tank capacity: 2 litres; Weight: 6kg; Cable length: 6m

This steam cleaner has a large detachable tank and a powerful maximum steam output. It effortlessly left our vinyl floor sparkling and scored highly for cleaning ceramic tiles, ovens, hobs and windows.

BEST HANDHELD STEAM CLEANER

Hoover Steamjet Handy SGE1000 £49.99; hoover.co.uk

86/100 Water tank capacity: 0.37 litres; Weight: 1.74kg; Cable length: 5m

This handheld cleaner concentrates its steam, minimising splattering. It rapidly cleaned the inside of our oven and the wide window squeegee quickly covered large panes of glass. It offers wet and dry steam modes, but takes a while to heat up.

BEST UPRIGHT STEAM CLEANER

Polti Vaporetto SV440 Double £82; Amazon 92/100

Water tank capacity: 0.3 litres; Weight: 2.4kg; Cable length: 7.5m Cleaning under furniture is easy due to the flexible head on this great-value model. There’s a variable steam dial and trigger switches on both the stick and handheld unit. It cleaned most surfaces but struggled with embedded carpet stains.

HOW WE TESTED We tested 25 steam cleaners on a range of surfaces, such as vinyl flooring, windows, carpets and tiles, to see how well they tackled tough stains, including baked-in jam, boiled-over milk, gravy and mud. We also checked that the cleaning cloths didn’t shrink in the wash.