12 best steam cleaners to make cleaning stubborn stains and dirt easy

Score: 96/100

For an outstanding mop steam cleaner, look no further than this Polti model. Its flexible joint helps you clean under furniture and kitchen appliances, and its long 7.5-metre flex means you won't need to keep switching plug sockets.

The water tank heats up in just 15 seconds, but note that it takes several seconds longer to emit steam, even when the ready light is on. There's a variable steam dial too, and we found the trigger switch on both the stick and handheld unit handy.

Performance-wise, it fared impressively on hard and sealed floors but not quite as well on carpet. The built-in bristles at the rear of the floorhead efficiently scrubbed stubborn grime off vinyl, but the bristles on the included round brush started to bend after tackling particularly stubborn food remnants.

Score: 93/100

Kärcher's most powerful steam cleaner is a large cylinder model that comes equipped with ample accessories to cover most household cleaning tasks. We found it straightforward to assemble and quiet in use.

There's no need to worry about running out of steam before you finish your floors, thanks to a large-capacity 1.5-litre water tank and 0.5-litre steam boiler reservoir. The tank heats up in a surprisingly speedy three minutes and offers a great range of steam outputs.

It scored top marks for cleaning ceramic tiles, and it left vinyl flooring shiny without the need for scrubbing. Our windows were spotless and dried quickly. And it only dropped a couple of marks in our oven and hob cleaning tests.

The main downside was that it produced a lot of steam quickly, and with that came excess water, which required some mopping up while still cleaning. But this seems a small price to pay given its all-round excellent performance.

Score: 92/100

This upright steam cleaner proved to be another reliable pick from Kärcher. An indicator light tells you when it’s ready to go, and you can choose the amount of steam required based on whether you’re cleaning wood or stone flooring.

It lifted staining from vinyl well and impressed getting rid of soap scum from our tiled floor. Its swivel design at the head made manoeuvring the mop easy, allowing for extensive access underneath cupboards.

Refilling is effortless too, thanks to the well-designed water tank that’s easy to remove. The Velcro cleaning pads are also smart; you can wash them in the machine and reuse. It has a calc filter, but we’d have appreciated a hose extension for reaching awkward spots. That said, for hard floors you can’t fault it.

Score: 89/100

Heating up in just 30 seconds, this is the ideal cleaner if you’re tight on time. The head is connected to the body of the mop via a ball joint, offering maximum manoeuvrability. Converting it to a handheld is easy too, should you need to access hard-to-reach spots. Plus, its water tank is divided to hold both water and detergent.

It proved a real all-rounder, dropping just one point on ceramic floors and showing sparkling results within 30 seconds of cleaning. It was equally impressive on the hob – ours was cleaned in 20 seconds – and reliable in the oven and on vinyl floor. Our flooring was a little wet after use, but it’s a great model for fitting in a speedy clean.

Score: 88/100

Putting in a strong performance, this affordable model was the highest scoring handheld steam cleaner we tested. Its strong jet of steam cut through burnt-on grime with ease, and it cleaned our hob within 30 seconds, after just 50 seconds of heat up time. It doesn’t have any variable settings, but the thumb trigger was responsive, so you can tailor the steam bursts to the task at hand.

It comes with an array of attachments – including a squeegee head for the shower and an angled nozzle. You can even convert it into a clothes steamer by using the accompanying steaming cloth cover.

Unsurprisingly for a handheld, it’s not one to use for large areas, and you will have to wipe away water after cleaning. But for something lightweight that’s adept at smaller tasks, this is ideal.

Score: 87/100

If you're struggling to clean awkward spaces properly, this steam cleaner can help – once you get past the fiddly assembly that requires a screwdriver, that is. It has an extra-long flex, allowing you to clean all surfaces from one plug socket, and the mop head is easy to manoeuvre, turning into corners and tilting to reach under furniture. It comes with lots of useful tools and you can order more online, but we'd have liked a window squeegee and carpet glider in the box.

Its multiple steam settings include a steam blast feature for eradicating embedded floor stains, but there's no way of telling when the steam is ready until it starts emitting. The mop head detaches at the press of a button, no handling required, but the cloths shrunk when we washed them according to the manufacturer's instructions.

It's not freestanding and the handle isn't telescopic, but it can also be used as a handheld. It's a reliable choice if you've got a lot of cleaning and little time to do it.

Score: 87/100

This super affordable steam mop from Russell Hobbs is a lightweight, multi-tasking buy. It heated up quickly and performed well when cleaning tiles and freshening up carpets. On vinyl and sealed wood floors, it effectively tackled lighter stains such as tea, but testers found it struggled with mud.

It reached all the awkward spots we tried on test, and the water tank produced ample steam for most cleaning jobs. But if you’re tackling a bigger area, you may need to refill it. It comes with detailed instructions to help you achieve sparkling results and the mop heads are easy to fit and remove.

Score: 87/100

Dropping just one mark in our vinyl floor test, this steam cleaner will serve you well if you’re looking to keep your kitchen and bathroom flooring fresh. The floor head’s polygonal shape makes cleaning corners effortless too, and the built-in brush is handy if you need to scrub stubborn staining.

The tank can hold up to two litres of water, so it can get heavy, but luckily its handle was comfortable to use. You can store tools on board, and we found it compact so you won’t need to free up too much cupboard space.

Score: 85/100

This handheld steam cleaner may be smaller but it’s no less powerful. It made light work of cleaning tough, burnt on stains in our oven test, taking just over two minutes to get it looking spick and span. It had no problems cleaning a dirty hob and tiled flooring either, plus the eight different attachments ensured awkward spaces were handled with ease.

As with any handheld cleaner, it was harder to cover large areas of flooring and you have to manually wipe away the dirty water during cleaning; however, it comes with several high-quality microfibre cloths that are perfect for the job. Our testers also found there was a little bit of dirt splatter when it came to using the small crevice tool.

These issues feel minor in the grand scheme of things, though. It’s easy to set up, compact, simple to use, and has excellent pressure; plus, it heats up in one minute, so you can get to tackling any pesky stains straight away.

Score: 85/100

This Shark steam mop offers three steam levels, so you can select the necessary setting for each task. Plus, its instructions offer comprehensive guidance on which to use and when.

Its 350ml water tank heats up in under 30 seconds, but there's no indicator light to tell you when it's ready. It cut through dirt quickly with its double-sided floorhead proving particularly useful for stubborn stains. It’s easy to deploy too – simply flip it over for twice the cleaning area per machine-washable pad, before pressing the button to release and reload touch-free.

Unlike most of the versatile designs we’ve tested, this can only be used on hard floors, but its cleaning performance was solid. Reaching under furniture and kitchen appliances was easy too and its long cord helped when moving around. It felt heavy, however, and it’s not freestanding. One to buy if you’ve got extensive hard flooring at home.

Score: 85/100

This versatile cylinder model with adjustable steam output boasts a useful “turbo steam” function for banishing stubborn stains. The handy display unit shows you when the 1.3-litre water tank is ready (in about six minutes) and when it needs refilling. All its accessories fit onboard the machine for convenience, too.

It was particularly good at cleaning ceramic tiles and sealed floors, removing muddy stains with ease. We also tried out its carpet capabilities, and it didn’t disappoint; the bristly brush at the back of the floorhead successfully scrubbed embedded dirt, softening and lifting grime without damaging the fibres.

It did splatter some dirt when cleaning smaller surfaces such as ovens and hobs, and it's bulky. Plus, a shorter flex means you may require an extension lead for larger spaces. These small issues aside, if you’re looking for a durable and efficient all-in-one, it's a worthy investment.

Score: 73/100

If you want a grab and go steam cleaner, then this is a good buy. Attaching its cleaning cloth is easy, and a six-metre long cable makes navigating your home easier. It has a sizeable water tank and it’s lightweight, too.

Testers liked the way the mop head pivots, and found it good at freshening carpets and cleaning wood floors. It removed staining from vinyl too. But if you often deal with a lot of muddy foot or paw prints, it’s not so reliable, struggling to lift heavy amounts.

Its handle isn’t telescopic either; however, you can remove the handle from the body for easy storage, making it well suited to small and big homes alike.