Steam for control of bed bugs, dust mites, fleas and other pests!

Laboratory and hospital based evaluations into the effect of super-heated steam on hospital superbugs have taken place in several big Hospitals using steam vacuum machines.

The laboratory evaluations initially established the rapid killing of laboratory grown hospital infection strains using superheated steam only in less than 2 seconds, including the antibiotic resistant superbugs 'MRSA' and 'VRE' which proved to be just as easy to kill using steam as 'normal' infection microbes.

This work was necessary to determine the effective killing of microbes in their own natural environment in which they embed themselves within adhesive self generated slime (Biofilm) in moist conditions such as bath, taps, showers, tiles, grouting etc.

The protective biofilm can resist powerful chemical agents for prolonged periods but the condensing superheated steam transfers its heat energy totally into the slime as it is composed of 97% water and the heat kills the organism underneath. Up to 500,000 germs can be present on one square meter of washbasin, shower tile or grout. Typically 90 - 100% of germs were killed in the bathroom environment in a 30 second exposure of toilet rims, washbasins, shower tiles and grouting.

The additional value of a powerful vacuum system is that it removes bacteria and dirt into a dust free liquid container in the body of the machine, preventing aerosols which otherwise might put microbes back into the atmosphere.

Further trials were then undertaken on mock hospital training wards and the main evaluations were carried out on patient inhabited geriatric wards over a three month period. These conditions are the most challenging due to the frequent soiling of these areas and difficulty of working, with minimal disruption, in busy working hospital wards and in patient sensitive areas.

Despite all the adverse conditions 80 - 90 % microbial kill efficiency was achieved when measured at 30 minutes after steam vacuum cleaning.

These high quality disinfection processes are very necessary to help prevent cross infection in hospitals, doctors' surgeries, nursing homes and children’s nurseries in particular, and is also of vital importance in food preparation sites. The advent of super heated steam/vacuum systems mark a major advance in the constant fight against disease-causing microbes."

The extreme temperatures of steam vapour cleaners have been proven to kill not only a wide range of pests but also their eggs meaning, unlike aggressive chemical treatments, you are eliminating two generations at once and completely breaking the breeding cycle.

The benefits of using steam to eliminate pests are many and mostly obvious.

Firstly, steam vapour is pure water and air. The actual moisture content is just 5% so they are not messy nor do they leave surfaces or materials wet and smelly, in fact, most soft furnishings including mattresses and carpets dry within fifteen minutes in average temperatures. The heat does the killing.

Steam is the most economical form of pest control.

You don’t have to isolate or close off rooms during or after treatment. You can treat a surface or article as often as you like as water vapour leaves no residue and won’t damage it. Anyone can use steam. You need very little training and no qualifications.

Steam vapour isn’t selective. You aren’t just targeting individual species; the steam kills them all as well as most viruses, germs and bacteria.

Like dust mites, bed bugs and fleas perish at temperatures above 50° Celsius. So with the temperature of steam at more than 100° Celsius, this method is very effective.

When treating rooms for people who suffer from ASTHMA or ALLERGIES it is not enough to just kill the pests as it is the waste and detritus that often causes attacks and reactions. By using the ALPINA steam cleaning machines with vacuum you are able to both eliminate the pests and remove the waste and litter, leaving the area fresh and safe for even extreme sufferers.

Most people would agree this is much better than using expensive, toxic chemicals that cause irritations and rashes to remove minute pests that cause irritations and rashes.

STEAM IS THE SIMPLE, SUSTAINABLE ALTERNATIVE FOR PEST CONTROL AND CLEANING.