Putting Instagram Influencer Product Recommendations To The Test — Dupray Neat Steam Cleaner
There’s a product I keep seeing promoted on Instagram that I’ve really wanted to test out for myself. It’s those little steam cleaners that you see people using to clean anything and everything in their home, from grout to shower doors to those parts of the window that are so challenging to clean.
I’ve seen two different types of these steam cleaners being recommended. The first is the smaller handheld version, like this little Bissell Steam Shot Deluxe. (That’s an Amazon affiliate link.) I definitely liked the price on that one, and the reviews are great. But the most common complaint about those little handheld steamers is that they simply don’t hold much water, so if you’re doing a big cleaning job, they require constant refill.
So instead, I opted for the second kind, which is the type with the larger separate tank that sits on the floor and rolls on wheels. I got this Dupray Neat Steam cleaner (also an affiliate link) that comes with all kinds of different attachments.
The reason I wanted the bigger one is because (as you may have guessed from the picture above) I wanted this specifically to clean the grout in our two bathrooms. Both bathrooms have white grout, but with a 100-pound dog who loves to sleep on this cool floor during the hot summer, as well as two messy adults and a constant stream of guests using this bathroom, it doesn’t stay white for long.
Over the years, I’ve spent quite a bit of time on Pinterest trying to find all of the “clean grout easily” cleaning hacks that I can find to help me keep this grout clean, and nothing works. I’ve done the vinegar and water. I’ve done the baking soda. I’ve bought various products touted as the one.
None of them were the one. So I end up resorting to Grout Renew to make the grout look clean again, but that’s pretty time consuming, even for a small bathroom. And now that we have a much larger bathroom with grout that will need to be kept clean, there’s no way I want to have to Grout Renew the floor every few months.
So after watching Instagram reel after Instagram reel of these steam cleaners seemingly working magic on dirty grout (and other things around the house), I finally decided to spend the extra money, buy the one with the bigger tank, and test it out on my hallway bathroom grout.
Well, all I can say is buy it. Just buy it. You will want this in your life. I give this Dupray steam cleaner a very enthusiastic five out of five stars. It is amazing!
Here’s how my grout started out…
And the woman who cleans my house (which is done on a weekly basis) had just been here the day before. So before the steam cleaning, that’s what the floor would look like when it was “clean”.
Using this steam cleaner is very simple. You simply unscrew this cap on the top, fill it with water (preferably distilled water, according to many people in the comments), and screw the cap back on.
And then you plug it in and press the power button on the front. When you turn it on, the power button will be yellow. You have to wait about eight minutes for the power button to light up green, and then it’s ready to use! It’s so simple!
Cleaning is not my favorite thing to do (and that’s an understatement). I’d rather do just about anything else than clean. But y’all! This thing is FUN to use! There’s something so satisfying about watching it work its magic on this grout, and seeing the huge before and after difference. Here’s an “in progress” view of the floor.
And here’s the floor after all of the grout was steam cleaned.
I mean, just look at this! And do you know how long it took me to do the whole floor? Ten minutes! Ha! TEN MINUTES!!!
I am not even exaggerating in the least. It took ten minutes to turn the grout from the dark, dingy, dirty grout on the left to the bright, clean grout on the right.
So far, this is my absolute favorite and most impressive Instagram influencer product recommendation that I’ve tested out. I needed this in my life years ago! I’ve spent so much time on my hands and knees scrubbing the grout in this bathroom with so many different things in an attempt to find the magical cleaner, and as it turns out, that magical cleaner is steam. Just steam!
I still can’t get over the fact that it only took ten minutes. Granted, it’s a small bathroom. I think it’s about 7′ x 8′, and the bathtub and cabinets take up quite a bit of that space. But still, ten minutes to completely transform the look of the floor and turn it from grungy to clean is pretty darn impressive, especially after all of the things I’ve tried in the past to get grout clean. Amazing.
So this is a definitely five out of five stars. I highly recommend it. You can find the one I got here, but if you don’t want to spend that much on a steamer (which I understand seeing that mine sat on my wish list for four months before I decided to go for it), then try out the little Bissell. I think they both work well, but if you have bigger cleaning jobs, the bigger water tank will probably be a better choice.
If you missed my previous posts where I try out Instagram influencers’ product recommendations, you can see those here:
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
OMG. I too have spend hours sitting on the floor, scrubbing grout with a brush and every product ever mentioned. Some work OK, but the work involved is TERRIBLE. My old knees, back, and shoulders can’t keep it up…in Florida MOST of the floors are tile, so the job is enormous. I am so happy you tried this and liked it. I never expected any of them to really make a difference. Maybe I need to try one too! Thank you!
I don’t know if I am sold on it or not. I have a Bissell upright steam cleaner with removable pads and it does not clean my tile grout. I have friends who have hired a professional to steam clean their grout and their floor tiles look brand new. It isn’t cheap though. Thanks for sharing your experience.
I think the pads might be the problem. This one comes with a few little circular scrubby brushes that you scrub the grout with as it’s being steamed. I’m sure the scrubby brush has a lot to do with how well it works on grout. I can’t imagine using a pad to do this job.
You are probably right. I had a Shark Steam Mop that I got when they first came out. I figured out this fact pretty quickly. It’s just the same with a sponge mop or cloth string mop; when the fabric gets dirty, it won’t be effective at cleaning! Even with extra terry cloth covers, it took way too long, and too much effort! Also, it stated not to use on certain surfaces (like wood) and the tank was way too small for larger spaces. I also own a small clothes steamer – too small of a tank, and it has a tendency to spit steam, causing staining on clean clothes! Can you comment on whether yours had any spitting at all? Not sure if I would use it enough to justify the price.
I didn’t notice it spitting, but since this one is for cleaning and not for clothing, I’d probably be less likely to notice it if it did.
I have the steamer as recommended by Miss mustard seed blog. She had used it to clean the threshold to her Door Wall. I got it on sale at the time on Amazon. I took it to my sons house, which had been neglected due to illness and steamed the whole house. I cleaned the grout, I cleaned the baseboards. I steamed the front of the cabinets I cleaned the appliances and also there is a terry cloth larger attachment that you can use to clean walls. It dissolves the dirt and has to be wiped up with a towel. The scrub attachment is the most valuable attachment , one suggestion is to use distilled water so you don’t have to clean the machine with vinegar at intervals.
Which model did you end up getting?
Hot dang! I know what I’m putting on my wish list. Thank you ❤️
Thank you!! My half bath grout looks just like yours did! I’ve also tried multiple cleaning options and none of them seem to do much at all. I think I need to head to the site and order.
LOL! I spent months coloring the grout in my kitchen, entryway and breakfast nook black because I was so tired of trying to get and keep them clean. This probably would have been faster 😛 Thanks for the recommendation because the grout already probably needs to be deep cleaned again even though you can’t tell it now.
Ruth, I truly thought of doing that, even very recently. Then my husband said that is a really big job! I thought it was easier, but I guess not. I hate grout I think!
Word of advice. If the instructions did not tell you to use distilled water, take my advise and do so. It will extend the life of your steamer. Even filtered water from the fridge still has stuff in it that will clog up the steamer over time. My first only lasted a year because I was using filtered water. Current one is close to 5 years old and going strong.
Glad I read your comment. I will use the distilled water.
I’m glad you put this in your blog. I have spent many hours sitting on my bathroom floors with a dish of Comet and one of those green scouring pads keeping my grout clean. And, you are correct about the grout renew. It is a big pain to do that. I’m going to check out this large steam cleaner immediately. You did good.
If you use only distilled water in them, they last longer.
Using tap water will inevitably cause them to get build up in them and break.
I have the Dupray Steamer and absolutely LOVE IT!!! It’s great for cleaning windows too, especially on multi-paned french doors. I hated cleaning my french doors and this steamer makes it so much easier and they’re clean in half the time!
My first thought as I was reading the post, before seeing the comments was “use distilled water” to save clearing the minerals from the steamer.
I have a Bissel Poweredge 2-in-1 and I love that it will do floors and come apart to power clean other things like grout but it has a small water chamber so on big jobs I’m having to refill. I’ll have to put the Dupray on my wish list.
I NEED THIS NOW! Wow what a difference, I could even do the shower walls. Thank you so much for telling us about this.
Not that this will help you now, but I was told by a tile installer it was worth it to splurge for this urethane grout to avoid stains and the need for difficult cleaning. (This was for a kitchen backsplash in which we cook a lot). I will tell you that messy spaghetti sauce, coffee, and other splatters clean up with just water on my very light grey grout. Something to think about if you have future tile installations. I could have used this info in our former bathroom walk-in shower. It took HOURS to clean all that grout!
https://www.bostik.com/us/en_US/catalog/product/construction/nam/united-states/product-trucolor-rapidcure/
While it may be harsher on the grout, when needed I spray some Scrubbing Bubbles with bleach on the grout, let it sit for a few minutes, wipe it up and I’ve got white grout again! Hardly takes any time and I’m done!
Is this also used for cleaning mold from grout in showers?
Now I want a bathroom floor with tile and grout and a steam cleaner. 😉 I’ll have to check out the reviews for what else it can do. Specifically window tracks and inside my minivan.
The cleaned tile looks great.
There is a reason all my grout is either charcoal grey or solid black! 😊
This is great, I may have to invest. I hate housework even more than you. I blame some missing gene that everyone else has. We moved to Arizona and though we have lots of carpet (🤢🤢) we have a ton of tile as well. My fella thinks carpet = luxury, I hate it more than housework and we’ve already established that bar. I’ll even recommend it to a neighbor too!
Thanks Kristi. I value your opinion.
On the dupray steam cleaner did you get all the gizmo attachments too? And the floor pads?
Influencers are “pay for play” – they make money if they write reviews and get click-throughs on products. It’s simply a marketing scheme, and influencers (I hate that word) make money from driving traffic to a products and generating sales.
I consider that the least reliable source of information about a product.
To be clear, I’m an Amazon Affiliate as well. If people click on my links and purchase, I make a commission. I just don’t make the bulk of my income by influencing people to purchase products. I’ve chosen a different route, but I do still make money on affiliate products. Readers can determine if they trust my suggestions or not, but the main reason I don’t do sponsored posts is because I don’t want to be tempted to be influenced by the money (and there’s a TON of money in sponsored posts) at the expense of integrity. That doesn’t mean I won’t ever do a sponsored post again, but it would have to be for a product that I’m certain I know, use, and love. But I can honestly say that I love this steam cleaner, with or without the potential for affiliate income.
I’ve purchased a few things recommended by influencers, and have only been dissatisfied once. I will say that sometimes I’ve found an item sold for a lower price a few months later, which is not pleasant, but I am still happy with my purchases. And I won’t hesitate to tell the influencer if I find a better price (in a DM of course), and they will often go back to the company and get a better deal by telling them. Just because they are promoting the product, if I find a better price, I will buy that deal and still tell them it’s out there, in case they want to pursue it.
Thank you, thank you, a thousand times thank you. I’ve noticed a wear pattern in my brick floor and I’ve been meaning to find some way to clean it and then reseal it. THIS DID THE JOB.
I don’t know how to post a picture, or even if I can, but it’s amazing.
Yay!! I’m so glad it worked for you! I’m a little bit addicted to steam cleaning things now. 😆 I’ve never enjoyed cleaning grout in my life until now.