Santa came early!

[Muse]

My dear husband got me the steamer I wanted for Christmas. It is a Daimer (pronounced Dime- er) KleenJet Pro Plus 300CS.

 

He knew I was excited, so he let me go ahead and open it. (We have no human kids, no family here, so holidays are on our terms).

 

As parent of two very copious poop-producing African Greys, and seven smaller birds, I have to say I am in love with this machine. I have three bird stands, five cages downstairs, a small stand upstairs and two sleeping cages upstairs. This machine is going to be a huge time saver for me! The old way was to drag the cages out and hose them off. We bought a handheld (cheap) steamer, but it took forever and ran out of water constantly, because it did not have enough steam and pressure to clean efficiently.

 

I knew the KleenJet was coming today, so I did not drag the playstands out for washing over the weekend. So they were a day or two overdue, and very dirty. We have been having out-of-cage breakfasts as well. We rotate who gets to eat in the playroom, and Mar and Meg are eating in the kitchen. So all three playstands were a huge mess. Poop, food, and we had two pumpkins this week. HUGE mess.

 

I read over the manual. It's in English, easy to read, and has good illustrations. Operation of the unit is pretty straight-forward.

 

It holds 2 liters of water per fill. The filler bottle has a special top that only lets the water out when you press it down so you can turn the bottle upside down to put the spout in the tank without spilling a drop. After filling the tank (2 bottles) with distilled water, I turned it on. It is quiet, making some soft noises as it was heating up. Time to steam was not quite ten minutes.

 

Once it was steaming, I tested it out and the pressure and amount of steam were perfect. It is SO much more powerful than my small handheld was. That bird poop didn't stand a chance!

 

The unit isn't heavy. It is about the size and weight of a canister vacuum cleaner. The hose is a perfect length and the handle felt very easy to hold in my hand. The buttons are very intuitive and easy to use for switching between low steam pressure, medium and high as well as off. I used the "steam lance" attachment which also allows you to ad a nylon detail brush to the tip, which is great for scrubbing those hard to clean spots. Between the steam power, which has three pressure setting choices, and the brushes, I had no problems getting the stands nice and clean.

 

When the water runs out, the steam stops and a 'low water level' light comes on. You just open the lid to the tank, and pour water in. No stopping the machine, waiting for it to cool down, or waiting for it to heat back up. Once filled, you go right back to cleaning. I love it. It sure saves a lot of time over the handheld - which DID have to be cooled, filled and reheated after it ran out - which was about every fifteen minutes with its tiny, tiny reservoir! I love that the KleenJet holds so much - two liters(compared to the handheld at 500mL)! I ran through two full tanks and cleaned two big and one small bird stands, without down time!

 

I love the fact that it was not only cleaning off the food and poop, but was sanitizing at the same time.

 

Added bonus, the windows were all steamed up and the room was pleasantly warm and humid, which I am sure is good for the birds and the plants.

 

They seem to market these more for house cleaning (bathrooms, ovens, floors, and getting rid of bedbugs). I am sure that bird cage and stand cleaning is only a fraction of what this thing can do.

 

I think this is a great tool for bird owners. It wasn't cheap, but I am sure it is going to pay for itself as I buy less Poop-off (and other cleaners around the house). And I feel it will keep my birds healthier as I know their homes are going to be cleaner, with less germs. Now to find a home for the handheld...

 

EDIT: NOTE - if you are considering getting one of these - I had previously used the handheld in the same room with the birds as it made only a soft hiss. I would just put let Mar and Meg bunk up in one cage while I cleaned the other and so on for the little birds. Not so much with this one as they seemed to get kind of upset over it running. This one has a pretty loud hiss and makes a bit more noise. Not bad, kind of like a fan running without the wind noise. But the birds did not seem to like it. I only cleaned the stands in the kitchen and playroom tonight, and made Daddy take the Greybies upstairs while I cleaned. I suspect it was the louder hiss they did not like. But unlike smaller ones, this one is probably not good to operate with birds in the same room while cleaning.

Edited December 24, 2013 by Muse
added information

[murfchck]

Congrats on your present! We also have no human children so our Christmas is about the same here, on our terms, lol. Our gifts came Sunday while at the mall getting my glasses. We stumbled on a store that made phone covers with pictures you can email to them. I walked away with 4 different phone covers all of the fiddos! Even my husband got one. It was a small fortune but these things are so cool, I am really wanting to go back and get more because I got home and found better pictures! lol

[Michellec]

Wonderful gift! I never thought about using a steamer to clean the cage! I have a handheld test came as a bonus when we purchased our floor steamer. I'll try it next time I clean Nalas cage. Merry Christmas!

[BaileysPapa]

The birds may get used to the sound of the new steamer. Remember, our OCD babies don't accept change so well. Good luck with YOUR new toy! BTW, no human children here either.

[Talon]

What a wonderful review, I have been the thinking of investing in a steam cleaner for a couple of years but wanted a good one. The only thing holding me back is idont understand what kind of a mess it makes. Also do you remove all the perches and toys? I have hard wood floors and am concerned about the cleanup mess.

[Talon]

Yikes, I just saw the price......perhaps I will shop for a cheaper model...it's out of my price range!

[Timbersmom]

Sounds nice! I got this one http://www.wayfair.com/Gruene-Clean-System-Steam-Mop-and-Hand-Held-Steamer-with-Exclusive-Multi-Purpose-Attachments-GR-2N1-GRUE1000.html several months ago. We are very pleased with it so far. Works great on the cage and on the hardwood and tile floors.

[Talon]

When youdo the cages, what does the walls and floor look like when you are done? Do you have a wet mess to clean up?

[Timbersmom]

I don't. Of course, mine probably isn't as powerful as the one Muse got (probably less output). It gets the job done a lot easier though.

[Talon]

So no floor clean up after? Just cage stuff? And do you take all the toys and perches out or can you leave them?

[Timbersmom]

I leave the toys and perches. I clean the perches with the steam and run it over the toys too. The toys come out for washing, but I figure the steam gives them a little disinfect. The length of time you focus the steam determines how wet it gets, so cardboard type toys just get a sweep. The only time I remove them is if they are in my way in an area I'm cleaning. Most of the time I can just hold them up. Most of the steam can be directed into the cage. I let the paper in the bottom cage any runoff in there and change it after. I pull the cage away from the wall to do the back side, so that most of the runoff goes in the bottom tray. What little moisture is on the floor is on tile in my case, so I just wipe it up with a paper towel. Could just put newspaper around it too to avoid that. Maybe someone else will chime in with their experience. I know others here use steamers.

[Talon]

Thank you'll so much, I have been trying to get a visual of that for so long here....thank you for finally helping me to understand the process. I haven't done a deep can on my cages for a long time as I can't get them out the doors, but i think now I will invest in a steamer to get them really clean.

[Muse]

Congrats on your present! We also have no human children so our Christmas is about the same here, on our terms, lol. Our gifts came Sunday while at the mall getting my glasses. We stumbled on a store that made phone covers with pictures you can email to them. I walked away with 4 different phone covers all of the fiddos! Even my husband got one. It was a small fortune but these things are so cool, I am really wanting to go back and get more because I got home and found better pictures! lol

 

That sounds SO cool! I am getting a new Blackberry in a few days. Maybe I can find some like that here!

 

I did have some photo bumper stickers made for our cars as a surprise to my husband. I used the picture I have as my avatar, and the caption was "Love comes in shades of Grey" ... evidently, since I seem to live under a rock, I was unaware that there is some dirty book out that has "shades of grey" in the title? My husband got a laugh, and I got to be embarrassed when he explained to me how people are going to interpret our stickers. Ugh.

[Muse]

When youdo the cages, what does the walls and floor look like when you are done? Do you have a wet mess to clean up?

 

With mine, there is a lot of 'blow off', which then has to be mopped/swept off the floor. No water, just food, poop, etc. And don't ever forget to remove a food bowl. UGH.... dry food goes EVERYWHERE when hit with a blast of pressurized steam.

 

That Gruene one looks really nice, I just needed one that was a bit more powerful and would last a long time as we have future plans for it. This has a user-replaceable heating element which was a big selling point for us. We are planning a huge aviary in the near future, and would like to start doing rescue at some point, so I am counting on this machine doing large-scale cleaning duties at some point.

[aerial.2000]

I saw the price too and it made my wallet cringe however perhaps a less costly unit might be good. I take marco's cage out in the summer time no problem and use the hose but the real problem is the winter time I definately need to look into getting one

[Inara]

What a great product review, and what a NICE Santa you have!! I'll really be looking forward to your aviary project and eventual rescue work. You're a good soul. <(')

[Timbersmom]

Yes, we were just "testing the waters" when we bought this one. If we keep using it like we do now, I might take the plunge and get a nice one like yours Muse! So far, it is holding up well. We've been using it for about 6 months. I suspect it won't last for the long haul. In items like this, I think there is a lot of truth in "you get what you pay for."

[Muse]

Yes, we were just "testing the waters" when we bought this one. If we keep using it like we do now, I might take the plunge and get a nice one like yours Muse! So far, it is holding up well. We've been using it for about 6 months. I suspect it won't last for the long haul. In items like this, I think there is a lot of truth in "you get what you pay for."

 

I did a LOT of research on this. Steam for cage cleaning actually wasn't my idea - I have been a long time customer of Windy City Parrots, ever since we got the Greybies, and it was the topic of one of Mitch Rezman's wonderful Sunday newsletters - where he pointed out that our usual method of hose and water allowed water to get inside places in the cage body that would eventually lead to rust and the need for a new cage. Which is strange coming from a place that SELLS cages - you'd think they would WANT people to need to buy new cages. I have found they care more about customers taking good care of their birds than they do about sales, which is one reason I am still a customer there. That was when I started using the hand-held steamer but it was simply too under-powered. It took forever to loosen even one 'splat' and by that time I'd run through a significant amount of the reservoir.

 

The main reason we invested in the big one was the thought that eventually it will be more than one small and four big cages, and three bird stands. At some point, if we start doing rescue, we will need a machine that can do a heavy-duty job. My husband liked that the element can be replaced. I like the POWER and how fast I can clean. It is a bit more messy than the small one (by virtue of higher PSI pressures that tend to "blow" things around. They suggest putting towels behind what you are cleaning. I think I will try that when I clean cages. I am going to try to put together a video of this thing in action if I get time.

 

I never ask for other expensive gifts like jewelry (don't wear it - not even earrings), or cruises, or new cars. My Santa usually gets off pretty cheap, except where our fids are concerned. I figured this was one gift that would literally keep on giving every single time I clean. And with our sights set on building a huge aviary, and taking in more birds, that is going to be a LOT of giving!