Extraction canopies, filters and ductwork
Grease bakes into a hard layer that only a caustic degreaser will lift. Steam softens it with heat. Several steamers in the range, the XSTEAM 18K and INOX 6000 among them, steam and vacuum in one unit.
How our steamers work
Heat does the work.
We supply industrial dry steamers across South Africa. Heat and pressure lift the dirt, and very little water goes down.
See the steamer range Answer four questions
Every figure for our steamers is the manufacturer's own.
The mechanism
Heat and pressure do the cleaning, not water.
All bacteria and germs are killed at 100 degrees.
An industrial steamer heats water under pressure in a stainless steel boiler: 8.5 bar on the Optima range, up to 10 bar on the Steam Italy industrial units.
What leaves the gun carries very little liquid water. That is what dry means, and it is why there is so little left on the surface to dry.
A plastic-tank steam mop is a different tool. It wets the floor and lifts very little. Our domestic steamers have a stainless steel boiler like the rest of the range.
8.5 bar operating, 9.5 bar maximum, Optima range. Source: SJE Corporation.
Three kinds of dirt, three different reasons heat wins
Grease
Grease and baked-on oil.
Cold fat is a solid and warm fat is a liquid, and a liquid runs off into a cloth or a tray. Steam arrives hot enough to move the fat, which is why a canopy filter comes clean without a drum of degreaser.
Protein
Protein and slime build-up.
Blood, fat and protein bake onto bandsaw housings, mincer augers and the underside of prep tables. Scrubbing moves the top layer and pressure drives it into the joint. Heat softens the bond, so the dirt comes away instead of smearing.
Carbon
Carbonised and burnt-on grime.
Oven floors, rotisseries, proving ovens and bakery racks. Cold methods struggle most with this grime, and the usual answer is somebody's afternoon with a caustic product. Steam softens it with heat, so it comes away with a scraper or a cloth, often without the caustic.
Not sure steam will shift it?
Send us a photoWhat buyers ask
Does it work without chemicals?
The heat does the cleaning, and the steam itself needs no chemical. Several steamers can also inject detergent, for the jobs that still want it.
Will it damage the surface?
On most hard surfaces and fabrics, no. Keep steam off untreated wood, unsealed stone and open electrics. If you are unsure, send a photo and a specialist will tell you.
Temperature
Boiler temperature and gun-tip temperature are two different numbers.
Boiler temperature is the heat inside the steamer. Gun-tip temperature is what reaches your surface.
At the gun tip
Boiler
Boiler
Boiler
Water
Three to four litres a vehicle, against 150 to 300.
Surfaces
What it cleans
Find the surface closest to yours. Each card opens a sector page where that surface comes up.
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Stainless steel and food-contact surfaces
Prep tables, bandsaw housings, mincer augers, slicer guards and canopies. Heat lifts fat and protein. The Optima SE II's body is 304 stainless steel as well as its boiler, so it can be washed down where it works.
Commercial kitchens -
Tile, grout and hard floors
Grout is porous and holds what a mop pushes into it. Steam works the line, not just the tile face, with very little water on the floor.
Hospitality -
Fabric and soft furnishing
Upholstery, mattresses, curtains, vehicle interiors, foam mats and soft play equipment. Very little water goes in, so very little has to come out.
Healthcare and childcare -
Machinery, plant and equipment
Guarding, conveyor frames and gearbox housings. You clean in place, without stripping down to reach a bearing or hosing near an electrical enclosure.
Industrial, workshops and plant -
Floors, drains and junctions
Floor-to-wall junctions, drain surrounds and the gap under a fixed unit: the places that get missed, and that no cloth reaches.
Bakeries -
Vehicles and fleet
Engine bays, wheel arches, interiors, load bins and cab controls, cleaned with very little water.
Automotive and fleet -
Refrigeration and cold rooms
Door seals, evaporator fins, condensate trays and the wall junctions behind the stock. You cannot switch a cold room off to clean it and you cannot flood it.
Butcheries and cold rooms -
Outdoor areas, forecourts and yards
Paving, forecourts, bins and yards. The Optima XD, XDm and DMF heat with diesel rather than mains power, and carry their own water. Their pump and controls draw about 0.3 kW, which a small inverter handles.
See the diesel steamers
The full list goes surface by surface, with the steamers that suit each one and the few where steam is the wrong tool.
Every surface, by sector or by surface type
Filter by site or surface
Sector
Surface
Fryers, griddles and range surrounds
Baked-on fat around a fryer well and under a griddle plate is a heat problem, not a detergent problem. Steam releases it without a scouring pad.
Stainless prep surfaces and tables
The flat top is easy. The weld seams, leg sockets and underside lip are where a swab is taken, and steam reaches into a seam a cloth passes over.
Grout lines and tiled walls
A mop pushes dirt into grout, and every wet clean adds a little more. Steam and a narrow nozzle lift it back out.
Floors and floor-to-wall junctions
The floor-to-wall junction stays wet and is hard to reach. Steam cleans it, and the vacuum takes the dirt up instead of leaving a wet cove behind.
Drains and floor gullies
Drains are a known home for Listeria. Hosing moves the problem down the pipe and leaves the slime layer on the gully walls. Steam reaches the gully as heat, not more water.
Slicers, mincers and bandsaws
Washed daily, and still only hand-cleaned inside the housing, the bearing seats and the blade guard. Steam through a narrow nozzle reaches into the housing without stripping it further.
Ovens, proofers, racks and trays
Carbonised sugar and baked-on fat usually mean caustic oven cleaner, a chemical nobody wants near dough. A proofer is warm, humid and jointed, which suits mould, and you cannot soak it.
Mixers, hooks and dough equipment
Dough dries like cement in the bowl seat, the hook mount and the guard, and water turns flour back into dough. Dry steam carries very little water, so it lifts rather than wets.
Cold room door seals
Always damp, always squeezed, touched by every hand and trolley, and a common place for mould. Steam gets into the folds, and the seal dries quickly.
Evaporator fins and coils
They sit in the airflow over your stock, so whatever grows on them spreads through the room. A clean coil also runs more efficiently.
Condensate trays
Standing water in the dark, where a slime layer forms and nothing disturbs it. Steam does, and the vacuum takes it away instead of onto the floor.
Shelving and racking
Spills freeze in layers and get chipped off rather than cleaned. Steam releases them without a scraper or a bucket of hot water.
Ceiling and wall panel junctions
Condensation collects in the junction, and mould follows it. It is high up and skipped on routine cleans. Steam carries very little water, so little runs down the wall.
Conveyor belts and food-contact lines
Belt seams, roller ends and the underside of the return run hold product residue a wash-down misses. Steam runs along the belt without flooding the line.
Display cabinets and serve-overs
Glass, gaskets, a chilled deck and a drain, in a unit customers look straight into. Steam cleans the gasket and the deck without flooding the drain.
Bins and waste areas
Everyone agrees it is filthy, and nobody wants the job. Steam cleans it with litres of water, not a hosepipe.
High-touch surfaces
Bed rails, grab rails and door handles. A wipe cleans the flat face, never the hinge, the crevice or the joint. Steam gets into all three.
Mattresses
Turned and vacuumed, but rarely cleaned through, and too slow to wet-clean inside a room turnaround. Steam Italy lists mattresses among the things its steam cleaners clean and sanitise, in its published literature.
Upholstery, headboards and seating
Fabric holds odour and cannot take a wet clean inside a turnaround. Steam with an upholstery tool cleans the fabric instead of masking it with fragrance.
Curtains and blinds
Taking them down is why they do not get cleaned. Steam treats them hanging, with a hand tool.
Carpets and rugs
Wet extraction takes hours to dry and often leaves a smell. Steam with extraction uses far less water, so the room is back in use sooner.
Bathrooms and ablutions
Grout and silicone stay damp and go mouldy, and bleach takes out the colour without removing the mould. Steam treats it with heat instead.
Commodes and mobility equipment
Frames, joints, wheels and slings, gripped all day and wiped by hand. Steam reaches the joint and the wheel housing.
Soft play, mats and toys
Soft play, mats and plastic toys cannot be soaked, and their seams hold dirt. Steam reaches the seam with heat and very little water.
Engine bays
Engines are full of sensors, looms and control units, and pressure washing risks forcing water into the connectors. Dry steam carries very little water and lifts grease with heat, not pressure.
Vehicle interiors
Seats, carpets, headliners and vents. Wet extraction keeps a vehicle off the road for hours. Steam with a hand tool cleans it and the vehicle goes back out.
Wheel arches and undercarriages
Brake dust, road film and grease, where a brush does not reach. Steam releases them without the run-off that turns a wash bay into a drainage problem.
Workshop floors and bays
Oil, grease and brake dust ground into concrete over years. Steam lifts it with heat instead of spreading it around.
XSTEAM 18K · XD
HVAC and climate system coils
A fouled coil moves less air and costs more to run. Steam cleans the fin pack without bending the fins the way a pressure nozzle does.
Graffiti removal
Heat and a controlled nozzle lift paint from masonry with far less solvent than a chemical strip, and without its run-off.
XD · XSTEAM 18K
Weed control
Heat bursts the cells at the crown of the plant, with no herbicide. It needs repeat treatments, not one.
Gas burners, stoves and hob surrounds
Burner crowns, trivets and the well underneath collect fat that bakes on every service. Steam softens it in place, so the parts go back on the line instead of into a soak tank.
Beds, frames and bed rails
Frames, side rails, hand controls and the mechanism underneath are handled all day and hard to wipe properly. Steam reaches the joints and the underside of a rail without soaking the mattress or the controls.
Desks, chairs and classroom furniture
Desk tops, chair backs and the underside of a table edge, where hands go. A cloth and a spray bottle get through thirty of them slowly. Steam needs no spray.
Sleeping mats, cots and nap bedding
Mats and cot frames used by a different child every day, often stacked while still damp, which is how they start to smell. Dry steam puts very little water on them.
Baby seats, car seats and prams
Harness webbing, buckle housings and the seams where milk and food collect. Covers are slow to remove and slow to dry once washed. Steam works on the seat as it sits, with very little water.
Gym equipment and high-contact fittings
Grips, handles, benches and pads, touched by one person after another and wiped with the same cloth. Steam cleans the padding and the frame together, with very little water.
Locker rooms, changing areas and showers
Benches, lockers, tiled walls and shower grout that stays damp between uses. Bleach lightens the grout and the smell comes back. Heat treats the surface and the joint together, with very little water going down.
Marine upholstery, canvas and covers
Cushions, canopies and covers live in salt air and never fully dry, so mildew starts in the seams. Dry steam puts heat into the seams without re-wetting the fabric.
Hulls, decks and non-slip surfaces
Non-slip decking holds grime in its pattern, which a pressure washer misses or erodes. Steam lifts it out of the texture with very little run-off.
Machine frames, guards and chain guards
Oil mist and dust set into a skin on guards and frames, and a hose cannot go near the bearings and drives. Steam is aimed and carries little water, so the frame is cleaned where it stands.
XE · XSTEAM 18K
Mould tools, jigs and fixtures
Release agent builds up in the detail of a tool and the clamping faces of a jig. Scraping risks the surface, and solvent means handling and disposal. Heat softens the build-up so it comes away.
XSTEAM 18K · XE
Heat exchangers, radiators and cooling fins
Fin packs clog with dust and oil mist, and the unit runs hotter. A brush cannot get between the fins and a pressure washer folds them over. Steam passes through at low pressure and takes the film with it.
XE · XSTEAM 18K
Compressor and pump housings, pipework and valve blocks
Oil and dust coat housings and valve blocks and hide a weeping seal. You cannot hose the electrics. Steam is aimed, uses little water and leaves the casing readable again.
XE · XSTEAM 18K
Palletisers, packing line frames and product-contact guarding
Line frames and guarding collect product dust, board fibre and lubricant. The steam itself adds no chemical, and very little water goes down.
Loading bays, ramps, kerbs and dock levellers
Leveller plates take tyre rubber, diesel drips and hydraulic oil, and the lip is where people slip. Hosing sends the oil to the drain. Steam lifts it with heat and very little run-off.
XD · XSTEAM 18K
Painted line markings and the floor around them
Line markings grey over under tyre rubber and dust, and high pressure strips the paint with the dirt. Steam is gentler on the coating and cleans the concrete on either side.
Untreated and oiled timber
Heat and moisture raise the grain and lift an oiled finish, so a worktop needs sanding and re-oiling afterwards. Use a dry method and keep steam away from it.
Not this one. No steamer in either range is the right answer here.
Unsealed stone, and grout that has already failed
Porous stone takes the moisture in, so the mark goes deeper. Where grout has cracked or gone soft, steam opens the gap further. Seal the stone or repair the grout first.
Not this one. No steamer in either range is the right answer here.
Open electrical equipment and live panels
Isolate it first. Steam carries very little water, but very little is not none, and a panel that has to be switched back on is no place to experiment. Clean around it, and let a competent person open it.
Not this one. No steamer in either range is the right answer here.
Nothing in that sector yet. Clear the filter to see everything.
Not sure which one is yours?
Talk to a specialistLimits
What dry steam does not do
It does not remove spores. Clostridium perfringens and other spore-forming bacteria survive surface cleaning with steam. Cooling cooked food quickly, and keeping it hot or cold enough, controls them.
It does not fix food that has already been left out. Steam cleans the surface, not the product.
It does not replace a chemical where a regulation names one. If your protocol specifies a sanitiser, keep it.
It is not the right tool for every job. Sand, heavy mud and beach road grime come off faster with high pressure.
It needs the right distance. Work close in on a bowl, a hook or a guard, and keep back from a drive, a loom or an electrical enclosure. The training covers it.
It needs power. Every electric steamer runs on mains power, and the diesel units still draw 0.3 kW or less.
Tell us what you are up against.
Send us a photo of it. A specialist will tell you what steam will and won't do to it, and which steamer does the job, with a quote.
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