Some time ago we posed a question on SetSail looking for a miniature pressure washer to use in the engine room for cleaning those hard-to-reach spots which we all seem to have. Nothing came of the query, nor of any research we did on the Internet.

Then a couple of weeks ago a friend mentioned a steam cleaning service in Marina del Rey. We called these folks and they came by and had a look at our relatively pristine engine room. Their gear was large, and only suitable for bilges – and the service was costly. But it gave us an idea, so we Googled “steam cleaning” equipment and came up with a bunch of resources.

We eventually settled on a”Kleenjet Delux 175″ from Daimer Industries ( www.daimer.com ). The unit appeared compact, and we figured the $395 price was worth it if we got a couple of cleaning cycles from it.

This unit, with its hoses and accessories, is about the size of a small roll-on suitcase.

Here’s a spray bottle as a frame of reference. It comes with a variety of accessories for doing windows, carpets, and walls – all of which will end up in the dumpster (or maybe the garage) but might be helpful if you used this for home and boat. The data sheet states the unit requires 1600 watts of power, and this model runs on 115 Volts AC. It holds three quarts of water, and takes about ten minutes to heat up.

Steam is blown through a long hose, into a wand, to which you affix various tips. We’ve been using a simple brush as shown here.

What we have found works best is to loosen grunge first with a degreaser and maybe some scrubbing, and then come back with the steam. The process is much faster and more thorough than any approach we’ve used in the past (and we tend to be anal about our engine rooms).

How does this look for an engine with 1900 hours of service?

Even Wind Horse’s engine room bilge has hard-to-reach places – under the genset, for example – and the steam cleaner really helps out here. We’ve also found it works well on bundles of wiring and hose, which are almost impossible to clean properly with any other approach. The amount of moisture is minimal compared to what we used to spray around with a hose. However, we are still protecting electrical gear like fuel pumps, starter motors, and switch panels (usually with plastic bags).

We have no way of knowing how long this unit will last, but we really like the way it works, and it is compact enough to stow away under a bunk (or in our case, in the “basement” under the saloon).

The website propaganda touts steam cleaning’s abilities for killing mold, mildew, and odors without the use of harsh chemicals. Taking all these claims with a grain of salt, we can still see where a unit like this would be great for dealing with a dirty bilge, or mold problems in lockers and other not-so-accessible places.