As global environmental degradation worsens, an increasing number of multi-functional home appliances have emerged on the market. This year, a type of "steam cleaner" has appeared in China’s home appliance market. In no time, nearly 100 models from dozens of major brands have sprung up like mushrooms, and they can be seen everywhere in high-end department stores and online shopping malls. So, can the "steam cleaner"—hyped by merchants and sought after by consumers—really kill germs?

First, we need to understand the principle of steam cleaning and germ killing: it quickly heats tap water (easily accessible to urban residents) to a high temperature to form mist-like "dry steam", which is then sprayed at high pressure onto the surface of objects to be cleaned and into hard-to-reach crevices. This breaks down dirt and kills germs with steam.

According to research, a temperature of 61.5°C can kill pathogenic streptococci; 80°C can kill most phytopathogenic bacteria, yeasts, molds, and all viruses except hepatitis B virus. Moreover, most bacteria cannot survive in environments above 130°C. It is clear that the key to germ killing lies in the temperature of the steam.

Germany’s authoritative DakkS Laboratory conducted experiments on Kärcher (a German brand) steam cleaners and confirmed that this product can kill 99.99% of common household bacteria. Continuous high-temperature steam above 140°C and pressure greater than 3 bar completely destroy the living environment of bacteria, achieving deep cleaning.

The concept of "steam-based germ killing for a healthy environment" has been widely accepted in Europe and America. With the launch of Kärcher Germany’s 2014 Steam Sanitization Year project, the cleaning concept of "steam germ killing" was introduced to the Chinese market. More and more Chinese people—especially families in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou—have begun to use this new type of home appliance to "steam sanitize" kitchens, bathrooms, dining rooms, children’s toys, tableware, etc., with a germ-killing effectiveness of up to 99.99%.