I purchased the McCulloch about a month ago; it is my first steam cleaner purchase. One reviewer seems to feel that steam cleaners in general are useless; I don't agree. I find that it is good to excellent at many cleaning tasks. This cleaner gets into cracks and crevices in the bathroom around the sink, toilet, and tub, and reaches places you cannot get with a brush. I will admit though it is not the cleaning panacea they want you to believe it is. My biggest complaint and surprise was how loud the unit is when emitting steam.

The MC1275 resembles a small vacuum cleaner in size, and like a canister vacuum it has a long power cord and a hose connecting to a wand. The cord unfortunately does not retract like a vacuum cleaner, so I'm finding it difficult to wrap up when it's time to put it away. The hose is plenty long enough to reach all around the bathroom, but again there is no storage for the hose.

To start the unit you have to make sure the hose is attached and then fill the unit with the enclosed measuring "cup"(actually 16 oz) using the included funnel. The unit is too large to fit under a faucet and it warns against filling it without the funnel, and apparently there are electrical parts exposed under the plastic by the filler hole that can be damaged, not the best design in my opinion. You can put up to 3 full measuring "cups" into the unit depending on how much run time you want; 15, 30, or 45 minutes. This works well and allows you to use just the amount you need. Once filled there is a heavy duty screw-in cap made of brass and plastic that seals the steam chamber. So you're ready to go right? Nope, go get a cup of coffee, because I find it takes upwards of 8 minutes to get up to steam. Now 5-8 minutes may not see like a lot, but when you are used to the instant-on of most electrical devices, it seems like a very long time. Think teapot and you get the idea. Note a 15 minute fill will heat faster, in about 4 minutes.

Once it comes up to steam the heater element light goes off and the thing produces a pretty forceful stream of steam. But be prepared for the noise, especially in the confines of a bathroom, it is LOUD. My ears are sensitive and I have ear protectors that I wear in my shop, when I do the lawn, and even when I use the shop vac. The steam produces a noise almost as loud as a noisy shop vac, so I choose to use the ear protectors. They really should warn you about this for a device designed to be used indoors.

One thing to note about a steam cleaner that may be obvious is it uses no detergent. It simply blasts the grime away, or just around if you let it. You have to wipe-as-you-go with a steam cleaner, so be prepared to have a few heavy rags available for your cleaning. You basically clean a small area; let some water and grime accumulate, and wipe. If the area is dusty you won't be happy with the result, so vacuum or damp wipe first. Lots of cleaning, means more clean rags are needed close by. Oh and obviously steam is hot enough to burn you. I got my hand too close to the business end of the steamer once; I won’t make that mistake again.

The wand is light and very maneuverable. It lets you get into spots I think would be impossible to get with smaller steamers that have the boiler attached to the handle. It comes with the following attachments:

1- Standard nozzle - while not an attachment per se, it is one way to clean. It produces a strong round stream of steam excellent for blasting away grime when you don’t need to brush.
2- Several small brushes - that attach to the standard nozzle. These work well cleaning fixtures and anything else you want to scrub. They diffuse the strong stream spray a bit and seem to make the steam last longer. One comes with brass brushes and did a pretty darn good job on my out door grill.
3- A large triangle brush - I found this helpful on uphlolstery or bed mattress to kill mites.  It produces a lot of steam and therefore leaves a lot of water behind.  Note if you use an extension wand and let it cool between uses, it will have to purge some water first so point it at a sink until steam comes out.
4- Two sections of wand extensions (again like the vacuum) for use with any of the attachments. Using one section is a good way to get your hand away from the steam.
5- Window squeegee - tried this and again it put out a lot of excess steam. Not sure cleaning windows is faster this way, but maybe if the window had bad grime it might be worth a try.
6- Floor attachment - has bristles for use on carpeting (did not try), or you can attach the cloth towel underneath on hard floors. I tried this on my vinyl floor and found it to be mostly ineffective. It might sterilize, but it really didn’t get up the dirt (again no detergent is used)
7- Scrub pad - basically a small round scouring pad. I have not found a use to this yet either, it appears to be abrasive so only use on something you won't scratch.

Here are some things I tried it on and results:

• Bathroom fixtures – Excellent, anything chrome in general it does a fantastic job. It really gets into the places you can’t get otherwise and sanitizes them too.
• Toilet – Excellent, ceramics are perfect for the steamer, gets those tough spots behind the seat and all around the bowl. I heard from a friend though to be careful around painted seats, it can peel the paint. I was careful, cleaned the seat quickly with no damage.
• Tub – Good, but not excellent. Mine is plastic surround, not tile. It did a great job on the chrome and mildew, but I was hoping for better luck with the dried on soap scum. It does help with the soap, but it basically just loosens it so you can rub it up with a rag. I think my B&D scum buster is better at it.
• Tub doors – Excellent, chrome doors and track come very clean and it gets all the mildew right out.
• Tile – Excellent, on the floor or on the walls. I use the small brush and the grout comes right back to white.
• Stainless steel grill sear surface – Good, with the brass brush it does a good job of loosening dried on black dirt, but is very slow going.
• Auto wheels (aluminum) – Good, but I found that some road tar tended to get smeared more than cleaned. I didn’t try on painted auto surfaces as I’m concerned it will damage the paint.
• Vinyl windows – Excellent, mine are white replacement windows that get really grimy, the steam cleaner make them look new again.
• Aluminum siding – Excellent, I know this sounds weird but my house has vinyl siding with white aluminum surrounding the windows, they tend to get black and green mildew on them and the steam cleaner kills it all.
• Vinyl siding – Excellent, I know a weird choice of cleaner again, but I have certain small spots that are in constant shade that get green with mildew. I tried the steam, going easy with the steam and trying to keep the temp down and it did a great job of killing the mildew.
• Windows – Fair, maybe I need to get the knack for it but this didn’t work well for me.
• Vinyl floor – Poor, just didn't seem to do anything and had me concerned about damaging the finish although it did not appear to do any harm.
• Radiator fins- Excellent, use with plain nozzle full force steam, downward action, use towel underneath to collect water.
• Bed mattress - Very good with triangle attachment and wand extension. Keep it moving to prevent soaking the material, got the bed good and hot to kill mites, but it dried out quickly too.

When you are done cleaning, you have to wait several minutes for the unit to cool before you can touch it. It's best to use up all the water, then you don't have to empty it. The pressure cap is VERY hot for several minutes so you can't open it or refill it for several minutes, so again plan ahead and put the right amount of water in for the job at hand.

Overall, this is a very good cleaner. It's not for every day use, but for larger jobs - especially in the bathroom, it's an excellent choice.

2008 update: I find myself using the cleaner less than I thought I would. Again it is better at bigger jobs, so setup time is a factor. One new task I found for it is cleaning my baseboard heat radiators, the kind with lots of small fins in them. I have allergies so it's a must to keep them clean and the vacuum cannot get all the dust out even if I take the covers off. So my new routine is to remove the covers, vacuum what I can, then use the steam cleaner to finish the job. I put a large towel under the radiator and steam it top down with no attachments. The fins turn back to shiny clean and you wouldn't believe how much more dirt and dust comes out!

2011 update: This unit still runs strong, very reliable.  I recently tried it on bedding with good results.  Continues to be an excellent performer in the bathroom too.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 104.99