Morphy Richards 12-in-1 Upright and Handheld Steam Cleaner review

The Morphy Richards 12-in-1’s name should give you a bit of clue that this is a steam cleaner that’s designed to tackle a bit of everything, with bundled accessories covering everything from carpet and solid floors to wall tiles. While it looks like a traditional steam mop, it also has a pull-out hand-held unit, so you can quickly swap from using it upright model to getting up-close and personal with stains that aren’t on the floor.

Design

While you shouldn’t really be buying a steam cleaner for its looks, the Morphy Richards 12-in-1 is impressively sleek. It stands upright unassisted, clicking into place on its cleaning head, so that you can take a break mid-clean or store it easily in a cupboard. Once upright, I found it a bit of a struggle to click it out again when I wanted to get some cleaning done.

The lack of buttons and settings, compared to the Vax Steam Fresh Power Plus is notable, with no variable steam settings in sight. The handheld cleaner, that contains the water tank, can be used to clean walls and other surfaces, with multiple brushes, nozzles and a squeegee that can be clicked into place for practically any task. When the handheld is housed within the mop, the Morphy Richards can be used to clean both hard floors and carpet thanks to the supplied carpet glider.

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The 0.4-litre water tank capacity is twice that of the excellent Karcher SC1, with a respectable 14 minute rigorous steam time and a warm-up time of just one minute. The lightweight 2.1kg mop meant I could carry the Morphy Richards around the place with ease, while the handheld weighs just over 1kg.

The steam control is powered by a trigger located on the handle of the mop, as well as on the handle of the handheld when detached. The Morphy Richards 12-in-1’s water tank cap can easily be opened during use, so you can refill on the go: the water isn’t heated in the tank, so it’s safe to open this. There’s a light on the on/off switch that lets you know when it’s turned on.

Cleaning Performance

Tackling grout on the kitchen wall was relatively straightforward with the Morphy Richards handheld and I started to see decent results around the two-minute mark following constant use. After a while , my arm became incredibly tired, especially given the cleaner’s leverage, with the handle being at the very end of the cleaner. You’re possibly supposed to hold the body of the handheld with your other arm, but as that area is pretty much the entirety of the water storage tank, it became far too hot to hold.

It would have benefited from a hose attachment like that on the Karcher SC1 handheld. That means you can rest the device on the floor or kitchen worktop as you work. In addition, the attachments are only twisted into place and not particularly tightly, as a result they often became loose in use.

The steam mop was somewhat disappointing, struggling to clean up basic spills and stains. The Morphy Richards 12-in-1 broke up the breakfast spill relatively well, but required a decent amount of time and effort, having to really put my back into it to see any positive results. Steam power was lacklustre overall and would have benefitted from at least a little bit of variable steam control, such as the comparatively priced and frankly better, Vileda Steam Mop.

Conclusion

Overall, the Morphy Richards 12-in-1 is a bit of a disappointment. Its handheld, while giving decent results, isn’t spectacular, becoming cumbersome and uncomfortable to use, especially with a full tank of water. While the Vileda Steam Mop is basic and only cleans floors, it does this far better than the Morphy Richards 12-in-1, in my tests. If you’re still after a steam mop/steam cleaner hybrid , the Karcher SC1 is your clear choice, with unrivalled versatility and cleaning power.

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