The iXBT test lab received another steam vacuum cleaner with serious applications for success: it works in three modes (steam, vacuum cleaner, combined), heats up quickly and delivers steam stronger or weaker, depending on the user’s desire.
We will check how this cleaning machine works, how quickly and how well it will make the house cleaner and cleaning more enjoyable.
Characteristics
| Manufacturer | kitfort |
|---|---|
| Model | KT-556 |
| Type | vertical steam cleaner |
| Country of Origin | China |
| Warranty | 1 year |
| Service life * | 2 years |
| Power, total | 1700 W |
| Steam mop power | 1200 W |
| Vacuum cleaner power | 500 W |
| Water tank capacity | 0.4 l |
| Dust capacity | 0.4 l |
| Steam supply | 25±5 g/min |
| Protection class against electric shock | I |
| Noise level | 75 dB |
| Brush rotation | in one plane |
| The weight | 5.7 kg |
| Dimensions (W×D×H) | 290×275×1023 mm |
| Network cable length | 7.5 m |
| Retail offers |
* If it’s quite simple: this is the period during which parts for repairing the device are delivered to official service centers. After this period, any repair in the official SC (both warranty and paid) is unlikely to be possible.
Equipment
The vacuum cleaner is packaged in a brown unpainted cardboard box with the usual Kitfort design: black lettering and purple decorative elements.
On the front side of the box there is a schematic image of our vacuum cleaner, the model name, the manufacturer’s logo and the slogan “I will make your house clean!” (Kitfort uses different slogans for different types of household appliances; this slogan has been assigned to vacuum cleaners by the company’s marketers).
On the back of the box, in addition to the image, slogan, Kitfort logo and model name, we can see the main technical characteristics of the device – power (separately for the steam mop and vacuum cleaner), current consumption parameters, heating time, noise level, capacity of the water tank and dust collector, steam generator performance, dimensions and weight of the device.
On one of the ends of the box, the main features of the model are listed: fast heating, the presence of a removable water tank, two levels of steam supply, three cleaning modes (dust suction, steaming and combined mode), as well as an easy-clean dust container with a filter.
Opening the box, inside we found:
- vacuum cleaner body with steam cleaner, dust collector and water tank;
- handle for working with the assembled vacuum cleaner;
- main floor nozzle;
- frame for carpeting;
- user guide;
- warranty card;
- promotional materials and a collectible magnet.
At first sight
The design of the Kitfort KT-556 vacuum cleaner is quite traditional for vertical steam vacuum cleaners – the main unit of the vacuum cleaner and steam generator, a handle with controls and a floor nozzle with two degrees of freedom.
The device is made of white and dark gray plastic, the water tank and the filter housing of the vacuum cleaner are made of almost transparent plastic with a grayish tint. We liked the color and design solution: the vacuum cleaner looks stylish, modern, but not flashy.
The handle is mounted on a silver-colored aluminum extension tube. On its front part there is a dark gray anti-slip insert made of soft-touch plastic, which makes it easier to hold the vacuum cleaner, matching the other decorative elements. On the insert there is a steam blocking lever, designed to be controlled by the thumb of any hand.
Inside the handle is a steam trigger that controls the steam generator.
The body of the vacuum cleaner has a torpedo shape. In its upper part there is a steam generator control panel with buttons for selecting the intensity of steam supply and indicators of mode and readiness.
A little lower, on the left side of the device, there is a power button and an operation indicator.
A removable water tank is located in the central part of the body. It is removed by simultaneously pressing two buttons on the sides. The filler hole of the tank is closed with a rubber stopper – a simple and reliable solution.
Inside the tank, we see a float on a flexible leg, which is already traditional for steam generators of this type, serving as a sensor and indicator of the water level: when the water level drops below the minimum, it starts rhythmically tapping on the body.
Under the water tank, between it and the body, there is a replaceable maintenance-free filter for water softening.
Below the water tank is the motor unit of the vacuum cleaner with the dust collector housing and filters. The dust collector is separated from the body by simultaneously pressing two paired buttons on the front. It is removed and inserted easily, effortlessly, and is held firmly and securely in the case.
The filtration system of the vacuum cleaner consists of coarse and fine filters. The coarse filter is a cyclone with a “skirt” at the bottom of the filter, which cuts off coarse debris, and a plastic cylindrical mesh designed to trap medium fractional debris.
The fine filter is located above the cyclone filter, it is pressed against it with a plastic ring with a bayonet mount. This filter is a rather thick “tablet” of porous material, which is placed between two synthetic meshes of non-woven material of different textures. On the upper grid there is a symbolic image of a water tap: the filter can be washed. The sides of the fine filter are made of black rubber, which ensures a tight fit to the dust collector body. For the convenience of removing the filter, a “pocket” is made on the upper grid of the fabric of the same type, but of a different – blue – color. To remove the filter, pull on this pocket.
The Kitfort KT-556 steam mop is equipped with a single nozzle – a floor brush, on which a holder with a microfiber steaming cloth is fixed. The brush is separated from the body with a button on its front side.
The cloth holder can be removed from the floor nozzle by pressing one of the wide buttons on the top panel. The schematic representation of the sole suggests that it is more convenient to do this with the foot.
On the underside of the brush there are spring-loaded brush elements that make it easier to clean floors and serve as an additional seal.
The brush rests on two plastic rollers that take on the main weight of the vacuum cleaner during cleaning and storage. Behind the rollers, at the back of the soleplate of the floor nozzle, there is a small brush designed to clean tough dirt. If necessary, it can be lowered by pressing on it (this can also be done with the foot).
The carpet frame included with the vacuum cleaner is designed to make it easier for the steam mop to glide over hairy surfaces. It is attached to the floor brush from below with four latches.
Like most devices of this type, Kitfort KT-556 is not equipped with a separate cord winding system – the electric cord is manually hooked onto two brackets on the back of the steam mop.
The vacuum cleaner is also equipped with a microfiber floor cloth and a simple hook for wall mounting. Attachment kit is included with the hook.
Instruction
The manual that comes with the KT-556 steam mop is a typical Kitfort A5 book in purple and white.
It contains comprehensive, clear and detailed information on the operation and care of the device – with photographs and schematic drawings.
The quality of printing is good, the instructions are printed on thick glossy paper of excellent quality.
Control
The Kitfort KT-556 vacuum cleaner can operate in three cleaning modes: as a vacuum cleaner, in steam mode and in combined mode. To use the device as a regular vacuum cleaner, you need to press the power button on the right side.
To use the steam mop function, without turning off the vacuum cleaner, press the steam generator on button and select the steam level using the “Min” and “Max” buttons. To start the steam supply, you need to move the lock on the handle and pull the trigger in the same place.
On the control panel of the steam generator there are buttons for selecting the steam mode, “Max” and “Min”, and three indicators: two of them correspond to the steam generation modes and turn on when the corresponding button is pressed, and the third, which indicates the readiness of steam, flashes when the device warms up and lights up continuously when the steam generator is ready for operation.
After turning on and warming up the steam generator, the maximum steam supply level is turned on by default. To make the work more economical, you should press the “Min” button. To return to the maximum mode – absolutely right, you need to press the “Max” button.
Exploitation
The unpacked vacuum cleaner must be assembled before use. The extension tube with the handle must be inserted into the socket on the body by pressing the latch, and the floor nozzle is connected to the body until the latch clicks.
The instruction requires then to check the correct installation of the dust collector. After that, you can remove the water tank, open the cap and fill it with water (you can use tap water, but the manufacturer recommends using demineralized or distilled water).
When you turn on the vacuum cleaner in steam generator mode, it warms up for exactly 30 seconds – the readiness indicator, apparently, turns on by a timer, and not by a temperature or pressure sensor. This time is quite enough for steam generation to reach the operating mode: the vacuum cleaner starts to supply hot steam almost immediately after the ready signal lights up.
The vacuum cleaner assembly with a full tank weighs just over 5.8 kg. At the first acquaintance, it may seem heavy, but in the process of cleaning you get used to its weight rather quickly: the device is well balanced, and there is no feeling of heaviness and sluggishness during operation. During cleaning, the main weight of the device is taken by the rollers of the floor brush – they facilitate control and provide quite acceptable maneuverability.
The dimensions of the floor brush make it slightly difficult to use in hard-to-reach places, under furniture or in the corners of rooms, but it is very convenient to use the vacuum cleaner in open spaces.
The air outlets on the sides of the case have an annoying and, unfortunately, quite common feature for this type of device: the air flow from them is directed to the sides and down, raising dust and light debris from the uncleaned floor areas. When cleaning, this feature must be taken into account, otherwise the raised debris, fluff and pet hair will have to be collected from the already clean areas of the floor.
The vacuum cleaner showed itself perfectly on hard surfaces (linoleum, laminate, parquet and porcelain stoneware), without wetting the floor too much, but doing an excellent job even with serious dirt. In the fight against the latter, a small additional brush on the “heel” of the floor brush proved to be quite good – thanks to this small detail, the cleaning efficiency increases significantly.
To use the floor nozzle on carpets, it is highly recommended to use the included frame. The design of the floor nozzle allows you to do this without removing the microfiber rags – this little thing will save you quite a lot of time and effort if you often have to switch from parquet to soft floors and vice versa when cleaning.
It took us about fifteen minutes and a little less than one tank of water to clean the test room (a three-room apartment of about 70 m²). All this time, the vacuum cleaner worked in a combined mode (vacuum cleaner + steam) with a maximum level of steam generation.
We could not find enough pollution in the apartment to fully test the vacuum cleaner and, according to the tradition that has already developed, we created it artificially. We smeared thick sugar syrup mixed with berry juice on the floor, dusted it with dust from the dust collector and let the mixture dry. You can watch how Kitfort KT-556 handled this unappetizing stain:
From a stain of sticky, sweet and dried dirt on porcelain stoneware, the vacuum cleaner left no trace in less than a minute. Excellent result.
The dust container has a volume sufficient for cleaning an average apartment: during the tests, we never managed to fill it to the top at one time.
The level of debris in the dust collector is clearly visible through the transparent housing. The design of the cyclone filter turned out to be quite effective – the garbage of large and medium fractions is successfully cut off by the cyclone.
Only a small amount of dust and fine debris remained on the outer surface of the fine filter.
We did not find any traces of dust on the inner surface of the thin filter at all.
Shaking out the dust container is easy and convenient. Its design allows you to do this without getting your hands dirty.
The vacuum cleaner is easy to park in an upright position, and in case of breaks in cleaning, it is quite possible to leave it standing anywhere without leaning on walls or furniture.
The cord storage system is quite handy. The clip on the top holder seemed to us a particularly pleasant trifle – it allows you to conveniently fix the excess cord during cleaning, without complicating it with a wire that gets tangled under your feet. This clip is also a loop for hanging the vacuum cleaner for wall storage.
Care
None of the parts of the vacuum cleaner can be washed in the dishwasher, but the microfiber cloth can be washed in the washing machine. This should be done at a temperature of 60 °C, or by hand with warm water and detergent, but without the use of rinse aids or fabric softeners: these agents may impair absorption. The cloth must be completely dry before storage.
The housing and floor brush should be cleaned with a damp cloth.
The body and parts of the dust collector, including the coarse filter, can be washed. It is recommended to clean the fine filter by shaking it out and wash it only if it is heavily soiled. In this case, it is strictly forbidden to use brushes or rub the filter in order to prevent damage to it. After washing, the elements of the filtration system should be thoroughly dried.
The replacement water filter is recommended to be changed once a year.
Our measurements
The weight of the Kitfort KT-556 vacuum cleaner assembled with a full water tank measured by us was 5820 g. This is not too small, but we have seen steam vacuum cleaners with a significantly larger mass. The carpet frame weighs 260g and the floor cloth adds another 50g to the weight of the vacuum cleaner.
The capacity of the water tank, according to our measurements, was 420 g. This is a little more than the declared four hundred. This volume is sufficient for continuous operation of the steam generator in maximum mode for 17 minutes 20 seconds, which, in our experience, is quite enough for a complete cleaning of a three-room apartment of an average area.
The noise level and energy consumption of the vacuum cleaner depend on the selected operating mode. We summarized our measurements in a table:
| Working mode | Power consumption, W | Noise level, dB |
|---|---|---|
| Only a vacuum cleaner | 561 | 77 |
| Vacuum cleaner + steam generator | 1717 | 79 |
| Steam generator only | 1220 | 68 |
The noise level of the vacuum cleaner turned out to be quite low for devices of this class. The power consumption is also not too high.
Suction power (what it is and how we measure it is described in a separate article ) we determined when the vacuum cleaner was running without nozzles. The dependence of suction power on the vacuum created is shown in the graph below:
According to the results of the instrumental test, the Kitfort KT-556 vacuum cleaner did not demonstrate record performance among devices of a similar class, but, as the test operation showed, its suction power is quite enough for ordinary daily cleaning.
findings
The Kitfort KT-556 steam vacuum cleaner is an excellent tool for keeping floors of any type perfectly clean. It is easy and convenient to operate it, the design of the vacuum cleaner is thought out and ergonomic. It will show itself best in spacious rooms with a small amount of furniture, but it will also be very useful in a relatively small apartment.
The lack of a removable steam generator limits the use of the vacuum cleaner on floors, but in steam mop mode, the device works well.
pros
- relatively light weight
- convenient parking and cord storage
- cute design
- low noise
- convenient dust collector
Minuses
- low suction power
- no removable steam generator
In conclusion, we suggest watching our video review of the Kitfort KT-556 steam vacuum cleaner:
Our video review of the Kitfort KT-556 steam cleaner can also be viewed at iXBT.video
