Tbg,I'll take a jab at responding to the question. This is a viewpoint found on years of slogging.
An over-view of the subject:
1: Many commerical steam machines exist , none suited to record cleaning. Most are suited to heavy industry to degrease machines. As a group they come in all sizes an shapes producing super-heated steam & water (some at hundreds ++ degrees) that melt grease(an vinyl) on contact. Next are garment steamers. Most can distort vinyl in seconds. The reason? Garment machines ,by design, steam & heat a relatively large area to remove wrinkels from cloth. Apply them to vinyl ,kaboom, now you have a droopy, wavey LP. Steam irons do the same only more so. Way too hot and dangerious!
The exception are the household , handlheld steam cleaners. As a group, the comsumer machines produce steam with heated water at near exactly the right temperature(212*- 220*F)cooling to 150* to 187*F. Perfect for record cleaning and household useage. Some more perfect than others but all can perform. Nearly all are constant water-boilers maintained under pressure til' the water runs out(8-15 minutes). They must cooled down before refilling.
Consumer handheld steam cleaners are already under licence (to some one or some company) . With no financal incentive, the Record Cleaning Industry (RCI) shuns most anything they can not contol. Generally, the steamers are not under public domaine but several components maybe that make them difficult to patient. A lot of trouble , money and no return.
2. Steam cleaning LPs is viewed as a threat to the record cleaning machine (RCM) market, manufactures having invested in expensive advertising & machining for decades. In truth, RCM make little money in return for the investment. Its a fact RCM's cost hundreds to thousands retail more than steam units that sell for $50.00 or less. A significant retail spread.
We are what I term "insidental users". We adapt an existing product to our needs that were never recognized by the inital manufacture. In short, we get all the "R&D" benefits with no additional mark-up. They manufacture for the world, in thousands of units, we as a group are few in numbers compaired to the global market,but, we pay the going rate. That's true most of the time;exceptions do exist.
Since I already own a RCM , I incorperate its use , what I term "Combo-Ing" to cleaning records with excellent results. Should you have a RCM use it.If not, no problem.
3. Liability. Of the designers/manufactures whom I have freely spoken with , none were keen to sell high pressure handheld, water boiling units out of concern (fear) for abuse & lawsuits. Still, others refuse to accept any notion that "lite" steam can clean LPs, only their product or cleaning fluid.It has been related, some take every chance to speak negatively , to Audio Insiders , here & in Europe, to slow the notion of steam cleaning.A few even claim steaming causes inaudable, periment damage to LPs, a claim wispered with no published evidence.
I can't blame them , if I were they I might adopt the same tactic. Nevertheless, the paradigm is changing(slowly)and in time the RCI will adopt steaming but as for when ? Besides , when insidental users (like us) can buy a MC 1235 for $50,light-years ahead of convential pressurized units,why should the RCI even bother ? Once I got confortable with the 1235's operation ,I doubt I will ever use a pressured , water-boiling handheld unit again.
Of course ,one can spend $150 on the Mapleshade Kit . Mapleshade puts their ID on the steam unit,actually a "Steamfast Runner",a constant water-boiler, Model SF-227, as their own . That's ok ,they have a right to do that,no problem. Or,one can easily duplicate the kit,sans the rinsers,for about a 2/3 thirds less than the retail price, a tad more with a 1235. Insidentally, the Steamfast units and the McCulloch units are manufactured for Top Innovations (TI), Inc. in China. TI owns the distribution rights to both lines. That is a fact.
I do not expect to see "Record Steaming Machines" anytime soon. But with the MC 1235 ,frankly, who needs ID's .
