Enrico Bratta founded Steam Cleaning Phuket and has spent the last several years pushing the business away from conventional upholstery cleaning and towards certified disinfection. We asked him where things stand.
How is the business progressing in Phuket?
Steadily, and across both sides — private homes and commercial contracts. We handle roughly 1,200 services a year now, and the trend is still upward. Phuket has matured as a market; clients ask harder questions than they did five years ago, which suits us.
You expanded to Bangkok recently.
Steam Cleaning Bangkok launched in April and is performing well. Roberto Peviani came in as a partner, and we moved an experienced team up with him rather than starting from nothing. The standard has to travel with the people.
What is the main challenge in the market today?
Keeping the gap. Anyone can buy a machine and call themselves a cleaning company. Our answer has been constant investment in equipment that most operators cannot justify, and in certification that most operators cannot claim.
What did you invest in?
A medical steam device — the type used to sterilise equipment in clinical environments. It runs at 180°C, which puts genuine medical-grade disinfection within reach for mattresses, sofas, carpets, and curtains. It is Italian-made, and as far as we know we are the first on the island operating at this level.
What does that mean for a client?
The highest level of disinfection currently available on the market. Our SteamPro Hygienic treatment uses the Polti Sani System, which complies with the AFNOR NF T72-110 medical standard and is proven against viruses, bacteria, spores, fungi, yeast, and mould. That is a third-party test result, not our own marketing.
Why should someone choose it over a normal clean?
Because it treats the house, not the stain. Combined with our Enzymatic HydroClean treatment, it removes indoor air pollutants and allergens as well as visible soiling — a full decontamination of the soft surfaces rather than a surface tidy.
And for hotels specifically?
Dry steam leaves no moisture behind, so a room goes back into service almost immediately. That is the constraint that matters in hospitality. We can disinfect up to fifty mattresses in a day, which makes a full-property programme realistic instead of theoretical.
Is this a turning point for the company?
It is a statement of where we intend to sit. Excellence Demands Excellence — if we ask clients to hold their properties to a standard, we have to hold our own equipment to one first.
