Steam laser cleaning of alumina and titanium carbide nanoparticles from silicon substrates is presented. A KrF excimer laser with a wavelength of 248 nm was used to irradiate the substrates in laser cleaning. A water layer of micrometer thickness was deposited on silicon substrates to improve the cleaning process. Cleaning efficiency was measured for different laser fluences ranging from 50 to 250 mJ/cm2 and pulse numbers from 1 to 100. Research work was carried out to address the factors governing steam laser cleaning, during which thickness of water thin film and lift-off velocities of water films from Si substrate surfaces were monitored. In addition, one-dimensional simulations were employed to estimate the temperature increase on the material surfaces upon laser irradiation. Water layer thickness was measured using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. Monitoring of both lift-off velocities and water thin film removal time were carried out by optical probing approaches using He-Ne laser of 632.8 nm wavelength.