Eureka Enviro Hard-Surface Floor Steamer,313A
by Electrolux Home Products (floorcare)
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Eureka Enviro Hard-Surface Floor Steamer,313A
Customer Review: Eureka Enviro Steamer ALMOST perfect - but Great for the Money!
Summary: 4 Stars
I tried out several steam mops before purchasing this one - the three that I actually did a head to head test on included the Eureka, the Shark and the Haan.
I was able to eliminate the Shark quite quickly - I found that the amount of water left behind was just too frustrating and it just didn't seem like it was actually sanitizing anything. In sum, it left quite a bit of water on the floors and when they dried they were streaky. Wiping up after using the steam mop would be necessary, which defeats the purpose of the steam mop.
The Haan (the older model FS20) is a cute little yellow and white unit that had similar features to the Eureka except for the following:
The Haan uses pads that just stick right on the mop head.
The Haan has an annoyingly short cord that doesn't allow mopping freely within a room without changing outlets.
Parts of the Haan just felt a little flimsy.
The cleaning itself with the Haan was wonderful. The pads were a snap to just stick to the mop head, and the tank held a fair amount of water. In comparing with the Eureka however, the Eureka won for the following reasons:
The Eureka has a larger head, so more surface area with each pass.
The cord is refreshingly long so there's no need to change outlets numerous times.
The pads soak up a lot of debris; meaning that the floors don't have to be freshly vacuumed to get the full effect.
The steamer itself feels substantial and well made.
And of course, the cleaning of the floors. Both Eureka and Haan are excellent steamers. Both were able to clean up gummed spots on the floor by just letting the steamer sit on the spot for a few seconds. Neither left water behind. But since the Eureka doesn't require changing outlets as much and the surface area covered with each pass is larger, I give the nod to Eureka.
That is until I bought my sister the Haan slim and light SI-35...after having the Eureka for over a year, there are a couple of things that I've found could use improvement.
1. The Eureka, while solid, has an awkwardness with the heaviness of the head that makes the handle difficult to maneuver at times.
2. The pads - they are a pain to put on as they do indeed shrink in the wash and then you have problems stretching them under the clips on the head. I wouldn't mind that so much if the pads were easier to find, but they are near impossible to find. I've read others using old rags as the mop head - but what's the point of going through the trouble of attaching a rag to the head when the point of the steam mop is convenience?
The newest Haan model though, the SI35 seems to be as wonderful as can be. It's about the same size as the other Haan, except they now have the water tank on the handle (think swiffer wet jet - where the cleaning solution goes) and the pads are the same ones as the first version - these blue pads with velcro on the back so that there's no annoying clipping on the head as required by Eureka.
The negative of the newest Haan - same as before - the cord is a little short. And the price. It's about $110 which is about 50% more than the Eureka. That's quite a difference in price.
For now, I've given my Eureka to my brother and he is loving it, but now that I've tried the newest Haan, that will be my next purchase as the hassle of clipping on the pads and also trying to find extras to purchase are just a little too inconvenient now that I've discovered the new Haan model.
Customer Review: Cleans well and easy to use, pads coule be better!
Summary: 4 Stars
This is my first steam cleaner of any kind and I was very pleasantly surprised. After doing much online research on different steamers and reading reviews I decided to purchase the Eureka Enviro Steam Mop. I have 12" tile floors throughout the entire lower level of my home and using a mop and bucket just became too cumbersome and the swiffer mop would just move the dirt all around. I figured a steam mop would be a good solution. I ordered this product through Amazon, it was $10 cheaper from [...] but they had been out of stock for several weeks so I decided to pay the $10 more and order it right away. I didn't have to pay for shipping and was surprised with how quickly it was delivered only a few days after I had ordered it and five days before the estimated delivery day.
The steamer comes with two pads, a measuring cup, a funnel and a styrafoam tray to rest the steamer in while it is heating up/cooling down or when it is hot and not in use. The steamer was easy to assemble with only the handle to screw into the base. Pull out the handle to your desired height, clip a pad onto the bottom, pour two measures of water into the tank, plug in, turn on and you're in business! I placed the steamer on the tray provided and it began to steam in about three minutes.
When I began using it I learned quickly that it cleans much better the slower you go, pretty obvious concept! But if you are in a hurry it will clean areas without much dirt/grime just fine with quicker strokes. The high traffic areas (in front of the sink, doors, refrigerator, etc.) took a while to clean to my standards as I needed to go over spots several times doing very slow strokes to loosen several spots. I had a tough time with several small grime spots that weren't coming up even after leaving the steamer on them for 10 seconds and going over them with pressure, I actually rubbed them with my toe (I had socks on!) and they came right up after the steamer had loosened them. I think that the issue is with the pads which are too thin and would clean better if they were more plush (like my sock!) or had thicker ridges and could focus in on spots better.
There are only several aspects to this steamer that I did not like:
1. The pads. They are a waffle pattern design which lends itself to leaving streaks because of this pattern. Also, the pads are pretty thin and I feel if they were more plush it would clean spots much easier and not as much pressure or repetition would be needed when going over spots to clean. I haven't looked online yet but perhaps there's replacement pads available that are a different style/texture. If so that'd be great.
2. The handle does not swivel to the point where you can mop with the base on the floor vertically, leading on the floor with the smaller edge of the base. For example if you want to sneak the mop sideways through the legs of your kitchen table chairs you can not bend the handle down to allow you to do this efficiently.
All in all, I feel that the Eureka Enviro Mop is a great value and a great entry level steam mop. It cleans well, is easy to assemble and use and is priced well.
Customer Review: LOVE IT!
Summary: 5 Stars
I read all the various reviews on Amazon.com before deciding to purchase the Eureka Enviro Steamer. The big competitor seems to be the Shark machine, which was easily available anywhere, but I held out for the Eureka.
At first I was skeptical about how well this thing would clean, but after using it for two weeks, I have to say that it really does do the job and with much less effort that pushing a mop around. I keep having to remind myself that I'm not using any commercial cleaners and it's just water. Pretty amazing that I'm getting better results.
Works equally well on wood and tile. Saves on buying the various products and cleaning solutions I've been having to use in the past.
Things I like:
1) Light, although, admittedly heavier than a mop, but doesn't require the effort a mop takes to get the job done.
2) Does the job and leaves the floor bright and clean
3) Doesn't soak the floor - faster drying time
4) Convenient to be used all the time - no real need for in between cleanings with a mop or swiffer wet jet, etc...
5) Heats up pretty quickly - about two minutes
6) Doesn't have to cool down between refills, as with some of the other machines
7) Sturdily built
Some hints for easy use:
1) Flip your pad over when the one side is dirty to extend the cleaning usage.
2) Fill machine only when empty or not making anymore steam. There's not guage to tell, so if you only use it for a few minutes one time, just keep going subsequent times until the steam runs out. Otherwise, you can soak your floor. A filling calls for two of the enclosed measuring cups.
3) Be sure to use the warming and cool down tray to keep the steam from building up on the floor. Especially with wood floors so as not to warp them.
Some suggestions for improvement:
1) A water guage
2) A longer cord
3) a rubber wheeled warming tray that can be pushed around.
4) Longer steam time
Other than that, I'm satisfied and the for the cost, you're really getting your money's worth. Highly recommended.
9/10/10: It's six months + since I've had this and am still in love with it. It does take some getting use to. Like any implement you have to develop a personal relationship with it, as you get to know what it's little noises mean, etc. Biggest hint: Don't overfill - and don't put your cleaning pad on until it's completely heated and ready to go. If you do accidentally put too much water, the machine expels extra water when it's heated up, and this is what will soak your pad. Let the water expel into the tray and come to a nice and constant steam and then put the pad on taking care not to burn yourself. However, unless you put your hand under the steamer or close to the bottom, you should be fine. Have tried it on the countertops, but it's a bit awkward, even without the handle, so not worth the trouble, also the machine really likes to be kept flat at all times. Tilting can water to come out, etc. so just my suggestion
Customer Review: Not as good as everyone says.....
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought this steam mop after observing all the positive reviews and also the detailed critique by K. Stankovich. It arrived today and I tried it out. After two hours operating it, I was not impressed and had mixed feeling about it.
There are a couple short-comings that may be deal breakers for people considering this device:
1) The preheating tray is styrofoam..... Yeaaaa... I'm not sure if its because I got unlucky or Eureka is just plain cheap. The styrofoam is flimsy at best and is not completely flat, so when you preheat your mop it will leak a lot of water and will not be super hot. After the first preheat you can notice the styrofoam deforming. End of story. Piece of junk that's only good for storing dirty pads =). I had to resort to using my granite floor to preheat.
2) The pads that comes with the mop is a cloth pad that does not hold much water and is not perfectly flat. The cloth pad have ridges to trap dirt which also make it easier to push the mop. However, the ridges make it difficult to make the pad flush to the head of the steamer to trap the heat. It seems not only is the mop head losing heat but also trailing water with this pad. Even after a long preheat of 10 mins, the mop pad was still leaving a trail of water.
3) No matter what you use as pads it will eventually become too wet and require you to rinse out the water before continuing. There's nothing you can do here because this steam mop is constantly steaming and steam condenses to water.
These problems makes this a bad buy. If you can put up with these issues then it might work for you.
What I did to fix these issues:
1) Use the granite floor to preheat. Perfectly flat!! You can also try anything that is flat and heat resistant. Maybe a thick plastic tray?
2) Use big thick microfiber towels as pads. Why didn't Eureka think about this?? This not only trap more heat allowing this steam mop to actually achieve 220 degrees but it also holds a lot of water. After a good preheat, the microfiber towel left almost no water behind. Fast dry too. After about 7-10 mins, though, the microfiber will become too wet and you will have to rinse out the water. Don't worry it's much easier than twisting that lousy cloth pad.
Now the good part:
1) Its quiet...
2) Easy to fill with funnel and measuring cup.
3) Light and compact. Handle is removable.
4) Hot..Only if the pad is thick and preheat on a flat surface.
Conclusion:
I have always used a quickie mop and bucket. It is fast and easy. Yet, there are a couple things I liked about the steam mop. It uses less water and no chemicals. It leaves the surface really slick assuming you fixed that bloody water trail issue. If you use a microfiber towel it also picks up more dirt and gives the floor a nice scrub. However, it doesn't save you time. You will spend time refilling, unplugging replugging, and rinsing out the pad. Ultimately, I'm not completely satisfied but still like the idea of steam mopping.
Customer Review: So much to like, especially at this price
Summary: 5 Stars
It's not on par with golf or extreme mountain climbing, but housecleaning has become something of a hobbyist sport for me. Because there are only about three hours to spend on it each week, I am picky, picky, picky about the tools and products in my cleaning cupboard. And the cupboard isn't big, so each piece has to earn its space.
The Enviro Steamer is one of the most effective and, frankly, fun tools I use each week. At first, though, it was horrible to see how much gunk the thing picked up from our supposedly clean kitchen floor. It's not great for scuff marks from the Crocs I should have taken off at the door, but those aren't my biggest problem. Rather, the issue is dirt practically ground in by the last (and maybe final!) housekeeper's cleaning products. It's going to take a while and I'm not sure this vinyl floor can be saved, but the kitchen looks and smells cleaner since I've been using the steamer and nothing else on the floor.
This might be true only for cleaning enthusiasts, but I think it's a real charge to run the thing around. First, the area it has passed over or rested on briefly is immediately, visibly cleaner. Second, the machine itself is light enough that it is pretty easy to maneuver. Third -- and I think this is killer -- it is QUIET. Sorry to shout that out, but this might be more quiet than the little slap and squish of using a conventional mop. Except for an occasional soft hissing that lets me indulge a fantasy of conducting a little locomotive, it is inaudible.
And then there's the matter of the effort and expense one doesn't have to make in obtaining the cleaning solution, which happens to be water. Yup, plain old straight-from-the-kitchen-faucet water. Not filtered, not doctored up with expensive tinctures or other smelly additives: plain water.
At its price point, Eureka has probably taken the design as far as it can go. But I, for one, would be happy to pay more for a retractable cord and a sturdier pan for the steamer to rest on as it's heating up and cooling down. It would also be nice to have the steamer engineered in a way that one would not risk getting burned when refilling it. And a place to store the measuring cup and funnel (maybe a funnel could even be integral to the design) would be welcome. Mine are probably about to disappear, victims of my absent-mindedness. Finally, it would be nice to have a construction that were less floppy. It really is unwieldy.
Still, there is a limit to what a company can be expecting to engineer and manufacture at this price. Many of the things I suggest would certainly have an impact on production costs. For many of us, this method of cleaning is arcane enough that we wouldn't chance even $100 on a machine. Now, though, there might be enough committed users to pay more.
In the meantime, take it for what it is: an effective, relatively user friendly cleaning tool that runs only on water and is quieter than any other appliance in my house, except for the stove. I would not want to be without my Enviro Steamer.