Eureka Enviro Steamer 300 [11]

Eureka introduced a floor steam cleaner as a way to appeal to those with young children. The idea is that the steam kills any floor bacteria in kitchens and bathrooms where children might crawl. It also might appeal to those with allergies or low resistance to illness.

The way it works is you fill the reservoir with water (distilled or filtered is highly recommended.) Then turn it on and let it heat up. There is a removable cloth pad on the bottom which will become saturated with boiled water. It its very similiar in design to a steam iron with a washrag tied to the bottom. There is a special parking pad to place the steamer on to prevent it from bubbling up your vinyl floor.

The Good
Sugary and sticky food on the floor will lift off when heated with the steamer, so it does a good job with food residue. No chemicals are used when cleaning, which is a huge benefit for those conscious of their environment.

The Bad
It is very difficult to get in any scrubbing action with the steamer. So you may end up working with a scrubbing sponge around corners, at the wallboards, and on stubborn stains. The pad gets very dirty very quickly. You will want to rotate a couple of pads and then put them in the washing machine right away. You need to keep the steamer moving at all times to avoid damaging your floor. Hot water seeping into seams could break down adhesive and cause bubbles and buckling. It could also severely damage a wood floor. Note that you are working with hot steam with the Eureka Enviro steamer. Follow the same safety procedures you might with a clothes iron. Small children need to be kept away. Do not leave it plugged in and turned on. The power cord gets to be cumbersome as with a vacuum cleaner. Still I would prefer not to have a rechargable battery powered version.

The Ugly
After a couple of years, the plastic cracked on part of the lip that holds the pad. Newer designs on the 310 have a wrap around pad which may hold up better and not require the thin lip. The bottom eventually cracked. The plastic used may not have the correct properties for an appliance with a heating element. Eureka may have used plastic stock similar to that for their vacuum cleaners and not taken into consideration the heating and cooling effects. The power switch wore out, which was the final straw. This appliance did not have the stamina to hold up to more than 40 uses. The power switch maybe had 200 actuations!

After chucking the broken one, we are STILL considering getting another one because of the job it does with the stuck-on food and no chemical cleaners. We will look at the better design. The concept is great, but the execution needs improvement. I hope the next generation uses a less brittle plastic. {BB}

Added: April 12th 2005
Reviewer: BB
Score:    [11]

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