Lives Up to Expectations
Written: Mar 24 '03
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Durability: |
 |
|
| Ease of Cleaning: |
|
|
| Style: |
|
|
|
Pros: Easy to use, really works. Long cord and variety of tools are pluses.
Cons: Upholstery tool cloth difficult to put on.
The Bottom Line: Highly recommended and worth the money. Does a great job on most things but expect to do some mopping up. Excellent for people with allergies.
|
|
|
| june_nm's Full Review: Eureka Enviro Steamer 370 Upright Vacuum |
The reviews in this group were the deciding factor in our purchase. We got our Enviro Steamer 370 at Costco for $95.99, plus tax. I'd considered a wet/dry vacuum but it really didn't fit our needs. We live in a 25-year-old house that had been rented out for 15 years to a number of neglectful tenants. Grungy baseboards and a big buildup of crud in all corners of the big vinyl-tiled kitchen and two bathrooms were major problems. I'd tried scrubbing the baseboards and scraping the kitchen corners with a putty knife, to no avail.
You're working with live steam here so I cautiously read the manual twice and checked how each tool fit before starting. When I finally got started - Wow, did I see results! I used the straight nozzle for my initial Dirt Attack. The baseboards now look clean and we can postpone painting for a while. The gray layer of dirt literally rolled off but I did have to wipe them with paper towels. I then blasted corners and floor edges, repeating several times until I could wipe out the crud. Yes, you do have to do some mopping up, especially if you've steamed repeatedly in one area. I moved on to the sliding door tracks to the deck. No amount of vacuuming or brushing has ever budged the grunge buildup in those tracks. I had to go over them several times with the straight nozzle, but the steam literally melted the built-up dirt. Once I'd mopped it up, the tracks looked brand new. It did not do much for cleaning the screens, so we'll continue to spray those with Simple Green and hose them down in the yard.
By now I had to refill the steamer. I cautiously allowed 10 minutes for cool down and pushed the steam release button several times to be sure there was no remaining pressure before uncapping. You probably don't need to wait that long. Newly armed with a full tank I used the floor brush with a cleaning pad and did the ceramic tile in the foyer. That was a piece of cake although I overdid squirting the steam and made the floor wetter than necessary. I probably should have locked the steamer button in position and kept moving the floor brush, rather than squirt on each stroke as I did. The manual really doesn't tell you how to use this appliance so I relied on advice from other reviewers. It will take some practice to get the technique down pat. Since the long cord stretched far enough to get to the guest bathroom I did that as well. Again, baseboards, corners and floor came sparkling clean, as did the toilet. However, it didn't budge the hard water deposits in the basin or tub. The water in New Mexico is hard enough to use for baseball practice, so I didn't have high hopes about soap film or mineral deposits.
I'd like to know more about results on windows and other glass. The instructions stress not to use the steamer on cold glass because it might crack. How do you judge this? We have 15 large windows and a glass-topped dining table. It would be wonderful to steam them clean but not at the risk of cracking them.
The Enviro 370 is well worth the money and I'm very pleased with it. The unit is sturdily built and convenient to store. The house smells clean without using chemicals. It would be helpful if the manual gave examples of other, safe household applications for using the steamer. Thanks to all of you for your helpful reviews.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 95.99
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
june_nm
|
|
Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Reviews written: 7
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.