Eureak Enviro Steamer Vs The Shark and Haan Steamer Mop
It’s no secret around these parts that we are huge Eureka Enviro Fans. In fact, we even have one of those Calvin stickers you often see on cars that illustrate Calvin peeing on the competition. You know, Calvin peeing on Ford or Chevy – you get the point. Well, our Eureka 313a steamer has one of those but with Calvin peeing on the Shark. Ok, not really, but that would be pretty cool, right?
With that said, we thought it would be fair if we did a comparison between the three most popular names in the industry and showed how they compared. In this test we are going to test The Eureka Enviro 313a, the popular Shark and the Haan FS20 Floor Steamer.
The Shark Floor Steamer Notes
The Shark was quick to heat up and the pads were easy to install, however I quickly noticed this particular steamer leaves quite a bit of water on the surface while cleaning. Because of this, I was forced to wait almost 5 minutes until I could walk on the surface because of the excessive moisture this unit leaves behind. Also, once the floor was dry, I noticed several water streak marks, which forced me to wipe up with a moist towel to remove – not really what I’m wanting to do after using a steam mop.
The Shark’s cord length was also frustrating because I found myself constantly unplugging and moving to a new outlet to clean throughout my house. For some this my not be a huge deal, but we live in a house with an open floor plan, so we literally do not have any walls separating our kitchen form the dining and living rooms. This was aggravating to say the least. Also, I found that I could clean 3/4 of a room before needing to refill the water reservoir, not sure if this is common as we may have larger rooms then others.
The Haan Steamer Mop Notes
First off, the Haan has the appearance of something you would see used in a industrial cleaning environment. It is white and yellow and has that “look at me, I’m a professional grade floor steamer look”. I should say I’m not faulting the Haan unit for this, simply pointing it out. I like how the Haan uses similar “Stick on” pads such as the Shark. They are easy to install/Remove, which makes it very convenient when replacing pads in the middle of a cleaning. I did not notice as much water being left on the floor as compared to the Shark. This particular Steamer Mop made me feel as though I was getting a thorough floor cleaning and I was pretty impressed with the results.
Surprisingly, the Haan suffers from the same disadvantage as the Shark with it’s short cord. I found myself unplugging and replugging more then I wanted. It’s really not that big of deal, but when your in the zone and you’re really wanting to get the job done quickly, it gets frustrating having to stop and reposition the cord. Also, I thought the handle or “stem” of the Haan felt a little flimsy when comparing it to the others. I never thought I could break it, but when I really wanted to scrub a spot, I felt as though I couldn’t scrub it as hard as I wanted.
The Eureak Enviro Steamer Mop Notes
Of the three, the Eureka Enviro looks and feels the most sturdy. When using it, I can tell this particular steamer is going to withstand the weekly abuse we are going to put it through. Unlike the Shark, the Eureka leaves very little water on the surface and we felt we were getting a good cleaning much like the Hann. The Eureka also has a considerable larger “head” which allows you to clean more surface with fewer passes. Because of this, the Eureka 313a is a little heavier to maneuver then the others, so this may be a disadvantage for some. The cleaning pads wrap around and attach to the Eureka Enviro and are not as easy to install as the Shark and Hann, however, we thought the pads did a fantastic job of soaking up debris and felt less of a need to replace during cleanings.
One of the biggest advantages of the Eureka Enviro Steamer is its long cord. I did not have to replace outlets nearly as much as I did when using the others, which helped speed up my cleaning time – huge advantage! The water reservoir was also larger then the shark and Haan and I found that I could clean more floor area while doing less refilling, which also helped speed up the process. One thing that we do not like about the Eureka is finding replacements for the pads. I guess you cant fault Eureka for this, so be sure and purchase a few extra pads if you purchase this online.
Steam Mop Results
All three of the above steamer mops have their pros and cons and each do a fantastic job at cleaning floors. If being light and having the ease of maneuvering around furniture is your priority then we give the node to the Shark. However, the excessive surface water left behind during a cleaning and small reservoir is simply too much for us to overlook. The Eureka and Haan give equally good results when it comes to the actual cleaning of floors, both are more then capable of cleaning up gummed up spots and neither left water on the floor surface. With that being said, when considering the current Eureka 313a price (50% less then the Haan), in addition to the longer cord and the surface area covered with each pass of the Eureka, we give our recommendation to the Eureka Enviro Steamer.