I live in a house with 2500 square feet of tile. After years of watching my white grout slowly fade to shades of gray, it was time to invest in something more effective and industrial than my mop and bucket. It''s easy to clean tiles, but so far nothing was effective against my dirty grout. I had a carpet cleaning company quote me 50 cents a square foot to clean all the tiles/grout in the house. The Viva E40 checks in at $900 shipped, a discount over my $1250 cleaning quote. Buying a steamer was an easy choice.I debated over several different steam cleaning machines. The choice to select a Reliable Enviromate product was the result of a phone call I made to their headquarters. Confused about which of their four core steamers to buy, I placed a call to ask about the differences. They were so helpful and informative that I felt comfortable with them as a company. Definitely someone who I''d like to do business with. The Viva E40 was the most expensive of the four I reviewed, but the commercial grade components, 5 year warranty, and continuous steam technology (never have to truly stop when cleaning to wait for a boiler to cool down) made the difference.
Out of the box, it took 10 minutes of instruction reading to get started. Everything hooked up easily and I was off and running. My first test was using the wand wrapped in a cleaning towel on the tile floors. With little effort, the steamer broke through sticky, dirty spots to leave a gleaming, clean floor. Did I mention you only need water, no chemicals? Next up was the grout. After a few minutes I realized it made sense to clean the grout first. I attached the nylon brush to the steamer tip and dug in. Holy crap, the dirt and grime started beading away from the grout. Charcoal colored grout suddenly transformed to the chalky white I remember from years ago. In fact, so much dirt and grime pooled to either side that I was constantly following the steamer with a rag to wipe up the nastiness (lest it reset in the grout). I then finished the floor with the steam wand.
I switched the from the nylon brush tip to the brass tip that came with the steamer. This was even more effective. With a little pressure application, I was ripping through the dirty grout twice as fast as before. Sadly, after several hours of this, the brass tip wore down to a nub and was useless. I then switches to the steel brush tip. This was as effective as the brass, but seemed to strip away the enamel from the tile. Based on that experience, I''d recommend using the brass tip on grout for best results.
Anxious to clean more, I am stuck waiting on an order of brass tips from Reliable Corp. And they''re not cheap. I ordered four more tips at $10 each, plus $21 shipping (they''re in Canada). Also, the cleaner comes with only two towels for the steam wand. Extra towels are $4 each from Reliable, which I think is silly. I ordered a pack of commercial bar towels from Amazon and hope that''ll do the trick (25 pack for $27). You''ll want to change these regularly.
It took me six hours to clean about 800 square feet of tile, and it wore me out. Keep in mind I''m catching up on years worth of dirt and grime. It''s going to take me another 12 hours of cleaning to get the rest of the house, but with results like this I don''t mind. I have no regrets thus far about purchasing this steamer.
Pro: Looks nice. Good steam for a couple of hours. Nice attachments.
Con: Died after a couple of hours of light use. Machine would just keep alarming for empty water tank even though it was full. I had to turn it on and off about 5 times when first used to get the tank pump to prime. The pump would run for a few seconds then give up. The only way to get it to pump again was to cycle the power. Unfortunately this stopped working after the second refill.
Cheap labeling on the sides started to peel off almost immediately.
I contacted the manufacture who offered no help.
Returned for refund.
I replaced this with a Daimer steamer. All steel with retro look. Smaller than the VIVA and works very well.
I still love Amazon just not this steamer.
Buy Reliable EnviroMate VIVA E40 Continuous Fill Vapor Steam Cleaner Now
This machine stopped working after approximately five months. It started to beep continuously to signal that it was "out of water." However, the water container was full! I was told by the online retailer in Roswell, Georgia that I would have to contact the manufacturer, Reliable, in Toronto, Canada. They Reliable Tech Support person was unable to fix the problem over the phone, and I was given a RMA number to send the steam cleaner at MY EXPENSE of $89.95 to the Reliable Repair Center in Toronto, Canada.After approximately three weeks, I emailed Reliable in Toronto, Canada to inquire if they had received the steam cleaner. They replied that they had, and that the steam cleaner was in the mail back to me. Upon receiving the SUPPOSEDLY repaired STEAM CLEANER, I loaded it with water and turned the steam cleaner on IT STILL HAD THE SAME PROBLEM. IT WAS NOT REPAIRED. I immediately contacted Reliable, and they emailed that I had to speak via a telephone call with same Tech Support person that previously could NOT fix the steam cleaner.
I also emailed the online retailer in Roswell, Georgia retailer regarding the steam cleaner''s demise, and they replied back that "Unfortunately, your request falls outside of the 30-day window. All warranty service for original customers is provided by the manufacturer of the product purchased. Our records indicate that you purchased on 4/30/2012." I thought that was "rich" as even though I did purchase the steam cleaner on 4/30/2012, I did not receive it until mid May 2012. By then half the 30 day warranty was used up.
With sales tax, I paid over $1,000 dollars, and I would like my money refunded. Reliable will NOT pay, and the online retailer has indicated that they are no longer responsible. Hence, I am out over $1,000 dollars.
Then to add further insult, my cleaning person indicated that she likes the Shark Steam Cleaner better. May I add that the Shark Steam Cleaner was considerably less expensive to purchase. The Reliable steam cleaner was only used every other week so you might say it has a short working life span.
Reliable is located in Toronto, Canada sending it to Toronto to be repaired is very expensive. If they would have repaired it, I would not be writing this email.
NO, I DO NOT RECOMMEND THE RELIABLE E40 STEAM CLEANER!!
Read Best Reviews of Reliable EnviroMate VIVA E40 Continuous Fill Vapor Steam Cleaner Here
0 comments:
Post a Comment