just some tings.

uEco Genius

[Update 10 Dec 2013: ]

Now after using it for slightly less than a year, my thoughts about this machine has changed mostly on the negative side.

Just to give you an idea of the usage of this cleaner, when we first bought it, I used it almost every week, before toning it down to once every fortnight, and then once a month because I got pregnant and it was a little heavy to lug around in my pregnant state. The hubby took over the cleaning and we went back to cleaning the floor every fortnight.

1) Somewhere in the past two months, the cleaner got a little wonky. The vacuum function would for no reason turn itself up and down. I have read somewhere that the electronics in the handle may have gotten a little crazy that is why the vacuum function is not working well. Thankfully it is still under warranty and we will be bringing the cleaner back to Osim to have it checked out.

2) Glass cleaning function. OMG….it drives me nuts. It has a 60 sec timer on it, where you depress the nozzle to release the steam and upon release of the nozzle, the vacuum function immediately comes on. However, the vacuum function will stop after a while assuming you have removed all water from the glass. Most of the time, I ended up using the manual function to clean the glass.

I would have to agree with the commentators for this post that for the amount we are paying for the cleaner, it is a shame that it would go wonky after a short time (IMO, anything less than a year is short). Having said that, the rest of the cleaner still works fine and cleaning wise, still no complaints about it.

13 March 2013 –

I was toying with the idea of a steam mop for ages, like since we were in Australia and saw one at a food fair (weird, right??). Toyed with the idea again because Ollie was a lot more mobile but the ones that I have seen uses a fabric and when you own two cats..it is not very ideal. I wa pretty sick of wringing the damn mop each time I rinsed it, and not to mention the mentality I had to use hot water to remove stains off the floor. Not until I checked out a steam cleaner that a friend had.

She said that it was pretty good to use, however it was very heavy to lug around and cost about S$1.3k. Yikes. She owned an OSIM model. I had the idea that it was only a steam cleaner. I did a quick search on the internet and found that it was a dual purpose cleaner, steam cleaning AND vacuuming at the same time. Did another search online and found that there were people selling the older model online for about S$500. Hmm, would I consider a second hand model? I was okay with the idea.  Sussed out the idea with Donald and he came back with another option: to check out the newer model, uECO Genius.

We headed to the OSIM outlet at Raffles City Shopping Centre to check it out only to be told that demos for the uECO was only held at C.K. Tang. DOH. So off we went to check it out. Let’s just say the salesman was pretty good with the demo cos 10 minutes into the demo I was like, “shut up & take my money!” I am such a sucker. I had done my homework and read about some reviews about the uECO, and had some questions of my own. I think the salesman took about 30 mins to take us through the demo before we walked off to clear our heads and think about it.

Of course we bought it. It was on discount. =D

After using it for a couple of times, this is what I have to say about it:

1. Steam hose/pipe: prior to buying the uECO, I have read comments that the steam hose does get quite hot when you are using it. I did ask the salesman about how hot it will be. He demonstrated and allowed me to touch the hose. It did not feel hot at that point in time. However, when I was using it, it got pretty hot as long as the steam function was on. So that was a downer.

2. Weight: the uECO has 360 degrees revolving wheels which makes it easier for you to pull the unit along. However, because the wire is not retractable, it does get a little annoying to have to drag the unit over the wire to clean certain areas.

3. Accessories: the model comes with 16 accessories. The salesman was right to say that in reality, we probably only use a few of the accessories. I have only used ONE since I bought it. Haha. I do have plans to use the other accessories, but probably use it when I am doing a major spring clean.

4. Steam function: Donald had mentioned that I have to be careful when using the steam function near wooden furniture. Makes one wonder what will happen if the steam dampens the wood. I did think that if I were to use the steam & vacuum function concurrently, it prevents the steam vapour from spreading out too far and dampening the wood. Currently, I steam clean the floor first before I vacuum up the steam residue.

5. Vacuum function: The salesman recommended that we turn the vacuum suction up to the highest in order to ensure that water can be vacuumed. The accessory for that comes with a rubber scrapper to collect the fluid into a pool. I find that it sometime leaves streaks on the floor and spreads the water out further. That’s just me being particular about it. It could also be the angle that the pole is being positioned at.

Overall, it is a pretty good, economical and functional steam cum vacuum cleaner. The effect after is a really squeaky clean tiled floor. I steam cum vacuum the floor once a week, and do nightly water-only mops with a Scotch-Brite High Performance Mop (not really high performance IMO..). The floor still feels clean even with if I clean with just water.