The floors in my house take a beating. We have three college-age kids still living at home, two cats and an 80 pound dog with a double coat. That is a lot of mess. On the floors with hard surfaces–like the laminate on the main floor–cleaning means not just vacuuming, but also frequent wet mopping. And I hate wet mopping. It takes way too long, gets messy, and it means lugging around the mop, water bucket and towels. So I jumped at the chance to try out the NEW400 from Eureka, an all-in-one vacuum cleaner and floor washer.
Setup
Like most upright vacuum cleaners, the Eureka NEW400 ships in several pieces. Assembly is extremely easy, though. Insert the handle into the main unit and you’re done.
Because this machine is both cordless and wet/dry, there are a few more steps to take before you can use it for the first time, though. It needs to be plugged in to be fully charged. This takes about five hours and you can tell its ready when the blue LED charge indicator turns off. At this point, you need to add water and cleaning solution to the clean water tank, then click it into place. Now you’re ready to roll.
Eureka NEW400 Key Specs:
- Self-cleaning, upright wet/dry mop
- 120W motor
- Separate clean and dirty water tanks
- Cordless, with 30 minute runtime
- Self-propelled
- Multiple modes
- Self cleaning
- 9.5 x 11.4 x 46.9 inches, weighs 8.7 pounds
- Includes charger, self-cleaning tray, cleaning solution, cleaning brush, spare filter foam pads, accessory stand
- 2-year limited warranty for vacuum, 12-month battery warranty
- MSRP $199.99
Ease of Use
This wet/dry vacuum and mop couldn’t be easier to use. There’s a standard step-on and tilt mechanism and a handle-mounted On/Off switch. Power it on, the roller spins up and begins to pull the machine gently forward. At the same time, the cleaning solution and water mix is being sprayed over the roller. There is a mode button on the handle to increase the spray rate for stubborn areas. It has a swivel head for easy steering. Click the handle back into an upright position and the machine pauses. The NEW400 is light (under 9 pounds) and requires no real effort to manoeuvre around. It is also quiet at 80dB during operation.
When you’re finished cleaning, the NEW400 stands upright on a plastic tray (included), you push the Self Cleaning button, and the roller spins in place while its hosed down and the water suctioned up.
You then empty the dirty water tank. Every once in a while you may need to clean the various components, but full instructions are provided–and Eureka also sells replacement parts, if needed.
Cleaning Effectiveness
While the Eureka NEW400 is advertised as an all-in-one that combines vacuuming and mopping, there were only two rooms in my house where it pulled this off: the bathrooms. No pets, and no shoes meant those floors don’t get a lot of debris, so it was able to do the vacuuming as well as the mopping. In the rest of the house? Clumps of dog fur, cat litter particles, crumbs, and dirt or leaves tracked in from outdoors would gum the works up quickly. In these areas, I found a pre-clean with my vacuum cleaner was a necessity. And then I’d let the NEW400 do its thing as a mop.
And that’s where it really shines. When I mopped our living room and kitchen floors, I would have to mop a section, then go over it with a thick towel, otherwise it would take forever to dry and there would be massive watermarks everywhere.
The Eureka NEW400 saved so much time because virtually all of the liquid used in cleaning would be suctioned up. Eureka says about 90% of liquid is recovered. There is some minor streaking here and there, but nothing major and everything dried completely in about 10 minutes. Most of the floor would need just a single pass or maybe two. Tough areas–like syrup spilled on the kitchen floor–responded much better to switching modes to get more liquid on the spot. You don’t need to put any pressure on the cleaner, just let the spinning roller and liquid combo do the work for you. I didn’t come across anything in the month I tested it that wouldn’t come off the floor.
Overall, as a wet cleaner/mop, the NEW400 did a very good job on my laminate floors, cleaning them effectively, virtually without watermarks, with no scrubbing effort on my part and in about a quarter of the time it took me to do the job manually.
Battery Life
Battery life was as advertised, about 30 minutes on a full charge.
Eureka NEW400 Recommendation
If your home’s floors are all hard surfaces and you don’t have a lot of “dirt” sources (such as kids and pets) then you might just be able to get away with the Eureka NEW400 as your primary vacuum. Just keep in mind you wouldn’t have a hose, dusting tools and other accessories that come with standard vacuum cleaners.
However, for most people who have at least some hard surface floors in their home, I think the Eureka NEW400 serves as a complement to a standard vacuum cleaner. It’s a way to wet clean those floors when they get sticky or grimy without having to resort to a mop. It’s a lot easier and a lot faster than doing it manually, and thanks to its spinning roller, it’s just as effective.
Disclosure: Eureka provided a NEW400 for evaluation purposes but had no input into this review.
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