OT: Vacuum Cleaner Survey

I love my upright Dyson, a silver grey and lime green DC04. Has LOTS of suck, and a LOOOOOOONG hose that reaches all the way up the stairs, so you never have to balance it half way up!

We've had it a few years now (about 3?), and I'd never go back to a cylinder type. It's true what they say, too - it doesn't lose sucking power even when the hopper is full. The only unpleasant thing about it is the clear plastic muck hopper - you really can see the dirt you just sucked up, and it's NASTY!! The one thing that we found early on is that you need to keep a supply of belts for the head brush: if you get something caught up in it, you can melt through the belt before you can stop it! They are not expensive, and we've only had to change one, but they are a pain to do without at 8 pm on a Sunday...

I have an add-on gadget for vacuuming the sewing machines that fits it too.

Recently at my sewing machine dealer, I witnessed one woman bringing in another to get a Simplicity. The first one had had hers a while and the second had borrowed it and fallen in love. Well, you would have thought you were watching an informercial to see them rave--and the dealer probably could have charged them double! I think the model was the Freedom. It's about the same weight as an Oreck, but is supposed to be much better. You mgiht want to check it out.

--Heidi

We now have 2 dysons, uprights that are bagless. wouldn't be without them now

Last fall I decided that a new vacuum was in order. After lots of research, I decided to go with a Miele canister.

It's quiet, lightweight, but plenty powerful, and does a better job than the upright I used to have. The bag is cloth, so it's a little pricier to replace, but does a *wonderful* job catching all the dust (as does the HEPA filter on it -- first one I've had that actually works!) I would definitely buy it again.

I inherited a bagless upright from MSM, and it is *awful*. It puts as much dust in the air as it picks up, and when you go to empty the container, you spread half of what you picked up back into the air.

Hope that helps!

I bought a commercial upright vacuum 8 years ago. I got it to deal with the dog hair (2 black labs). The only drawback is that it is bagless, but not a plastic container and the hair gets stuck on the sides of the bag and smells. Now that most of the floors are tile, it is no too bad. When I replace, defintely plastic.

I love my system---cleaner-dude comes once a month and does it for me :-)

-- Jean S

I have a $100 bagless Dirt Devil upright that I really like. It replaced a $600 Filter Queen canister that I didn't think was EVER going to die. And I hated that thing from the day I brought it home It was like hauling a dead pig on a rope. I finally decided that life is too short.

I went through the dilemma of what to buy as well. I knew I wanted an upright bagless, but I didn't know if to go high-end, low-end whatever.

I'm not hard on vacuums like I used to be. I pick stuff up off the floor and remove all the throw rugs first. I think this makes a big difference.

Any way, I like the Dirt Devil. My best friend, OTOH, had a Dirt Devil once and hated it.

Cindy

Here's why I like a bagless. When I had one with bags, I would change the first 2 bags right on schedule but then forget to buy more bags so the 3rd bag stayed in the machine forever until I remembered to buy bags again.

Cindy

I recently bought a Hoover WindTunnel V2 upright vacuum. It can be bagless or you can use the bags - whichever suits. The filters can be cleaned - the old Eureka I just got rid of had two filters - not quite the same size. One of the filters you could find in all the stores, the other one you had to order. They could not be cleaned. This one has a Hepa filter as well as another filter. Those first two filters (the Hepa and the other one seem to really be working well because the final filter is not dirty at all (it's the one that does the final filter before returning the air to the room). I really like the hand held powered brush on my new vacuum. Wonderful for furniture & corners where the vacuum won't reach. It has a really long cord - I can do almost my entire house without moving the plug.

This, by far, is the best vacuum I've ever had. I once got suckered into buying a Kirby - I hated that thing. It was worse than awful!

I have a Hoover upright with a dual chamber. It has on board tools and hose. My only regret is I wish the hose was a bit longer, maybe with use it will stretch some more. It also has a Hepa filter and a light to see where you are going. And what power! I had my dad's old filter queen which is nice, but not the power of the Hoover. It's the green model.

-- Sandi in New Westminster B.C.

I have a 15 year old Hoover upright that has never let me down. Bags are cheap and it has the easy-push feature. For hose-type cleaning I have a little Hoover tank thingie with all kinds of attachments. Can't go wrong with Hoover.

Smee

We just bought our second Rainbow vacuum. We bought a second hand one as I needed one badly and couldn't afford a brand new one. I love my Rainbow. No Bags or filters to buy. It works with water. We bought it because it is great for people with allergies. No smell of dust or dirt flying into the air like most other vacuums seem to have. Our old one lasted for 18 years. It was expensive to buy but when you divide the price by 18 years, it comes out to be a bargain.

Susanne

HOOVER--never had a major problem with them. Used them for years and years before replacing. The few time I have tried other brands they did not last a year.

-- Kathy in CA Quilting Stuff:

When I use the third bag, new bags go on my shopping list :)

Julia in MN

I have a Hoover windtunnel bagless and love it. I did have a Rainbow (which still worked) but found it a pain to put together and then dump the water and clean the filter, etc. etc. But with the bagless, I just lift out a canister and go dump and back in and back to vacuuming. It is an upright and has the hoses conveniently hooked to the side of the machine so easy to attach and use. Just my 2 cents worth. Barb

Love my Oreck!!

The Blessed Fiddy, Patroness Saint of the Disorganized LC in Sunny So Cal Personality Development Specialist (Full-Time Mom!)

We have a Sanyo with bags; tools on board. I love it. Living in the country with a bunch of dogs and cats, we need something tough and it is; it's been sweeping up small twigs and rocks, burrs, and enough fur for an alpaca ranch for several years now and as long as I change the bags regularly (which takes 30 seconds and they're cheap), and rinse the filter every 3 months, it never flinches. The accessibility of the tools means I use them every week, too. Great!

FIL had a Kirby that he thinks is the best thing in the world. He then foisted, er gave it to us for the store. I hate it with a passion, as do all my employees.

Previous vacuum cleaners owned- my mom's canister Electrolux with motorized head. Eureka Boss. Dirt Devil basic (given). I hated the clunky head of the motorized head on the canister style. bought the Eureka Boss it lasted 6 yrs of hard use. Was given a basic Dirt Devil as a replacement.

My DH had vacuumed the house with the Dirt Devil and for some reason it didnt seem clean(had an empty bag vacuum working fine). Decided that he wanted to finally buy the new vacuum that we had been discussing. Did some online research, decided on this model and ended up buying it at Lowe's. Brought home the Eureka- vacuumed only the places he had already vacuumed and filled one and a half bags in the new vacuum cleaner. (Yuck!) The carpet felt clean as new! We have lived here a year and a half and had only used the Dirt Devil on the carpet except a shampooer once. I am sure that the Dirt Devil was NOT picking up all the dirt but just the dirt we could see.

Current model- Eureka "The Boss" Smartvac. features we love- Has a bag- no opening the canister and letting all that dirt back out

12 amps of power- so powerful it pulls itself forward as you vacuum Adjustments for hard floors to high pile carpeting Adjust the brush on or off on board hose and attachments- must switch between hose or floor (easy) 2 filters- one hepa Easy to turn and move _Much_ _Quieter_ than all of our previous vacuum cleaners- the Dirt Devils are known for being very noisy.

Con- it is heavier than our last 2 vacuums but not really heavy.

Just my experience. Good luck on finding the one that works for you.

Julie Richmond, VA