Bissell Zing OMG!

[thomasortega]

Folks, a few days ago I was pissed off because of my daughter Miele shedding non stop and having a Hoover Constellation destroying my ankles, and a super low budget, so I ran and bought a Bissell Zing Vaccum cleaner at Lowe's.

My idea was, whatever cheap vaccum that can buy me time until I can afford something better. My floors are all laminate and ceramic (I hate laminate). The two things i hate when using the constellation was if blowing all the dirt before i have the chance to suck it (specially dog hair) and the canister hitting the walls, furniture and my ankles. It reached a point that for months I had to ask Darryl to hold the vacuum upside down while i vacuumed or vice-versa.

Anyway, i got the Bissel Zing not expecting much from it. It's the cheapest canister I could find (less than $50).

The Vacuum itself is an average chinese crap. Flimsy, I'm sure it won't last much more than 1 year using twice a day but at that price, who cares? Now the suction power... OMG! What Bissell did to that vacuum? Steroids?

It sounds like a 110V vacuum plugged on 220V. Noisy as hell. But it suction power is comparable to a central vacuum with 2 motors or one of those self service vacuums at the car wash. I'm really impressed.

It comes with the average (and flimsy) floor nozzle, a short bristle round brush and a crevice tool. It doesn't even have a telescopic tube, so cheap it is.

Anyway, I know it won't last too long and I don't really care. It does what a vacuum cleaner is supposed to do (perfectly well by the way) but it made me think if it makes any sense to spend more money buying a more reliable (and obviously expensive) model.

I'm sure it will not be as fantastic for carpets as it doesn't have a brushroll but, for hard floors and above floor cleaning, it's great.

Oh, and it's also VERY lightweight, super comfortable to hold when vacuuming the ceiling, fans, curtains, etc.

And it's bagless. Ok, we all know bagless loose suction over time but if you wash or even replace the filters you can bring the power back and spend less money than buying disposable bags. Considering the huge amount of dog hair, using a bagged vac is a nonsense here. (2 uses fill the constellation bag)

 

[mrsalvo]

Yes, don't forget to wash and clean the filters. I found that one out the hard way on the bag less Sharp that we have, it was amazing the intense suction power that was recovered, like night and day. I soaked the filters in a Lysol solution, thought it might make it smell better but it didn't last long.

Barry

 

[foraloysius]

A picture explains a lot. Is this the one you bought?

https://www.lowes.com/pd/BISSELL-Zing-Bagless-Canister-Vacuum/1000435139

BTW, Lysol, does it kill dust mites?

 

[thomasortega]

Yep, washing the filters once in a while is mandatory if you want to keep bagless vacuums working well. Also, replacing the filters every 6-8 months is interesting.

This is the 5th bagless vac i have in my life and, considering the mountains of pet fur (that not necessarily clog the filters but it fills the container really fast) I can save a lot of money compared to disposable bags.

With bagged vacuums, 2 times I vac the whole house (and i have to do it twice or 3 times per day) means replacing almost one bag per day. That's expensive!

Bagged vacuums are great (I also love them) but I'd use them for the "second pass" right after i use a bagless, only to get rid of the excess first and then let a better filtration. But for the first time, a "cheap crap" vacuum surprised me. It's definitely more powerful than a Dyson or a Shark.

One thing that helps with smells is vacuuming a teaspoon of laundry scent boosters. I use the blue Purex Crystals. It works great!

I used to do that with the Constellation. Now that I empty the bagless container 3x per day, I don't care about that. When it starts to smell it's asign that i need to wash the filter.

Other thing i didn't noticed before. The Zing is "el cheapo" but it has a "somewhat cyclonic" design. I even vacuumed the balcony (one cup of that horrible thin black dust) and surprisingly the filter continues white as new after several uses.

 

[mark_wpduet]

OK

so let me ask this? When it comes time to maintain the filters, exactly many filters are there and where are they on the unit? Are they all washable ?

 

[thomasortega]

The Zing has a 4-stage filtration, as follows:

In the cup:

Plastic mesh filter
Hepa filter cartridge (Bissell stopped using the HEPA term)

Pre motor "disaster" filter (just a silly sponge)

Post motor exhaust filter

What I really like about the Zing is that it's not a cyclone vacuum and it's not advertised as one, however, the dirt inlet in the container is somewhat curved. It lepps keeping the dirt spinning and falling under the cartridge.

Sometimes (very rarely) the dirt balls up and I have to disassemble the container. But more recently I noticed I can just ignore that and empty the container (whatever falls from it without touching the dirt) and on the next use the ball will end up falling, so I can clean it the next time without touching the dirt at all.

The cartridge filter takes a long time to saturate and start loosing power. If I use it constantly I1'd say I'd have to wash the filter every 20 or 25 times I empty it. I never had to wash the disaster or the exhaust filters yet.

However, now I also have an Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo so I use Zing much less and when I use it there is much less dirt to pick up.

Other thing I noticed, it's super easy to wash the cartridge. I just use the faucet sprayer at an angle to inse it until the water is clear and the vilter is almost white again. No more than 3 minutes to do everything.

For the price, that's a great vacuum! I'm very glad with it and still very surprised. It works perfectly for my needs and costed almost nothing, what could be better?

Oh, and on carpets, forget... I don't have carpets, not even rugs here and I can imagine the performance is very poor for anything different from hard floors.

 

[rolls_rapide]

I'm afraid you totally lost me:

"I was pissed off because of my daughter Miele shedding non stop..."

???

 

[ozzie908]

Having used bagged and bagless I have given up on bagless vacs as fed up washing filters and trying to get rid of odours, Back to bagged I have a Sebo x4 pet and an airbelt pet as well as a Miele cylinder pet all get used but mostly use the Sebox4 as its handy I have a cordless Dyson which is used in the kitchen mostly as a dustpan and brush .... The bagged ones I buy generic bags as I change them so often and its a lot easier than messing about with the bins and filters you just throw it away when it starts to become smelly ....... Simple

 

[thomasortega]

LOL...

All my pets have "interesting" names...

A dog called Miele, other called Dolby Surround (do I need to say her ears are huge?) and a cat called Maytag.

And their best friend (my best friend's dog) is called Westinghouse (AKA Westy)

 

[revvinkevin]

 

 

Oops... Thomas beat me to it.   

 

[xraytech]

Glad that the Bissell is working out well for you.
When you need to replace it, you can always search for a used a filter Queen, it’s bagless with filter cones, and performs very well.

 

[thomasortega]

Thanks for the advice but I'm not really a big fan of used stuff in my house, except rare vintage laundry appliances.