More internet insanity - This time about vac'ing carpets.

[mattl]

This post indicates we are not vacuuming long enough.  It notes most people just give a quick pass and call it done. The suggested times run from slow as if cleaning your carpet to 15-20 seconds per Square foot!  If you have a lot of carpet you might want to clear your day for that job. If you have 2K sq.ft of carpet that could take 11 hours!

 

I have a very dense plush carpet and most stuff sits on top but I do give it a deep cleaning slowly going over it in one direction then rotating 90 degrees and going over it again. I personally hate oak flooring so most of my home is wall to wall carpet - I know not cool by today's standards but I like it.

https://lifehacker.com/youre-probably-vacuuming-way-too-fast-1849429518

 

[DADoES]

 
One of granny's friends many years ago touted that she had been advised by a (Sears?) vacuum salesman that proper technique is s-l-o-w movement but she didn't state a specific linear rate.

 

[luxflairguy]

As a professional housekeeper I can attest to the fact that too many people don't vacuum their rugs long enough or often enough! The tales I can tell! I"m so tired of seeing Dysons, cheap Bissell and Shark "vacuumette" machines being sold as REAL DEEP CLEANING machines! They are not! Give me a vintage Hoover, a current Kirby or a modern Miele or Electrolux(Areus) canister with a power nozzle and those WILL deep clean a rug! A slow vacuuming will clean deeper and more thoroughly than a quick/hurried vacuuming! Recently I cleaned a house with lots of oriental carpets that had always been cleaned with an Oreck with a KIrby. YUCK! I filled 2 bags full of stuff. THe owners couldn't believe how "young" the rugs looked! So many people also never change the belt, which stretch, pput in a new bag or empty the dustbin. Vacuums have become a major "throw away" item! But then there is so little quality left in vacuums!

 

[mattl]

Got to say I completely agree.  I'm a big Kirby fan, keep one on every floor of the house. Use a Hoover Spirit from the 80's with a specially made extra long hose for above floor cleaning. The Kirbys may have a bit more suction but I don't like the time it takes to interchange the hose and rug nozzle. When I do heavy cleaning I like to have both readily available. Have to say the suction of the Kirby rivals my smaller shop vac.

 

[bradfordwhite]

The best

Is a top fill VENTED Central vacuum with a dual voltage electric hose and power nozzle for carpets.

Portable vacuums can't compare to the suction that a central vacuum can produce. Most importantly is the health benefits of having the exhaust vented OUTSIDE.

You want all those fine dust particles, carpet-off gassing, and odors OUTSIDE your home envelope. If you have allergies this will go a long way to help alleviate those symptoms.

Even if one lives in a home not plumbed for a CV system, finding a way to make it work so it's vented outside is worth the effort.

 

[bradfordwhite]

The most ridiculous thing I've seen in recent years are these people who claim they don't like vacuuming, and they've pulled all their stretched carpeting out, or they've built a new home and put in these fakey (often gray) laminate floors
And they have like 3 shedding dogs.

OMG. Like they think having a hard surface floors doesn't require cleaning.
Sorry, that's not how it works. All floors need to be cleaned. Sweeping is not affective and those battery operated things suck up some of the dirt and expel the fine dust particles right up just a few inches from your nose. How convenient.

Installed carpeting is great at sound absorption and it holds dirt in place until the carpet can be properly cleaned.
Hard surface flooring allows dirt to become airborne again and actually makes allergies worse. The noise and echo from rooms that don't have proper carpeting is unlivable.

 

[luxflairguy]

Gee Brad I didn't know your were an EXPERT on everything!
A central vacuum can have lots of suction power but WITHOUT a good carpet nozzle and there aren't many out there, forget it! The biggest fault is the users who think that a quick "run around" will handle the problem and we can then put it away, you haven't cleaned well! I spent 20 years selling central and believe me I know what I'm talking about! Are yo an expert on vacuums and central vacuums?

 

[rp2813]

The "expert"

Give it up Greg.  Just hit "hide."

 

[mattl]

I much prefer the weight of the Kirby, it "digs" into the carpet and gets the dirt out like nothing I've used.  I've used a few power head units and they just don't have the heft to push into the pile of the carpet, without that it does not matter how much suction you have.

 

[lakewebsterkid]

Slow vacuuming

I have always used the vacuum in 2 directions to kind of back this theory up. I don't particularly sweep fast, but not too slow like advised above.
As someone else mentioned, hard wood floors are nice, but all the pet hair flows around like you wouldn't believe. I prefer a little carpet to keep it trapped until you sweep;

 

[bradfordwhite]

#6

My advise is based on years of experience with the wonderful products and innovations that others have created for us all to enjoy. Specifically vacuums related herein. I've repaired numerous vacuums in the past, installed central vacuum systems, and have even experimented building my own vacuums so I do know how they work.

The original intent of the central vacuum invention was great for sure though over the years the technology hasn't always been so user friendly as it has been in the last 20-30 years.

It is true that there are only about 3 brands of power nozzles that are high quality and a person really only needs one. But a beat-bar floor attachment that's working is better than NO such floor attachment, I think we can agree.

Other than that GREG, you're more than welcome to IM me if you have other questions not related to this thread. You can also create a post in the Dirty Laundry section and please don't clutter up Roberts forums with inappropriate attacks, petty jealousy, or whatever it is you've got going on toward me.

 

[bradfordwhite]

Carpeting is not indestructible by a vacuum.

If one were to put a operating power nozzle in one spot and just leave it there the beater bar would damage the carpet by literally breaking the yarns off in little pieces until there is a noticeable spot on the carpet where the yarns are missing.

Hurrying over vacuuming isn't good either because dirt that is left in the carpet to pile up will act like little sharp edge knives and cut at the carpet fibers. This is especially true of sand and gravel. Sand is after all miniature rock.

 

[bradfordwhite]

Kirby

Nothing personal...

They are too heavy, too loud, made of metal, over powered, have highly questionable sales tactics, impractical, and over priced. Their carpet shampoo attachment is a total joke. Like most other over priced vacuums you can often find used or slightly used ones on the likes of Ebay or Craigslist for $50 to $150.

If you take a vacuum with too strong of suction and an aggressive beater bar brush that vacuum will break up the fibers of whatever it's vacuuming and the "dirt" it creates will actually be the fibres of the item vacuumed rather than actual dirt.

Kirby has special sales tools that are a type of filter they slide into the machine, they run a few passes, then pull out the filter and show it to the customer so they can say "see how affective it is".

I went to an interview once in 2010 at a Kirby wheel-dealer. The owner was so slippery.

 

[mattl]

I would never pay the price of a new Kirby.  Mine all came from GW.  My series 5 came with every attachment including the shampooer and the person that donated it even included the video and instruction book with the original receipt in the event I'd want it renewed at some point - all for $50.

 

I'm fine with the weight plus I've picked up 2 other Kirbys for $10-20 each for the second floor and the basement so no carrying up and down the stairs.

 

I actually have one of those Kirby demo attachment to see how much dirt they remove from "clean" carpet. I've been using the various Kirbys for many years and there is 0 damage to my carpets and I have walked away leaving it running in one spot, again no damage.  You'd have to have some really crappy carpet for it to be damaged.

 

I have a nice collection of vac's, Hoover Dial a Matics, Bissels, Kenmore uprights and canister with a power head plus a Panasonic hard body among others but the Kirbys are the best performing and are and will continue to be my daily drivers.

 

[circlew]

Some people profess to be a "Jack of all trades", but you know what they say about that!

 

[sudsmaster]

When I bought this home it 1997, it had wall-to-wall green carpeting of different types. Mostly that awful faux textured look (1970s?), but also some shag like WTW nonsense.

 

After purchase but before moving in, I took a month off my job, ripped out all the carpeting, sanded, stained, and finished those floors with hardwood underneath, and installed laminate fake wood flooring the one room (master bedroom) with just plywood below.

 

In the living room I eventually installed a nice thin area carpet inherited from my dearly departed mother. It does currently need vacuuming, but I try to go easy on it.

 

YMMV

 

[sudsmaster]

Addendum:

 

Also to compensate for the loss of whatever insulation the WTW carpeting provided, I later added fiberglass filled batting under the flooring, between the floor joists. That made a noticeable difference in the winter.

 

[bradfordwhite]

#13

Matt it sounds like you got a great deal and I'm glad you're happy with your Kirby's and the Hoover Spirit.

I remember when the Spirit first came out.
I bought one of the bol orange model with money I saved from my paper route when I was 12 in 1983.

(similar picture.)

 

[maytag85]

Since I have Kirby’s in my collection and yes vacuum cleaners are another interest of mine, I usually will go over the same spot 4 times since that’s what Kirby recommended with the 1935 Kirby 1C I read in the comments section on a YouTube awhile back. I always have good results going over the same spot 4 times along with overlapping my strokes and it might take a little longer but always get a lot of dirt off the floor since when I go to empty the bag on my 1965 Kirby Dual Sanitonic 50, I pretty much will fill the small plastic bag I put under the emptor to catch and dispose of the contents from the bag.

Believe it or not, airflow is what actually picks the dirt off of the floor, not suction. Suction is merely a negative pressure and since suction is not a movement of air, you won’t pick up anything off of the floor. That’s why carpets in most homes that have a low airflow machine look trashed after a few years since there still tons of dirt left in the carpet which is simply unhygienic. Most people think their Dyson or Shark stick vacuum is going to deep clean their carpets and or rugs but again there’s not much airflow which means you aren’t going to get the carpets or rugs properly cleaned.

A lot of people like to debate about bagged vs bagless vacuums and there are some bagless vacuums that are decent for what they are but I tend to favor bagged vacuums more since you don’t have to empty the dirt every time you are don’t using it along with replacing filters on a yearly basis. Bagged vacuums are just easier to deal with since you don’t need to empty the dirt out every time you are done using it and there’s no worries about replacing filters on a yearly basis. Some people like to complain about how you have to buy bags for bagged vacuums but if you have are least 6 bags and each one lasts 2 months, that will last at least 1 year easily.

People tend to fall for Dyson’s marketing on how “bagged vacuums loose suction” and that was true with vacuum bags back in the 60’s 70’s 80’s and 90’s but most vacuum bags were only single layer (mainly Hoover) that tended clog with fine dust but since vacuum bags were multiple layers and were HEPA from the 2000’s and on, bagged vacuums don’t have the issues with loosing suction like the single layer bags of many years ago. Simply upgrading to bags with multiple layers or HEPA will improve the cleaner abilities of a bagged vacuum.

 

[48bencix]

With Dogs in the House

I vacuum the whole house once a week, with my 1980's Electrolux canister vacuum. We have all hardwood, tile or vinyl floors. When I moved here the Family Room, which opens via a 8' sliding glass door, to the backyard, was carpeted. We cleaned the carpet with the sink connected Bissel carpet cleaner every few months and the amount of dirt was incredible. Mostly from those dogs walking in and out. Next we removed the carpet and had new commercial glue down carpet installed. That was better but we still cleaned it with the Bissel and yes, lots of dirt. After that we ripped it out and had the Vinyl Asbestos 9"x9" green tile floor for a while. We removed that and disposed of it a the local landfill per local regulations in double bags. Then we had 18" porcelain tile installed. So no carpet.

I had purchased a 1968 Kirby at one point and did enjoy using it on the carpet and even hardwood. I lived in a house with all carpet and fortunately had a built in central vacuum there. I liked that setup and vacuumed the garage with it also. No motorized head on that unit just the brush.