UK member seeks new vacuum cleaner !

[nickuk]

Well after several botched repairs on different aspects of the machine, my wife and I decided to buy a new cleaner. I'm a little disappointed in the Miele `Revolution' cylinder - it's only lasted six years. Or is that ok? Anyway......

I am a little anti Dyson, I had one in the nineties and found it noisy, the lights dimmed when you switched it on and the plastic tools kept snapping / breaking / enlarging. I feel that the `does not loose suction even when full' thing is a blatant lie! Or maybe I had a bad one and they're better now...

The Miele has been a great cleaner, I just would have expected more longevity. But it's used almost daily, has moved house twice....I would consider another one.

I want an upright this time. Current preferred choice is a SEBO X.1.1 (I think it's called). I'd love any input you guys have - tonight if poss as I'll probably buy it in the morning.

Cheers

Nick

 

[maytagbear]

Used to be-

that you could not go wrong with a Hoover.

I just don't know the UK scene. I am no fan of the dyson, I think they are UGLY.

I have heard nothing good about Rowenta vacuums, though their irons are great.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[nickuk]

Thanks Lawrence, nice to hear from you and I hope you're keeping well.

Hoover vacuums in the UK have a poor reputation now, especially `The One' model. They are at the lower end of the market, but you are right - they certainly used to be good units. I don't know about Rowenta - I'll go and look them up.

Nick

 

[sadose]

I've heard these Oreck things are good but they have bags. I personally have had a Dyson DC05 Absolute + turbo brush since June 2002 and it's been faultless...I can't really say any more on the matter but I've heard Dyson's are slowly but surely getting worse! Have you thought about Electrolux?

 

[toggleswitch]

SEBO X.1.1 ?

R U Serious?
My mind must be much filthier than I realize.

 

[nickuk]

Sorry Toggle

Whooosh ....right over my head.....don't get it......I'm a little slow sometimes. Am intrigued - what's the joke? Am not easily offended - don't worry - just stupid!

Thanks Sadose, there is a Dyson on offer in Argos and I may well go for that one..

 

[petek]

Dysons only became available in Canada about 2 months ago and so far no fanfare at all. The few stores I've seen them in may have one out of a box which was the case at Linen & Things which gave me the opportunity to try it out on their test patch of carpet. Overall my impression was another piece of plastic junk and an overpriced one at that. It looks like a silly piece of Transformer toy plastic crap as well, as does the Hoover Z. I'd buy a 2nd hand real vacuum cleaner anyday if not something more reasonably priced for a piece of plastic.

 

[brettsomers]

nick

the sebo you mentioned is the upright, yes? very quality cleaner, very good choice. its very sturdy and durable. and no belts to change. the bag is very easy to change and filters very very well. the agitator is easy to service and the suction wand is very well designed. however, its not an excellent carpet cleaner. doesnt do well on deeply buried soil. but neither does the Dyson. some users complain of a short hose. if you plan on doing stairs or automobiles you will want to purchase an extension hose. since the cleaner is so rugged, its only natural that its also a little on the heavy side. i would choose a sebo upright myself over a Dyson, no contest!

 

[kirk280980]

Hi Nick,

For a bagged upright, Sebo would probably be my first choice too. The Automatic X series has been around quite a while now, and has proven to be a sturdy, reliable cleaner that performs well. The newer Felix series looks very nice also, very cleverly designed.

When it comes to cylinders, it's Numatic all the way for me. A decent British-made product with its roots in the commercial cleaning industry, and despite being cheap to purchase and maintain they do last exceptionally well. Currently I'm using the Henry Hound model with electric power brush (no longer available, but the Henry Turbo is virtually identical), and so far I really can't think of any other vac I would be willing to swap it for. Not even a Miele ).

Kirk

 

[petek]

The only Numatics I see here must be the commercial models being used in banks, building lobbys etc. I only checked one time because I saw a guy using a vac one day in an office building lobby and was amazed how quiet it was. T'was a NUmatic.

 

[nickuk]

Thanks for your help and frank comments, guys.

Thanks for telling me about the Numatic Kirk, I didn't know anything about them!

Do feel free to suggest other brands etc you would advise buying - I'm not married to any of them, I'm very open minded about it. This isn't really my `thing', I'm more into those things which tumble fabric through water

 

[lavamat_jon]

Nick,

I have to say that I love my DC14 Animal - is great on pet hair and I hate to do this but I actually would recommend it! It is much much better than the DC03 it replaced, and the Panasonic and Electrolux ones we had for about 2 weeks in between the DC03 and DC14 - both the Panasonic and Electrolux ones (which were fairly high end) couldn't clean for toffee and left tracks in the carpet and struggled with pet hair, where as the DC14 hasn't failed us yet.

Hope this helps!

Jon

 

[nickuk]

Well thanks for all the help

In the end I bought a Dyson.

Don't shoot me, critics! To cut a very long story short, we definitely wanted an upright because we found the Miele a pain to store. We chose to buy from Argos, because we had a `gift card' which needed using, and with the special offer price on the voucher plus a further £10 off, we only had to pay about £7 for the cleaner! My wife was part of the decision making process, and between us we decided that no further outlay on bags or filters was a big deal, and less hassle, and that Luke would probably find the Dyson more fun (2 year old son). A big factor was the ability to clean all the stairs in one go.

Conclusion? Well, it got half a cannister of cr** out the carpet which was vacuumed yesterday with the Miele cylinder and power head. The DC01 which I had in the nineties had design faults, all of which have been corrected. Luke loves it! The only negative I have with it so far, after cleaning the hosue, is the noise level - which I expected anyway. But then if noise were a big issue for me I wouldn't be rennovating a 25 year old Hotpoint front loader I quite like noisy appliances, I think it appeals to to my testosterone or woteva.

I do regret not buying the SEBO, I'm sure it's a far superior unit, but I'm pleased with the Dyson especially for what it cost. Thanks so much everyone for the input

Nick

 

[lavamat_jon]

Nick,

Which model did you go for? I have to say that I really do love my DC14 animal - far exceeds my expectations. Not everybody's cup of tea here but it's hell of a lot better than most of the crap you get on the market here, they are more powerful than they were 10 years ago, and you don't have the bags to replace like the Sebo. We also like the turbine attachment, which is great for getting pet hair off the stairs.

Have to say that the Dyson DC14 really has turned my view of Dyson vacuums around, although I still think that James Dyson is a bit of a d**khead, and that Dyson score 15/10 for marketing!! .

Jon

 

[petek]

Nick, after you've had it awhile and the "newness" has worn off can you repost your own or your wifes thoughts on it positive or negative. I'd have one just to add to my collection eventually but wouldn't buy one new just to have one. I just don't like bagless vacs.

 

[lavamat_jon]

Peter - not Nick but I can give you a few postivies and negatives if that's OK?

I've had the Dyson DC14 Animal since November 2005.

Positives:
+ Very good cleaning
+ Telescopic wand - great for stair cleaning, and you can hold the hose like you would a nozzle on a cylinder cleaner - saves on your back.
+ Bagless - no need for dustbags (not the sole reason why we bought the Dyson, but it is a good side-effect)
+ Cleans right to the edges - don't need to use the nozzle around skirting boards
+ Great for picking up dog hair - is the only vacuum cleaner that we have used that has managed to pick up dog hairs
+ Good on the tiled kitchen floor - doesn't blow dirt away like the DC03 did
+ Very ergonomically designed
+ Turbine attachment for the wand - great for cleaning stairs, and again really does pick up ground-in hairs that the other tools can't

Negatives
- Noise; not just the noise while your using the machine but the high pitched ringing does go throughout the house and you can actually hear neighbours using their Dyson's too.
- Plasticky; some parts are a bit too plasticky for my liking but touchwood it all seems to have held up well.
- The weight; it is a very heavy vacuum cleaner and whilst taking it upstairs is OK for me, my mum struggles with her bad back, and I would imagine that older people would perhaps have difficulty too.
- The company itself. I don't really like Dyson's attitude that everything they make is good and other competitor's products are crap, and the way they try to push down their competitors. Plus they spend a *little* bit too much in the marketing department
- The bin is too small. Because it picks up so much, we find that even with vacuuming every day we have to empty the bin at least once when we vacuum the whole house.

Anyway, I hope that put a spin on your view Peter. In conclusion I really am happy with this DC14, and wouldn't hesitate to buy one again. But like anything, it's worth a try.

Jon

 

[brettsomers]

Useless facts...

dyson owners are often impressed with the volume of dirt collected. a "cool" side effect of the dirt spinning around is that all the airflow and movement serves to FLUFF the dirt collected. so soil that might take up just a tiny bit of space in a bag is whipped up into an impressive mass. also, a new cleaner with brushroll will often compare quite favorably to ANY older model, why? because a cleaner thats had years of use often has SOME wear of the bristles on the brushroll. you can often get excellent results by simply renewing the brushes on your used cleaner.

 

[nickuk]

Petek, yes of course I'll report to you about the Dyson once the novelty wears off. Email me and ask or just remind me somehow - start a new thread or something, I won't promise to remember to tell you because my memory's shot, but if you ask me I'm always glad to talk

Jon - thanks - a far more comprehensive answer than I could have given! How ya keepin' anyway? The model is the basic DC07 - simply on a cost / special offer type issue, we have no pets so the basic one will be fine for us I think (I hope)

Good point Brettsommers, but now the machine is off and resting - you can clearly see what's sitting in the cannister, not `whipped about' any more. And it's quite alot. Totally agree with you that a new cleaner is likely to outperform an old one, but I looked after my Miele and the brush bar / suction etc were all in pefect condition. Despite this, the problems with it were to due to it falling apart physically as opposed to the actual operation. The motor etc still runs smooth as anything.

Cheers

Nick

 

[petek]

BTW Nick, did your Miele have a power nozzle or the air turbine one? The Mieles are nice vacs, certainly powerful and quiet but like most things these days they're all plastic as well. You would think for the money they cost, over here you'd be getting a metal canister body.

I just can't get passed the bagless aspect myself. To me it's a bother to have to empty it into a trashbin or a plactic grocery or garbage bag when with other uprights such as a Kenmore/Panasonic it's so very very simple to just unclip the bag and toss it out. You can even put it in with your kitchen trash and not worry about dust flying up when you drop in the next item. Something you couldn't do with a bagless unless you bagged it first. Then you're left looking at a dust/dirt coated bin on your otherwise clean vac unless you happen to wipe it down inside after dumping.. no thanks, plus after time all that whirling dervish in there is going to abrade the plastic making it look tired much like the cheap plastic jars on a blender do after awhile.

And Jon, nothing beats a Hoover for dog hair, nothing. LOL