vacuum advice?

Gather App
Automatic Washer - The world's coolest Washing Machines, Dryers and Dishwashers

Help Support AutomaticWasher.org:

J

jmirawm

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 21, 2004
Messages
733
Location
Barling Arkansas
Hi Guys, I can't post over at the vacuum forum. I never post and my account gets closed I am guessing. Anyway - I have a friend in the market for a new vacuum. Her current vacuum is scratching her hardwood floors. <p> We went to the local vacuum store. the salesman showed her a Simplicity 7 series. Very nice vacuum. I don't need a vacuum and I was ready to buy one! lol. She likes the attachment features and the bare floor feature. She has mostly hardwood floors throughout. She has a constant kitty litter problem. It gets tracked everywhere.
<p> We also looked at Kenmores - I was not impressed. If it was me I would buy the Simplicity. It is a $600 purchase and she wants to think this through of course. <p> So does anyone have any opinions on the Simplicity - or any other suggestions ? <p>Features she liked: <p> barefloor (brush raised and off)<p> rubber wheels<p> attachable long hose with bare floor head, to be used when doing a more thorough cleaning. <p> Easy to push.<p>basic on board attachments<p> good suction ( who wouldn't want that ? <p>Has a bag (she does not want to see the dirt or empty a dirt cup) <p> I always love and appreciate all of your opinions, thanks ! tom
 
With all the excellent 2nd hand vacs you can buy out there for a song I can't imagine paying all that money for a new vacuum but to each there own.

If she has mostly hardwood floors wouldn't a canister vac be more apropos compared to an upright. She could probably get a nice Miele canister for that price or a little less. The new Miele S7 uprights are really nice, the body of the vac twists when you turn the vac making it very easy to manouver. The lowest priced one of those sells here in Canada for about $549 Cdn or just under $500 US.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/home.jsp
 
Vacuum store

Hi, Tom. I would go to a vacuum cleaner store. Those guys KNOW their stuff!!!! And FAR better quality than anything from Wal-Hell!!!....Bill in Az....
 
Miele

I can't recommend highly enough.

We have the equivalent of the USA market S5981 Capricorn with the SEB236 Powerbrush....but we have heavy, light-coloured carpet and 2 dogs.

I would suggest any Miele or Nilfisk if you have them in the USA

...but to be honest, if you have mainly hardwood floors, anything that sucks will get the dust and light grit up...
 
I second the guys saying the Eurekas...

Owning 2 different Eurekas/Sanitaires I have to agree with the guys saying the Eureka. If you get the old-style Boss or one of the 7 amp Sanitaires, they'll handily outclean most of the much more expensive units available today. Parts are cheap, the vac is cheap, bags are cheap, and they do an excellent job!

IMHO Miele is not only overrated, but WAY overpriced. At least here in the US they are. In other countries the same models sell for less than half what they do here.

If she's got tons of hard floors, I'd say go for a canister. A Hoover windtunnel canister is only a couple hundred bucks, and I'm willing to bet that it'll hands-down outclean the Simplicity/Riccar. I'm sorry, but I dont' like the Tacony machines! I know their sales tactics, and how much they cost to produce and sell wholesale! Their highest end vacuum they produce retails for close to $1400, but sells wholesale for less than 1/3 of that!!!!

Spend your money wisely! Get a good vac, but don't break the bank doing it!
 
We have the red Miele S312 vacuum. We've had it for three years and it still looks like the day we got it. It's lightweight, does an excellent job on hardwood floors and deep pile carpet. We have three dogs and after vacuuming with the Miele, you don't have any dog hair on your socks.
And it's HEPA filtrated too!

You get what you pay for. The average Wind Tunnel lasts 3-4 years, a Miele will last for 10, easily. How many Wind Tunnels would you need to buy in 10 years?
 
Tom, I am the membership coordinator for the VCCC. Please give it another try. On the homepage just click under "Contact Us". Then click on Fred Nelson's address and tell him the problem you are having. I am sure we can have you back up and running in no time. Terry

As far a advice for your friend, I would agree with Pete, I think she would be much better off with a good quality canister.
 
I also think with having mostly hard floors a canister would be the best choice.
I think that the Kenmore with with Power Mate canisters are very good, I also think the Eureka Canisters are very good.
If you don't care about price I would reccomend a Tri-Star or a Filter Queen Majestic would be my first choice.
You can find great deals on newer Filter Queens on Ebay for under $300 and they have superior filtration and has a great Powernozzle and attachments.They are also very quiet and has excellent suction
My Filter Queen is from 1991 and works as good as the day it was new.
The Tri-Stars are also excellent high end vacuums and you can easily find a great used model on ebay. They are also very quiet with great suction. They have 4 layers of filtration too and they have a paper bag then a cloth bag then motor filter and after filter. These may cost a little more than a Filter Queen but well worh it and it will also last forever.

Sam
 
Not all Tri-Stars,

sadly are good anymore - I would ask the opinion of the experts around AW.org before committing to one specific model.

But yes, if she isn't doing carpet, why on earth bother with an upright? Bare floors need suction, not beaters or long-bristled brushes.

The Hoover Wind Tunnels clean, but they are far too loud.

My parents have a TOL Dyson and the TOL Miele (I splurged - found at a junk sale for $15, with all attachments). The Miele is so much better built than the Dyson, there is no comparison possible. Why Dyson has such a high rep. is beyond me, cheap plastic everywhere.

Oreck is even worse. Sadly, the basic premise is good.

But, silly question here, why buy a new vacuum? The vintage vacs are enormously better suited in all ways.
 
lots to think about......

Janet came over last night and this has certainly gave her lots to think about. She does have one large room that is carpeted, and why she is thinking an upright. She has always had an upright and does not want to deal with pulling a cannister around. She had looked at Walmart, but all the models were bagless except for one. That model looked like crap. She is planning on going to Best Buy to look at the boss. As far as buying a vintage vac - I do not know if there is anyplace around here that would sell them. I do not think she would trust spending money on ebay for one. Thanks for your help - it is certainly help guide her decision making process. Keep the ideas coming in. tom
 
An alternate suggestion...

If she wants something cheap and yet ultra powerful, you might have her check out Sams Club. They have a yellow Eureka commercial upright (Basically a Sanitaire) for like $80. The thing has a 6.5 amp motor, and will move enough air to handily clean the hard floors without a sweat. I can pretty much guarantee she won't find a better cleaner, a better price, or a better deal anywhere else. Bags are cheap and readily available and so are belts.

Food for thought...
 
Eric

has a point. If she wants cheap and OK quality.
Stil, what's up with 'luggung around'? My mom says the same thing, I so don't get it.
 
"lugging around"

I assume you are referring to pulling around a canister. I went to a canister once and I went back to an upright.<p>the following is just my opinion on canisters as far as my experience goes: With a canister, you have two pieces of equipment to deal with: the power head and then attached by a hose a parasite that is following you around (and not following well at all) but constantly hanging on things, bumping into things, not following around corners and so on. You still have to go pick it up and move it around. Just logical then - have one piece of equipment to move around. The whole thing is with you no matter where you go and you are not having to worry about a caboose and if it is following you. <p> Janet is not necessarily looking for cheap. She is wanting something that is good quality and will last for a long time. She wants to spend her money wisely though. So asking for opinions. tom
 
I didn't realize your friend prefers an upright. I have a few good options for that.
Look at the POanasonic uprights I have an older Panasonic made Kenmore upright that is very nice and reliable and you can shut the brushroll off for hard floors and attachment use.
I also love the Kirby, I have a G6 which other than color is the same as the new model. it is selfpropelled and does a great job on both carpet and hard floors. Of the 25 vacuums in my collection the Kirby is one of my favorites. You can also find rebuilt ones on ebay that the seller offers a warranty from 1 to 5 years.
The Eureka commercial upright is also a good choice.
 
You could only go for a Kirby then.

Sebo and Miele are reliable enough but neither clean well enough to use as daily drivers. Why? They leave behind so much, used my Kirby for the 1st time and was disgusted at what had been left behind after using the Miele for a couple of weeks.

Same goes for Dyson, steer clear of those. They are the biggest gimmicks going. The cyclone is there to fluff up the dirt and make you think they are doing the job and they lose suction quicker than most other cleaners.

Kirby (even the old ones)is the way forward as they remove the deep down grit dust and fluff that no NEW cleaner is capable of removing.

You should be able to get a good Kiby with attachments on ebay for the budget and it will outlive any Sebo or Miele.
 
Timborow

Yes, Tim. That's the Commercial Eureka I was referring to earlier. They keep changing the price around! Sometimes it's on sale for as little as $75. Either way, it's a GREAT buy, and I can guarantee it'll outdo an Oreck any day of the week.

Want an example of what kind of suction I'm referring to? I made a video here a while back for a friend who wanted me to do the Convertible, Sanitaire, and a 5-amp Eureka for sheer suction power.

Click the link below for what kind of cleaning power the 6.5 and 7 amp Eureka/Sanitare machines have. Keep in mind, NONE of the vacuums in the video have a brushroll even installed.....AT ALL!!!!

 
ttuee2006

Wow! Great video. I'm impressed with the cleaning power on carpet. I only 3 area rugs in my entire house. The rest of the floors are hardwoods. Do you think it would be a good idea for me to buy one as my main vacuum? The Oreck does have a squeeqee to keep the dirt from scattering. I do like that part of it. I'm just wondering if this Eureka would scatter dirt on bare floors?

Do you have any videos of one being used on a bare floor? Once again, great job with the video.

Thanks for your help,
Tim
 
Ttuee2006, I'm shocked that you would recommend a Hoover over a Miele or Tacony machine! (But then again, you also called the Hoover Convertible a POS in your video, not sure many vacuum gurus would agree with that statement... though I'll admit, my Convertible is one of my least favorite Hoovers too, I wouldn't call it a POS) The Hoover canister might clean similarly on hard floors, but the Miele and Tacony machines certainly filter better and last longer.

I would NOT recommend that Eureka for this application (the yellow one at Sam's club). If the her current vacuum scratches the hard floors, this one will sand them so she can refinish them! It's got plastic wheels (not rubber), and an aggressive brushroll that cannot be turned off at all. Maybe the people recommending them didn't read the requirements of the person needing the cleaner.

I agree with the Miele. I found my used Miele Plus canister at a thrift shop for 15 bucks... so they can be had used quite reasonably. It's quiet and while the agitation isn't very aggressive, the suction is tremendous. I was shocked at how much crud was in the bag after only a few uses... and my flat carpet is regularly vacuumed with Royal, Kirby, Electrolux, Rainbow, Filter Queen, and Dyson... I can't believe there was anything left for the Miele to suck up! Miele also has a stick vac type machine that might work well in this application since the friend doesn't like canisters... no brush roll option though.
 
I probably should do another video of the Sanitaire on the hard floor. Although it doesn't have a squeegee, the vacuum power is such that nothing ever scatters. Even cat litter on my floors from the ferrets.

To Bobby.....I hate to disagree with you, but ANY vacuum with wheels is going to behave the same way on floors. I used to have Pergo floors in this house before a flood destroyed them. I even used a cheap Hoover stick-vac on them with plastic wheels and it didn't scratch the floors. For reference, the floors scratched EASILY.

The Eurekas and Sanitaires don't actually put the nozzle on the floor itself unless you make it. Even on the #1 setting on mine the nozzle never actually touches the floor. The bristles on the brushroll are much softer than most vacuums on the market today, and revolves at less than half the speed of most canisters or plasti-vacs on the market.

I honestly don't care much for the Miele machines. While they are highly rated, I think they're overrated! They do clean well as long as the filters are kept clean, but the bags are expensive, you have to take out a loan to replace the secondary filter, and might as well take out a second mortgage if you ever have to replace that brushroll! God help you if the cord winder gives up the ghost.

I call the Convertible a POS because it sticks in the craw of the die-hard Hoover gurus! I think it's a shame that Hoover would release a machine like that that was so handily outcleaned by the antique brethren it replaced. My pre-1920 Hoover 105 with it's 1.8 amp motor will hand a TOL Convertible it's ass on a silver platter any day of the week!!

Timborow, honestly if you've only got 3 rugs, you're much better off with a canister. Get something like an older Lux with a good floor tool and you won't be disappointed. I hate to say it, but your friend is better off with a canister too if she's got mostly wood floors. If she's a die-hard upright fan, I can't stess enough that the commercial Eureka will probably do as good, if not better than the $700 Mieles some of these guys are touting!

If scratching the floor is really THAT much of a concern and you want rubber wheels.....has anyone thought of just using fat rubber bands? I mean a set is like what.....$1.50 at Office Max? Get the short, stubby ones and stretch them over the wheels. Problem solved!
 
I vote for Miele!

We got a Miele in 1988, we have used it twice a week give or take for 20+ yrs, it has been in for service I think once or twice (really) we got a new hose once, a new floor brush once. Our house is clean, we don't baby it at all. It still looks really good, I should take a picture.
 
I've been cleaning houses, offices and the like for 13 years and even though I do like the Sanitaire/Eureka machines for carpet, it would be the very last vacuum cleaner I would even bother using on any hard floors. They may be able to pick up some of the dirt, but most of it will scatter out behind the cleaner and merely moving the dirt around is NOT cleaning. I use straight-suction backpack vacuums daily and wouldn't trade them for anything. I have five of them in service at various locations as well as four or five uprights - Sanitaire, Hoover Convertible (the worst of the lot IMO) and the very favorites - Windsors.

For most applications where the majority of surfaces being cleaned are hard-surface floors, you cannot do better than a canister vacuum with a good floor brush. You don't have to spend a lot of money to get a decent cleaner, the frequency of use and regular care for the machine (change the bag) matters more than the brand or the amount you spend. The $139 Eureka from Sam's club that was mentioned before is a good choice for carpeted areas or large rugs. I would recommend visiting a couple of vacuum shops, trying a few cleaners and tools, even ask if you can leave a security deposit or credit card number and try cleaning with the prospective vac in your own home. See how you like it's handling, cleaning and tools, then make a decision.

If she is truly set on an upright, the Kirby is a fantastic cleaner and will last for many years with proper care. The Kirby can be used as a "canister" with a hose, wands and floor tool (look for another floor-brush, the Kirby version is a joke) but changing the machine back and forth can be a PITA which is why many Kirby attachments are found virtually unused at estate sales ;-)
 
TriStar:

Panthera:

While TriStar is a good machine, the quality of newer units doesn't seem as high as the older ones. The canister motor is no longer Ametek/Lamb, wands are now plastic instead of chromed steel, and so it goes. The way to get a good TriStar is to buy an older one; they made the classic "pig" design up until about 1993. Those are in the price range mentioned here. There is one difficulty, though: the price of repair and replacement parts. A genuine hose lists for $160, the rug tool for around $95, a replacement power nozzle for over $300. It's a little like a used Volvo; the car can be had cheaply, but putting it back into the condition it should be in can be an expensive process. I have about $400 tied up in my TriStar CXL, which was actually not in bad shape when I got it (for under $100) and had the majority of its tools. But filling in what was missing was expensive; it's absolutely complete and like new now, but I wouldn't recommend the process of getting it that way to anyone who didn't prize a good vacuum cleaner. If you luck out like Greg did and find a complete one in good condition cheaply, that would be great, but those deals are pretty uncommon in my experience.

All that having been said, classic TriStars are GREAT vacuums. They have a quadruple filtration system (cloth bag, paper bag, motor filter and afterfilter). When dust goes in, almost none of it gets blown back out; you don't see dust again in an hour the way you do with many vacuums. They do not have that "dusty" smell in use that most vacs have. And they have enough power to suck the chrome off a trailer hitch.
 

Similar threads

Chetlaham
New Kenmore Vacuum
Replies
16
Views
829
panasonicvac
panasonicvac
I
Whirlpool Bathtubs & Jetted Showers Are A Fad
2
Replies
37
Views
1K
circlew
C
rp2813
Window Air Conditioner Advice/Suggestions
Replies
26
Views
2K
rp2813
rp2813
william8
Speed Queen TC5 Anniversary and sudsing issue.
2
Replies
34
Views
2K
william8
william8
combo52
Pink1960 whirlpool gas combination washer dryer
Replies
23
Views
1K
newvista58
newvista58

Latest posts

Sponsored
UnlistMe
Back
Top