washer enthusiasts: what's your choice of vacuum?

[combo52]

Best Vacuum For Your Home

A good bag-less vented to the outdoors American made Central Vacuum System, my brother Jeff gave me a Kenmore CV [ built by Whirlpool ] 35 years ago, it has required virtually no service and not a penny spent for bags. This vacuum serves the whole house, garage, shop [ it has been used to help clean-up countless washers and dryers I rebuilt ] the screened porch and many cars and vans in the driveway. I have not had or used a portable vac in this house for this period of time and I also installed one in the mountain house and my partners home.

 

In fact the first time Smitty was at my house he was so impressed with the CV he immediately said he wanted one for his home. It is amazing how many friends come over and love to use the CV to vacuum areas of the house, LOL.

 

Indoor air quality, excellent temperature and humidity control have always been very important to me as well as odor and humidity control from kitchens and bathrooms. I have cut 10 holes in this house alone for various exhaust vents and fans.

 

I use customers portable vacuums almost every day when working on their appliances and it is always fun to watch people struggle with their vacuums. The worst ones for general cleaning are uprights and no matter how expensive and hepa filter equipped they still smell like the dog, cats etc, LOL. It is always great when you ask the customer for a vacuum and they come around the corner with the hose of the central vacuum, its like WOW the mess is gone without all the sneezing, noise and smell and struggling with a stupid short hose on an upright.

 

If I had to ever have a portable vac the best ones are usually the KM and Miele canisters.

 

[philr]

I do have just one Hoover Constellation, one Electrolux CB, one Golden Jubilee and a few Canadian 88, 89, AP-280 and 2100 models. My favorite among those I have is the '89 with a 2 level power nozzle.

I don't know much about vacuums but since I have interest in most machines that were made from the late 1950s to the late 1970s, I had to have a few of these too (in fact, I had a few vacuums before I had cars or appliances!).
I don't use mine much either but I'm curious about the European Electrolux vacuums. I'd like to see what the 1960s and 1970s models look like. Do the canister models use the same bags as the North American models? Were there many different versions from various European countries? Also I was wondering if there were other models with 2 speed motors like the AP-280?

 

[tolivac]

As a vacuum collector choice of many.Favorites are Kirby for carpeting,Meile,Sebo,Nilfisk GS80 and NSS M1 for canister work.The NSS esp good for vacuuming out the dryer and other vacuums obtained at yard sales or used.And use metal Royal uprights,too.If I ever have to go with a central machine-would want one with a bag--the bagless ones are HORRIBLE to dump-my Mom used to have a bagless NuTone central vacuum in one of her homes-She didn't like to empty it-so that was reserved for me on yearly visits.In another home she had-it had a Black&Decker bagged unit-was MUCH easier to empty.Took less then 5min to change the bag-showed Mom how to do it.Someways I don't like central systems-you do have loss in the plumbing-and it can clog.That was another thing I used to do on visits-unclog the central vac plumbing.

 

[whirlcool]

Talk about smell, here's a funny story about that.

We have some friends that love their cats. They have a Kenmore canister that is quite old. One day the wife's mother was visiting while we were there and the lady of the house spilled some sugar on the kitchen floor. So she drags out the Kenmore and takes it to the kitchen. Before she even plugs it in her mother gets up and yells loudly at her "Don't turn that stinkin thing on before I leave the room!" Well she turned it on and immediately the kitchen, dining room and den started to smell like an old cat box. When he mother returned she said "And she uses that thing to clean out the litter box too!" Priceless situation.

 

[aquacycle]

PhilR

The European Lux's were great cleaners, but as far as I am aware, they never made a PN model. I'll try and post some info for you later when I get home

 

[philr]

Thanks Chris!

 

[frigilux]

I have a 2008 Kenmore upright, which I believe is a rebadged Panasonic. Does a great job both on carpet and with accessory tools-- but it's a big hunk of plastic. My sister has a Kirby, which is a tank by comparison.

 

[aquacycle]

PhilR

Phil,

The situation over here used to be that if you wanted an upright, you bought a Hoover. If you want a cylinder/canister, you bought an Electrolux.

However, in 1971, Electrolux launched the upright 500 (the first of the iconic 500 series, which certain models were sold in the US/Canada as Viking). It was cleanair, whereas Hoover were mostly producing dirty fan machines at that point (aside from the Dail-A-Matic which was branded Convertible here, but those were very expensive). It combined the agitation and ease of use of an upright with the high suction power and convenience of a canister. It was also a hardbag design, rather than a softbag which Hoover were still manufacturing at the time.

From that point onwards, Electrolux were 1 step ahead of Hoover and in the late 70's, started adding features like electronic controls and bag full indicators, which Hoover didn't have. In 1986, Lux launched the 600 series which was the first domestic upright on the UK market to include an on-board hose and tools.

And, of course, there canister cleaners continued to excell although when Miele and AEG became more prominent on the UK market, their canister cleaners were a hell of a lot better than anything Hoover OR Elecrolux were offering.

I'll post some pics of a few models later for you so you can get a good idea of what the European Electrolux's looked like. They were mostly long, oblong cleaners, not unlike the US Lux's in appearance, until about 1983 when they brought out the 350 and later the 2000 series which were more a "sledge" type shape, similar in shape to 80's Miele cleaners of the time.

If you check out this link, this is a photo of an Electrolux z345 from the late 70's/early 80's - a very popular model at the time.

http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1321/961378459_689944846e.jpg

 

[brucelucenta]

I have an Aerus Lux and an older model Electrolux too. Ma always preferred Electrolux canister with the powerhead. I also have a Kirby Ultimate too for the carpet. I don't think a canister with the powerhead really does as well.

 

[countryguy]

PhilR,

I also have a Lux '89. What do you mean by '2 level power nozzle'?

I have a few vacuums also. On the main floor of the house my current daily driver is the black 2 speed Rainbow model. I also use a Kirby Ultimate G. In the basement I just switched from using the Lux '89 to using a GE swivel top to clean all around the litter boxes and the entrance way from the garage.

Gary

 

[mich]

Dyson...

<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">We have the Dyson DC25 Animal Ball. Purchased at Target on Clarence with a 40% off Coupon, (it was pretty cheap) </span>

 

<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyhow, One really likes it. It's simple to use, has a long hose, and really good suction power. </span>

 

<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">However, I used to be extremely obsessed with Vacuum Cleaners when one was younger, and honestly, I think the best Vacuum I've ever seen was... "Sanitare (Eureka Make?) Commercial Grade" Vacuum. It had a Red Bag, with no attachment tools, and had a ton of power (if one didn't hold onto the handle, it'd zoom across the room). Honestly, I don't think they make the exact model I liked so much, anymore, however, I'd imagine such thing was designed for a lifetime, and would hold up to anything one threw at it. </span>

 

<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The one thing I hate about "Bagless" Vacuums, is when you go to empty the bin, quite a bit of that nasty stuff that you just removed from the air, can easily recirculate if one makes the mistake of emptying inside. Most people don't understand that...</span>

 

<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyhow, Dyson all the Way Although, if I really wanted to be serious (about cleaning) I'd go with Sanitare. </span>

 

[whirlykenmore78]

Agreed Mich

The vacuum you are showing is the Sanitaire SC-886.  It is a true powerhouse, will withstand years of commercial use and abuse, and is very easy to repair and maintain. My first choice hands down.

WK78

 

[bajaespuma]

Two-part answer

My long-time daily drivers and favorites are a vintage Hoover Decade Convertible for the rugs and only for the rugs. The beater-bar-brush is outstanding at bouncing the grit out of the old oriental rugs and there's nothing better than those wonderful lights to help an old fart like me whose eyesight is not what it used to be to see where the housing is going and what's out there to be picked up...

 

[bajaespuma]

and the second part of the team is my trusty old Electrolux model E. Light, powerful, easy to use and has an exhaust filter that was discontinued after 1960 rolled around. If there's a better Lux out there, I haven't found it.

I did make one modification to the Electrolux; I altered a Hoover canister hose to fit the Lux so I can use it and its attachments because they are all lighter.

 

[philr]

Gary,

I meant two-level rug height. There were 3 power nozzles available during the 89 model production, I think this was the second one.

 

[firedome]

Lightweight + powerful is paramount here...

for hardwood floors we have a little Sanitaire portable canister that slings over the shoulder and weighs around 8 lbs?, we love it... the only drawback is no cord retractor to save weight.
For carpet a cheapo Bissell upright that's ok but not great, we don't have that much carpet anyway. I hate vacuuming so don't really get into them, just get it over is my mantra.

 

[MrX]

I think it's hard to generalise about "European" anything to be honest. There's a huge difference between housing sizes and types from one country to the next.
Some countries preferring dense, city/town based apartment living (Spain for example), others like Ireland for example, being the complete opposite where you'll tend to find a lot of scattered, larger one-off homes.

Our house is about 3500sq ft and originally it would have had a lot of wall-to-wall carpet as was the fashion when it was built, but this has mostly now been replaced by wooden floors.

We've a Miele S762 for upstairs and a Nilfisk extreem X300 for downstairs.

Both are very hard to beat!

We've also got an ancient Dirt Devil Handy (mains powered with beater bar) for furniture which is a machine that's is very, very hard to beat and I cannot find any replacement for it.
It's one of the best pet-hair removal machines I've ever come across.

We've also got a hand-held Dyson which we basically never use.

 

[nrones]

Hoover Allergy care edition here

...although I have the other model (Hoover Rush TCR 4183), I'd love to have a Hoover TPP2321 with allergy care set which has some brushes with Silver ion treat, has a gap between vacum cleaner and pipe designed better so nothing eventually come out, and it has Hepa 12 filter, and some other stuff (not a pro on that field, so I didn't remember)
...and all that isn't because someone in my household has allergies, but simply because the less dust come out of it - I'm happier

 

[NYCWriter]

Thank you, MRX ...

... just as it's difficult to generalize about anything "European", it's also difficult to generalize about anything "American".

New York City is notorious for insanely tiny apartments; you have to be "wealthy" to live in Manhattan in anything larger than 1,000 square feet (or have lucked into a rent-controlled apartment prior to 1960). Most of the apartment stock is older (much of it prewar), with hardwood floors and not a lot of wall-to-wall carpeting.

In the suburbs of "second-tier" cities like Pittsburgh, Orlando, St. Louis, etc., it's hard to find a newer home that's under 2500 square feet. 3500 seems to be the new norm in much of "middle" America. But then, as you get back to the West Coast, housing gets expensive again, with small-ish bungalows in Los Angeles and tiny apartments in San Francisco.

 

[optima]

Nrones

That Cylinder Cleaner has a great motor wattage of 2300W but soon the maximum Wattage allowed here in the uk is to be reduced down to a maximum of 1600 Watts.