Time for a new vacuum

[bowtieguy]

well it's time for a new vacuum. this may not seem relevant to conservation except that i'm considering a cordless(manual) "shark" type sweeper instead of a vacuum.

looking for opinions on this "alternate" way to clean the carpet. a little info:
we have a small house not requiring "heavy duty" vacuuming/sweeping
there are five of us so we can take turns, sweep own room, etc.
we are tired of upright vacuums not lasting long
considering an electric canister vacuum(pull behind) if not the shark
price is a consideration(canisters are not cheap--to me anyway)

so, what do you all think? an expensive upright(like dyson), might be worth the investment because we usually buy cheap dirt devils, but it's not in the budget. same with a canister. bottom line: is the manual shark feasible? or do we just "bite the bullet" and buy an expensive electric model? if so, which one and what brand?

BTW, our carpet height is VERY low, which in theory would make the shark useable.

[2TonJellyBean]

I'm not sold on Dyson at all... I've looked at them and for the life of me, they really seem to be more marketing than anything.

Have you checked out Electrolux? I bought the oxygen upright and it's a great machine. It could use a handle around the middle to make stairs easier but other than that it sucks! hehe

[bowtieguy]

Originally Posted by 2TonJellyBean

I'm not sold on Dyson at all... I've looked at them and for the life of me, they really seem to be more marketing than anything.

Have you checked out Electrolux? I bought the oxygen upright and it's a great machine. It could use a handle around the middle to make stairs easier but other than that it sucks! hehe

no stairs in this house, so no problem. do you have a retail location or website for them. how much are they?

thanks for the heads-up on dyson.

[2TonJellyBean]

It's purely opinion on the Dyson... they may be great - but they feel cheap and they are sized for shorter people.

I think I paid around $300 back when our loonie's were cheap...

http://www.mysimon.com/9015-10990_8-28588701.html

[bowtieguy]

Originally Posted by 2TonJellyBean

It's purely opinion on the Dyson... they may be great - but they feel cheap and they are sized for shorter people.

I think I paid around $300 back when our loonie's were cheap...

http://www.mysimon.com/9015-10990_8-28588701.html

good link! thanks.

[bowtieguy]

vacuum time again. it seems like we go thru uprights about every 2 years w/ kids in the house, so this time we bought a canister type. hopefully it will last longer.

my wife's been asking the past several years for one, so finally gave in. i bought a kenmore at sears on sale for about the price of a mid-range upright.

besides, had to use the sears card before i got canceled.

[GasSavers_Pete]

Originally Posted by 2TonJellyBean

I'm not sold on Dyson at all... I've looked at them and for the life of me, they really seem to be more marketing than anything.

Have you checked out Electrolux? I bought the oxygen upright and it's a great machine. It could use a handle around the middle to make stairs easier but other than that it sucks! hehe

Have a look through some consumer report type magazines (we have one here called CHOICE ) for reports on various details.

When I bought my vac they tested Dyson among others and it rated none too well. Pick up was around 46% (so it left more behind than it actually collected) and the one tested was the most expensive of all models on the test.

I bought a Kambrook Bagless version called a "Jaguar" (locally made) which performed equally to the Meile and Bosch and ahead of the Dyson but at about half to one third the price.
One drawback is no tool holder so you have to carry them around or stuff them in your pocket.

HTH , Pete.

[Jay2TheRescue]

I love my Kirbys. They work great, and they're hard to break. I even have one at the store, and my employees can't seem to break it. I usually pick them up at thrift stores for $20 - $30. New they're almost $2,000.

EDIT: I forgot to note... I'm a member of a Kirby group as well. A member of the group measured the suction of a Kirby and a Dyson, both with empty and full bags. It is true that a Dyson does not lose a signifigant amount of suction with the bag full, but a kirby with a full bag had more suction than the Dyson did empty...

[GasSavers_JoeBob]

I've never been impressed by Kirbys....I've had them at a couple different stores I ran, never worked all that great, and they DID break on me. To me they are just sheer weight and salesmanship.

If I were getting another vacuum, no matter what else, it would NOT be a bagless. I am using a Fantom Fury right now, about fourteen years old. Only got it because I inherited it from my mother-in-law, who purchased it after watching one of those infomercials a couple years before she died. Took another decade or so for it to lose the cat-pee smell. My biggest complaint (other than that it is an upright, and only works so-so) is that, after all the hoopla about the HEPA filter, when you empty it, all that dust goes right up your nose anyway!

Had I my druthers, I'd just rip out all the carpet and just have wood, or linoleum, like my house had when it was new.

[Jay2TheRescue]

I admit that Kirbys are heavy, that's why I have one for each level of the house, so I don't have to haul them up the stairs. In my current place we have shag carpeting in the bedrooms. Nothing cleans & grooms it quite as well as my Kirby with the Shag King attachment. (The Shag King is a rake that attaches to the front of the machine)

In an old place I lived in the carpets were awful. Fifteen years old and had the traffic wear to prove it. A month after I moved in my roommate had come downstairs and saw the the carpet in the basement was lacking the traffic patterns. He asked what I did to it, I said all I did was clean it with a good machine. A few cleanings with the Kirby, and it actually restored the pile to the carpet. After that he started taking it upstairs to clean his room. After a few times of hauling that machine down 3 flights of stairs I picked up a couple more Kirbys at thrift shops so I could leave one on each floor.

The one time my employees broke a Kirby (They sucked up a quarter, and it siezed the motor, and broke the fan.) I was able to purchase all the parts necessary to repair the fan, and rebuild the motor for under $30 from my local vacuum shop. I took the machine apart right on my desk, and rebuilt the motor in under an hour. (The machine didn't need a complete rebuild, but the parts were cheap, and I had it apart anyway.)