[terrymx]

my parent kept using these crappy ass vacuumer cleaners they bought used and none of them suck up anything and they produces harmful smells, too. we have a eureka bought from sears for over $200 a year back and all the sudden it stopped working. the thing was loud and heavy ass hell. this christmas i'm planning to sell one of my computer and save up to buy my mom a new vacuumer.

i'm looking for something that:
-push on the carpet, not handheld
-doesn't have to be super strong, just do the job
-have bagless technology
-not weight a ton
-doesn't get as loud as my 7horsepower lawnmower
-can last

are foreign built vacuumers better than US built? i'm currently looking at 15 different brands and have no idea which to choose. just recommend me a good brand. if you ever clean your house before, please help. thanks.

 

[PinkFloyd]

gotta be a Dyson my man, they are bagless and brilliant

PS British invention too

 

[Earwax]

Why bagless?

I'd rather have an easily detatched bag that can be tossed in one step than have to fuss with emptying some container and stirring up dust and dirt again.

I've had my Orek for something like 15 years now and it still works great. The light weight really makes a difference for use on stairs.

 

[Pappucho]

I purchased an Oreck thinking it would be the end of my Vacuum purchases. Boy was wrong. I quickly got rid of it because it didn't have any usefull suction. I kept having to run over the same dirt several times before it would pick it up. I have seen many advertisements proclaiming it's greatness, but from my personal experience, I wouldn't buy another one. I wonder sometimes if maybe I got a faulty one, because it really sucked (or in this case, didn't suck.)

Where can a vacuumless American pick up a Dyson online?

 

[Mr.PD]

Sears sells Dyson.
We just bought a new vacuum. My wife didn't like the bagless we had. We got a Kenmore that is fairly quiet, for a vacuum.
The bagless not only has the hassle of emptying the container but also knocking the dust off of the filter. Dog hair made it difficult to keep the filter effecient. She hated going out to the garbage can to clean out the filter and empty the container.

We got a Kenmore model 23912 for $249.

 

[jim]

I don't know if you can get one for $250 and under, but I really recommend Miele. I don't think they make bagless though, but I agree with Earwax. Bagged is better, imho.

We used to use a rather high-end kenmore vacuum, but it kept breaking, so a couple of years ago my dad went out and bought a miele white star after I suggested the miele brand. My parents liked it so much that they bought another! And believe me, they had to like it quite a bit to buy *two* $500+ vacuum cleaners.

Anyway, the miele is really quiet, light, has adjustable suction, very well designed attachments, has a hepa filter that actually works (zero odor!), etc. Germans really know how to make their vacuums.

btw, fwiw I also have a eureka standup that I use in my apartment at school, and it gets the job done, but it's loud, heavy, smells nasty, and doesn't pick up on hard surfaces very well. but I found it at walmart in the clearance aisle for $70 so whatever.

oh and avoid dirt devils. I bought the little handheld one, and it broke after about a year, and it never really was very good at picking anything up. The rotating brush just swept stuff around and made dust cling to the outside of the vacuum.

 

[Music Fanatic]

Incredible! This thread is extremely timely to me because I am in the market for a new vacuum cleaner, and am dissatisfied with my Sears cleaner. I'm interested in Miele. Do you have a recommendation in their product line?

 

[BDA_ABAT]

Couple suggestions:

1.) keep away from Dirt Devil: have had two that have not been able to hold onto dirt after it was initially picked up. Moving dirt from one part of the floor to another ought not be the job of the vacuum.

2.) Miele reportedly make excellent vacuums. Sorry, no personal experience to pass along with them. They've always been out of my price range.

3.) Have been pleased with a middle of the road Hoover. The second Dirt Devil had just blown another belt right before we were to host a party. Ran over to the local KMart and grabbed a mid-to-upper level Hoover (at least, of the choices available at my local store). Have been pleased with it so far. Was marked as being ~ $140 but was on sale for $99. Two years of use (so far) and no smells, does a good job picking up dirt and fur, bags are cheap and easy to replace. Not the most elegant product on the planet but it works.

4.) Might try reviewing Consumer Reports for info on vacuums. While not very good for audio equipment, vacuum reviews are much more in their perview.

5.) Whatever you end up with, might want to be sensitive to the parental situation. Would also suggest assisting with the chore of vacuuming in addition to the actual purchase. Some parents might look at this type of gift from a different perspective... they might think that you're sending some sort of message.

Not sure about your situation, but I could NEVER get a vacuum for my wife. To her, it would imply that I expect HER to do the vacuuming (not a popular thought in my house!). Or, that she's not doing the vacuuming job properly (again, only bad things can come from this). Or any number of possible unexpected responses.

Good luck!
Bruce

 

[jim]

Well, I'm not that familiar with the entire product line, obviously, but I can definitely recommend the white star, which is probably one of the cheaper canister type models (mieles can go over $1k!). I think the base price is around $450, but we got the optional telescoping boom (which is really great for us because our house has very high ceilings), and the hepa filter. I think the total price came to just around $500. They do have more inexpensive models too, for example the Flemenco which is around $330 I think. Their upright models go even lower than that, but I've never used one. Our floors are hardwood, so we don't need the power brush attachment, but if you have thick carpet, you may need to buy the eletric brush, which is sort of expensive. It does come with a rotating brush attachment, but it is powered off the suction the vacuum creates, which sort of cool. It works great on low-med rugs/carpet, but I'm not sure how it fairs on thick carpets. I wouldn't be surprised if it worked just fine though, since the suction is so strong.

The only bad thing we've found about the miele so far is that the hepa filters are supposed to be replaced every year or so, and they are very expensive at about $50 a pop. But, they work really well, unlike other units I've seen. Even the eureka that I use at school claims to have a hepa filter but it still emits odors. The miele's filter is optional, but I've never tried it without it.

Bruce, what's sort of funny is that after my dad got the miele to replace the kenmore, my mom started going on a cleaning frenzy. She liked using it so much she just wanted to vacuum all the time, hahaha.

 

[CaptBubba]

My parents recently purchased a Hoover Windtunnel Premium or something like that (not the bagless type), which was pretty much top of the line. The first time through the house filled up a bag because our old one had left so much dirt and dust behind. It had two things on it that I really liked: It had a little meter on the front to tell you how full your bag was, and it had a light that would change from red to green as the carpet got clean. Both seem rather dumb and gimmicky, but are actually fairly usefull once you get used to them.

I was impressed. Then my parents did what parents are supposed to do: they gave em the old one.