Household vacuum and/or cleaner?

[BoxsterCharlie]

The carpets in my house are a mess. My old vacuum was a Fantom and it worked well for awhile but finally died. I wasn't too fond of the bagless design either; always thought I'd get miner's lung or something when emptying it.

Looks like there are regular vacuums, like the Hoovers, the very plain but expensive "pro" style like the Oreck, and finally the Miele units which can run up to $1,000.

I'm ready to "commit" to a better vacuum but just want some opinions. I'd rather spend more money now than have to replace something in five years that never worked that well anyway. What do you think?

On a slightly different note, has anyone considered a steam cleaner for their carpet as an alternative to having a pro come in every year? I would imagine you'd need to spend a huge bundle of cash--and maybe such a product doesn't even exist--but over ten years or more maybe it would be worth it?

[gmblack3a]

On the carpet extractor, I plan on using the mytee 8070 I bought for detailing on the house carpet. You can get a floor wand for $150 on ebay.

We have a kirby G3 that my parents found for us at a garage sale, cost $100.

[kkreit01]

Do you want an upright, or canister? Oreck's are more of a surface cleaner -- than a deep cleaner. If you want a lightweight Oreck-like, try the Simplicity Freedom. Simplicity/Riccar are good vacs. Miele are also great. We have a Bernina. They are hard to find. If I were to buy new in the $300-$500 range, I'd pick Simplicity/Riccar. I would never spend even $200 on a Dyson (big hunk o' plastic).

[TortoiseAWD]

I'll have to respectfully disagree with kkreit01 . . . we spent the money on a Dyson, and haven't regretted it one bit. The vac is light, easy to maneuver, and powerful, and the canister design makes emptying it a simple and relatively clean affair (more dust free than changing a bag, IMO . . . just hold it over the trash and push a button). The amount of stuff that had been left behind in the carpet by our old Hoover was insane.

YMMV, of course, but I think Dyson is worth a look.

Tort

[bigfoot]

If you really don't have a proplem with a canister-type vacuum, I suggest the Rainbow. Yes, it's really expensive, but that little machine has been able to control my allergies quite a bit, compared to when we used other Wal-mart economical vacuums(Not ranting wal-mart, just talking about cheap vacuums).

If you also want some other opinions about vacumms and other stuff, you can go to Reviews from Epinions Great site, indeed!

Joey

[Titania]

I've had a Miele for over 5 years now. Truly awesome vacuum. Ridiculously quiet, very powerful and very well-built. You definitely get what you pay for with that one. I have the Silver Moon model.

[kompressornsc]

I tend to trust Consumer Reports, and they always rate Kenmores at the top. And they're normally mid-priced as well. If you look at their ratings, the Dysons, Mieles and other high-end brands usually finish mid-pack.

There is so much hype anymore in stuff like this. Just like air cleaners-what are the two you think of first and that always claim to be the best? Oreck & Sharper Image. What were the only two to completely fail Consumer Reports tests? Oreck and Sharper Image.

[Titania]

Originally Posted by kompressornsc

I tend to trust Consumer Reports, and they always rate Kenmores at the top. And they're normally mid-priced as well. If you look at their ratings, the Dysons, Mieles and other high-end brands usually finish mid-pack.

Canister Vacuum Reviews; Best Vacuum Cleaner

Miele's downfall with CR is that they're expensive. You get what you pay for, IMO. The Kenmore is heavier, has less effective HEPA filtering and is noisier.

The link I posted talks about the Consumer Reports ratings as well as ratings from a number of other CR-type magazines. Miele and Bosch are almost unanimously rated the best. The Kenmore comes close to the lower-end Miele models in performance.

It's all up to how much you're willing to spend for the features you want.

[Accumulator]

FWIW, we've had a few Orecks (including their "big red" commercial model) and they were total POSs. Lousy suction, poor cleaning performance, and not as reliable as I'd expected.

Our Kenmore cannisters (their top model a few years ago) work well but the attachment mechanism for the powerheads goes bad and the head won't stay on the tubular wand. The cost to repair is obscene and the fix didn't last (we're now jury-rigging it in a field-expedient manner).

Titania is not alone regarding satisfaction with the Miele, everybody I know who's used one loves it. Wish I could bags for one locally...

Also, gotta differentiate between a steam cleaner and an extractor, though there are models that combine both functions. I have a Ninja/Century 400 extractor and while it's good for the vehicles, grouse has convinced me that the truck-mounted units that the pros use (*when properly maintained/functioning*) are in a whole 'nother league. The only time I've used my steamer on the house carpets was to raise up a depression from where some furniture had been for years, and it worked pretty well for that...but after you "steam clean" you still need to extract the [stuff] to get it out of the carpet.

[medic]

we just bought a kenmore. it works pretty well IMO, but this was after using a $40 generic vacuum from target

[Titania]

Originally Posted by Accumulator

Titania is not alone regarding satisfaction with the Miele, everybody I know who's used one loves it. Wish I could bags for one locally...

Accumulator, the way I got around that problem was just to buy them online...easy! Bags are not terribly expensive, and there are a ton of vendors that carry them.

[BoxsterCharlie]

Good to see the response in this thread. Vacuums are so boring, but if they don't work it makes a routine job miserable.

So far I like the Simplicity Freedom and Bosch canister models. I'll probably go for the later because I think I need the power of a canister...but not ready to spend on a Miele even though I'd like to.