Vacuum Cleaners

So our Dyson went bang today. It's old so I'm not going to look into a repair. From the smell I'm going to assume the motor has burnt out.

I thought you guys may have some opinions on Vacuum Cleaners, can't remember it being discussed before ???

I thought to myself that it's a simple task, just go buy a new one. I wasn't quite prepared for the overwhelming choice, but they all seem to do the same thing, willing to spend upto £200, but would prefer to buy cheap, but also want to avoid false economy.

Cheers

Cris

I also bought a Dyson, but was never happy with it. It simply didn't have enough suction power, compared to what the commercials promise. Then I got a free Miele vacuum with the new Miele washing machine I bought. Love it. I wouln't trade it for anything, and if it breaks down, my next one will be a Miele again, for sure. Ok, it still uses bags, but I don't care about that. It gets the job done in the fastest possible way.

Only one brand of vacuum cleaners impressed me even more, and that was Kirby. But those don't even sell through the regular channels and they don't come cheap either... but you can find new ones on eBay for half the price. (honestly, they only thing stopping me from getting one of those is the price because they are just so incredibly good).

Dyson, as a company, is only 20 years old, I expect more than that from a vacuum.

Of course, I have a 1957 Kirby, which still works great. Every once in a while I think of replacing it with something modern, but when I go to look everything is undeniably cheezier, and heavier.

The Kirby design has not been updated since the '60s, you can pick up rebuilt ones for just a couple hundred that will live forever. Just be sure to get the paper bag upgrade, dealing with the cloth bag is just unpleasant.

You're saying that older companies never have a decline in quality in favor of better profit margins? I can understand it as one factor among many, but not as the sole reason to cross a company from your list.

We have a Bissell vacuum cleaner, and while it does a good job there's one thing it's terrible at: cat litter. I really don't understand why it's so terrible at picking litter! You would think it would be one of the easiest things for it to get, but instead of sucking the stuff up, at least a quarter of it shoots out the back of the vacuum at high velocity. That means it sends the litter to the other side of the room, which is of course the area I just vacuumed. I then go back and forth until I get it all up. This seems to be the case on our wood laminate floors AND carpets. So I'll be interested in this discussion too, and if any of you have cats that need vacuuming after...

If my Dyson were any stronger it would pull the tiles up from the mortar. If the brush bar were more powerful it would sand the carpet down to its substrate. IMO they had a slow start and YMMV depending on the model. The current DC3X line in Canada/US is infinitely better than the first canister introduced here, DC11.

My 10+ year old Dyson is still going strong and sucks very nicely. I did replace the plastic wand end the other day, I'd simply worn down the end with a decade of use

I've had a Dyson DC3x (can't remember, but current version of it is DC39, canister for houses with pets) for 4 years. It works really, really well. I'd buy it again if it broke tomorrow (and I'd get the DC39).

I also have a handheld DC34, and I am happy with it too. I'd have no complaint if the battery lasted just a bit longer (it is ok most times, actually, after 2 years, so I admit I'm being picky).

I am quite happy with my Dyson, don't know the model number, but it is the purple one known at the time as the Dyson Animal. It has given no trouble in six years.

I got it when I lived in Alaska, to replace what I thought was a pretty good Sears canister vac with power head. My Alaskan home had about 1500 square feet of quite plush wool carpeting, plus a dog and two cats, so a good vacuum was important.

I had vacuumed the carpeting three or four days before with the Sears vacuum cleaner, and then tried the Dyson. I had to empty the Dyson six times before the job was done. So was the Sears vacuum a piece of junk, or was the Dyson a whole new level of cleaning efficiency? You tell me.

tanstaafl.

I had a Kirby and while I am sure it would have lasted forever it was so big it couldn't get under too many things.

I now just have a kenmore canister that takes bags. I like it but I'm not telling you to get that brand just get a canister of some kind. It is so nice having the small head that will go under all the furniture. It's also really nice that I can just step and pull the hose from the head and suck something out of a corner or a cobweb on the ceiling.

+1 for the Kirby.

Have only used Dyson ball and wasn't impressed.

Sadly, a decline in quality seems de rigueur among old brands these days.

But that's not what I meant. What I meant is I expect a vacuum cleaner to last more than 20 years. There are no Dyson vacuums that old.

Dyson's claim to fame seems to be "weird for the sake of weird".

I love their "air multiplier" fan, but it's $200usd and moves very little air. Probably a tenth of the $20 Vortex fan.

I have a Kirby also, but I stopped using it because it's fricking LOUD. I used ear plugs when I was vacuuming...

I would have thought the Stig would be used to loud motors.

It's mainly stairs here, so I think I'll go looking for a canister type, that is what we have (had!) right now.

I don't think I'll buy another Dyson, always found it clunky. Also they seems really expensive !!!

How would something like a Kirby work on the stairs ???

Cheers

Cris

Although Kirbys can come with an amazing assortment of accessories (cable driven car polisher, floor sander, etc...), including power head, it gets kind of inconvenient to use. For stairs, a basic canister would be best. I had a canister at one time that was no wider than a stair step, which was useful.

We have a Dyson, and are happy with it, but I still also use the old Nilfisk GM80 that I originally picked by checking what professional cleaning people tended to use. It's a bit clumsy to drag up and down the stairs, but still works great.

I hate vacuuming stairs. It's so clumsy to do with an upright vacuum, and seems slightly dangerous to me. That's why I use one of these. It's super easy to handle, and the brush guard flips around 90 degrees to get the rise of the stair. Granted, it's not going to have the power of a full vacuum, but it does a decent job even in a condo with two cats who freaking love the stairs.

How old is the Dyson? They do on-site servicing/repairs for a fixed price - £65 I think, and the engineer replaces the filters and anything else that looks dodgy while they are there.

I have a Henry, they are bomb-proof and all the parts are available if anything does break.

I also have a DC19 (cylinder) Dyson that I picked up off Freecycle (and another one I got for the accessories) - it seems people don't wash the washable filters and then throw them out when they inevitably lose suction! I can see why people like them, the product design is very nice, although they always feel a bit flimsy.

Another thing I really like on my current vac is the retractable cord. I figured it would break but it still works after seven years.

Excellent point!

Two years ago I nearly doubled the pick-up power of my Dyson by cleaning the HEPA filter. I had forgotten all about that filter, and I think a Google search or something showed me the error of my ways. The difference was astounding.

Hmmm... two years. Probably I should do that again, eh?

tanstaafl.

I'm not sure about upright vaccums, but the cylinders have two filters - a pre-motor filter that the labels say to wash every six months, and a "lifetime" post-motor HEPA filter that apparently should only be replaced after damage or abuse (eg. running it without the pre-motor filter).

The first Dyson I picked up looked like it had been used to vacuum up a sack of plaster or something! Everything past the filter was fine though, and there is some sort of bypass flap inside to prevent the motor overheating in case of blockage.

Is a Nilfisk GM80 really worth $1k+???

Our first ever vacuum was a Dyson, must be 12 or 13 yrs old now, still going strong

$1k? Yikes! I am sure I didn't pay anything like that 10... wait... at least 12 years ago...

I'd definitely go for a replacement Dyson - the best suction of all vacuum cleaners I have ever tried, bar the Vax, and also the most reliable.

For those times you do damage them, they are also very easy to maintain - with all consumables and panels easily and cheaply sourced.

"Nothing sucks like a Vax." - advert that my father (who worked for Digital-competitor Data General back in the day) keeps around as a cherished item.

We had a Dyson DC02 HEPA for a decade and it didn't impress me all that much. It sucked okay, one of the wheels broke, the head broke and needed replacement, the adjustment button for the telescopic broom fell off, and the handle broke. The cable retraction mechanism also failed. Oh yeah, and the cover on the back which held in the attachments stopped closing.

The worst thing about it was emptying it. The cyclone part would have lots of dust attached to it, hair would wrap itself around it and that means when you take the lid off you end up with a cloud of mess. You obviously don't want to be doing this inside, and when you do this outside make sure you check the wind direction! Then you have to get the stuff from the canister into a bag, attempting to 'seal' around it so when you turn it over dust doesn't fly out all over the place - this is practically impossible. Then you realise that dust is escaping out of those little child-suffocation-proof health & safety holes they have in the bottom of the carrier bag and onto your clothes. I'm not a fan.

Replaced it with a Miele S5 HEPA a couple of years ago. Seems more powerful, quieter, cheaper and better made. The design is great, the castors on the bottom make wheeling it around so much nicer than the Dyson. The adjustable power is useful and it really does feel completely solid and made of much better materials than the Dyson. The bags hold a lot of dust so don't need changing all too often, and they are not expensive either. Can probably get a lifetime of bags and still would cost less than a new Dyson.

Can't think of anything bad to say about it, I really like it a lot. Looks like you can get the more powerful S8310 Power Plus for 200 quid. HEPA seems like its a lot more though on their website.

It's a DC02 that has gone bang.

Have to say I agree with the whole bagless thing, it's not sold me to the point I'd buy another. Always send up with the dust all over the place!

Two votes for a Miele, and which magazine agrees. I might go bargain hunting for a Miele then?

Cheers

Cris

But I thought it "never loses suction"?!?

I think they mean with regular vacuuming. A traditional bag vacuum can lose suction power from the start of the vacuuming session to the end.

You'll also lose suction power if you unplug the power cord, clog the wand/hose, disconnect the hose, burn the motor, fill the vacuum with water, etc. They can't account for everything out of the ordinary, but cleaning a filter is considered basic maintenance, though it doesn't need to be done every time you use the machine or even every week.

I have a first generation Dyson upright. While it definitely could have more suction power going back to bags is unthinkable. I also like the fact that it still works. Before the Dyson I had many Hoover and other crap vacuums (I really couldn’t afford anything better at the time) that seemed to break after every use.

+1

I have the same model.

Not all Dyson products are created equally. I wouldn't touch the Dyson ball vacuum; stupid gimmick.

... and it is very easy. In years I can't remember when is last time I cleaned my canister Dyson filter. I clean my handheld filter once every six months, I think.
By very easy I mean that you pull it out in less than 5 seconds, clean it under water, let it dry for a while, and put it back in less than 5 seconds.

I'd never go back to bags either. Probably I used poor products before, but every time I changed bag I had dust all over the place. Emptying both the handheld and the canister Dyson is quite simpler and less messy for me.

Also, I know form theory that when the filter is dirty they have less suction power, but I would not be able to notice.

This S5 Deep Clean is the exact one I bought - 2200W, HEPA, 4.5 litre Bag, 220 quid. Still seems like the best deal going.

Can you buy Kirby's retail in the US? In the UK I think they are only sold in-home using high-pressure sales. A former colleague did it for a couple of years and was apparently very successful but gave it up because he couldn't handle the unethical sales methods required. A friend of my parents apparently endured a three hour pitch and was "forced" to give them the names of five friends before they would leave (I would have physically removed them myself long before then, but they are wet lettuces).

Kirby sells only through their stupid door-to-door thugs. I'm amazed they sell like a half million units a year that way. They are also stupidly expensive. Since they are immortal, they are easy to find refurbished at vacuum specialty shops. I was lucky, I got mine new (well, unused) with all it's accessories at a garage sale for $40. All in original packaging. Somebody had bought it 20 something years earlier and never used it.

Ha! So it's Kirby that sell like that.

I can remember being sat at an ex-girlfriends house one time (she lived with her mother), I am going back 15-16 years. This guy was trying to flog her Mum a Kirby, spent about 3 hours trying to sell it, she kept asking for a price, he kept on selling, she kept on asking, eventually he got out his price card and it was something totally unbelievable like £4,400.

Now, for me it would have been quite clear from the moment of stepping through the front door that these people didn't have £4.40 to spend on a vacuum !!! It took him 3 hours and us literally laughing him our of the door for the penny to drop.

I have to say through, he did a cracking job of cleaning the whole house during the demo.

Cheers

Cris

Indeed. I bad this happen to me also. One day they contacted my wife, asking if she would be interested in a demo. (i'm guessing one of her friends provided them her name). This guy also showed up and did a demo of a couple of hours, up to shampooing the carpets. He was willing to answer every question, except when it came to the price. I asked him several times, but he brushed me off every time,saying we would discuss this when the demo had ended.

So then the demo ended and he started writing. Even then he would not simply tell me the price. First he made a complete list of everything the thing could do and what extras came with the unit. The he drew a line under that all and wrote "3300". I told him "that better be the serial number you're writing now, otherwise we're done talking". But he still wouldn't give up, saying he'd ask his district manager to pass by. And indeed, no more than 5 minutes later a second van showed up with an even slicker sales person in it. He started the sales pitch again, but by then I had lost all interest. It took a whole lot of effort to get rid of them both, and I found them very pushy.

It took a whole lot of effort and every fiber of my good upbringing not just to kick them out, but I managed in the end.

Result: the product Kirby itself left an immensely good impression, but I was absolutely disgusted by the way they try to sell them. I can't believe there are still people that actually go for it, but I guess a lot of them are intmidated and simply give in. It's a real shame that a company, which makes a smashing product, wants to lower itself to such seller tactics. It brings the whole brand down IMO.

There is simply no other way they could possibly sell a vacuum cleaner that costs three or four thousand dollars. Their margins must be fantastic, so they don't have to make up for it with volume.

tanstaafl.

Three to four thousand dollars??? And yet I still have to push it around, and it doesn't make my morning coffee?
I know I'm cheap, but that is just crazy money IMO.

I've heard that they sell for $1400 usd, and a quick google search confirms this. I've had mine like 30 years.

SWMBO is talking about buying a new vacuum clearer, a canister type. I'm trying to figure out the differences between the Miele S2 S6 and S8 ranges. I think the S6 and S8 have a "Silence motor" and the the S8 has "Integrated Tool Storage". Figuring out the sub-models have given me a headache for now.