Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

Today I fortuitously stopped at the local Oreck dealer. 

Mike, the owner of several Oreck franchises and a few multi-brand stores had brought his new Edge upright from home, as stock had not arrived yet.

It has a more powerful motor, with a true  floating head. LED lights, infinite speed control AND and on-board stretch hose with a permanently attached telescopic crevice tool that is automatically active when the handle is in the upright position.  It lacks the Pilot's pivot head and the Halo's germ killing light. A model incorporating all three features is under development.  It is still easy to push, although it weighs 10 lb and requires a bit more effort than previous models.

There is a commercial OBT upright made by Stein (Sebo) that is very nice at only 450.00.  Oreck WILL be offering a bagless upright, but dealer participation is optional.  The new canister is color matched to the Edge and designed to be leaned on as the user vacuums stairs. Odd looking bare floor/crevice tool, no swivel neck. The bristles fold in to form the crevice tool, and the wand is inserted into a neck that curves more than 60 and less than 90 degrees, much like the OLD bare floor tools made of wood with the metal neck screwed on. A turbo tool is included and a dusting brush.

A cute little bagless canister is available for 49.99  Oreck has increased market share and has 89% brand recognition as a vacuum cleaner. They have become #1in  air purifier sales. (Mike did not say if that was dollar volume, or units or both.

The price of the Edge and matching canister will be about 750.00

Oreck is still marketing, still developing product, and still building a loyal customer base.

SEVERUS et al:

While bagless may attract/appeal for home use, it is quite the opposite for hotels/casinos.  Cleaning staff use vacuums in clear and constant view of all the clients and customers.  Seeing dirt in see-thru bins is not attractive to patrons readying for meals drinks and entertainment.   Sends the wrong message.  How dirty are these establishments and do we really want to patronize them?  Laws and sausage, as Mark Twain said, are better served without people seeing and knowing how they are made.  Since this is impossible for hotels and casinos that operate 24/7, ORECK and SEBO bagged uprights [as well as other bagged brands] are ideal for patron scrutiny.  In fact, sends the message, these business establishments are very concerned about cleanliness and customer health.

Carmine D.

CarmineD wrote:

I have doubts that as many as 1% notice what brand vac is being used. They are there to gamble and not to critique vacuums.  My concern would be the cleanliness of the food prep area.  They certainly do not want you to view that area.

Seeing a vacuum with mediocre performance would send the wrong message to me.  I would rather see the dirt in a Dyson or other bagless than to know that the deepest of dirt was still in the carpet.

YMMV.

CarmineD wrote:

I think the biggest vacuum problem is maintenance.  I have seldom seen janitorial staff anywhere all that interested in taking care of machinery.  A bagless vac care woud mean checking and cleaning filters and emptying as needed.  What I have become accustomed to seeing are vacuums that are dogged 'til they die.  I distinctly remember coming down from my office after work every night and see one of the building custodians pushing a Sanitaire that need a new belt.  I heard it, he didn't.  Nonetheless, he'd push it about until he felt satisfied that the rug was "clean."  That never changed and it was months beforee the vacuum happened to be replaced.

If I were in business, I'd follow the least path of resistance and go for either permanent or disposable bags and -- thinking business -- I'd probably  go for permanent bags unless there's some law that's mandated HEPA vacs in public venues.  If time is money then I would want to opt for vacuums that can take a lot of knocking around by careless employees who don't give a hoot about aesthetics.  Most simply want to get the job done and go home.  Nor would I want to overly invest time in paying supervisory staff to ride shotgun on vacuum checks when their time might well be better used elsewhere in the venue.

I would submit, as far as deep cleaning is concerned it doesn't matter.  A housekeeper in these cases often walks into a room or area and is satisfied as long as surface appearance is good.  The bosses of these people feel the same way.  They take a walk through and the floor "looks" clean, thay don't worry about anything else.

Thoroughness costs money and money matters are best served by buying whatever is durable and easy to clean and that by manuafcture lends to resistance to wear.

Venson

Venson wrote:

I have said time and again that Orecks are not used in offices and hotels for cleaning ability.  They are bought only for the reasons as you stated.

I never feel that hotel/motel carpets are clean.  I will not tolerate my home feeling that way.

HARDSELL wrote:
In my opinion, the vacuum brand is less important in commercial settings than the carpet cleaning schedule.  Hot water extraction methods are important for making hotels/casinos carpeting clean - particularly with all the smoking that goes on in casinos.  I would think that the noise level would be very important in a casino as well.  the Sebos are relatively quiet.  Sebo/Windsor vacuums are very popular in hospitals for being quiet, having good filtration, and being durable.  

Venson wrote:

Hi Venson:

Dumping dirt bins was also one of the concerns that the Casino/hotel management had with their cleaning staffs and bagless vacuums.  The staff are always neat and clean in the uniform dress of the casino/hotel.  The concern was bagless requires frequent dumping which would be messy for all users and on users.  There are maintenance people on staff and location tasked with keeping the vacuums ready for work daily.  Bagged vacuums are much easier maintenance wise for this work arrangement than bagless.  WRT permanent bagged, EUREKA Sanitaire made the cut tho over the weight limit preferred.  These are still in consideration for purchase with the next major vacuum buy.

Carmine D.

Severus wrote:

SEVERUS:

Very true.  Rug cleaning is an ongoing maintenance task.  All casinos allow drinks and food at the machines.  Along with smoking.  The combo, drinking and eating and smoking, are a recipe for messes.  All of which are dealt with quickly by cleaning staff.  Noise is not that big an issue in the main casino areas.  Why?  Noise levels are already very high with large screen sport event TV's, loud speaker announcements, constant music playing, noisey slot machines etc.  The exceptions are the poker playing rooms and bingo rooms where noise is kept to absolute minimum.

The casino and hotel and pool are all colocated and accessible to patrons through inside hallways and outside walkways.  There are meeting rooms and break out areas where noise may/may not be at issue.  Obviously, during the meetings, no clean up staff are allowed inside unless an emergency like a food mess.  Oftentimes food and drink for breakfast and breaks are included in the price of the meeting space and provided in the meeting rooms .  During breaks and in the designated break out areas, the noise levels are not a concern and cleaning staffs are always at work throughout the day. 

Carmine D.

CarmineD wrote:

Do you happen to know the median or even average time to failure for Oreck's versus Sebo's in the casino environment?  How many years before they rebuild or replace their vacuums?

I'm assuming that one reason Dysons don't make the cut is that they don't make a commercial unit with heavy duty motor and safety features.  Presumably a commercial unit wouldn't need such a long hose, and possibly no need for a brush roll shutoff and clutch.  Carl the former poster, seemed pleased with Dysons used in his dry cleaning business.  If I had a choice between emptying a huge cloth bag or dumping a Dyson dirt container, I think I'd take the Dyson even if it was more frequent. 

Severus wrote:

Nothing worse than a shakeout bag...i totally agree. at one time carried them...now its bag only or we can order....they dont sell very well at all so we did the change over.

most that bought them...got rid of the shake out ...real soon.

all the various commercial bagless versions ive seen/used/serviced  have yet to last...all dead within a year of hard use. xcept the santr dirt cup....eventually changed over to paper.

turtle

Severus wrote:

Hello SEVERUS:

You're right.  Dyson doesn't provide a warranty on any of its vacuum products for commercial usage.  A product warranty was another technical requirement of the casino/hotel vacuum purchase.  Dyson didn't make the cut for that reason too.  

I was engaged professionally to assist with the initial casino/hotel vacuum purchase. I have not been involved on a personal or professional level since the buy.  I won't unless I'm officially engaged to do so, which may happen in the future.

Carmine D.