Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

We just had wool berber wall-to-wall carpeting installed in several rooms of our home. The manufacturer recommends a suction only vacuum, without a beater bar to "avoid excessive fuzzing."
First, is a beater bar and a brush roll the same thing on a vacuum?
And second what's my best bet for a vacuum? We have 700-square-feet of wool berber carpets, 600-square-feet of laminate and 200-square-feet of tile (including stairs) to vacuum. We own two boxers (dogs) that shed short hair and live in a dusty (agricultural) area.
At the recommendation of a local shop we tried out a Miele Titan (with 217 head) with the brush roll on (they're some of the softest brushes according to sales person). We used it for a while on a remnant of our carpet and I noticed what I think is some fuzzing so I worry that with extended use we will really wear into the carpet. Is there anything with some kind of brush roll or option other than straight suction to really get the dog hair up? Or something with enough suction not to worry about it?
The Miele seemed to do a very nice job but we're struggling for an accurate comparison point.

THANK YOU!!!

Hi Carmine,

   Thank you for your thoughts. We knew fuzzing will be an issue with any rug/carpet and actually like the look/feel but didn't want to encourage wear on the carpet with the vacuum. For great suction power and softest brush roll it sounds like we're on the right track with the mid-size head on a Miele. Any other options that might be better or come close? Spending this much I want to make sure I know what I'm getting is the best for the job.
The shop also has a silver Miele (forget the model) that was discontinued recently (shop guys says because they changed colors basicaly) but it keeps the tools inside (instead of on the hose port), has the slightly larger GN filters and the hose swivels at the handle (which is nice) but even at a small discount it's $150 more. Same head as the Titan. Any worries going with a recently discontinued Miele if for all intents and purposes it's the same vacuum as some of their current offerings?

MBZimm wrote:

Probably the Capricorn.  Excellent choice too.  Not to worry about the discontinuing model.  MIELE supports its products with parts and services forever.  Immer Besser.

Carmine D.

 

Might I add . . .

Berber's big problem is due to its being an uncut  carpet composed of relatively large loops. Revolving brushrolls whacking at the fibers that  these loops are made up of can, little by little, break the strands that compose the weave and and cause the"fuzzing" or "pilling" you mentioned.

My suggestion is this -- compromise.

Personally, I'd take the Miele and power nozzle but would also purchase an adapter to allow use of standard (generic) one-and-one-fourth-inch tools.  I'd then purchase an inexpensive straight-suction rug nozzle with a medium-firm brush strip (no serrations, no combs) from my dealer for a run over my Berber carpeting every couple of days or so and limit my use of the power nozzle to maybe once or twice a week. Miele makes a nice dual-purpose nozzle for rugs and bare floors but it costs around $75.00 and I think that's ridiculous.  (I actually bought one just to see what it was.)

If you do not have heavy trafffic on your carpet and doggy fur is you're major concern, straight suction may be fine though you may need to apply a little elbow grease here and there.  The power nozzle's purpose is to dislodge gritty dirt before too much of it sinks too far down in carpeting and does damage.  This requires vigorous action.  The heavier your traffic the more you should straight -suction  vacuum between uses of the power nozzle (also necessary) to maintain your Berber's original look.  Berber rugs are of a lucious design but suffer all the same problems all rugss do when grit and dirt become ensconced down at the backing of the carpet.  The better Miele power nozzle has several height adjustments. Set it only low enough to maintain steady contact with the carpet but no lower.

Venson

Well, I've been there with new Berber wall to wall carpets and the best thing I used for two years was a bagless upright vacuum. Not the most expensive model and something fairly basic like the Dirt Devil Dynammite mini upright. That model has a brush bar with plastic "beater" like bars. For the carpets it was superb as I was going through ONE sebo 5 litre dust bag per month plus dog hair. The beauty of bagless is that you can simply empty whenever the bin is needing to be emptied, no bags to waste and thus no money wasted.

I would definately recommend buying a cheap mini upright vacuum like the Dirt Devil first and also consider the Miele. It will be enough to get rid of pet hair alone and the fuzzing / top carpet surface fuzz. Also watch the electric brush on Miele. It may have a large floor head but the dust channel at the back can clog with fuzz, especially Berber type and that can be annoying to have to constantly clean it out.

Vacmanuk and Venson raise interesting points.  While your carpets are still new before shutting off the vacuum when you are finished cleaning, allow the vacuum to run for a minute or 2 with the nozzle/brush roll head off the carpet.  This will allow the "fuzz" and rug nap to be picked up and pulled all the way through the cleaning path into the bag.

Carmine D.

So, seems like Miele Titan at $550 is our best bet, over the discontinued Jubilee (silver model) at $750?

Is there anything as soft on berber that's cheaper??? I have little to no doubt either is a great vacuum but this is a lot for us to spend right now!

MBZimm wrote:

MIELE Jubilee S5281 discontinued:  Retails between $800-$900.  But generally comes standard with the SEB 217 too just like the Titan.  If you are on a budget, the MIELE Titan at $550 is the better value.  If not, the MIELE Jubilee for $750 is the best buy IMHO.

MBZimm wrote:
Get a mini bagless upright first and see how you fare! You can always hang onto it for emergencies or sell it on later. You'll be wasting bags with the carpet fluff you accomodate.

vacmanuk wrote:
Which mini bagless do you suggest? And although I'll go through more bags, won't I still spend less on bags than a mini vac and get the benefit of both surface and deep cleaning at the same time if I just decide which canister to go with?

MBZimm wrote:
You won't be deep cleaning when dealing with Berber in the first year, believe me! The first year your bags will contain more of the carpet fuzz than pet hair even though that's quite a trial having to deal with both. I don't own the type of dog you have - I have two Westies and the amount of pet hair plus the cat I have means one vacuum cleaner never suffices. You could buy any of the bagless types that are on the market, even a cheap Hoover upright - make sure its an upright though as pet hair and fuzz as I said before has a bad habit of clogging up electronic brush heads and Miele's electronic heads or air driven turbo brushes all have average to small dust channels which can clog with hair and carpet fluff. Deep cleaning only occurs once a carpet has settled, thus there's more of a chance getting to the fibres that need to be cleaned. This is why deep cleaning works when a carpet is washed for example - and that's another machine you may have to consider if you have pets and Berber in the long term! Dont go down the steam cleaner route. I tried that and have spent a fortune on steam cleaners - they just dont work very well on carpets unless you get a commercial grade machine and that can go into big money!

Since I'm not in the U.S I can't begin to wonder what mini bagless upright types there are but I have a feeling there are quite a few. I have used a few that are available in the U.K under U.S branding such as the Dirt Devil Vibe but the top filter on that vacuum is lousy and their better one (not sure if Dirt Devil U.S still sell it) is the Dynammite model. That is a fairly basic upright that has a twist release filter that can be messy but at least there is only ONE filter to deal with! Granted if you want clean disposal then consider other larger vacs on the market that take cheaper dust bags. Certainly from what Carmine and others have suggested a Miele would be your ideal solution but they're not cheap in the U.S and neither is the Sebo series (a brand I quite like).




http://www.hoover.com/product.aspx?model=UH70212&ds=false

Well, this one looks quite good and its fairly cheap at 159.99 dollars! It certainly sounds like it could be a good cheap alternative "in the meantime," vacuum. It may not be "mini" by dimension but it has quite a few features - anyone on here actually own this vacuum rather than rely on consumer testing?? It has brush stop action and apparently pet hair marketed tools. At the price, I'd say its not that bad = but its a pity we dont have them in the U.K Sadly the Hoover models we have in the U.K are rather old fashioned and are worlds away from the models you have in the U.S/Canada.

I'd definately recommend going bagless and down the cheap route FIRST. Just be gentle with the vac and it will take off the "top soil" fluff in the first year. Otherwise you'll be going through One or Two of the larger Miele dust bags per month which is definately not cost effective and the Miele you've chosen won't get a chance to do the job its supposed to do when you'll find yourself picking out bits of carpet fluff thanks to the smaller dust channels. Yes, whilst Miele vacuums are supposed to clean carpets efficiently, they are also built with engineering expertise (as with SEBO) that prolongs the life in your carpet.