Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

Hello, My wife has asked me to try and find a new vacuum for us but we have a unique situation. We live in a 2 story house with a laminate wood floor in our living room with tile in our kitchen and dining room. The stairs leading up to our second floor and hallway are carpet and the 3 bedrooms upstairs are carpet now but we are going to be putting wood down shortly. On top of that we have birds that make a mess. Which vacuum would you suggest would be best for us to clean up the mess from the birds along with being able to clean the carpet in the hallway and stairs? Thanks, Glenn

Careful, not all Riccar and Simplicity vacuums are made in the US. The mid and low priced machines, mid and low being relative here, are still made in Korea to the best of my knowledge. Their TOL uprights and canisters are made in Missouri alongside Maytag uprights and their commercial CleanMax brand. My understanding is that as Tacony, their parent, brings new models to the market those new models will be manufactured in Missouri, but a lot of Korean built Tacony products are out there so read the label carefully. Kenmore and Panasonic have a very complete selection of canister vacs and you don't have to pay Riccar or Aerus Lux prices to get equal performance and durability. Panasonics in particular are light weight and have a tradition of having durable high powered motors. I have some 1980s vintage Panasonic Jet Flo canisters that led hard lives and in every case their motors are still quiet and strong. You could do a lot worse than to buy a used Electrolux (pre-2004 before the name change to Aerus) or Aerus Lux machine. There are some very nice professionally refurbished Electrolux and Aerus Lux canisters on the market for around the same money you would pay for a new plastic vacuum that will die long before your used Lux ever will. Yes it's used but Lux does a superb job of providing support and parts for their vintage machines. Only Kirby can match them for supporting the old iron. They have great attachments and a wonderful powered floor brush, plus one of the better pet brushes called the Sidekick 2. It is electric powered, not air powered, and digs into dirt and dog hair with gusto. Their floor brushes have no height adjustment, which seems odd at first, but in practice they don't need one. Durable timeless machines that you can buy once and use for as many decades as you want.