Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

Hey, I need some help picking a vacuum cleaner. Price is not really an issue, but I want to use the vacuum cleaner for these purposes: -pet hair -carpet -wood floor -tile floor I also want the vacuum to be light-weight... Can anybody suggest a good vacuum? Thanks ;) . All the best, tw23

Do not worry.  My hope is that anyone reading will learn from what is written.

My suggestion, after receiving your vacuum cleaner, is to read the instructions completely.  Make sure others, in your household, understand how to use and care for it also. 

The filters should be checked regularly.  The intervals are going to be different for everyone, because we all may have different situations.  Some will have to vacuum up very fine dust, while others may vacuum up larger debris, while still others may vacuum up fine dust, hair and debris.  If you are mainly vacuuming up hair, it could be every two months.  What you need to do is learn about your vacuum cleaner and what it picks up.  Maybe open up the filter cover and examine the filter.  If it is caked full of dust and hair, it would not hurt to rinse it out.  If you understand the intervals between cleaning the filter, you will have no problem knowing when to rinse the filter.  Also check the final filter.  This should not get too dusty, but remember not to wash it. 

Another way to understand when to rinse the vacuum cleaner filter, is if the suction falls off.  Do not let it go that far, because that means a big drop in performance

You really should have no problem vacuuming w/the brushroll off.  It will become difficult when the airflow is greatly reduced.  Just start off vacuuming with the brushroll OFF.  I have noticed that sometimes, larger debris like a piece of paper can get lodged in the brushroll chamber, when the brushroll is OFF. Dog hair, dirt, cheerios, or similar, should be no problem.

One thing I do not like about the HOOVER WT Air are the attachments.  They are small and awkward to use.  Manufacturers have slowly shrunk and cheapened attachments to save money, save space on smaller vacuum cleaners and to save weight on vacuum cleaners.  The attachments, for the WT Air are basically for users who do not have much use for attachment cleaning.

I am not a big fan of the two optional accessories you mentioned.  I feel that you do not need the rubberized wiper blade pet tool, because you can use the small attachment which comes w/the WT Air.  But, it is not going to cost that much if you really want it.  What HOOVER is doing is cheapening their products even more by replacing brush bristles w/soft blade strips.  One advantage though is that hair can be easily removed from the blades, compared to bristles, as you vacuum.

Now about the mini turbo attachment.  They have replaced the bristles w/rubbery blades also.  I do not like the cleaning results from a blade as compared to bristles.  Bristles will have more flex/bend on fabric and carpeting.  You should be able to find a HOOVER mini turbo attachment from independent retailers, which still use bristles.

I really do not care for the smaller mini turbo attachments, from these mass market manufacturers like HOOVER/Royal/Dirt Devil/VAX, Panasonic/Kenmore , etc.  They are small and have a small cleaning path.  They also bog down easily, partly because of their smaller turbines.  The larger mini turbo attachments from makers like H-P. Products and Wessel-Werk are true performers.  I have had an H.P. Rug Rat for over 30yrs. and it has performed superbly.  This model was used on a few brands of vacuum cleaners in the past.  Wessel-Werk has two models of mini turbo attachments also which perform equally as well as the H.P. Rug Rat.  I have found their more deluxe model to be quiet.  These models, which I have mentioned, are going to be higher than your budget, but I wanted to mention them for anyone else looking for a mini turbo attachment.  The rubberized pet turbo tool will actually clean better than the attachment on the vacuum cleaner or the other rubberized tool.  Check out ebay for “Hoover turbo attachment for pet hair” and see what comes up.  You also want to make sure that the fitting is a 1 ¼” fitting and friction-fit.  That means it slides on without locking. 

This should get you started. 

Anjalena wrote:
Hi Anjalena
Since my last post I have been very lucky to have a friend of mine who has returned from the U.S, lock, stock and barrel following a sudden, tragic loss of her partner. Apart from the fantastic Waring blender she bought with her and tons of things, she also has the Windtunnel Air that she couldn't live without. She has since bought a voltage transformer to use it in her home, so I gave it a go and find it a bit easier to use than my own Vax. I find that it works well with brush roll on or off BETTER than the UK version. Vax have since brought out a new version with a swivel built into the floor head but I'm really taken with her Windtunnel Air.

Now, in so far as the attachments, I would agree with Mike to a certain degree. First of all, any tool with a rubber blade is going to be harder work when it meets any kind of fabric. Let me tell, using squeegee/rubber strip floor heads with wet cleaners is hard enough on hard floor - yes, whilst the Rubberized Wiper Blade Pet Tool is small and neat, I don't like the tool because there are too many rubber blades which would give your hand a real work out, pet hair would stick to the blades and require more pulling off of the hair yourself rather than use the vacuum. Also the neck is fairly thin plastic and it could crack over time.

It is true that whilst the smaller tools are of not much use, at least you have them. I find them basic but they do the job as intended, especially with the more flexible extension hose attached. I have a fantastic Electrolux turbo tool that has twin rubber blades permanently fixed on the bottom and a handy visor that you can slide up for cleaning stairs. I've had it for years and I'd be lost without it - its an air turbine pet tool much the same as a lot on the market with far more functions than just a pet hair brush roller.

Check out http://www.amazon.com/Electrolux-Home-62550D-2-Power-Vacuum/dp/B003OEO2QC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1343486139&sr=8-3&keywords=Eureka+turbo+tool

It is slightly more expensive than the Hoover turbo tool on Amazon.com but you're getting three functions from this power nozzle and it will fit the Windtunnel Air as it has a 3.2cm/32mm measurement. Note that there's far more of a positive feedback for this tool than the Hoover turbo tool (http://www.amazon.com/Hoover-Turbine-Powered-Hand-40200013/dp/B000I17C5W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343486119&sr=8-1&keywords=Hoover+turbo+tool)

Another pet tool that IS expensive but really well thought out is the Dyson Pet Hair tool. I also have this and it comes with an adaptor as standard to fit other machines, again the 3.2cm/32mm measurement.

I recommend a kirby vacuum. I obtained a 15 year old one I got for cheap and it works great, I have had it for 5 years so now it is 20 years old. It is not lightweight but nothing cleans as well as the kirby does. It creates a suction to the carpet and lifts it as while it is beating it so I know it is cleaning from the bottom up. All other vacuums just beat the top of the carpet without lifting the carpet. Even though it is heavy it is easy to push because it is self propelled. I never have to lift it even if I am cleaning high, I just attach the hose. It is so easy to push my daughter can ride it while I clean. I made a video of her riding it while I clean: http://youtu.be/PnviK0WSfEs . I hope this is of some help to you.

Thanks Mike and Vacmanuk. That gives me a lot to think about.

So, for the filter cleaning, it's basically situational. For my situation, there is a LOT of hair and dust. The hair is both human and cat. I am getting older and my hair's coming out a lot and my cats shed more than any other cats on the planet, I think. *laugh* Well, my workers have told me that and these are different workers at different times and years, who work with many other clients who have pets too. I have no idea why my pets shed so much. I can just pet them, just one or two strokes along their back, and come back with a several pinchfuls of fur at least. And that's EVERY time, even after they've been brushed. And one of them is just a short-haired cat and he sheds the most! I feed them high-end expensive foods, so I have no clue.

Anyway, this fur/hair/dust combo floats around my floor like tumbleweeds in an old Western cowboy movie. My home care worker will sweep all my floors and in less than a couple of hours, it's all over the floor again. I'm guessing a lot of it is hiding under my couch and other furniture. Whatever it is, it seems almost a hopeless situation. And you should see fans and computers and stuff around here, things that draw in air... just COVERED with dust and fur. One of our high velocity fans which is in the hallway routing cold air from my air conditioner to my 23 yr old son's room is CAKED with fur and dust. And I JUST cleaned it thoroughly not 1 or 2 weeks ago!

We've just felt pretty hopeless around here about the whole situation. This vacuum is my last resort and the only thing I can think of. And we do have multiple cleaning things like... a rubber broom, a dust mop/broom, regular straw broom, swiffer wetjet mop, shark steam cleaner, and things like that. The dust mop is good for picking up and holding hair, but not the other dirt and debris.. so when you pick the mop/broom up to take the next stroke, all the litter and dust and everything just falls out and scatters.

Anyway, yeah, it's a mess. I hope the vacuum really helps.

The reason I was looking at the pet attachments with the rubber bits is because rubber seems to be much better for grabbing hold of fur. I've got a little hand-held rubber brush (just exactly like this one but mine is purple... and I got mine from QVC in the U.S. - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rubber-Brush-For-Hair-Removal/dp/B004QWWTM0) and it works wonders for getting fur off of furniture and clothes but it takes some strength and endurance to use. So I thought maybe the attachments with the rubber would be a good idea. But obviously it also depends on the quality and make of the attachment.

So yeah, thanks for the head's up about the attachments I was looking at, Mike. And Vacmanuk, thanks for the link to the Electrolux attachment. I'll look into it. =)

Thanks again, guys!

Yes, you will have to check the filter regularly.  Start out checking it every few week, so you can get a “feel” for how long it takes to accumulate dust and other debris.  What will happen is the underside of the filter will get lighter in color.  Or I should really say there will be a lack of filter color.  Depending on how dirty your home is, you may or may not need to wash it out every month.  The instruction manual says every two months.

Someone will have to be the responsible one, to check and rinse the filter.  With so many people using one vacuum cleaner, it is going to get palmed off on someone else.  No one is going to check, because they will assume someone else will do it. 

Wash the filter after you are finished vacuuming, because it will take approx. 24hrs. to dry.  If you vacuum quite often, or someone is in the habit of using the vacuum without a filter, purchase another filter.  This way, the vacuum can still be used while the other filter is drying.  Believe me, I have seen the results of someone using a vacuum cleaner w/o the installed filter.

You are going to have a lot of hair to clean up, that is true.  That is one of the joys of having a pet.  I went through the same thing w/pets.  During shedding season, I would have to vacuum three times a week.  Off season, I did it twice at least.  There are others that clean daily, for this problem.

What also makes it look worse is that you have no carpeting.  Carpeting is good a holding the hair in place.  I will never have a house w/o carpeting.  Depending on the color of animals and carpeting, hair can appear to be invisible.  I have no problem vacuuming.  I know of a woman who has tile floors and animals.  Within hours of cleaning up hair, there is more.

Make a habit of brushing the animals daily, because this will help some. 

I love the high velocity fans.  I have had one for around 20yrs., I think.  What you need to do is find a Cut-to-fit foam air conditioner filter, cut it to the size of the fan and attach it to the back(intake end) of fan.  You should quickly notice hair and duct collecting on filter and less on the fan blades.

Regularly check the HVAC intake vent, its filter, fans, and coils of refrigerator.  Hair likes to attach to these areas.  You refrigerator will have to work harder, if hair and dust are covering the coils.

I would suggest that you banish the corn broom to the outdoors/garage, because it will leave dust and dirt behind.  Try this experiment by sprinkling baking soda down, then make a one stroke sweep.  Notice the baking soda left behind.  Find a softer/tighter bristled broom like the one below-

http://www.quickie.com/Public/Products/Default.aspx?UID=&ProductCategoryId=51&ProductId=14

Dust mops are very good for cleaning.  No, they will not pick up everything.  Just use the mop to push debris to centrally located piles, then use a broom and dustpan to pick up the piles.

I would say that the Eureka mini turbo brush will work the same as the HOOVER.  It will have the same quality.  I would only tell you to get this one, because of its very cheap price.  With the tool, plus the s/h, it will come out cheaper than the tool you had linked to earlier.  I know your funds are limited.  If the Riccar turbo brush is listed correctly on the amazon site, I would say jump on it.  It is a deluxe version, from Wessel-Werk, at a very  good price.  It is at the lower portion of the same page(links to other attachments).

Anjalena wrote:
Personally speaking my friend relayed to me a very similar situation with my own Vax Mach Air - it takes around 3 months before the filters required to be cleaned - (but your situation may involve less or more time) and she uses the tip I've given to many when it comes to washing and drying the filter - hand wash with dish washing liquid or soft detergent but don't use an abrasive brush, just allow to soak in hot water and then (NOT dishwasher liquid as this is very different!) bung the wet filter into a pillowcase AND a terry cotton towel and tie up into a knot before putting it into a tumble dryer on a LOW temp dry program. The towel inside the pillowcase acts as a perimeter between the filter, pillowcase and the drum of your machine. It takes roughly an hour to an hour and a half for the filter to dry off than it would take over a 24 hour period. I know you said your costs were limited, and I generally found myself that my original filter didn't have to be replaced until three years were up.

Personally I don't like rubber blades - too much resistance on fabrics and a nightmare to use on hard flooring - turbine, roller brushes, beater bars - whatever you want to call them - they always work best on hair. Yes you have to clean the rollers, but you would have to do that anyway with an upright vacuum anyway, I find most rubber blades etc remove hair but they also clog up and I spend ages picking the hair off. Bissell had a great hand held vac on the market many years ago that was corded and had a suction only channel with two rubber sides on either side of the dust channel. It seemed to be very popular but I think it was also down to the fact that it was mains corded, thus constant power versus cordless.

edman wrote: Kirbys are very good vacuum cleaners.  They have their place.  I do believe that your experiece(s) are limited.  There are quite a few vacuum cleaners that will create that lift affect.  Take a look at Royal vacuum cleaners.  Their Everlast uprights, formerly called "All Metal" uprights create the same lifting you are talking about.  Eureka's former line, including rebrands for other companies, its spin-offs, plus their Sanitaire line also will give you the same thing on carpeting.

If it works for you,and you like it, that is great.

Mike_W wrote:

Is this the attachment you're referring to, or did you mean the deluxe one (which is going for $71.99. OUCH!):

http://www.amazon.com/Riccar-Handheld-Brush-Standard-Cleaners/dp/B00106EBG2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343777203&sr=8-1&keywords=riccar+turbo

Is that the one that you like better than the Hoover and the Eureka attachments?

As far as cleaning the filters go, that will end up being my job. My son would never do it unless I beat him over the head and forced him to. Heh. And my workers really aren't supposed to do maintenance type things like that... though she might be willing to do it if I asked. But as I'm usually the one who cleans the air conditioner filter and the high velocity fans (which I love my high velocity fans too! though don't blow it directly at you while you're sleeping unless you want to wake up with dry mouth, nose, and eyeballs! *ROFL!!*), I'm sure I'll end up with the job of cleaning the vac filter as well.

But our high velocity fans are short/small... almost like little shop fans... so I can set them up here on my desk and clean them. I've still got a bunch of Q-tips (ear cleaning swabs.. not sure what they're called in the UK) on my desk from cleaning the fan just a few weeks ago. And today I had to pick it up and wipe thick mats of fur off the intake vents from that same fan. My worker saw it and went "EWWWWW!" *sigh* And I totally forgot about the refrigerator! The back has NEVER been cleaned!! I'm surprised it still runs! *faint*

Here, I took a few pics to show you guys. I created an album on my Photobucket account and put the 4 pics in there. Make sure you click the thumbnail so you can see the bigger version. (actually the pics are bigger than what they show here but oh well) I wrote a description under each picture so be sure to read that. It's right under my name, Anjalena. My album with 4 pics for you guys.

Okay, having seen my fan now, how do I use the method you talked about, Mike, with the cut-to-size A/C filter? And where do I find that kind of thing? Please give links if you can.

I do hope to be able to get my WT Air soon, but I have to wait until my student loan stipend comes in for this semester. It should already be in my bank account but it isn't. Blargh!

As far as carpet vs hard flooring, I don't really have a choice. I'm so poor that I have to live in subsidized housing, which means I have to live in what's available. I hate this place! Mostly I hate the landlords but I also hate the apartments. They were built in the '70's and it shows. There's only ONE telephone jack in the whole place (not that apartment is very big, it's pretty small actually) and it's up on the wall in the hallway! With this being the age of the internet, that's pretty damn inconvenient. And they'll add more jacks if you want them, for $25 per jack, but they will not maintain them. They'll only maintain the original jack. For any others, you have to pay the phone company to come in and fix them and they are very expensive! The only thing I like about having no carpet is that it IS easier to clean up messes. Spill a drink, cat pukes on the floor, dog pees on the floor, whatever... it's much easier to clean up wet-type messes on hard flooring. But with hair and dust and dirt... hard flooring shows EVERYTHING! =(

vacmanuk wrote:

Hey Vacmanuk.

Yeah, I'm sure I'll be cleaning mine once a month. It's bad here. But I'll check the filter probably once a week at first to get an idea of how fast it's getting dirty. Thanks for the tip on how to wash it. I won't be drying it that way since I don't have a dryer in my apartment. These little $#%*ty government-subsidized apartments don't have washer/dryer hookups in them at all. But that's the same way that I wash and dry my stuffies. I've got a stuffed bear in my room that I tend to use as a pillow. My "bed" is a couch and I sleep with my head up on the arm of the couch. But it's kinda hard and not comfy, so I use the bear to soften the experience. heh. But when he gets dirty, I throw him in a pillow-case and tie it closed, then throw him in the wash and the dryer. I got that tip on TV somewhere in the distant past. Seems it's a safe way to wash stuffed animals without ruining them. =)

I'll see how much another filter costs and if I have the money anytime in the near future, I'll buy an extra one to use while the first is drying. But vacuuming will probably only happen 2-3 times a week, if that. Trying to get my son to do chores is like trying to motivate a wall to move and my PCA is only here twice a week. And like I mentioned in one of those 4 pictures I linked above, if we have to go to the store or to do laundry or do anything that takes most of our time that day, chores won't get done that day. I'm supposed to have a worker 3 days a week but my current girl is out of university (heh, a little Brit lingo!) for the summer and moved back to live with her parents until school starts again. So she's only near here on Tuesdays and Wednesdays so those are the two days I get a worker. Which means I'm without somebody for 5 days in a row. I'll be glad when her classes start up again. Or I might be getting a new girl soon.

Yeah, I definitely wouldn't use a rubber blade on the floor! ACK! Well, I have a rubber broom and it works great but you HAVE to hold it at a certain distance from you to prevent the awful friction resistance. So most of my workers, and my son, just avoid it. But it works better than any other broom I've ever had. I just can't use it myself. I tried to sweep up around the litter boxes a little while ago. The whole thing took me less than 2 minutes. But well before I was done, I was in a lot of pain. Sweeping, especially, just pisses my back off. It must be the position that you have to hold your body in while sweeping that does it. That's all I can figure.

I like the roller brushes but they're really probably not going to help me on this floor. Plus, I loathe having to dig out wound up hair from between all those bristles. It's definitely UNfun! But there's one thing I'm liking about the WT Air, and I don't even have it yet. I watched the little Usage and Maintenance videos that come with the vacuum and the one that shows how to change the belt makes me super happy! I remember having to help my Mom change vacuum belts back when I was growing up and it was infuriating and almost impossible! I like the way the WT Air's system of belt replacement works. Seems like it would be MUCH easier than the old days.

Anjalena wrote: That is the link I was talking about.  It is a much more robust mini turbo attachment and will work fine w/ the HOOVER WT Air.  What I am concerned about are the two pictures of two different models.  There is the regular/standard mini turbo attachment(w/the inset picture of the attachment opened up), then there is the picture w/the deluxe, quieter mini turbo attachment.  For the listed price, w/free s/h, the standard model would be a good price.  If it ends up being the deluxe model, that is a fantastic deal.

The filter I am referring to is a foam cut-to-fit air filter.  It will be frameless foam material, in a plastic package.  It can be found at your local hardware store.  Type in "Cut-to-fit foam air filter" in a search engine to see what it looks like.  If it is foam, then it can be rinsed periodically.  The filter can be attached to the intake side of the coil/cage/grill of the fan.  It looks like the air enters your fan from the side(s).  I attach mine w/twist ties.

The belt, on the WT Air is very easy to change.  Because it is a cogged(has "teeth") belt, it will not have to be changed all that often.  If it was running on carpeting, it could run for approx. ten years w/o wearing out.  Also, because of its cogged design, it will not be as tight as a stretch belt.  That works out great for those of limited strength.  If you run your machine on floors w/the brushroll OFF, the belt should last a long time.  There are those occasions when the belt could become defective and break in a few years.