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Question:

opnions on what the best vacuum cleaner is?

We are looking into buying a new vacuum, I are newly married I really don't know what a good vacuum is since I don't have much experience taking care of a home by myself.Our price range is $0-$200. We live in apartments so the carpet is low grade and we don't have much storage. I wanted something compact, has a hose so I can vacuum around the sofa. I also don't really want to buy online since most vacuums cost $20s in shipping.What is your opinion is the best vacuum and is there any other features that I might want that I don't know I want? lol.Thanks a bunch!

Answer:

Based on Consumer's Reports about vacuum cleaners, I went with an Eureka The Boss SmartVac. It actually does a better job for pet hair removal than the Dyson Animal. I'm an older woman and have had many vacuums thru the years and this is absolutely the BEST vacuum I've ever owned. It has a Pet Brush attachment as one of the tools and it's fantastic. Removing cat hair from the chairs and sofa was always a problem, but not now!! It was about $150 (on sale) and well worth the money.
Look at the Riccar and Simplicity brands. Both are manufactured by the same company here in the U.S. I have had my Riccar canister vac for 2 years now, and haven't had a single problem with it. They also come with lifetime guarantees. Don't listen to the hype about Dysons, my vacuum guy has them on his showroom floor and says they are overpriced pieces of plastic garbage. I paid about $800 for my riccar, but I know they also sell smaller compact vacuums for apartments. My vacuum does such a good job of cleaning that I've actually noticed that i dust LESS, and the air smells cleaner when i've finished vacuuming.
I am in the home cleaning business. I have tried many vacuums. Kirby's are very heavy, expensive and somewhat challenging to use since you have to take off the power head part (the part of the vacuum that sucks up the dirt) to add on a hose to vacuum upholstery. Plus they have bags that need to be changed. Oreck's are light weight but expensive and don't have attachments, plus they have bags that need to be changed. Dyson's work well, they are bagless and have attachments on the vacuum itself. They can however become clogged easily, but I still recommend this one. If price was no object, hands down the Rainbow is my choice. It is bagless, but traps dirt into a water bowl that you then have to empty. Has washable hepa filter. The attachments are on board but it does have a couple different hoses (one for dirt and one for water, for those wet messes that sometimes occur or for shampooing carpet). There are many more that I have used but I'm sure you don't want me to list them all. So all in all, go bagless, have attachments on the vacuum, have floor height adjustments, hepa filter recommended (which helps to prevent dust from getting into the air) and a long cord.
Don't believe the hype on Dyson vacuum cleaners. Although a fantastic vacuum cleaner, they are well overpriced. You are really buying the brand name. The Dyson Ball is the most maneuverable vacuum cleaner on the market. Its very light weight therefore has problems extracting dirt. Very poor performing from that perspective. Even consumer reports ranks Dyson vacuum cleaners low. Last month I actually purchased a DC-17 and Hoover Windtunnel + Cyclonic to test. The Hoover Windtunnel + Cyclonic outperformed the Dyson on a dense frieze carpet. The Hoover was mainly better at extracting dust from the carpet. I believe the Hoover Windtunnel + Cyclonic still sells for about $195.00.
If you buy a vacuum for less than $200, you'll probably be buying another one in a few years, maybe even less. If you buy a really good one, you're likely to have it for 20 years and more, and it will do a better job than a cheaper one. I bought a used Filter Queen 20 years ago for $500, and it still works as well as it did the day I bought it. It's had one professional clean-up after I used it to vacuum the drywall dust from a new house but it hasn't even needed the belt replaced yet. The most versatile is a canister vacuum with a beater head. It will do a good job on carpet and everything else. Most uprights aren't bad for carpet but hard to use for other vacuuming so you find yourself not getting full use out of it, or if you're like me, swearing at it when it won't reach high enough to get cobwebs off the ceiling. I'd recommend going to a store that sells and repairs vacuums and see what they have. You can usually get pretty good deals on better quality used vacuums. If you have allergies, look for one with a HEPA filter. My favourite brands: Filter Queen (of course), Tri-Star or Ghibli. Tri-Stars are particularly nice, and don't need bags since they have a washable cloth bag so you don't have to spend on filters or bags. If I didn't already have a good vacuum, I'd buy one in a minute. I believe they were made under a different name at one time, but they are all about the size and shape of a motorcycle gas tank. I just looked on-line and there's a place called ABC Vacuum selling them for $550 with free shipping to mainland US. I'd call that a very good investment in a vacuum cleaner.

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