There is no best vacuum for all circumstances. To claim that it exists would be like saying that everyone should drive a certain luxury sedan or small economy car. Someone who needs to transport 6 children does not need the same vehicle as someone who transports sheets of cardboard for 4×8 walls. My needs and yours may not be the same. Some people just want to clean carpets and rugs, others have bare floors, and some people want to vacuum their curtains and wood trim, what we call “above-floor cleaning.” Some of the newer frieze and fluff rugs are too long for many vacuums and some of the newer high thread count rugs (such as Dupont Silk and Shaw Caress) are very soft and comfortable to walk on, but very difficult to push into the most vacuum cleaners. Some people have a dust allergy and need superior filtration. Some people need a vacuum cleaner that is light enough to go up and down stairs, others need one that is very easy to push. At Byers Vacuum we spend some time asking questions before recommending a particular vacuum. Here are some questions to ask yourself: What surfaces do you want to clean? If they are carpets, how long? Uncovered floor? On top of the floor? Do you have area rugs with fringes? Carpeted stairs? Does anyone in the home have a dust allergy? Are you picking up long hair that wraps around the brush? How many hours a year will it be used? How many years do you want it to last? Do you want to buy American? Most vacuum cleaners, including Hoover, Eureka, Dirt Devil, Bissell, and Dyson, are made in China, South Korea, Malaysia, or Mexico. If you have the answers to these questions, you are ready to determine which vacuum is “best” for you.

A straight suction container is good for bare floors and above the floor. A canister with an electric nozzle also allows you to clean carpets. Some electric nozzles will adjust in height for the new friezes and fluff, others will not. The same goes for studs – some will adjust in height for friezes and fluff, some will not. New extra soft mats need the ability to reduce suction (one company made several holes in their nozzle to purge the suction). And some studs have attachments that work well for cleaning above the floor, but some have none or don’t work very well. Most studs cannot shut off the brush separately from the motor, but some can. This feature allows you to vacuum a bare floor without spreading dirt everywhere. Also, if you have fringed rugs or brittle antique rugs, you may want to be able to turn the brush off. Most cans with electric nozzles allow you to turn off the brush. On the studs that can turn the brush off, some do so with a lever on the nozzle, others have 2 motors with a switch right on the handle that allows you to turn the brush motor on and off with a flick of your finger, rather than than bending over, much more convenient when making fringes.

Some uprights, like the Orecks and SupraLites, are very light. This makes them very easy to transport from one level to another or to transport from one place to another in a cleaning business. Other machines, like the newer Kirbys and certain Hoovers, are truly self-propelled, where they have a transmission that operates the vacuum both forward and reverse while pushing and pulling on the handle. These can be operated with one finger, but they are heavy to go up and down stairs.

Of course, in addition to making sure the vacuum works on the surfaces you need to clean, some vacuums filter better than others. Don’t think that all “HEPA” filters are the same. From what I’ve read of people who tested vacuums with a laser particle counter (if you have severe dust allergies, you wish it was tested at 0.3 microns or less), Miele and Nilfisk have the best filtration. However, a test using dummy bags and filters on a Miele reported measurable dust emission. So it’s not just about the vacuum being well sealed and sealed, it’s the quality of the bags and filters. A typical micro-lined bag will trap most dirt down to 5 microns, but it’s not just the bag or filter that you need to worry about. Bagless machines tend to lose much more dust (despite their “HEPA” filters or cyclonic technology), plus you scatter a lot of dust when you empty the bin. Even if you don’t have a dust allergy, if you compare the cost of bags to the cost of filters for most bagless filters, the bagged vacuum is cheaper and less fiddly. Replacing a bag generally takes less than a minute and the result is a new primary filter without having to wash and wait for bagless filters to dry, which can take up to a day. In my opinion, the best thing about a bagless is that you can see the dirt spin.

Some vacuums have metal brushes with replaceable gliding bristles, which in heavy use are cheaper and much more durable on long hair. Plastic brushes can melt if the hair stands up at the ends. Some are better protected from hair than others. Another thing to keep in mind is plastic shafts, rather than metal ones. These wear out quickly and the wheel falls off. Some vacuums are much more durable than others. Some are more comfortable for different people to use. The only way to know for sure is to try them out. My recommendation is to buy a vacuum from a local vacuum store that caters to what they sell, can show you the differences in quality, allows you to test the vacuum on different surfaces, and will allow you to return it if it doesn’t perform well on your carpet. . If you have a problem carpet, such as lint, or the new soft carpets, bring a spare piece to test the vacuums so you can see how easily each type of vacuum will work on your carpet. They can advise you on the durability of different machines, as well as the availability of parts.

Some chain store vacuums come with longer-than-average warranties, but there may be no one in your market to repair them (Dyson & Shark springs to mind). Therefore, I recommend that you check to see if a machine can be serviced locally, under warranty or later, before purchasing. You can find many brands that can be serviced, but not under warranty, in your market. And some may not be useful at all.

In conclusion, you can see that there is no “best” vacuum for everyone. And various brands can meet your needs. Personally, I like the American-made Riccar / Simplicity / Maytag tool uprights (nearly identical vacuums coming out of the same factory in Missouri) and their lightweight uprights as well, but for canisters, I prefer Miele’s German-made models. But if you have severe dust allergies and want a vertical, I recommend a Miele. And if you lived in a city where the only brand you could repair was a vacuum cleaner, you should probably try to find the vacuum that best suits your needs, even though they are now owned by the Chinese and no longer made. in the US If you are just starting out, living in a small apartment, with no allergies, no children, and no pets, a cheap discount store model might be quite suitable. It’s surprising how much longer a vacuum cleaner lasts if it only has 500 square feet of carpet to clean, instead of 3000.