# Better vacuum for cheap, shedding carpet? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 15, 2015, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-vacuum-for-cheap-shedding-carpet/734750 "2015-10-15T20:04:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-vacuum-for-cheap-shedding-carpet/734750/1 "2015-10-15T20:04:17Z")
We have new carpet (it came with the house) that appears to be cheap as hell. It’s shedding like crazy and clogs the vacuum intake as you can see in [this picture](http://www.juliecarter.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/20151015_155137.jpg). I have an upright vac with the hose you can use with a wand or crevice tool. Dirt has to go all the way around the hose to reach the dirt cup. The picture above was approximately three minutes after I last cleaned it out. It clogs so fast, none of the fuzz makes it to the dirt cup. I suspect this design is part of the problem, because the hose is extendable (so it has those flexible corrugations) and I think the carpet fuzz gets caught up in the grooves. Do some vacuums have a more direct carpet to bag/container path for dirt? Or is there any way to know just how long this shedding will last? Stupid carpet. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-vacuum-for-cheap-shedding-carpet/734750/2 "2015-10-16T04:01:52Z")
It may do that every year about this time, although I would have thought shedding in the springtime, when the weather starts to warm up, would be more expected. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-vacuum-for-cheap-shedding-carpet/734750/3 "2015-10-16T05:17:28Z")
I don’t know what they’re called… I guess horizontal vacuums. The hose goes right into the bag. The inlet is on the side or top of the body. Here we go, they’re called canister vacuums. Here’s an[old fashion looking one](http://www.sears.com/kenmore-bagless-canister-vacuum/p-02022614000P?prdNo=7&blockNo=7&blockType=G7), but it’s bagless so I assume it’s a new design. ETA: Most of those have those power head things for carpets that might get clogged up just as fast. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-vacuum-for-cheap-shedding-carpet/734750/4 "2015-10-16T05:23:55Z")
I would recommend something like a shop-vac with lots of suction and no roller for this kind of carpet. It may not shed so much after a few months/vacuumings. I had one that did this, too, however, my cats completely wrecked it before it had a chance to ruin my vacuum. (Shop-vac worked on it; Shark with roller got it cleaner but pulled out lots more carpet fur.) ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-vacuum-for-cheap-shedding-carpet/734750/5 "2015-10-16T10:58:00Z")
We encountered this problem. It took several months, maybe close to a year, before the rug stopped clogging our vacuum. I got pretty good at using a broom handle to push all that mess out of the tube and I used a lot of bags, but it did finally stop. The rug looks like crap now. It’s not very fluffy and I hate the way it feels on my bare feet and I can’t wait to get it replaced.