When I got my first apartment, my dad gave me a Hoover Decade 80 upright vaccum cleaner like the one on the right. It’s in the shop now, being serviced. (It probably needs a new pulley, as the belt pops off with little provocation from bits in the carpet.) Anyway, between that and the seven million Shark and Dyson commercials that are on TV every day, vacuum cleaners are on my mind. Please note I am not thinking of buying a new vacuum (unless this one isn’t worth fixing). I’m just curious about what people like.
The Hoover was different from what I was used to. Dad had a Sears Kenmore canister vacuum like this one. I liked it because I could pull it around while I vacuumed. I didn’t like it because I had to pull it around while I vacuumed. The Hoover upright seemed pretty nice, though it was a little bit of an adjustment. I took it in for servicing in the late-'80s or early-'90s (it seemed ‘off’ after a friend borrowed it), and the repair guy said I should never get rid of it. It’s a good machine. And I agree. It has good suction and the ‘beats as it sweeps as it cleans’ roller does a good job.
What I don’t like is that the power cord gets in the way. With dad’s canister vac, there was room between the ‘broom’ part and the power cord. Also, the Kenmore had a recoiling cord. You have to wrap the Hoover’s around the bracket. The Kenmore had accessories that fit into a tray on the top. The Hoover doesn’t. I know I have accessories somewhere, but I don’t know where they are.
The SO has a Bissell Easyvac. It doesn’t clean as well as the Hoover, and that plastic bin needs frequent emptying. But at least it doesn’t jump its belt upon running over a screw or nugget of cat food or Feline Pine. The Hoover didn’t used to be so sensitive. I’m hoping the vacuum repairman can fix it.
When dad was in the FAA, he was stationed at the FSS at Daggett (CA). That place had a central vacuum system where you plugged a hose into receptacles in the wall. That was cool.
I suppose one day I’ll have to replace the old Hoover. Dysons and Sharks are hyped so much, I don’t know if I’d want one. I liked dad’s Kenmore, so maybe I’ll look into a canister vac. But who knows? The Hoover may last me the rest of my life.
I never wear shoes in the house, and only need to vacuum a couple times a year. Consider a Bissel carpet sweeper, non-electric. Maybe find one at a junk store or flea market. They never wear out. Hire somebody once a year with a good industrial machine to deep clean your carpets.
You said you were just curious about what people like. There you go.
We like old vacs. Aside from a Rainbow, our newest vacuum cleaner is a mid-70s Hoover Convertible, and our “daily driver” vac is an Electrolux model G canister.
Those old Hoover uprights just keep on going. Aside from belts and bags, about all there is to go wrong on them is the end bearings on the brushroll, as long as you don’t abuse them by trying to vacuum up water, rocks, or ultrafine junk like plaster dust.
The Rainbow is stupid expensive and it demands far more setup, cleaning and maintenance than a normal vac, but it does pull a frightening amount of dirt out of the carpet.
The original roller was rusted after a quarter of a century, though I suspect it mostly happened after I moved up to Rainland. I bought a new one a couple/few years ago. I got a call from the vacuum repairman. He said the Hoover is running well (‘Running good’, he said), and he’s replaced the pulley and the roller. Apparently the roller I’d put in before was out-of-round. Maybe that will help with the belt-jumping issue.
It sounds like he broke the zipper on the outer bag. I knew it was a bit tough. I don’t know exactly what happened when he tried to open it. Nevertheless, I have a generic outer bag on order, and it will be shipped today or Monday. The SO commented this morning that she likes the Hoover better than her Bissell.
Re: The carpet sweeper. I used to have one. I don’t know if I still do, or if I gave it to the Salvation Army when I moved up here.
It’s impossible to keep these carpets clean. Between the cedar bits that get tracked in (we don’t have a convenient place to remove our shoes) and Tonka spreading fur and bits of his scratching post carpeting, it’s a losing battle.
We use the Carpet Pro CPU-2T in our cleaning business. It is a no frills, really good vacuum cleaner. I’ve recommended it to several people that have purchased them and been very happy. It is a commercial quality vacuum that simply does not break and that picks up better than any that we’ve used (other than maybe some old school Kirby’s, but those are super heavy to take from house to house and are pricey to fix). The Carpet Pro is apparently close to some Panasonic models (shares bags and belts) and looks like a Riccar that I’ve seen around. For a couple hundred bucks you can have something that has been bulletproof for us. We use it in 3 houses or so each day. We’ve been through the Hoovers, Bissells, Eurekas, and other commercial vacs including The Perfect Vac and Sanitaire. Nothing has been anywhere near as reliable and cost effective.
We also use the Hoover PortaPower for hard surfaces like tile and wood and it is fantastic. It does have a few weak spots, like the grommet where the cord goes into the machine and the flexible hose, but I made my own hose that isn’t accordion style but that works great from a commercial hose and found ways to prevent strain on the grommet for the cord. Picks up extremely well and is easy to use. Get a PortaPack with it and you have a place for the cord when you pack it all up.
I love my Dyson Animal. It’s everything they said it would be.
I grew up with an ancient hoover we called “The Dinosaur.” We gave it that name way back in the 70’s, and I was still using it when it died around 2008ish.
The best vacuum cleaner I aver had - and I had it for almost 20 years, loving maintained and regularly tuned up - was an early 70s-era commercial Hoover. It sucked up everything and then some. Since I’ve always had multiple pets (mine and fosters), I really need something that sucks as much fur and dander from carpet as possible.
Right now I have this Eureka “Better Than Dyson” vacuum. According to that review, it’s not really better than a Dyson but comes close. I like it a lot. I only have one carpeted room in my current house, and this vacuum adjusts easily and effectively for wood and tile floors as well.
We never vacuum. Haven’t vacuumed all year. But then, we replaced all the carpet with wood grain laminate in January. We take the throw rugs outside and shake them and spray and mop the floor. The dog is much happier not having to attack the vacuum cleaner every time it ran too.
My advice, retire the vacuum and replace the carpet with laminate. (You’ll be surprised how dirty the carpet really is when you do)
Repair guys always say that. And salespersons for new ones say to ‘stop wasting money on repairs to that obsolete machine and replace it with an updated model’.
Remember that they’re both pushing the option that benefits their own business, so you should consider that when evaluating their comments.
I began housekeeping with a hand-me-down Hoover a generation older than yours. Twenty years later, the motor finally died and I replaced it with a new Hoover with the fancy schmancy onboard tools and edge thingy. Mistake. Two years later, I was shopping for its replacement.
After several different tries, I’m currently pleased with the Electrolux upright that I’ve been using for a couple of years now.
My folks had a vacuum (they may still have it) made by a company named Bison. Dad (who is a vacuum nut - he rescues them from people’s trash occasionally and fixes them to give away) says it’s the best one he ever owned. The Bison had an infinitely variable on-off switch. If you just clicked it on it would barely run, but you could crank the knob like a volume knob to gradually raise it to full power. Useful for cleaning drapes or throw rugs without sucking them clear in.
In his younger days he used to occasionally let Kirby and Rainbow salesmen in to mess with them. His two favorite tricks:
They would always do the old sweep a section with your cleaner, then put a clean bag on theirs and go over the same spot to show he much dirt yours left. He would immediately put a clean bag on his and sweep the spot a third time, showing how much dirt theirs left.
If they claimed to have the best suction, he would ask them to prove it by duct taping his hose and theirs together end to end. The Bison could always suck the other bag down flat. The first time he did this the salesman packed his samples and left without saying another word.
Sadly, I think the company went out of business years ago. They did make a good vacuum cleaner.
I was in a Goodwill store a couple of months ago and I found this really cool vacuum cleaner for eight dollars. You strap it on like a backpack and aim the hose and wand at whatever you want to vacuum. It makes vacuuming feel like ghostbusting. And it’s actually kind of handy - I’ll be doing the floor and if I see a cobweb on the ceiling, I can just reach up and nab it.
^^^^^^
Backpack vacuums can be really handy, but without a power head with brushroll they aren’t very good on carpeted surfaces. I don’t know what size yours is, but on the ones that we’ve had in the past you really had to be aware of what was behind you. Otherwise you could inadvertently knock over lots of important things as you moved around. We used backpack vacs to clean common areas like interior hallways in large apartment communities. Kids loved it! They thought we had some sort of jet packs on.
I picked up the Hoover. The zipper pull on the outer bad was broken. I tried to get it to move, and broke the pull completely off. The duct between the motor and the bad has a tab where it clips on. It was broken, so the repair guy salvaged one from a different machine. The duct had the same part number. He put it on, and gave me a new bag. He put on a new belt, too. I’ll have to use a clip to hold the outer bag closed until the replacement arrives.
The machine sounds better than it has since I loaned it to a friend a couple of decades ago.
I have a Shark Rotator Pro. It’s an upright that converts into a wand/canister style. Really good suction, easy to clean, and works exceptionally well. My only complaint is the lack of an auto cord winder. Also, lack of fingertip controls, but the newest version remedies this. Otherwise, it’s darn near perfect.
Which model Animal do you have? Someone else recommended one to me and I can’t remember the model (there are a few Animals out there). Between the shedding dog and normal detritus I need a powerful vac.
I originally wanted a dyson, but based on consumer reports that rated it low I bought the vacuum they gave top ratings to almost a decade ago. I had never had a new vacuum and was excited to try it - then disappointed. It didn’t work much better than my old vacuum.
Fast forward to like a year or so ago - a friend of mine - who I respect their opinion - bought a dyson after also buying a top rated consumer reports model (this was recently - so I doubt it was the same one). He too was disappointed with it - and tried a dyson anyway. He couldn’t stop raving about it. I bought one figuring it couldn’t be much worse than the one I had - and it was WAY better. I’m not sure why they rated it so low - it seems to work great to me.
It’s the DC33 - I can’t remember if it was that specific model they reviewed
The wife and I bought a Philips-brand vacuum cleaner in 1996. It lasted until a year or so ago, never once needing repair. The motor finally gave out. Based on a salesman’s recommendation, we replaced it with a Panasonic model, but it’s just not as good.
