what upright vacuum should I buy?

[holeshot]

Don't get me started on vacuum cleaner salesmen. I 'bout had to pull iron on the Kirby guy to get him out of the house. :yell:

Hey.......I used to sell Filter Queens back in the day. They used one just like it on the Apollo missions. :fft:

Cyclonic Action ya know. :nod:

 

[_JOE_]

Don't get me started on vacuum cleaner salesmen. I 'bout had to pull iron on the Kirby guy to get him out of the house. :yell:

Salesmen? I thought they were professional harassers. :nener:

 

[Jaybird]

Oreck has my vote. Try them before you buy, Scot.

My wife uses a very old Electrolux cannister and won't change. She has replaced many parts of the thing over the years, and refuses to get a new one. Although, I did try to buy her one...and had a couple to the house. But she sticks with her old one.
When searching for one, I found the Oreck to be one of the best. Light as a feather and very powerful.
BTW...electrolux is not the same as they used to be. They are now electrosux.

 

[XRpredator]

BTW...electrolux is not the same as they used to be. They are now electrosux.

again, aren't vacuum cleaners supposed to suck? Seems like the major selling point to me . . .

 

[_JOE_]

again, aren't vacuum cleaners supposed to suck? Seems like the major selling point to me . . .

Yeah, seems like a really crappy vacuum would BLOW. :)

 

[bsmith]

The Husky of vacuums would be the Electrolux :)

 

[Papakeith]

so they're a PITA to start and parts are hard to get?

 

[motometal]

Just curious, why does it have to be an upright?

I have always heard Rainbow was the way to go for pet hair, dust, allergies...etc etc.

Sorry guys, sorta lost track of this thread for a few days. Thanks for all the help! We still haven't bought one.

Wife doesn't like canisters.

Rainbows are pretty neat, but $2000+ is probably out of the budget. That's another motorcycle, for gosh sakes!

 

[motometal]

Isn't vacuums a girlie thing to buy?

:)

Ivan

well yes, but I'm the one with the allergies and I suffer year round. So I'm making it sort of a man-project. If not for the allergies, I'd go for the quickest $150 unit I could find, and replace it as needed.

 

[motometal]

Oreck has my vote. Try them before you buy, Scot.

My wife uses a very old Electrolux cannister and won't change. She has replaced many parts of the thing over the years, and refuses to get a new one. Although, I did try to buy her one...and had a couple to the house. But she sticks with her old one.
When searching for one, I found the Oreck to be one of the best. Light as a feather and very powerful.
BTW...electrolux is not the same as they used to be. They are now electrosux.

I checked out an Oreck. I know the wife would love the manuverability and lightness. Feels sorta wimpy to me. But more importantly, is my concern that it only runs off of 4 amps, where any other mainstream vac pulls 12 amps. How can it do a good suck job at 1/3 the power? I asked the dude this question, and did not get a satisfactory technical answer. So do they really pull up dirt as well as a 12 amp vacuum?


Regarding the Electrolux canister, my mother still has one of these too. Evidently, the motor and any moving parts are designed to be serviced, unlike many newer units. For $100-150 the entire thing can be rebuilt and good for another 15 years plus.

 

[Patman]

Scott my dad has an Oreck at his house and refuses to use it. Says it's light for sure but it doesn't do the job worth a darn and is basically a POS. My Step mother wanted it and so she has to use it. Sister in law has one as well and just loves it because it's light (see a trend here?) but she uses it several times a week (clean freak) and while the top of their plush carpet stays pretty spotless if you walk barefoot and rub your toes in to it you can feel the grit.

BTW we also looked at the Riccar and it was a really nice piece but it was significantly heavier than the SEBO and didn't turn as easily for my wife (I think you've met her, 4'11" and 115 pounds) so we have to take that kind of stuff in to account.

 

[motometal]

A friend of mine was telling me they had an Electrolux canister growing up...the kids would take turns sitting on it, putting their feet up on top and the other kid would pull them around by the vac's hose! And it wouldn't break! They just don't build stuff like that anymore. Anything that heavy duty or sturdy is thinned, lightened, changed from metal to plastic, etc.

 

[Patman]

I remember my Grandma had one of those and we did the same thing LOL! It was a long metal tube, all Art Deco'ed out :)

 

[bsmith]

Mother In law has the tube Electrolux and also an upright, she replaced a built in vacuum with these about 30 years ago and is still using them. Had to replace the power cord is all.

I would get one to replace mine, but sadly couldn't justify the cost when I did upgrade. I bought a cheap hoover for $150 and it's falling apart. Before I'd do $600 on a Dison, I might buck up for an Electrolox.

 

[Solid State]

Here's the best advice you can get on the topic: Power Flight commercial vacuums.

- Very inexpensive (especially compared to those plastic contraptions at the stores)
- no dust
- sucks like, well it sucks big
- cleans deeply and doesn't weigh a ton
- commercial reliability
- really cheap and available parts (interchangeable with well known brands)
- lots of models to choose from

Do a Google search and compare specs with anything on the market. You'll be very surprised.

I found them from the folks that commercially clean office buildings. Power Flight also has a bunch of really good and cheap cleaning products. Ask for a brochure.