Hey Gals! I am looking to purchase a new vacuum cleaner and with the thousands of choices out there....bleah! So...I thought I'd ask what you have, about how much it cost and what you think about it. I have a Eureka Whirlwind that is a MESSY canister container, expensive filters, is HEAVY and if you haven't guessed already...I am sick of it! lol My family has allergies so I'd like to get as much out of the carpet as possible. I am considering an Oreck, anyone with one? Is it worth the price? Thanks a million!
Ugh. Vacuums. I finally started buying the cheapos from walmart cause they break in a year no matter how much I spend. <---gave up I would love a dyson though
Well...see with the Oreck I'm convinced that the vacuum is actually free and it's the service that you prepay. lol On their Cadillac model they give you 21 years of warranty and once a year maint. service for all 21 years. So...basically even if it breaks....you don't pay another dime. Then of course they give you the small canister vacuum which I could have really used today as I was standing on a chair holding the dirt devil with one hand and stretching the hose up to clean the air intake cover. So...in a nut shell their selling point is that you get 21 years of service which would cost you around $840 and the other vacuum that is a $200 value. So...see it's really free. ROFL My husband isn't buying it. He says well tell them to keep all the other stuff and just give you the vacuum. lol Men!
LOLLLLL good!! Hey, sounds free to me! Heck a vacuum that lasts 20 years, sounds great! If you get it let me know how you like it!
I have a cheap dirt devil upright that I bought as a temporary vacuum 13 years ago. It is great, and has one of those hoses that you can grab and vacuum up base boards or that weird thing that might clog or jam the beater bar. It has a nice place to store 2 extra bags and belts as well as a few attachtments. The only down side is that the extention that is supposed to be handy falls off every time I go around the bed corner. Just as well it stays in the garage where I used it with the cheap Shop VAC to blow out/off the garage and driveway. I am glad this came up, I need to replace the cord on the old thing and you reminded me that I need to add this to the to do list.
I currently don't even own a vacuum (no carpet), but when we did have carpet I did the same thing that Julie did and bought the Wal-mart cheapies. Mine did usually last about 2 years though. I have a friend who has a Dyson and she loves it. She says it has great suction. Another friend has a Dyson and an Oreck and likes the Dyson for carpet and Oreck for her hardwood. 21 years is a heck of a warranty. If it lasted that long it might be worth the price. We had a Kirby guy stop by a few weeks ago. By the time he left, the price was half of the original quote (we still said no), so maybe the price is negociable on the Oreck.
I think it really depends on what type of house you have. We're still trying to find a perfect fit. We have hardwood floors with area rugs. I'm looking for something that does bare floors well, as well as rugs. Right now, it takes me about 2 hours to do the main level of the house b/c I have to move all the rugs, sweep, then vacuum. It stinks!!! We used to have an Oreck XL - like 8 years ago. It was a good vacuum. I didn't take care of it the way I should have, and the bags were a pain in the tuckus to install correctly. i used to end up having to use the free canister vacuum (which is actually quite cool, btw) to vacuum out the inside of the Main Vacuum bag b/c the bag didn't fit properly and leaked! It was an installation issue on my part, I could never figure out how to do it right. We sold it at a yard sale. We recently bought an Oreck Quick Stick which is a glorified dustbuster. But I do love it. It doesn't do bare floor as well as I'd like, but my 7 year old LOVES to vacuum with it, so everything usually gets done a few times a week just so she can "play". LOL We are considering buying a reconditioned Eureka canister vacuum. We found one but it was REALLY a lot more than we expected. My BIL used to be a Eureka repairman. The deal was the older models had a sealed motor so dust couldn't get in, well they realized that they were so well, that people weren't rebuying b/c they lasted forever. Then Eureka changed their design so the motors were open - causes them to breakdown by 10 years so you have to replace it. So you have to get a pre 1980's build canister vac w/ all the attachements. I'm still hoping we can do it. I remember the Eureka we had when we first married and it was the greatest thing.
We got a Kirby when I was pregnant with my oldest, so, almost exactly 16 years ago. We use it a lot, and we're still using it. There's good and some bad, but we've pretty much liked it, and it's lasted all this time with no repairs, ever. We did buy a new belt once, but that's it! You pay for it in the beginning, but I think it's paid for itself by now!
OOOhh! Vaccumms.... I HATE mine!!! I remember when the "Bag-less" canister "WONDERS" first came out, or at least when they were really popular, back in the 90's... I remember thinking, "totally cool!" I eat crow, every time I go to empty the canister, because I have to do it outside, because of course, the dust goes EVERYWHERE except for the trash.... ugh... I mean HOW IN THE WORLD is this healthy to have this stuff flying all over the room!???? A person with asthma would die in my house, if I empty the vaccum near them. I miss the bags... Also, the filter clogs after the first use and you have to take it out and BANG it on something hard with tons of particulate matter, in the form of a dust cloud, flying across your yard (And back inside your home, unless you remember to close the door!) And my hands, and clothes and side of the building are litteraly COVERED in the dust and dirt.... seriously.... But if you are able to actually FIND a new filter for your Bag-less canister vaccuum, it will cost you 80% of the cost to REPLACE the WHOLE DAYNG THING! Sigh... Our next vaccum will be a $39 BAG upright from walmart. It is in my budget to get a new one in 6 months to a year.... same difference, LESS HASSLE!!! (Sorry, this is a recient soft point for me, as well...)
Ya know Jen, you bring up a good point...I did end up buying a $25 model from Walmart that I use when I do "deep" cleaning. I do LOVE that it has a bag (we had a bagless for a long time, too, though I can't remember what brand - we sold it before we moved back to PA). I have severe dust mite allergy - and when I would empty our last vacuum, I would inevetably get covered in dust, and hives, and sneeze and any day I'd vacuum would be the end of my day...I couldn't do anything else b/c I was having asthma attacks, covered in hives and sleepy from allergy meds! They may have been cool at the time, but I don't think anyone was really thinking! Still want my electrolux - but I'm wondering....the hose on my cheapie vac detatches, I wonder if I can buy an extention hose and a bare floor head to make it work with bare floors....hmmmmm.....
Oh, I like electolux too. My great aunt and mil have one and their great. Have lasted a loooong time. I have a kirby and a dirt devil. I like the dirt devil because it has the hose attachment and is lighter but the kirby definately vacuums ALOT better. The dirt devil vacuums surface dirt but the kirby gets deep down. I've had it for about 11 years and it hasn't needed anything. Our church has an oreck and that is a really good machine. I just wish it had a hose attachment.
Oh man, Jen, I was just gonna come visit you! Now I can't, cuz I can't handle that stuff, my poor body'd have a fit! Guess you'll have to come visit me! Yeah, Lee, I've been wishing my Kirby was lighter and had attachments. Switching it over to carpet cleaning is a royal pain!!! But yes, the Kirby's do turn into carpet cleaners and come with the stuff to use for it! You just feel like a schmuck when you let the salesman get to you and you buy it at such an expensive price! Yet 16 years of no problems is a pretty good vacuum, I must say!
I've had cheapies, Electroluc, and Kirby. I liked the cheapies better than the Elctrolux and the Kirby neither of which I would have had had dh not been home the days the sales people came by LOL. Last year I broke down and bought a Dyson Animal (the purple one) and I love it. We have 3 dogs (well we had four until recently :cry: ) and I'm always amazed that what a good job it does of picking up stuff. I don't think I ever want another brand. Ann
I've wondered about those, Ann. When we were shopping one time my kids saw that purple vacuum and wanted it just for it's color! They thought it'd be cool to have a purple vacuum! I knew nothing about the company however, so I couldn't see spending money on something just for the color! Maybe we should look into it again? I'm tired of the Kirby!
We lucked out on our Kirby. I just wouldn't deal with the salesman and I got it at a really good price but again that was about 11 years ago. We got the shampooer with it and it works great but we don't use it anymore being that I have wood flooring or berber carpeting and I learned the hard way not to use it. I would like to purchase an oreck orbiter next. I've been renting one every year for about 6 years now and I think that I just need to break down and buy one. I just hate spending that much money.
My RV has a central vac system made by Dirt Devil. I love it. It is powerful and it gets the dog hair. A huge deal for me. I love having the dog with us, but I don't want anyone who visits to say, oh they have a dog. If you have a dog you know what I mean. RVs tend to hold odors more than regular homes. Keeping the dog odor at bay is important to me. I vacuum pretty often, like very other day. We have not had any problem with this system excpet for the fact that the bag has to be changed pretty often. But, I agree with Jen, give me a bag any day. Those little cups drive me nuts! :roll:
EXACTLY!!!! See the Eureka I have has that canister that everyone thought was sooo cool and I HATE IT! It's a mess! I bought a used Electrolux canister and....it just hasn't been all that I would have hoped for it to be. So...I actually have TWO vacuums that I really don't care for. ROFL My Eureka cost me an arm & leg to replace the filters so...every year it cost me minimum $108 just in filters. Cough, Gag, Choke! That of course doesn't factor the fact that I have to empty all the dirt from the bagless area. The Oreck I'm looking at weighs 8lbs and feels like it has a self propelled motor but...the gals said it isn't. It has two speeds so that I can use the high setting to vacuum carpet and low for hard surface. The way the bag goes on it looks like it's real easy. I wonder if they changed it after you had yours. hummmm It has the 21 year warranty and the 21 annual tune-ups no extra cost. Comes with the "upgrade" canister with all the tools and apparently right now they are running a deal where you get an iron, too. Well...I don't need the iron. I just got a Rowenta but...still the cost is WAY up there. That's the tough decision. I called my sons allergist and they were no help at all. They said just make sure it has a HEPA filter. Well...geez...I think just about all of them do now a days. But...if I break down the cost of it all over 21 years then it would be about $39 a year + the bags that I would have to buy each year so...total annual operating & out the door cost would be about...$64 a year for the next 21 years. That is a about half of what I pay for filters on the Eureka Whirlwind right now. But...I have to cough up the $800 now. I know that the used Electrolux I have had to have the fan replaced that that set me back $60 alone so....with the Oreck being guaranteed...it's that whole concept of insurance. I rented the Orbiter this weekend. It did a good job but...I have to be honest I was hoping for a bit more. I think my carpet is just sooo ground in from not having a decent vacuum that it had to work over time. I know a BUNCH of carpet/dirt/junk came out after I ran the orbiter over the carpet. BLEAH! Decisions Decisions. I need a magic genie to help me make a decision. ROFL
Sheila, That's how much our Kirdy cost ($800) 16 years ago! However, as I said, I've had absolutely NO trouble with it! No costs but bags which are not very expensive at all. My main thing is that I'd like something lighter so it's easier for the kids to haul around. It has a self drive thing, which is why my 10-yo can use it at all, but to get it out of the closet and back in is almost impossible for her! I've been very tempted with the Oreck also! Hmmmmm...
QUICK Update...I bought a vacuum today not an Oreck. I called my local vacuum shop and he basically said they were plastic and not worth that type of money. I bought a commercial strength one...name escapes me at the moment. I hadn't heard of it before. Basically, I paid for the vacuum and will test it out for a few days and if I don't like it he will refund my money. I figured how could I go wrong? He had a used Oreck for sale for $150 but...I told him I wanted something that sucked the stuff out of my carpet - bottom line. Anyway...I gotta run to teach Organization at STW mtg. Just wanted to update you real quick.
Did it start with an M? I went to my local vacuum store looking for filters for our old dustbuster and they had this vacuum brand I'd never seen - want to say a Millenium? Miranda? Hmmmm....
