How does the other half do it?

[Mike Cruz]

I know how the other half lives...that's a different story. Anyway, I got a new vacuum cleaner. Not a $500 model, not a $75 model, either. It is a bagless cyclone type. Now, my wife and I don't live like slobs. We do however have two dogs, a horse farm, and we both pretty much work from home...so we're here all the time. We vacuum the house (I really should say I) once a week. I've noticed that after EACH cleaning, the vacuum is littered with dust. The cyclone part, the canister, everything. The filters are doing a great job. I know because the outside of the first filter never gets dirty. Anyway, I am COMPELLED to blow the entire thing out with compressed air to clean it up after each vacuum (the entire house, not each canister full...I'm not THAT anal!).

I have a compressor to do this. How do those who don't have a compressor to blow out the canister do it? I suppose you could run it under water, but water and dirt make...mud. And since you don't get THAT much pressure from your faucet, I would imagine that stuff would just cake in areas. Then you have to put it aside to dry...hoping water doesn't pool anywhere. It just doesn't make sense to me.

I'm not writing this in anger, just in bewilderment. If the emoticons were working for me right now, I'd be adding them...but they seem to be evasive today.

[Dan Hintz]

Mike,

Are you talking about the dust stuck to the outside of the vacuum? If so, that's static electricity at work, and there ain't a whole lot you can do about it (you could try rubbing a dryer sheet on the vacuum once in a while, but the scented chemicals can often slowly destroy plastics).

If it's the dust in the canister that bothers you, well... have another Peach Daiquiri (get me one while you're up) and get over it.

[Charles Wiggins]

I guess we've had our canister cyclone vac about 18 months and I've cleaned the canister once since we've had it. The main reason for that was that I used it to vacuum mold spores off of books at work and I wanted to detox the vacuum. So I wrapped the old filters in plastic and threw them away and cleaned all the tools and air flow parts with bleach water. Other than that it probably would have been a while before I thought to clean it. Before the mold project the pre-filter looked pretty good - very little accumulation, and the HEPA filter looked brand new. We have three dogs and a back yard that is mostly dirt, so we pick up a lot of hair, dirt, and dust every time we vacuum, so the cyclones are doing their job. I certainly don't have time to clean it every time I use it. I can't even get my wife to empty the canister, which I do outside on the compost pile. I'll gently tap it to get the most dust out and sometimes take it apart and brush it to make sure that dust doesn't build up anywhere, but that's about the extent of it. I guess I figure the interior of the canister is designed to hold dirt and it's going to get dirty the very next time I use it, so why bother?

[Marty Paulus]

Well we have one of those expensive cyclone vacs from the company you see on TV all the time. We had a dog and still have three cats. I used to have to clean the roller brushes about once a month to make them work again because they were solid with animal hair/fur. The canister gets washed in the laundry tub about 3 or 4 times a year when it starts to look dirty and get caked up. Some dish soap and and old dish sponge does a nice job. Let it sit a few days before reassembly and it's good to go. I don't really worry about cleaning the thing after the weekly use. Its a vac and it gets dirty. Do you blow out your shop vac after each day in the shop? (Maybe a dangerous question to ask....). Now as for the Peach Daiquiri, make mine a Rum Runner and lets find something else to worry about....

[Mike Cruz]

When I vacuum my house, I have to empty the canister about 10-15 times. One of our dogs sheds like you wouldn't believe. I'll try to take a pic tomorrow and show you what I mean by the dirt inside.

And no, Dan, I'm not talking about dirt on the outside of the canister. If it was on the outside, then the vacuum wouldn't be doing its job, now would it?

[David Weaver]

...but they seem to be evasive today.

When I had a canister vac, I emptied mine in the garage and tapped out the container. Any dirt that got loose was bound to be cleaned up with wood shavings that are nearby. Never in the house, or I would instantly have a spot that I needed to vacuum again, and dust floating through the air all over the place.

No more bagless for me, though. I dont' know how many years ago, maybe two or three, I got an alternatively labeled SEBO vacuum (with the brand prochem on it - sebo's pricing philosophy over here vs. europe seems to be pretty presumptuous) for about $400 (vs. the sebo branded version for $800). Throwback to the commercial bag style. Don't have dogs, but there are constantly people in the house. It costs about $35 to get a kit each year that has 12 bags and a new brush, but it takes about two years for us to go through that much.

FWIW, the filter in the canister was supposedly $35 in the old canister vac I had, and it was sucking wind (or not doing enough of that) in less than a year. Cheapest I could find it was $20+ shipping, not that much less than an entire kit of bags and a new roller for my new vac.

So no more canisters, no more bagless. No reason to chuff the dust. And no vaccums made in China with huge amounts of the price tag going to layers and layers of marketing and distribution budgets (vac, bags and replacement roller are made in germany).

[Dan Hintz]

If it was on the outside, then the vacuum wouldn't be doing its job, now would it?
I'd say it's not the vacuum that's not doing its job, but I'll let you sleep better at night ;)

We have a Dyson... love it, wouldn't trade it in for anything. My mistake was beginning to use it to help keep the pellet stove clean. I should probably order a new set of filters for it as I'm sure I'll never be able to get those things completely clean ever again.

[Belinda Barfield]

Thank you gentleman. I've thoroughly enjoyed this thread thus far and have been dreaming all day about men who vacuum. :cool:

[Rick Moyer]

Didn't see this thread earlier as I was doing laundry:), but I will second the Dyson! We used our previous vacuum (Bosch) right before we plugged in the Dyson and the Dyson picked up an unbelievable amount of stuff the Bosch hadn't.

(Sorry, Mike, I don't have an answer for you)

[Jerome Stanek]

I have a Sanitare vacuum and it is great. I have had country with me had it for about 25 years and it has been all over the country with me installing drug stores.

[Greg Peterson]

I installed a central vacuum a year and a half ago. It is awesome!

[Jim Underwood]

Belinda,
some of us wash dishes, clean bathrooms and pick up socks too...

In your dreams....;)

[Larry Frank]

I love my Dyson and yes I share the cooking, cleaning and grocery shopping. My cooking is not fancy but it is hot food on the table.

[Ron Jones near Indy]

Don't believe what you hear about the Dyson vacuum. They are actually much better than what you hear. True story--LOML was busy so I vacuumed one morning to help her. Later that day we were in a store and this customer was going on about her vacuum. LOML listened for a moment and said we were going to look at the Dyson. Guy at the store said take it home; if you aren't satisfied, bring it back within 30 days if you don't like it--hard to turn down. We took it home and it's still here. When we returned home I vacuumed again with the one we thought did a good job. Told LOML that there was no way the new one could get much dirt from the carpet that had just been vacuumed twice that day. We used the Dyson and we both started laughing. We couldn't believe how much dirt, dust, whatever it removed from the "clean" carpet. I'm not exaggerating. It was unbelievable.

[john lampros]

Thats the problem with bagless vacs. I dont see the point of hepa vacuuming and then making a cloud of dust when you need to empty it. Most bags even come with an adhesive tab to cover the hole when its removed so you dont create a cloud when removing or stuffing into the garbage, so was non plused by the bagless thing . However , we just (yesterday) replaced our 10 yr old canister with a new LG compressor canister. it packs the dust wad into a pellet that empty's in a solid chunk. Its quiet and will suck the chrome off a bumper and most importantly it follows directly behind me and dosnt aim for furniture like the old one which seemed to bang into everything. My kids have a dyson upright and canister which I tried and use to have a Meile and I thought they were just ok. Today is vacuuming day so I'll let you know how it goes but so far I'm real impressed. We have wood floors with area rugs and a long haired cat which is a tough combination plus a pool table which I like to keep spotless.

[Rod Sheridan]

I agree with John, the idea of dust free means you need a bag to contain the dust.

Here's an interesting article on vacuums http://www.greatvacs.com/education/KirbyVsDysonVacuumReview.html

Regards, Rod.

[Dennis Peacock]

Belinda,
I run things around my house....dishwasher, vacuum cleaner, broom, mop, washer, dryer, and every Saturday night, if I need it or not, the shower. ;)

[Phil Thien]

Bagless vacs are a pain, IMHO. My wife swears by these:

http://www.amazon.com/Hoover-Length-Signature-Lightweight-Upright/dp/B002H0SMEC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327157681&sr=8-1

Only nine pounds. HUGE bags. 4-amps (uses some new motor technology) but tons of suction.

Oh, and 40' cord. So great for when she has to vacuum the ballroom.

[Greg Peterson]

Oh, and 40' cord. So great for when she has to vacuum the ballroom.

We have our maid staff french polish ballroom floor in our weekend retreat. We don't dance, we just like the way the light plays off the ebony, walnut and birds eye maple parquet floor.

One thing about our old cannister vacuum that I did not care for was the exhaust port was aimed straight out the back. This hearty, continuous blast of hot air (summer vacuuming was not fun) was bound to kickup any dust or fur remnants that had settled and thus escape their fate of being captured. It was like have a vacuum on one and and a leaf blower on the other.

As for the review Rod linked, I'm not surprised by the findings. And while I agree with the reviewer that central vacuums can suffer diminished vacuum due to the length of pluming required in many installations, I still think the central vac was the best choice for our house.

I purchased a 'oversized' unit. Our living space is 1,100 sq ft, so going oversized was not an expensive proposition. I think our unit is rated for a house three times the size of ours.

The plumbing is a very short run, one hookup, a couple of 90's and five feet or so of straight pipe. The hose is 30', but I am able to reach every corner of the living space with only one hookup. If the vacuum picks up a pebble, rock, dog kibble, it's gone, baby, gone. I'll hear it tumble quickly all along the hose and zip....gone. I recently vacuumed up a metal bushing by accident. As it tumbled along the hose, knowing full well I was going to have to retrieve it from the bag in the canister, I was none the less impressed with the power of the vacuum.

The vacuum unit is under the house (dirt floor basement/glorified crawl space - nothing more than storage space really) and uses a cyclonic separator (hhhm, I wonder if I should try a Thien baffle on this???). No filter to clog or compromise performance. And my favorite part is there is no threat of pet dander, dust mites or other undesirables getting recirculated in the living space. Any dust particle I capture in the living space is immediately deported the collector outside the living space.

And for the record, the cat does not care for either vacuum. Our dog Brandy could not care less.

[Marty Paulus]

I agree with John, the idea of dust free means you need a bag to contain the dust.

Here's an interesting article on vacuums http://www.greatvacs.com/education/KirbyVsDysonVacuumReview.html

Regards, Rod.

Interesting as I have both the DC14 and a Kirby. The wife likes the Dyson because of the weight. She hates the weight of the Kirby. With the dog (Golden Retriever) in the house the Kirby was a pain as the bag would fill each time we ran the vacuum. With the Dyson we could empty the canister a few times during each room so the Dyson was much more convenient. However after reading that article I may have to go rescue the Kirby from the basement and give it another go since we no longer have the dog to worry about:(.

[Charles Wiggins]

Belinda,

I do a fair amount of house work. My main "job" is the laundry. When we bought our first house and had to get appliances, my wife was not allowed to touch my washer and dryer for the first three or four years we had them.

[james glenn]

Has anyone mentioned just going with wood floors, or something other than carpet.

Sure carpet may be soft, but it just collects dust, dust mites, and other unsavory things; trapping them in the fibers or below the backing.



We only have 3 rooms in the house with carpet, so it isn't too bad. We hav ethe Dyson Animal and that thing sucks like crazy.
But I empty it outside, not in the house. And I blow it out every few months. Our dog isn't a big shedder, and so we don't even get
a cannister full every week.

The swiffer works great on the wood floors, no dust in the air and everything sticks to it.


Does anyone have a central vac system for their house? Curious as to how those work.

[Seth Dolcourt]

Our NorCal house, built in the early 60's, has oak plank flooring everywhere (except the kitchen), which we happily discovered when tearing up the nasty carpet a couple years after moving in. The Swiffer type floor cleaner is our regular cleaning tool.

We have a Rainbow brand vacuum to clean the area rugs, as all-wood floors are cold to the feet during winter. The Rainbow filter method uses water; a measured amount is poured into a collection bowl within the vacuum's body, and is supposed to trap the dust and whatnot before the air is exhausted. What you get after vacuuming a rug is a bowl filled with dirty water.

This vacuum was donated to us by one of my sisters-in-law, and even for free, I have overpaid for it. Regrets if someone has a Rainbow and loves it.