Shopping for a new bagless upright - Which one is best?

[niclonnic]

My Dyson DC17, which I bought used off eBay last year, has been a solid machine, but I've been thinking about replacing it with a brand new, bagless upright for reasons which I'll explain shortly.

Here's my information:


<ul>
<li>3200 sq. ft. house with laminate downstairs along with some area rugs; carpet on the stairs and upstairs</li>
<li>4 dogs of varying sizes, along with 1 cat; dogs stay downstairs, while cat tends to roam around upstairs</li>
<li>Young male that can handle any weight of vacuum</li>
<li>I don't need to vacuum the downstairs very much because I have a Shark robot that runs every night</li>
<li>I have a large budget, so I'm willing to pay for quality</li>
<li>I'd prefer to buy something from a common retailer, such as Amazon, Best Buy or Target</li>
<li>I'm looking for a vacuum with a nice hose and turbo brush, so I can do stairs and upholstery with ease</li>
<li>Brushroll on/off is an essential</li>
<li>Something with a more tolerable noise level would be nice</li>
</ul>
Now, for the reasons in which I want to replace my Dyson. First of all, its incredibly aggressive brushroll (which I replaced shortly after I bought the vacuum) emits an ear-splitting noise during use. It makes me leery that this vacuum is actively tearing up the carpets every time I use it. My sister even used the Dyson for a minute today, and couldn't stand how loud it was.


 


Second, and more primarily, it's VERY dusty to clean. The shroud always clogs up with fine dust, and the bin is a pain to take apart every time I have to clean the shroud; the cyclone separates into a few pieces and makes a mess on the floor around the trash can, as well as on my fingers.


 


I want to stick with bagless, but the universe of vacuums nowadays is so big that I'm getting overwhelmed despite research.


 


Sorry if this has been a commonly asked question on this site, but what would be the best option for my household?

 

[lesinutah]

Hmm

I'll give a few potential options.
Shark AZ1002 Apex Powered Lift-Away Upright Vacuum
Links in hyperlink section.
There's 2 sharks that are solid machines.
If you got hardwood I'd recommend bissell Crosswave or Tineco's version. They work excellent on wood tile etc.
https://a.co/d/4jI2bUq


https://a.co/d/arxhAAS

 

[panasonicvac]

Well, every shroud is going to get clogged with dust. No bagless machine is perfect neither would there ever be a perfect bagless machine. And every bagless machine would be a mess to clean out, this is a con of having a bagless machine unlike bagged machines such as Miele for example where 99.7% of dust would go straight into the bag and even have a tab to seal the bag as you throw it away. So the chances of having another bagless machine would be just as messy as your Dyson.

Anyways with that being said here, this is my take. Hoover is usually my go to brand for anybody looking for something bagless like the Windtunnel Air. Kenmore is my runner up option, I like their Crossover model. The ClearTrak/Workhorse in my humble opinion is the best one. Everything else I don't personally care for. If you want something quiet, you ought to consider looking into a Miele Blizzard CX1 Cat & Dog canister instead of an upright.

 

[mariotron]

Hard floors?

I'd say go for pretty much any Sharkduo. I use my Ult G Kirby for my carpets but love my Duo Clean with Powerfins cordless for my hardfloors.
Does great for hair and fine dust but also doesn't tangle which is why I'd recommend the fins

Upright's only gonna be more powerful.


I only wish Shark made a bagged version of the lift of then that would be PERFECT

 

[ilovehoovers]

There's a bagged Kenmore lift-away, made by the same company that produce Sharks I believe

 

[fanofvacuums2]

The Kenmore CrossOver line is actually quite solid. They were designed by Panasonic and carried over, with the DU3017 still being made by Cleva in one of their factories. It has a lift-away mode, a removable bottom plate and brush roll, relatively durable and long hoses, a multi-cyclonic bin with a washable cloth pre-motor filter, a quick draw wand, and so forth. Some of the other stuff that Kenmore sells such as their cheaper bagless uprights and even the bagged Intuition look to be outsourced models, and I can say with 100% certainty that they are more comparable to something like a basic Hoover or Shark in durability. I like the bagged Intuition upright, I just wish they would fix the issue of the hose in the head splitting. Anyway, if you want a bagless upright, the CrossOver is by far the best option from Kenmore and one of the better ones entirely. They also make a pretty cool canister version of it called the 600 Series 22614.

If you want something cheaper, Hoover/Hart sells some alright deals. You can even sometimes pick up the basic Hart Pro HZUV01 upright for like $70, which is a stunning deal for something that has a brush roll shutoff, a quick draw wand, swivel steering, and so forth. Obviously, the build quality is nothing great, but it does the job and the price is right. I think it is one of the best ultra-budget bagless uprights out there and I know some others agree with me. Hart is just another Techtronic Industries brand like Hoover and Oreck and all of them often have great deals on budget stuff.

 

[wstonehockertv]

I agree with these people, a Kenmore is your best bet if you want a bagless machine, as is the Cleartrak and a Miele Blizzard CX1.

A Hoover will also do because TTi is doing everything they can to MAKE HOOVER GREAT AGAIN!

Everything else is for the birds.

 

[niclonnic]

Interesting choices...

I may have to go with a Kenmore.

However, I also found a couple other candidates, which I'll post links to.

Dyson Ball Animal 3: https://a.co/d/6rWfVYh

Shark Rotator Lift-Away with DuoClean PowerFins: https://a.co/d/7MvimIr

Thoughts on these two?

 

[panasonicvac]

I'd avoid both the Dyson and the Shark. Neither of those two would last you for a while. The Dyson claims that the Ball Animal 3 would last about 400 hours for the powerhead and 300 hours for the suction motor, that's really short for a lifespan. Plus the cyclone assembly would be just about as messy and a pain to clean out as your DC17. And you're likely going to find that it wouldn't clean carpets as well as your DC17. The Shark would also have a very short lifespan. Plus "when" is breaks not "if", Shark will not sell you replacement parts for it. In fact if you would to type in the model number on Shark's website for parts, you're gonna find that they would only have accessories for it but no other parts like motors, switches, cord, etc. They would either A want you to ship the vacuum back to them for repair or B they would want to sell you a new vacuum. If you were to send it back in for repair, they would just send you a refurbished unit and your 5 year warranty would be gone because they would keep your other one. And you would find that it'd be one of the worst cleaning vacuums. It's going to leave sand behind because the fins and soft brushrolls are not deep cleaners, you're gonna have to clean the filters out more often because the cyclone is horrible, and they can smell really bad because the filtration is terrible. Don't be surprised if you'd find an odd burning smell coming out of the machine, they're just not designed to last.

 

[wstonehockertv]

niclonnic

I agree with what panasonicvac says, Dyson and Shark do not last.

 

[jo]

Honestly…

Go to your Aerus dealer and try out their canisters or upright. It is the original Electrolux. There are various models to choose from at various prices. It will clean everything on your list and is built with quality. They are not bagless but you’ll never have filters to clean and the bags self seal themselves. They service their product too. The vacuum will last you 20 to 40 years. Very versatile machines and excellent quality. Far superior to sharks and dysons makes them seem like toys.

You can see the selection at aerusvacuums.com

Jon

 

[panasonicvac]

He specifically only asked for an upright and that it has to be bagless. Even though many of us prefer bagged machines and have tried to convince him over the years to go for a bagged machine. Actually he did had a cordless bagged Oreck upright before at one point but he doesn't have it anymore and he prefers bagless vacuums which there's nothing wrong with that. I mean bagged machines aren't for everybody. Also an Aerus would be WAY too overpriced for him, Aerus are really expensive vacuums and honestly I don't think they're worth the price for what they are even though they aren't bad machines.

 

[niclonnic]

panasonicvac

Looks like I will be staying away from both Dyson and Shark.

The cordless Oreck you mentioned was a Christmas present that I received back in 2020. I thought it was a pretty solid machine (made in the USA) that did a good job on carpets. I honestly don't hate bagged vacuums; I do like that bags hold a LOT more dirt and are much more sanitary to change compared to emptying a bagless dust cup. However, the big downside is the need to purchase additional bags. The Oreck also lacked a hose and attachments, and had a squeegee that made an obnoxious scraping noise on hard floors. So I sold that vacuum on eBay almost a year ago after changing the original bag.

As for Aerus, it would indeed be too overpriced for my needs. However, I checked the company's website, and they don't advertise prices on there.

 

[panasonicvac]

You are correct that the Oreck lacks of having any accessories on the machine, but that's usually what you get with a direct air upright. However though, Oreck offers a nice lightweight canister that has a hose and attachments which is also assembled in the US. The Squeegee is designed so that dirt wouldn't kick back at your feet whether it's on carpets or bare floors. They'd usually wear down eventually where there's like no squeegee left but you don't have to get a replacement. And honestly, I wouldn't recommend using a vacuum with a spinning brush on bare floors. It's best to use just a hose vacuum with a hardfloor brush on, this is one of the reasons why I recommended the Miele Blizzard because Miele sells the best floor brushes in my humble opinion. You are also correct that you need to purchase bags for any bagged vacuum. But guess what, you also need to buy filters for any bagless vacuum as well. Washing the filters won't make them look and perform like brand new because not only just dirt would hide in the filters but also the water materials coming from the water pipes as well. So it's recommended to replace your filters more often than you'd realize or what the manufacture would tell you. Every 3-6 months is the average. It's just like replacing furnace filters. There are bagless vacuums today that don't require a bag or a filter, that would be a true cyclonic central vacuum like Vacuflo, Vacumaid, or Cyclovac. But the problem without having a bag or a filter on is that the motor(s) would die even quicker. If you really want something that you don't want to buy bags or filters for, then I'd recommend you look into a refurbished Rainbow D4C canister. You just only fill and dump the water out.