Are canister vacuums in terminal decline?

[gottahaveahoove]

I recently refinished all of the real hardwood

floors in my house. they were installed in 1942 ! The house was built circa 1876 !
The 2 bathrooms are ceramic tile, and, only my room and the staircase/hall are carpeted, (Karastan). The other rugs in the house are Chinese wool.The Hoover gallery, (cats' apartment), is soon to be renovated. I'm still debating on real wood or carpeting in there.
I'm not a fan of Pergo type flooring, for various reasons.
I like real textiles.
It's true: we're seeing more and more vacs being 'uprights' that convert to 'canisters'.....appealing to both, I guess.
Again, being the purist that I am, (also called a snob, among other things), lolo I like real canisters and real uprights. I have both. Personally not a fan of the 'combo flooring OR vacs'.

 

[gregvacs28]

John


How does one determine what a "real" textile is?

12x12 peel and stick floor tile are real?
berber or wool carpet is real, isn't it?
70s thick shag carpet in Skateworld Orange is real, right?
ceramic floors?

 

[gottahaveahoove]

What I mean is.......

real hardwood flooring, being made of oak, as compared to laminate, simulated woodgrain over vinyl. Ceramic tile, having been fired in a kiln with a glaze, etc. Don't get me wrong, some vinyl products are great.(I'm not bashing).
I, (personally) don't like the sound of shoes going over a padded composite with a wood design on it. I've seen them peel at the ends. I'd rather spend money once than have to 'redo'.
I gutted both bathrooms here. They are now all ceramic tile. Yes, they have both advantages as well as disadvantages. Hardwood floors are finished now with finishes which need very little care/upkeep. 25 years ago, I put white (I KNOW) Karastan wall to wall in my room. There is NO wear to it at all. If it were now, I'd do it differently. But, a good Convertible and an occasional Hoover steamer, and it's like brand new once again.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

Should I have said,

'natural' textile? Yes, a peel and stick floor tile IS real.... unless your name is Cybil, perhaps. Then, we might not be so sure.
Real plastic, real vinyl, real composite, (real, simulated, imitation vinyl woodgrain), etc.
I would say saccharin might not be real, but, that's not a textile.

 

[bryan1980]

Our Epic 6500 is the most-used vacuum in my collection. We have hard floors throughout the living area, and an area rug in the living room. One big advantage it has over an upright is the ability to get into tight spaces and under furniture. The only thing I don't like about it is how small the bags are, but at least they're cheap!

Still use the Kirby for the carpeted areas.

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

I see your points about the present state of the canister vacuum market, but these days there also aren't a whole lot of replacement parts still being made for the canister cleaners we do still have and those we like a lot.

~Ben

 

[rivstg1]

I’m more of a upright guy but...

I do enjoy my canister Rainbow, and am considering a Filter Queen Majestic recently( reading up on them now), but, maybe I’m simple ....I enjoy converting my Kirby to canister mode....seems to work just as well....everything clean in its wake! I am amazed at canisters are becoming more and more rare though

 

[gregvacs28]

Reminds me of when I discovered



Goodwill, back in about 1980. Why Goodwill? Because back then Goodwill was "Pure". If stuff came in as a donation, It got put on the floor, just about Anything. It wasn't cleaned, the cord was not wrapped, the shelves were not matching, the store was not professionally decorated, etc.

Goodwill back then looked like a Mom and Pop type thrift store of today: Donated shelves, rough edges, no perfumes to "neutralize" odors, and only donated bags at checkout. Certainly no credit cards accepted. It was beautiful.

The good thing about this is you were sure to find something when ever you went. They had building materials, major appliances, live plants, a book section, a record section, a musical instrument section, and more. And the small appliance section was sure to be teaming with vacuums. And they often were just thrown on the shelf, they might even be sitting on the floor. And that floor was not clean.

To start, I found a 1977ish yellow Hoover Celebrity with electric hose and no PN. A green 1974 Kenmore canister with electric hose. 1968 Kenmore PN with no bottom plate, a 1977 coffee color Kenmore portable washer with hoses dangling off the back, a 1976 Kenmore middle range washer, I bought new hollow core doors, a bedside brass lamp with wood spindle with the price written on it in crayon (1.77). lol
If I went to Goodwill now and things looked and smelled like this, I think I would pee my pants on the spot(which would contribute to the smell). It looked kind of like a Habitat for humanity store, but with a bunch of clothing racks in the middle.
There were no plastic Bissells back then.

 

[gregvacs28]

"real" stuff



John, the reason I talk about this is not to put you on the spot but because one hears about "real" products vs some supposed inferior product, often.

In the 90s for example, where I used to live, I used to be involved in new home construction and some subdivisions would have covenants stating that all new homes had to have "natural exteriors" and "NO man-made products" . This is laughable. They would actually use those terms. They were trying to dictate to people to use cedar or stone and trying to keep people from using aluminum or vinyl products. Right like that that's going to hold up in a court of law.

It's like, remind me what tree or plant cedar siding grows on, or where are bricks dug out of the ground, or what plant cut field stone comes from.
They are all "man-made" products. And cedar siding that's been coated with primer and than painted has gone through the same process that aluminum siding has gone through.

If you go back to some of these McMansion subdivisions, 15 to 25 years on, some of these homes look really crappy and the property values often have not increased. According to Zillow and other sites, values have sometimes decreased. People that don't know, or can't afford to often paint or stain or retuck mortar end up with decay that one wouldn't have on an aluminum sided house.

I like what I like and am not concerned about publicized attitudes that are often ignorant, biased, and baseless.

I would happily take your " white .... Karastan wall to wall (carpeting)."
You clearly have good taste. And you're correct, choosing products that are going to hold up can save a lot of hassle and money in the long run.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

Greg, I was not upset at all.

I agree with you totally. I know all about those McMansions too. It's a shame.
I, personally like to buy, use, etc the 'real stuff' over the other stuff, when I can.
The "Hoover gallery/cats' apartment is the next 'project'. Being that there will be various vacuums, carpeting might be the way to go. That white Karastan in my room looks like it snowed in there. It also shows PERFECT Hoover tracks!
When I had it installed 25 yrs ago, my late mother said, "That's gonna get dirty". I WISH !!
Thanks for the compliments.
John

 

[myles_v]

I'm a huge fan of canisters, I prefer them to uprights for day-to-day cleaning. It's a shame that they're not offered in big box stores, but there isn't much offered in big box stores that's worth buying anyways so it wouldn't mean much if they came back to stores like Walmart.

Miele is definitely still focused on canisters, their main markets primarily use canisters. The US isn't Miele's main market, they definitely have more brand recognition in Europe. European countries tend to favor canisters. Miele's tools are a joke, unfortunately, but their upright tools aren't any better than the tools offered for their canisters.

 

[fan-of-fans]

I saw Lowes sells one Bissell, bagless straight suction. Walmart sells Eureka bagless canisters, one with a PN (may be discontinued now that Eureka was sold).

Kmart had more canisters than most stores, but they closed.

I prefer canisters too, but I think most people these days don't have a clue how to use attachments on a vacuum. To them it's just a machine to clean the floor, so an upright makes more sense.

 

[n0oxy]

attachments

In many cases, the attachments that are actually included with a canister cleaner are not the best. Fortunately most canister hose ends are standard size and can use other attachments and there are many to choose from. The best attachments are probably the ones that are included with central vacuum kits but they can be purchased separately. My favorite attachments are the ones for cleaning hard floors and I have several of those.
Mike