Are We Ever Going To Get Any Decent Bagged Upright Vacuum Cleaners In The UK?

[alexhoovers94]

Does anyone think that we are going to eventually get some good bagged uprights here in the UK? There must only be about five or six bagged uprights sold in Argos anyway and the only decent one in there appears to be the Miele S7.

I would like to see more bagged uprights sold in the UK, there are just too many crapy bagless upright, although, company's like vax and Hoover are making more efficient cyclonic cleaners but I would still love to see some more bagged cleaners from them. Vax doesn't even offer one bagged upright, they are all bagless and stupidly those low efficiency cyclone vax's continue to sell. Hoover only have one bagged upright, the purepower, which really should be scrapped as it is getting outdated.

So, if any UK vacuum companies are reading this (probably unlikely) come on, get us some good old bagged cleaners back on the market, we should at leas have a choice, right? Half and half, aye, half your uprights bagged and half your uprights bagless.

Alex.

 

[eurekaprince]

Do Sebo and Vorwerk not sell bagged uprights in the UK? What about Electrolux - do they not bring over 240 volt versions of the bagged Eurekas and Sanitaires we can buy in North America?

 

[alexhoovers94]

Electrolux only sell those crapy cyclone uprights. Vorwerk do sell bagged uprights but they are very expensive and I am sure are only sold door to door. Bissell only sell bagless uprights, honestly we are bombarded with bagless uprights and even the company's that do offer bagged cleaners only offer one or two and not a range like they do in bagless. I am wondering when the bagless novelty will ware off!

 

[ultraperformer]

Sebo have a range of uprights in the UK, being a cylinder fan its disappointing that its getting harder and harder to find any with a powered motorhead and remote controls on the handle even very expensive cylinders come with basic wand handles and suction only floorheads!!!!

 

[dysondestijl]

Yeh we have voreworks, but they aren't very good at all in my opinion, we've got hoover pure powers which aren't too bad for a basic cleaner. And if course we have sebos!

 

[eurekaprince]

Electrolux should definitely return to importing 240 volt versions of North American Sanitaires for the domestic market in Europe - they were doing this at some point in the past.

These are really some of the best, classic, fan-first uprights for deep cleaning of carpets. They are the true legacy of the high performing Eureka F&G uprights of the 1960's and 1970's...

 

[thekirbylover]

Sebo make upright bagged the X series offer little performance in my opinion I've used yours and I've used one of my friends, but the Felix series seem to be pretty good I posted a picture to the one I own, don't you think its weird how when bagless machine'S hit the market the prices of bagged machines were cheaper, but now the tables have turned and the majority of bagged uprights have risen above the prices of bagless

 

[alexhoovers94]

The Xseries are great performers


Just in my experience I struggle with that stupid computer controlled height adjustment, I find it can sometimes brake away from the carpet when going over little bumps but when it is in contact with the floor, it is really good. I know it is supposed to always keep the optimum height and compensate for brush ware, but for what it's worth, I would rather have a KNOB! HA!

 

[thekirbylover]

yes when it touches the carpet there really good when its getting them to touch the carpet lol

 

[eurekaprince]

The Felix has a manual carpet height adjuster, but we here at V-land have heard reports that the automatic shut off mechanism for the brush roll seems to kick in when the power nozzle is challenged by very deep thick carpeting.

 

[thekirbylover]

yes it dose haha

 

[sebo_fan]

Plenty of baggies but it depends on what you class as decent

Alex, there are plenty of bagged uprights - aside from SEBO's X series, and Felix there's also their BS commercial uprights that are seen in department stores; Karcher's own versions of old SEBO uprights plus their own (or whoever they are dealing with now) versions. There are plenty of decent ones but it depends on what you term as "decent," or what you can put up with.

Electrolux's Powerlite is a cheap built upright vacuum that has been on sale for years and in slightly different colour versions as well as ones featuring a longer stair hose and pet version with a mini pet hair tool. I had two for rental properties I owned and they did well apart from one of the uprights having a failing/slipping height adjustment dial. They feel like plastic injected mouldings though and they're not the best built - but they do the job they are intended to offer and I'd settle for one of them again instead of the dreaded Hoover Purepower as the Power lite lives up to its name against pushing a bag of potatoes across the floor.

Panasonic UK offer their old uprights with the 2 drive belts and auto adjustment but they're good basic machines with only a few downsides and the latest one I bought is an eco-low power version which is a newer model that takes a dust bag and uses one drive belt.

Vax actually do produce a bagged upright, or rather off the back of TTI - they did the bagless version and offered both types to Argos to sell under their Argos Value brand - the bagged version VU-201 and the bagless version VU-101 in 2010. Vax's bagless version came under the Essentials tag and carried the model number VEU-101.

Other brands include catalogue brand names such as Swan (their canisters used to be rebadged U.S Eureka machines) and Russell Hobbs who use Chinese built outside trader company vacuums - and again if you can put up with some design weaknesses AND add in maintenance, they'll either be something you love or loathe.

Dirt Devil Europe (NOT the same company as U.S) offered a Vax/TTI based design seen years ago under the original Widetrack bagless upright, but gave it a bag door and changed it to bagged type.

As for UK companies - well there aren't any anymore apart from Numatic.

Ultraperformer - SEBO's K3 Premium and D4 Premium cylinder vacuums have power nozzles and electric handles... have you tried them?

 

[hoover119dude]

i miss the good old days when i was younger. mom used to turn on the old hoover and the bag used to inflate. now everything is bagless or paper bag encased in cheap plastic bag compartment. companies should remake some of the older models. i know they would out sell these cheap crappy foriegn made vacs. if only they would give us a chance to do it. that is why i love my hoover junior 119. was a very successful model that sold in great numbers. that was a sign of quality. BRING BACK OLD STYLE CLEANERS.

 

[sebo_fan]

Well there's always Oreck, don't forget. The outer bags on them inflate or the cheap rendition, the Hometek Light n Easy if you can find it. I had the Hometek, it was just like an Oreck XL (my parents had one many moons ago) though cheaper made plastics. Still, I found it a much better performer than the lousy Hoover Junior stick vacs I had.

 

[alexhoovers94]

I found it a much better performer than the lousy Hoover Jun


I hope your not talking about the ACTUAL Hoover Junior!

 

[sebo_fan]

Does it say otherwise? In actual fact when you come to think about it, the Oreck and Hometek both have one up on the old Junior vacs - but you'd have to own one or both to know that they lack beater bars and thus can be used to clean hard floors quite well - without damage.

 

[turbo500]

BRING BACK OLD STYLE CLEANERS

I don't think that's ever going to happen. 


 


You have to remember that we, as vacuum cleaner enthusiasts, see things in a completely different light to the general consumer. We notice things about a cleaners build quality, design pro's and con's and performance that your average vacuum user wouldn't. 


 


Thanks to some incredibly clever marketing on Dyson's part, we're now in a world obsessed with bagless cleaners. Everyone seems to have been fooled into thinking bagless is better. Whereas we know this to not always be the case, the general consumer doesn't (and more than likely doesn't care). Because we all have quite a deep rooted interest, we have taken the time to study these cleaners and get to understand the advantages of both designs, whereas somebody walking into Currys has only seen claims made by a company on a 30 second advert and immediately assumes that to be correct. 


 


Vacuum manufacturers have also fooled the general public into thinking that higher motor wattage = better performance. So a customer standing looking at 2 vacuums in Currys, both retailing at £100, one that's 1200w and the other that's 2100w is going to choose the 2100w cleaner, because their brain instantly goes "HIGHER WATTAGE, MORE POWER, MORE SUCTION". It's quite a logical approach, but not necessarily correct. 


 


It was only a few years ago that Maytag relaunched the Hoover Constellation in a slightly more modern format with HEPA filtration and an air driven turbobrush, but they were discontinued after less than a year due to underwhelming sales. 


 


A 250w, bagged cleaner just wouldn't sell in todays market, so I don't think we've any chances of seeing a return to the older styles. 


 


It's also important to remember that the companies making these classic cleaners - Hoover, Electrolux etc - are either no longer operating under the same business model or indeed no longer operating at all. Hoover haven't been Hoover since 1995 when Candy bought them out, and Electrolux have had that many move-rounds and re-models, it would be impossible to accurately reflect them all.  


 


Also, Oreck/HomeTec better than a Junior? *Snigger*, alright then....

[this post was last edited: 3/17/2013-17:39]

 

[sebo_fan]

Never say never

On the basis that some commercial brands are still producing uprights with soft bags, I think its only a matter of time before Argos, Currys etc bring in commercial uprights. John Lewis are already considering to bring in the Sebo BS series for their domestic buyers. 


 


You can snigger all you like though regarding the Junior - Whilst I love the Hoover Junior outright, for a more convenient clean around a home, the Oreck models have a much longer power cord, higher filtration bags and a far simpler design. Also, the base Oreck model that is currently selling on the UK market has a 350 watt motor, 100 watts more than what you claim wouldn't sell. If Oreck were doing that badly in the UK, they'd have sold up by now, Chris  - evidently a small portion of UK buyers are buying these machines and Orecks are still one of the alternative choices for hotels. 


 


As for high suction power, <span style="font-size: 14px;">Vacuum brands have just been following the crowd for years - the UK are a perfect example for falling for USP false advertising on a number of things; one reason alone to why Flymo added the word "Turbo" to a lot of their existing lawnmowers - people associated it with cars and car brands themselves tarted up base engine models with cosmetic "go faster stripes," and added on garish spoilers in an attempt to make the base brand model more appealing whilst pushing buyers to consider that a 2.0 engine was the one to have instead of a 1.4. </span>


 


And the Maytag Hoover Connie you refer to, the Maytag Satellite came with a 2000 watt motor. UK buyers are conditioned into thinking that the higher the figure, the better it is. (Click link for old QVC video).


 


 

 

[madabouthoovers]

One famous name seems to have been missed out here - and they are still the same now as they always were, dirty fan and built like a tank - why its the Kirby of course. So many are for sale on Ebay for the price of a Dyson now. I know which I'd take, and for £400 I would go for a nearly new Sentria any day over a DC41.

I know they are a US built cleaner, but they are still easily obtainable in the UK and I use my Heritage 1 now as a daily driver.

How much more traditional can you get than a Kirby?

.