Bagless Vs Bagged

[bagintheback]

I am a total bagged vacuum fan but there is one thing I've always noticed. When I put a new bag in a vacuum and the clean the carpet really well, and then feel the bag to feel the dust, it seems empty. BUT, when I vacuum with a bagless vacuum, it fills up with dust very quickly. Although I have had experiences when a vacuum bag becomes full within days (A Hoover model #704), why does the bagless vacuums fill more quickly?! I mean I've vacuumed my whole house with a bagless and had to empty to 4 times! Does the bagless "fluff" up the dirt and make it look like a ton, or is there something about the system that really makes it clean better? I always thought this was weird...

 

[animasinsulin]

Bagless

I used to have a Fantum Fury that I traded to a friend for a Filter Queen. I think they just fluff the dirt up, but don't actually remove more dirt. Plus with my 6 cats and a large Presa Canario dog, that bagless one clogged ALL the time. But it was quiet....Bill in Az.....

 

[vintagehoover]

It all comes down to the cleaner...

Which bagless model are you using? One with a single, low-efficiency cyclone and a cartridge filter, or one with a low-efficiency cyclone, followed by a cluster of high-efficiency (ie tapered) cyclones? If it's the latter, then yes, it has the potential to pick up more over an extended period than many bagged cleaners.

As to why bagless cleaners often appear to fill up quicker - a side-effect of the cyclonic action is that whipping fluff around at high speed will exaggerate it's visual bulk, and make it look like more. And remember, many bagless cleaners have an 'inner chamber' within their dirt bin - this in itself takes up a lot of the bin's capacity, so it will fill up quicker.

If you really want to know which design is actually working better for you - and I can't stress the importance of this enough - weigh the dirt.

 

[bagintheback]

vintagehoover, I have a Hoover emPower and a Bissell Lift-Off Bagless. Both have filters that clog up so much I have to shake or wash them almost every time I use them. One thing that might have something to with it is they both have very stiff brushes.

 

[electroluxxxx]

Idk I use my dyson and get the same amount of dirt that I would get with a bagged machine. I think it depends on the machine you use. I had a Dirt devil Vision Featherlite )old style) that I loved. it filled up quickly and I have never had a problem with the filter clogging. even when sucking up powder with it. for the dyson it never looses suction and I know this because I live on a farm where fine dirt is brought in and out of the house daily and yet no clogging. I think Jack might back up the fact that the dyson never looses suction.

 

[rolls_rapide]

I have seen bagged vacuums used in commercial premises (shops, pubs, etc). The problem is that the heavy 'street' dirt clogs paper bags very quickly indeed. In this case, a decent bagless machine (Dyson) would perform far more efficiently. Same goes for farming folk; with a Dyson, the soil trodden indoors will be removed more consistently.

Paper bags do have their uses. I still think that they are the most hygienic way of removing collected dust from the machine. Even Dyson's 'approved' way of emptying the cyclonic bin into a polythene bag is not foolproof. Dust does escape as you try to juggle the bin, the poly bag and the trapdoor.

 

[ridgidvac]

Filter Queen's patented "Cellupure" cones are nice since U get tons of power with the FQ; power doesn't diminish until the bucket is COMPLETELY full. All U do is throw out the filter cone instead of washing filters like the dept. store vacs.

 

[vacuumalex]

Thread Number: 6821

Hey There,
I think it probably depends on the vacuum. Although I prefer a bagged vacuum, some bagless vacuums clean well and yours just might have a better brushroll or more air flow than your bagged vacuum etc. But, I think that a more likely reason for all the fluff that you see is for two reasons. A vacuum bag is typically larger than a dust cup and fine dirt will spread out and stick to the wall of the bag.In a bagless some dirt will stick to the wall but most falls off to the bottom of the cup because the plastic dirt cup walls are more slippery than a bag. Second, most bagless vacuums spin around the dirt a lot so it is possible that the dirt and fibers you are seeing have been spun and fluffed up and out in the dirt cup.

 

[electroluxxxx]

I use my Dial a Matic and I have not really had a decrease of suction. as far as bagged goes though I must day that a nice direct air machine works great like the Sanitaire S600 series. but as for bagless I have just like the last posting have to go with the Dyson. my fav out of them is the DC14 I dont know why it just is.

 

[thunderhexed]

bagged - sort of...

I'm always amazed at how much dirt i empty out of my Sanitronic or Classic Kirby's with the cloth shake out bag. I will start with an empty bag and it never fails, I'm always emptying a large klump of glop. They may be dust belchers, but they still impress me! Even at moms house with her using a Dyson, I still manage to pull up large amounts of muck with my older Kirby's.

 

[electroluxkirby]

All my vacs are bagged. I had two Royal Dirt Devils that lasted a year or two. I hated emptying the dirt I usually took it out side and dumped it into a plastic grocery bag.


Love my Kirby and Electrolux vacs!

 

[joe22]

the bins are relatively small, part of the room taken by the cyclone or filter insert. and the dirt gets spun around separating it, fluffing it up.

 

[eurekaprince]

Definitely a bagged preference here....

Once I get rid of dirt, I really do not want to see it again. Especially if it is combined with hair. I don't think I could stand looking at the dirt spinning around in front of my face as I clean.

I am not always concerned about "loss of suction". Suction power is not the only factor in removal of dirt - nozzle design and brush configuration play as much of a role I feel.

It may be fine to have a bagless cleaner if you live in a house with a backyard (and summer all year round) and you can dump the dirt outdoors into a big garbage can whenever you need to. But for those of us living in small homes or apartments where the dirt needs to be disposed of indoors, give me a disposable bag any day. I also can not imagine anyone emptying a bagless cleaner without spilling some dirt everywhere and needing to clean up the mess. And then there is the whole issue of vac users with sensitive allergies.

Compared to the time one needs to spend cleaning the bins and filters of a bagless, it is indeed faster to have a supply of bags on hand and just make the switch when the bag is full or the suction gets weak. We never needed to change the F&G bag in our 1974 Eureka Gold Cordaway box-top-bag bag more than 3 times a year. And that was after cleaning a 3 bedroom, two storey house once a week by a cleaning person we hired. Mom also did a run-through with it every two days.

Eurekaprince