I Am Shocked: Kirby Gsix vs Shark Rotator Lift-Away Pro

[kirbysthebest]

I have heard

And my mother was actually told by a carpet installer verbatim the same thing RE: not finding dirt under a carpet of a Kirby home. 


 


I would also to wager the same could be said for any household where the vacuuming was done on a very regular basis, with a good quality or capable machine. 


 


My Mother's best friend had an Electrolux LX, no power nozzle, and I would absolutely dare anyone to have found three grains of dirt in her entire house. 


 


I have seen people with Kirbys, Hoovers, Electrolux, Rainbow that you could haul the dirt out with a road grader.  Much, I feel, is with usage and technique.   A vacuum is like a condom.  It only works if you use it.

 

[real1shep]

I was....

going to say that in my last post, but forgot. Everything has to do with the frequency and duration of cleaning your carpeted floor. We were anal about it because of the babies and then babies becoming boys.  That's when I got attached to the Electrolux.....it gave me the illusion I was doing a better job because of all the accessories and the whole process of hauling the damn canister around the rooms.


 


Now that I have a smaller house, hard flooring and raising my baby grandson, it's easier to haul around a Connie with a modern floor head. If you're after cat/dog hair and using a floor head with a brush, you really need some sort of edge cleaning/brush porting or both.


 


Kevin

 

[crazykirbydude]

Not Suprised...

Why are you suprised? Those things are meant to be used for about two years and then tossed. It seems every month Shark releases a new variant on an existing cleaner. Up the price by $50, and they make a boatload.

 

[bearwise]

I agree Kevin...you actually have to use the thing regularly and do a decently thorough job.
I just don't think you get the same performance from today's plastic disposable vacuums. You could probably vacuum the same spot for hours and not pull up that deep down dirt.

 

[real1shep]

I would guess that to be true. Hopefully, I have enough running vintage vacs that I'll never have to find out.


 


And the folks I've given restored Diamond J's to are absolutely ecstatic with the cleaning results.


 


Kevin

 

[mike811]

Lux vs Kirby

Another versus test.
This time it was Lux Royal D790 with Wessel-Werk EBK 340 PH. I kind of knew it would do good job, but this was another slight surprise for me. However Kirby did better.
Lux has 2-stage motor (1150 watt).

 

[ralph123]

I suspect that the Kirby bag is considerably larger than the Lux's. Is the Lux bag too full to continue picking up?

 

[crazykirbydude]

Well..

Not all Sharks are bad. I really like their cordless sweepers. I've had mine for five years, however I haven't used it much. It's great for it's size and price. Just used mine to clean the whole house. The battery lasts for something a little over an hour.

 

[mark40511]

I think frequent vacuuming is KEY too

My shark is the only upright I own. But I keep its filters clean frequently. I use it to run through the house almost daily since I have wall to wall berber. Whenever I get my rainbow out I don't see a horrible amount of dirt in the basin. I've been a frequent vacuumer since I moved into this house brand new in 2004. I think it's when someone goes a LONG time without vacuuming that you might run into problems and then the shark would not be able to pull the deep down dirt like Kirby would. That's my guess. I could be wrong. But I think frequent vacuuming is key.

 

[mike811]

Both Lux and Kirby had a new fleece bag installed. Yes Kirby bag is much larger, but Lux will compact dirt more without losing suction. It actually holds a lot.

 

[gsheen]

We had a whole heap of trouble with those shark sweepers, They broke at the bottom were the handle Joins. I remember throwing truck loads away.

 

[senornathan]

Shark sweepers

Can't complain about their sweepers. Actually, it was a Shark sweeper that got me interested in vacuums in the first place. As a little kid, I really wanted a Roomba, but had to settle with turning my Shark into a remote-controlled sweeper with some K`nex.

Can't say I have such fond feelings for anything else they shovel out.

 

[mark40511]

Shark

I'm shocked that my shark hasn't fallen apart after 2 years. I think it may be because I only strictly use it in upright position. I don't use the attachments because they are horrible. I rarely ever use the lift away function. There is no way I would want it as my only vacuum.

At least that Lux got most of the dirt, even though the Kirby won. The Shark left a massive amount of dirt compared to that lux.

 

[mike811]

So here is the video with some important notes about the result.

 

[sebo4me]

Shark

If Sharks are so poor how come the CRI gives them a Silver award? This is a high standard and not that far behind the Gold award and the Shark is much more convenient to use than a Kirby.
Shark are a very inovative company they come out with some good ideas.
It must be the most boring job in the world being a Kirby designer. What new design shall we come out with this year? I know how about a black bag!

 

[mike811]

rug problem

I have come to conclusion that it is this "weird" rug what causes these problems for my Shark Rotator.
First of all this rug is very flat + it doesn't allow any of my vacuums to create seal between it and nozzle. To make matters worse Shark Rotator nozzle isn't designed to create proper seal. For example It doesn't lift my low pile rubber backed rug almost at all like many of my other vacuums do.
However it cleans well shag rug and that low pile rubber backed rug.

 

[sptyks]

Sebo4Me....

Marcus,


 


Why are you lurking around on here trying to pick a fight with someone? Don't you have anything else better to do? I remember you were banned from Vacuumland a while back. Do us all a favor and go trolling on another forum!!!


 


BTW. The proof is in the video. The Kirby ran circles around that Plasticrap  Shark. I have a 50 year old Kirby DS50 that can out clean that Shark. Where will that Plastic Shark be 50 years from now? I'll bet it gets tossed in the trash long before then.


 


Please re-read reply #39 and reply #41!


  


CRI may switch to a 4 level rating system where Shark is still at Silver and Kirby will be at Platinum.


 


 


 


 

 

[sebo4me]

I have got better things to do.
You go and play with your Baird meter and that's not a euphemism

 

[mark40511]

I thought

When you say the PN creates a SEAL to the carpet you're vacuuming. I thought when you create a "seal" to anything when you're vacuuming, that cuts off airflow. Like a straight suction wand, sealed to your hand cuts off airflow. I dunno. That just comes from videos I've watched on suction vs airflow. Like when you're vacuuming a pillow and the machine turns to a high pitch because the attachment is stuck to the pillow and you have to open the airflow control somewhat.

Anyway - I have wall to wall berber and I was messing with the suction control on the wand while in PN mode, and when I turned to suction control to max, I could tell a major difference in how the shark sort of sealed to the floor vs the suction control being completely opened. So the shark is someone "sticking" to the carpet as you vacuum.

 

[jimjimmunster]

Shark vacuuums are all bad.

Shark is a fail at a vacuum. Its poor construction leads to its failure in cleaning. These are always the common trash in my area. The Henry company has a picture of a pile of junky new bagless vacuums in the dumpster. This pile mainly comprises of Dysons and Sharks. I would not touch a Shark with a 10 foot pole.

 

[mike811]

Sealed vs non sealed nozzle

Certain seal is needed to clean well. It means that nozzle draws air through the carpet, not around the nozzle. Too much seal will cut the airflow, but poor seal don't allow vacuum to clean deeply.

 

[sptyks]

Mike is correct.  A total seal will only allow air to be drawn up through the carpet hampering cleaning ability. Not enough seal allows too much air to enter the nozzle around the sides which will also reduce cleaning ability.


 


The Kirby has notches formed into both ends of the rugplate. These notches prevent a total seal from taking place but they allow just enough airflow into the nozzle so that dirt can still be drawn up through the carpet.


 


 

 

[jimjimmunster]

The Shark,

It leaks, as it squeaks,as it's motor screams.

 

[mark40511]

if my shark leaked

I would not own it. Mine doesn't leak. I agree Kirby is way better, but the shark still does a decent job and is easy to use as long as you keep the bin and filters clean. I haven't seen a speck of dust collecting on the outside of my shark. It really is sealed. When mine does, I'm not getting another one. But it's lasted over 2 years so far and nothing has broken used to run through the house almost daily. Most people probably are not keeping up with maintenance on them and that will send them to the landfill in a quick way.

 

[cmbcool01]

Hoover outcleans a Shark

My Hoover Windtunnel Self-propelled or Hoover Windtunnel Max Bagged outclean a Shark heck I'm sure a bagless Hoover would beat a Shark, they really are crap that aren't worth much of anything really if you have a shark go buy something else literally anything else is probably better at least you can get parts for everything else

 

[lesinutah]

Lol

Your Hoover wind tunnel beat a shark. I like sharks and I like Hoover's. The Hoover's are not sealed well, brush rolls suck and there wheels are off. I have a 4 year old navigator. I have 3 shark rockets. I had a wind tunnel. The wind tunnel was exactly like the plastic royal orange commercial vacuums. They are no good.
If you took the shark navigator lift away apex I guarantee it would last longer and out perform a wind tunnel.
You have to do maintenance on sharks like clean filters. You have to do the same on windtunnel. The bag chamber leaks and it gets progressively worse.
You can knock shark all you want but if you bring a windtunnel to the race ya better stay home.
Shark is King of low end store box vacuums that includes Hoover Bissell eureka dirt devil and Dyson.
It's not a riccar or Panasonic but if you look across the board any reviews shark tops the list.
They are constructed the best of the worst.
It's apples to oranges but it's best plastic crap out there.
Les

 

[madman]

Honestly, I'm really happy with my Shark Rocket Professional. It's designed much better than the Rotator (I know bc my friend has one), but I would think basically the same machine. I don't have a Kirby, or much of anything else to compare it to, but it seems to pick up plenty of dust from my bedroom carpet, and it really doesn't dirty up the filters very often. Ease of use and maintenance is probably the best of any vac I've ever used, so there's that too.