sanitairered
Well-known member
About two months ago, I purchased a Hoover Windtunnel Anniversary Self Propelled Bagged vacuum cleaner. I was itching for a new toy at the time and the Hoover seemed like a good choice. I wanted a full sized, bagged upright to accompany my Hoover T-series Pet Rewind in daily cleaning and quick pickups. For $188 at Wal-Mart, I thought, “Why not?”
I brought it home and put it together right away. One of the first things I notices was how heavy it was. This thing is a beast; you truly need the self propelled feature. I also noticed the decent set of attachments it came with, and when I felt the brush-roll, I was shocked at how stiff the bristles are! It came with a cloth bag and a very thin, mesh-like filter. The unit claims to have HEPA filtration, but if you buy the paper bags at the grocery store, I don’t see how it would be. The cord is a good length, and the height adjustment only has three settings. With an on-off brush-roll and a dirt sensor, I was excited to use it!
When I first started to vacuum, I didn’t like it. The Hoover was VERY heavy and awkward to maneuver. The self propel was jerky and aggressive, and the hose was short, shriveled up with the slightest amount of suction cut off, and is so far up in the back of the machine you can’t use it for more than five feet without the vacuum tipping over. I started to regret my purchase, and then I took it to the main floor of my house.
My first floor is 45% shag carpet and 55% hardwood floors. For the most part, it’s pretty open and easy to clean (as opposed to my upstairs which has many more obstacles to walk/vacuum around). I plugged in the Windtunnel and continued cleaning. The self propel really was made for shag carpet. It wasn’t nearly as jerky as it was on lower-medium pile carpet, and the Hoover digs down deep, bringing up the nap. My living room was so fluffy to walk on afterwards; I was thrilled! It did a great job on my hardwood floors, and won’t scratch them if the self propulsion is off. I also vacuumed my staircase with the turbo brush, and while it cleaned well, the hose is too much of a struggle to use for more than a quick spot clean or dusting.
The dirt sensor is a great… idea. Hoover’s execution of this feature was terrible in my opinion. Say you pick up some large particles, like popcorn, or even just bigger sized crumbs. The sensor will go off, whether it be in the ‘HI’ or ‘REG’ setting. But if you are picking up fine particles, such as flour or dust, it won’t register, and the light will stay green. It’s called a ‘Dirt Sensor’ but won’t sense dirt and dust going through it? Perhaps I’m making a big deal of a trivial thing, but this really annoys me.
I filled up a bag after two weeks of exclusive use. I didn’t want to order Hoover’s cloth bags because they not only smelled bad in this, but in the Platinum Bagged I have as well. The odor is terrible, and it starts fast! Also, they were expensive!! Call me cheap, but I don’t want to spend more than $10 on three vacuum bags! It’s outrageous! Anyway, I bought Arm and Hammer bags from Wal-Mart. They work fine, and although they clog up faster than the cloth ones, no odor is blown into the room. Whenever I change a vacuum bag, I clean the brush-roll. I couldn’t believe how much hair was on that thing! I have a girlfriend with sort of long hair and it looked like if she lost any, it wrapped around the brush. It was easy enough to clean, but was tedious.
Although the minor things do add up, and I probably made it sound worse than it is, I would recommend this machine. It is a great deep cleaner with amazing suction, and if you have the patience to fight the hose, not a bad above the floor cleaner either.
I brought it home and put it together right away. One of the first things I notices was how heavy it was. This thing is a beast; you truly need the self propelled feature. I also noticed the decent set of attachments it came with, and when I felt the brush-roll, I was shocked at how stiff the bristles are! It came with a cloth bag and a very thin, mesh-like filter. The unit claims to have HEPA filtration, but if you buy the paper bags at the grocery store, I don’t see how it would be. The cord is a good length, and the height adjustment only has three settings. With an on-off brush-roll and a dirt sensor, I was excited to use it!
When I first started to vacuum, I didn’t like it. The Hoover was VERY heavy and awkward to maneuver. The self propel was jerky and aggressive, and the hose was short, shriveled up with the slightest amount of suction cut off, and is so far up in the back of the machine you can’t use it for more than five feet without the vacuum tipping over. I started to regret my purchase, and then I took it to the main floor of my house.
My first floor is 45% shag carpet and 55% hardwood floors. For the most part, it’s pretty open and easy to clean (as opposed to my upstairs which has many more obstacles to walk/vacuum around). I plugged in the Windtunnel and continued cleaning. The self propel really was made for shag carpet. It wasn’t nearly as jerky as it was on lower-medium pile carpet, and the Hoover digs down deep, bringing up the nap. My living room was so fluffy to walk on afterwards; I was thrilled! It did a great job on my hardwood floors, and won’t scratch them if the self propulsion is off. I also vacuumed my staircase with the turbo brush, and while it cleaned well, the hose is too much of a struggle to use for more than a quick spot clean or dusting.
The dirt sensor is a great… idea. Hoover’s execution of this feature was terrible in my opinion. Say you pick up some large particles, like popcorn, or even just bigger sized crumbs. The sensor will go off, whether it be in the ‘HI’ or ‘REG’ setting. But if you are picking up fine particles, such as flour or dust, it won’t register, and the light will stay green. It’s called a ‘Dirt Sensor’ but won’t sense dirt and dust going through it? Perhaps I’m making a big deal of a trivial thing, but this really annoys me.
I filled up a bag after two weeks of exclusive use. I didn’t want to order Hoover’s cloth bags because they not only smelled bad in this, but in the Platinum Bagged I have as well. The odor is terrible, and it starts fast! Also, they were expensive!! Call me cheap, but I don’t want to spend more than $10 on three vacuum bags! It’s outrageous! Anyway, I bought Arm and Hammer bags from Wal-Mart. They work fine, and although they clog up faster than the cloth ones, no odor is blown into the room. Whenever I change a vacuum bag, I clean the brush-roll. I couldn’t believe how much hair was on that thing! I have a girlfriend with sort of long hair and it looked like if she lost any, it wrapped around the brush. It was easy enough to clean, but was tedious.
Although the minor things do add up, and I probably made it sound worse than it is, I would recommend this machine. It is a great deep cleaner with amazing suction, and if you have the patience to fight the hose, not a bad above the floor cleaner either.
