Royal vs. Kirby vs. Sanitaire

[mieles7]

These 3 brands seem to be the best known for their carpet cleaning ability, so which would you say deep cleans the best?

 

[vinvac]

Sanitaire - 1

Kirby - 2

Royal - 3 unless a new model with brush stiffners...then perhaps 1

 

[trebor]

This is not a...

yes-no 1,2,3 question. What kind of carpet is being cleaned? How dirty is it? How new is it? A lot of fuzz being removed would affect belt life, etc.  Are the machines modified in any way? Is the carpet glued down?


 


It is easy to state an opinion based upon personal experience and preference, but measured amounts of dirt, consistent controlled movement of the vacuums, and counted strokes all conducted on the exact same carpet are the only way to tell absolutely for sure which machine cleans better. The answer may vary from carpet to carpet, dirt to dirt, and test to test.

 

[eurekastar]

Trebor is right. It all depends. The newer Kirby vacuums will outperform the older models because the newer models use a new stiffer brush roll which sets up more positive agitation. The one definite advance I think Kirby and Royal have over the Sanitaire is belt life. All things being equal, the round belt on a Sanitaire just won't last as long as the flat belt of a Kirby or Royal. Slippage will begin to occur sooner, thus affecting performance.

 

[trebor]

Info from another thread suggests...

that using the Koblenz belts on the Sanitaire would extend the belt life and the performance.

 

[mieles7]

How about this: Each vacuum would be a brand new Royal Everlast 8300, Sanitaire S675, and Kirby Sentria. All vacuums are adjusted properly to the carpet, which is relatively thick and gets a lot of traffic.

 

[twocvbloke]

Yes, you go out and buy those three and let us know the test results...

 

[ralph123]

Based on my extensive Gedanken experiments with the 3 vacuums, there wasn't a whole lot of difference in the results. User technique trumps differences since in reality ease of use determines how much and how long you'd use each of these 3 vacuums. In my experiments, I used 16 ounces of dirt + 4oz of dog hair. After applying the dirt hair mixture, I imagined that the dirt was pressed into the test rug using a roller. The Kirby performed marginally better than the others in picking up the sand and fairy dust because its drive system kept the vacuum moving at the optimal speed. Since I ran the Kirby test first, I had to work slightly harder pushing the other vacuums since I was starting to get bored, so I tended to not vacuum quite as long with the other vacuums. My test results may not be applicable to other situations due to differences in carpet type, dirt type, temperature, humidity differences, and competing thought processes. The manufacturing date also varied between vacuums, resulting in possible differences in belt tension.

 

[vacuumfan96]

Koblenz belts on a sanitaire

Hey Trebor, I own a Koblenz u-75 and find that the Eureka RD belts are LONG LASTING on it, the belt on mine is at least a good 10 moths old and has no cracks and has not stretched out or started slipping yet. Just figured I would share that. Though I do change it just to play it safe =)

 

[tolivac]

I now have used all three of the above machines---ANY of them work well for me.You could consider the Royal metals(newer models),Kirby Sentria,and the Sanitaires to be high performance and durable machines.The Greenville Sew & Vac used to carry Royals and Sanitaires.You could try them there if you want to.and he would have a used Kirby Sentria that was traded in by a customer toward a Sebo or Meile vacuum.These are the ones they primarily carry.If you want a Sanitaire or Royal-he orders them.The Koblentz belts are worth looking into-maybe the Greenville Sew&Vac can order them.There used to be a janitorial supply place here that carried Koblentz-they have closed down.Kinston Sew&Vac carries Royal and Oreck.This dealer is hard to deal with-they are not very freindly.-and its hard to barter prices with them.

 

[kirbfan94]

The koblenz belts don't last any longer than the rubber eureka ones from my experience

 

[twocvbloke]

I find Hoover Senior/Convertible belts last longer in my 'taires than the RD belts do, no exploding bearings, no discoloured pulleys, no trashed motors, they work pretty damned well and last a long time...

 

[kirbfan94]

Once they are stretched out the Hoover belts work great on the eurekas because their slightly wider and grip the pully better and don't slip no where near as much

 

[henriquesousa7]

Hands Down A Sanitaire!!!

 

[DysonKing474]

really a sanitaire is not built to CUSTOMLY deep clean, id go witht the royal, NOT the kirby, its a standard vacuum

 

[mieles7]

Sanitaires were based on the older eureka uprights made around the 60's, and many had an 8 position height adjustment, like the Kirby.