Rug doctor acquired by Bissell?

[blackheart]

Saw some ads this morning that said Rug Doctor by Bissell.

I can't help but wonder why this merger was done. I feel like the big green was a superior machine to the classic Rug doctor.

 

[panasonicvac]

Interesting

This is news to me. Even before Bissell acquired Sanitaire they already have the Big Green commercial lineup. I agree that the Big Green is a much nicer machine compare to the classic Mighty Pro which I wished Rug Doctor hadn't discontinued.

 

[powerstarenergy]

This wasn't on my Bingo Card for 2024.

Bissell acquiring Rug Doctor wasn't on my Bingo Card for 2024. I wonder what other acquisitions are planned for the future.

 

[durango159]

According to Google sources, the merger happened on September 30, 2022. Quite shocking indeed!

 

[amtraksebo1997]

Wonder what this entails...

Now that Bissell has their hands on both Sanitare and Rug Doctor, I've got a feeling that the Big Green line is going to be retired. It doesn't really serve a purpose for them anymore.

 

[panasonicvac]

The Big Green line is actually owned by a commercial company and they pay Bissell to license the name along with selling some of Bissell's own products. They used to carry the Oreck commercial line until Oreck went bankrupt and got bought out by TTI so Bissell took over the contract. I don't think they'll be going anywhere anytime soon because they just had some new products listed. Plus they're the ones who made it possible of bringing out the famous Big Green carpet cleaner that's been a HUGE success for Bissell, I've used one before and can say that it outperforms any Rug Doctor.

 

[amtraksebo1997]

PanasonicVac

Oh, then I guess that explains the plethora of non-Bissell products with Bissell branding. In that case, it seems a little bit anticompetitive when they're buying out their biggest competitors and selling the same machines under the same name 3 times, but that's just me. I gotta say, I'm probably gonna miss the old Rug Doctor brand. I've always wanted to try out and/or own the older rental machines (even the REALLY old canisters and stuff), but sadly never got the chance before they were replaced with the newer ones. Even though I'm aware the BG rentals are better than them according to others, I like the looks and stuff of the RDs better than the BGs.

Anyways, see you in 2045 when we'll be hearing about Bissell buying out Sebo.

 

[bagintheback]

Whoaa this is also news to me.

I wonder how much of this is due to carpeting falling out of favor with homeowners/home builders. Rug Doctor must have been hurting and a reduction in carpet sales would make sense.

The Bissel Big Green was also a massive improvement over the old RD machines. I remember witnessing grocery stores move over to carrying Bissells instead of RD slowly as the market changed. I wonder which models they'll keep in production long term.

 

[panasonicvac]

I highly doubt SEBO would get bought out by Bissell as that company is continuing to grow and they just recently expanded their US warehouse in Colorado, same thing with Miele which is still family owned and they're about to open another US factory in Alabama. The only reasons I can see sense of Bissell buying Rug Doctor as what bagintheback pointed out is because stores are switching from Rug Doctor to Bissell and with the decline of carpet sales. So far no one has snatched up Kenmore as that brand would be folded if Sears doesn't have a buyer anytime soon since they're about to be history, they've already sold off Craftsman to Stanley Black & Decker. SEBO used to make vacuums for Sears that licensed them for Kenmore one time but I doubt they're interested in taking over the Kenmore floor care line though I think it'd be awesome if they did. Bissell does have a licensing agreement with Lindhaus, I could see them merge in the future over SEBO so that's a possibility.

 

[amtraksebo1997]

PanasonicVac

That was a joke

 

[eureka1998]

Alot of people diss on Bissell but.....

Honestly we've never had an issue with any of what theyve put out over the years. Right now theyre probably among the most powerful big box retailer machines. The ones I have pull up alot of hidden sand and gunk. The Bissell Velocity from like 2006 was a beast. The new SurfaceSence is a neat vacuum that really lives up to the anti allergen name. I was worried at first all it was picking up was fibers, but the last time I used it there was a HUGE pile of sand and hair underneath. As of now Id safely say their new stuff is better than Hoover's new stuff. And ive been a BIG Hoover fan, mostly of their maytag era and anything before that. The SurfaceSense is MILES better than the React. And quite honestly, Bissell is one of the brands thats been around for a long time, its a classic name. Id much rather see Bissell become huge over say Dyson or Shark.

 

[amtraksebo1997]

Eureka1988

I ain't touching most of their stuff with a 10 foot pole. The only stuff I see worth anyone's time with them is their bagged/commercial stuff.

 

[eureka1998]

I understand that

Im just saying of the only choices the big box stores give nowadays theyre the best ones. Definitely not for vacuums overall. I still like my Maytag Era Hoovers over all.

 

[amtraksebo1997]

If you ask me, I think the only stuff that's decent are Hoover's new bagged uprights, and Bissell's bagged offerings. If it's bagless, 9 times out of 10 in my eyes it's not worth your investment.

 

[panasonicvac]

As far as Bissell being one of if not the most powerful vacuums in department stores nowadays that aren't professional/commercial grade, I think it'd depend on what model and which ones they'd be comparable to. Especially since I don't believe that every new Bissell today is better than any new Hoover. But I'd disagree about the Bissell Velocity being a beast, I've used one of my neighbor's before several times and I just wasn't all that impressed with it. I did thought their Hoover Turbopower V2 7300 they had before the Velocity was better. When my Little Green was put into retirement, I did thought about getting the another one. The main reason why I decided against it and bought a Hoover instead is because Bissell was such a horrible company to deal with warranties. I mean from working at a Bissell dealer, they were just so difficult to work with. They may have changed since then but as of today none of my local vacuum stores are Bissell dealers.

And far as bagless vacuums not being worth the investment, actually it can worth it depending on the situation. As much as I prefer bagged machines myself, they definitely do have it's drawbacks and that's where the benefits of bagless machines come in at. You can easily see what's coming into the dirt bin, with bags they're alot harder to tell so it's like you're blind vacuuming basically. With a good cyclone setup, they can definetly maintain it's performance unlike bags especially if you were to pick up stuff that you shouldn't. Wood shavings, ash, drywall dust, glass, etc. Filters can last longer than what dealers or manufactures would suggest to replace them at thus can save on the cost of bags. And if you were to accidently vacuum up something that you shouldn't had, it's so much easier to retrieve the item versus having to tear open up a bag. I think this person for example made a wiser choice with his reasonings, I definitely would've done the same thing as he did.

 

[amtraksebo1997]

PanasonicVac

My viewpoint on it is that bagless machines are more work/money than bagged machines. Unless you're using a vacuum with a tiny bag capacity and/or the cheapest paper bags known to man, then you won't be replacing them often, maybe like 4-5 a year (even fewer and far between if the bags are bigger). Will you lose suction and airflow as it fills? Yes, but honestly it doesn't get to me that much. it's a little more of a problem if you're using A straight suction canister or something, but even still, it doesn't bother me. Plus, I try to use HEPA bags when I can. Bagged vacuums are also a lot cleaner to maintain. You don't have to take the bag outside to empty it like with a dirt cup (which I recommend doing if you don't want dust to get back into the air. Plus, the filters on the machine stay cleaner if you use HEPA bags. My Nacecare Henry and WT Self Propelled have virtually nothing on their pre-motor filters (although my Henry's smells like dog). Meanwhile, with most bagless vacs I've used/come across, they're filters are filthy. Are there certain applications where bagless and dump-out machines are more favorable? Yes. But in my opinion, those are few and far between. For example, if you're a carpet installer that has to vacuum brand new carpeting to remove loose fibers, then yeah, you could probably get away with a bagless machine or dump-out Sanitare-esc machine, but for the most part, if a bag less machine can do it, then so can a bagged machine, and will be much better.

 

[amtraksebo1997]

Also PanasonicVac

How do you do that Youtube miniplayer thing? I only know how to do links to Youtube videos.

 

[panasonicvac]

Um no, there are definitely some bagless machines out there that don't require a whole lot of work and/or money than bagged machines. Vacuflo true cyclonic central vacs for example doesn't use a bag or a filter, I've even used a Vacuflo 566Q with a overfill max capacity of dirt and it still had full power. This proves my point from earlier about having a good cyclone setup like Vacuflo. James Dyson got his idea from a cyclone set up, since then I'm grateful that alot of bagless vacuums exist. Believe or not, I actually replace my bags more often than I should. Not only because the pores began to clog up but also my bags began to smell as well which I don't like. HEPA cloth bags do have it's advantages but also believe it or not, some vacuums I went back to using paper bags and have had no regrets since then. Bags can be alot cleaner to maintain, unless you have a bag that's been ripped from a shard or a fill tube with a hole inside which has definitely happened to me before. Some bags I do have to empty outside because they don't have a seal, when I dump those kind of bags or even remove them from the fill tube like Kirby for example they do in fact have dust flying out. There are also definitely some bagless vacuums with pre motor filters that rarely get the other filters dirty like that Hoover Elite Rewind I showed earlier. In fact those sponge filters I can easily take out and throw them in my front load washer with bleach and it'd be like a brand new filter everytime I'd vacuum with it, bags I'd have to wait until they start to get really dirty before replacing. Anyways, while bags do have their strengths, they also have their weaknesses as well. Same thing with bagless, I'm not saying that they're overall better than bagged. But if I bought a house with used carpet inside, I won't ever move in until I vacuum the whole place with a bagless vacuum (preferably a ClearTrak).

To answer your other question, you just only paste your links in the paragraph box instead of the URL box. If you do that, you can have more than one video shared like what I just did to prove my other points.

 

[amtraksebo1997]

PanasonicVac

I'm not saying that all bagged vacuums aren't going to have any kind of dust-leakage when being replaced, just that it wouldn't be nearly as bad as if you were emptying a bagless machine indoors. When my dad trash-picked a DC07, he warned me to only empty it outside, presumably for this reason. Recently, I was helping my mom deep clean her room with her Bissell 82H1, and when it got full, I was told to empty its contents into a plastic grocery bag and throw it in the trash outside, which I get why she made me do this, but its counter-intuitive. As for cyclones, I've never really thought much of them. I treat them the same way that I treat edge-cleaning features on vacuums, it's cool that they're there, but I don't think always do their job of filtering fine stuff. I've seen plenty of pictures of clogged Dyson cyclones to make me skeptical of them. As for paper bags, I'm sure there are decent ones out there that filter pretty good, but from my experience, you're better off with HEPA bags.

As for the Amway Cleartrak, that's actually a bagless machine I like. It's looks are cool, and it's been said to clean well. I can't prove nor disprove those claims, but the CRI seems to think its decent, as they gave it the silver rating. However, I wouldn't recommend it for many applications, because apparently it has very poor filtration, and the open-top dirt cup doesn't bode confidence in me. As for Vacuflos and other similar central vacs, the only thing I can say for certain about them is that they're likely 10x more messy to empty than portable bagless vacs, due to their increase bin size. I know with cyclonic Vacumaids and Centralux systems, you can get plastic bags that make replacement more hygienic, but again, that's just counter-intuitive. I can't really speak much on workshop dust-collection systems, but those also seem like they'd be messy to empty.

In short, while there may be some bagless machines that are decent, I just think bagged machines are safer bets.