Should I sale my Rainbow or keep it?

[tekjunkie28]

I'm hopefully picking up a brand new Sentria 2. I say brand new because apparently it has only been used a few times and it belonged to this girl's grandmother. We shall see. What would I be looking for to determine how many hours this think has been ran? She sent me a video of it and it looks clean and seems to run great. The house also looked gorgeous from what I saw.

 

[myles_v]

vacuumdevil

I won't disagree that Rainbow makes good vacuums, but if you're only considering carpet cleaning ability then I believe the Kirby is superior. Rainbow is superior for all-around cleaning, especially above-floor and hard floor.

I've never been a huge fan of either vacuum for daily use, though. I've had around 6 Rainbows or so and I always get tired of dealing with the water, the novelty wears off quickly for me. I don't currently own one, I sold my last Rainbow for $250 on Facebook Marketplace. They do hold their resale value much better than any Kirby does. I've had even more Kirby machines than Rainbow, but now I only own one and I haven't touched it in months. I prefer my Miele for daily cleaning, it cleans and filters well.

 

[tekjunkie28]

Would you buy a Sentria 2 never used. But doesn't come with Shampooer or zippbrush for $150?

 

[tekjunkie28]

Correctional.. Very slightly used. Attachments look brand new. No bags or belts. Belonged to an elderly lady

 

[vacuumdevil]

@myles_v Miele for the Win !

I would rather use a Miele then either of those Vacuums ax well .

Thank for not being a NPC !

 

[rivstg1]

I like the Miele’s Too, I just don’t care for the repair/upkeep costs. After I saw some of the bills for repair ( parts & the complexity) & $$ for filters. That’s why, I prefer the Kirby or Rainbow to them...much much easier and cheaper to maintain it seems to me. But , I was tempted to buy one at a thrift store but it was missing the powernozzle.

 

[tekjunkie28]

So here are my current options and I would love to know yalls thoughts.

1. Sentria 2 with attachements but no zippbrush or shampooer. Attachments never have been used from what I saw. Vacuum has very little use from what I saw but I didnt have hands. Vacuum apparently belionged to the girls grandmother who only used it a few times. I have no way to test transmission but the motor works. No extra bags or belts. $150

2. Sentria at local pawnshop. Used with shampooer but no zip brush. Attachments look OK. I have not seen it in person but pics look good. No clue how many hours are on this machine but bag looks clean from pics. $130

3 "refurbished" Avalir from the local dealer. No clue what was done but it comes with shampooer, zip bursh (i think) and extra shampoo and bags. I doubt motor was serviced but I have no clue. I can get more details. shampooer is new they say. also will have 1 year warrenty with that dealer. $300

4. Wait for better offer which may or may not come.

 

[myles_v]

tekjunkie28

I'd go with option 1 or 2. If you're keeping the Rainbow then don't worry about the Kirby shampooer, the Rainbow is a much better deep cleaner because extraction is generally more effective than dry foam. I'd look out for one with all of the basic attachments; hose, extension wands, upholstery tool, dusting brush, crevice, hard floor, etc. You can always buy a Zipbrush elsewhere if it's something you really want, but I've never found it useful. The upholstery tool is fine for furniture and for stairs I've always used the smaller handle attachment that converts the Kirby to a handheld machine of sorts.

 

[tekjunkie28]

This Kirby is insane. The airflow with the attachments is A LOT more then my rainbow. Is that normal?

So this raises the question again... what do I have the rainbow for?? A glorified air purifier? I have a few other issues that I will make a new thread for.

I used the foam gun and a brush and did my dining room chairs. AMAZING! They are mostly clean. I have never had them come clean ever with water extraction.

 

[rivstg1]

good to hear of updates

now your comment about water extraction not being as effective as the dry foam....thats really surprising. I"ve had good fortune with water based cleaning on cloth/carpet, I've used my kirby foam on my stairs and carpets but I didn't really notice a big difference before/after....also, b/c I did spot treating with cleaners for stains, so it masked the 'dramatic' if any, cleaning the dry foam might have done.

Its really interesting hearing your contrast of the Kirby's and Rainbow's performance in vacuuming... Like I mentioned, I have both as well, but I didn't notice such a massive difference ( even though I know the airflow/cfm is vastly superior with the Kirby). I DID notice the junk picked up by the Kirby using the dirt meter after I had used the Rainbow for so long.

 

[tekjunkie28]

Visually you wont see a difference because every vacuum can pick up dirt off the top of the carpet... mostly, lol. I notice my carpets looking better and feeling softer. I also noticed how much more dirt I was able to pull out of my carpets. It only took 2 weeks to fill up a bag which is kinda scary. The Kirby definately grooms the carpet better. I am really suprised at how much air flow the Kirby has in canister mode. I also do not think the vacuum is that heavy. The Rainbow can be fairly heavy especially when you have the large basin. My last upright was the Kenmore elite and it was a beast too.