The best straight suction canister is...?

[Sanifan]

...a Tristar CXL? Or what do you think?

Specifically I was curious if Kirby G5 or G6 kitted out as a canister would challenge the Tristar. What do you think? Both have great airflow. But which is the overall winner?

I just moved to a house that has all wood floors. No need for a power nozzle until I pick up some rugs. I'm using the Tristar as my daily driver. It's such a shame to closet the Kirby, though, so what about putting it to work as a canister? Are there any downsides to using it this way? Can the Kirby canister suck like a Tristar? If so, why don't we see more direct air canisters?

There are so many other good vacs out there. As far as sheer straight suction cleaning ability, filtration, ease of use, and reasonable running cost, which one reigns supreme?

 

[Koobam]

Kirby as a canister...

No. Kirby's use a direct fan design that bodes for a *MUCH* slower finning fan which causes it to literally have pitiful suction vs. even the cheapest of cheap vacs.

Our $80 Eureka Maxima canister turns a Kirby bag from inflated to skinny as a sheet of paper in an instant. It's pathetic really.


The best bare floor cleaner would have to be a either a Miele with parquet brush or an Electrolux (NOT Aerus) Ergospace or Ultra Silencer. Both have incredible suction, are quieter than a baby sleeping (almost), have *TRUE SEALED* and *QUALITY* HEPA filtration, and are *QUALITY* Hungary-made canisters - the Ergospace backed by a respectable 5 year warranty - and from what I've read, Electrolux (again, not the Aerus metal body Electrolux) honors their warranty well.


So yeah, Miele, Electrolux, even a straight suction SEBO, and then I'd just pick up a Kenmore Magic Blue as it seems to fit the bill perfectly - for me anyways. Super powerful suction with a quality built unit overall I'd say to match.

 

[danemodsandy]

You Already Have It!

The TriStar CXL is the one for both phenomenal suction and filtration. After restoration, my CXL was put to work on off-white carpet that the former owners of the house were proud to say had been cared for with a Kirby. You would not BELIEVE the amount of dirt the CXL pulled up.

And that four-stage filtration is terrific. You have the cloth bag, its paper liner bag, the motor pre-filter and the afterfilter. After vacuuming with a CXL, you don't see dust again for a while, which is not the case with other vacs. As much as I enjoy my Luxes, dust re-appears much quicker than I'd like. The reason, of course, is the one-stage filtration on Luxes of the '60s and '70s and '80s.

Since you have the best canister I know of, all I can tell you is to use it often and gratefully, and it will reward you with a clean house, without drama or huge expense.

 

[tolivac]

I seldom use my Kirbys in the hose mode-as mentioned by others-any other canister vacuum can outdo the Kirby in the hose mode.the only canister vacuum I can easily think of that is direct air is the commercial NSS M1 or its clone-the Pacific Steamex version.

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

I think nobody makes fan first canisters because it's not necessary. The Kirby floor tool is awful... awkward and it creaks and groans while you're using it and the tools are friction fit... the hose doesn't swivel 360 like a good canister, the power switch is in the back of the vacuum... just not good....

Do you mean vacuums that are straight suction only or vacuums that came with power nozzles that you remove the power nozzle from and use as a straight suction vacuum? I know lots of people love the Eureka Mighty Mite.... Kenmore had a Panasonic straight suction out several years ago that had a big rocker switch and a translucent attachment cover and a telescopic wand.... it worked great and seemed really solid. The new Electrolux Ultrasilencer models seem really nice....

 

[tolivac]

I don't like the Kirby "bare" floor tool either-If I do use the Kirby with the hose on a floor-just get one of those generic tools with the bristles only from the tool bin at the vac shop.These are better than the horrible Kirby floor tool.At what the Kirby costs-think they could throw in such a tool-then you use the other Kirby tool as a surface carpet tool.Like vacuuming under items the Kirby head or even powernozzles won't fit.The vacuum place near me has a Mighty Mite-they also sell Meile canisters and uprights-thinking of getting the Mighty Mite just for fun.Used one in the past-nice little inexpensive vacuum.It too,should be a good companion to an upright.Are Filtrete type bags available for Mighty Mites--would be nice.

 

[eurekaprince]

The best straight suction canister cleaner for the money now in North America is the Electrolux UltraSilencer Green. I bought it after consulting the latest tests done by Consumer Reports and it is a wonderful vac: excellent air flow through the hose for tool use, excellent bare floor cleaning with this wonderful "Dust Magnet" combination carpet/bare floor tool, extremely quiet, variable speed control, excellent emissions control, and a 7-foot hose which is longer than the closely-rated Miele Olympus (it's hose is only 6 feet long). If you care about the environment, it's neat to know that 50% of the main body is made from recycled plastic - hence the "Green" in the model name.

I love the long unencumbered hose handle that allows you to squeeze into tight corners anywhere. It also comes with a positive lock telescopic tube, and the famous Electrolux combo dusting brush/upholstery nozzle with adjustable wings. The "Dust Magnet" combination carpet/floor tool is excellent! Nice articulating neck that allows you to maintain full contact with the floor no matter what position the wand is in. It is actually pretty good at picking up surface litter from carpets with its felt lint grabber strips and the floating suction channel helping out the strong suction and airflow.

This vac uses a washable HEPA exhaust filter too.

The only major downside: there is only a little clip on the hose handle to store the combo upholstery nozzle - and this I find is not very useful as the tool is not very well secured. No matter - I have a separate little box in which I keep all the tools along with the box of extra disposable bags. The hose has a universal profile/diameter, so this vac can take any standard friction fit attachment - I actually use a nice Kenmore horse-hair dusting brush with the UltraSilencer.

This vac was relatively inexpensive - it goes for $300 in the USA, and CAD$350 in Canada.

On the "minimum" power level - it is almost silent! All you hear is the air flowing through the attachment you are using! And at "minimum," the airflow is fantastic!

http://www.boscovs.com/StoreFrontWeb/Product.bos?rch=Y&quantity=1&itemNumber=11889

 

[vinvac]

I am going to join in here.

Kirby as a canister works very well and will not harm the machine. I don't like the newer set of attachments kirby uses, so I use the bare floor tool from my Oreck Buster B. I have used Kirby's all of my life and if I had to replace all of my vacuums it would be with a Kirby. Kirby vacuums are built to last a lifetime and do. They are also one of the most Green vacuums on the market, simply because everything is rebuildable or replaceable on the machine, low amperage motor and all the metal parts can be reused.

The G series all have good air flow and will do the job. You don't need a 12 amp motor to clean bare floors. You just need good air flow and the Kirby has that.

I also have the newer Electrolux Ultra Silencer in my collection. It is a great vacuum, quiet good air flow and a lower amp motor. The tools other than the floor tool are similar in design to the old Lux tools and work very well. The floor tool in my opinion is not great. The brush is very stiff and almost feels like it is scratching the floor. It does clean well. The bag is small but seems to maintain good air flow as it fills...the Turbo tool could be beefed up a bit, but still works well on lower pile carpets and area rugs.

 

[eurekaprince]

Morgan - I think the UltraSilencer's floor brush bristles are made of grey carbon fibre which are supposed to reduce static and pick up more fine dust from the floor. They actually seem finer and softer to me than regular bare floor brushes made of nylon bristles.

Dyson actually promotes the carbon fibre bristles on one of their turbo nozzles for use on bare floors... see link below.

I think if you have very delicate polished hardwood flooring, it's best to use a SwifferVac to clean them as this stick vac has no bristles - just the soft floor cloth makes contact with the floor. The Shark Navigator upright as a floor tool that also takes Swiffer cloths.



http://www.dyson.co.uk/vacuums/carbonfibre.asp

 

[chuffle]

I second eurekaprince's thoughts...

I use my UltraSilencer almost every day on the hard flooring in the house. I also agree that the clip that holds the combi brush/upholstery tool is a failure, but I remedied that by attaching two thick felt stickum discs (the sort that one puts under lamps and such, to prevent marring furniture surfaces) on either side of the holder, thus providing a firm grip and keeps the attachment in place, rather than letting it fall off constantly. It's a shame that Electrolux couldn't see that as a problem.

Joe

 

[gsheen]

vinvac
True you do need good airflow But the trouble is that airflow has a major disadvantage FRICTION. for airflow to work well it needs a big pipe about 2inch in diameter. you will lose more than half the kirby's air flow by the time it reaches the end of the hose that is why you find very few direct air canister vacuums.
You would do better by simply raising the head of the kirby and using it as an upright than using the hose.

 

[gsheen]

as for my wooden floors I use my dyson dc29db

 

[kenkart]

Dont Sweat it!

Just get a good old Model G Electrolux, QUIET, Plenty Powerful, and will outlast anything you can buy!

 

[vinvac]

Right on Hans,

Any Electrolux will do...good brushes, good air flow...quiet...put on a newer vinyl hose and your set to go.


Gareth,

I have used my older Kirby's with the felt pad on the nozzel. Works well on open spaces. Still like my Kirby's even with the tools. They just don't build machines as durable as the Kirby and metal Royals anymore.

 

[gsheen]

Morgan

so true I love my royals and my older Kirby kirby's pre G's legend II and heritage II my favourite. I love any vacuum with a blow up bag But my house kids and cats dictate otherwise so my soft bag vacuums are for play time only

 

[baglessball]

Gareth,

Do you think that the 'db' machines are actually quieter?

I tested one out last week and didn't think it was any quieter than my DC19T2.

I have the carbon fibre attachment for the dyson and it removes fine dust like a son of a bitch. I completely picks up all talcum powder off the bathroom floor.

 

[gsheen]

Hi Shaun

I have the dc 35 with the carbon fibre head , its amazing.

To answer your question on the db , I found it is , I have a original dc19 and this is alot quieter. to be fair I got hold of a brand new dc19 and side by side it is quieter mainly its lost that high pitched motor noise. this particular shape is still my favourite dyson canister. I prefer the old style bin as well as I have kids and lego is always been vacuumed up , it easier to pic the lego and other toys out the drum than to fish them out the bin after dumping them in.
Gareth