Upright hose useability

[fan-of-fans]

What upright vacuums do you find to have the most useable tools... and least useable?

I always thought the older uprights with the front, rear or pan converters had the most useable setup, as far as easiest to work with hoses and best attachment sets.

Many of the modern tool on board uprights I find the hoses to be practically useless. There is too much suction so the hose collapses.

My mom had a Kenmore Quick Clean bagless upright (Panasonic). It had the stretch hose that draped over the handle in a U shape. Sometimes I'd use the attachments on it but we rarely did (my mom would usually get mad if I tried to use them and tell me not to waste the time). But when I did, usually the machine would fall over on me whenever I put the crevice tool or dusting brush on and touched it to a surface. Very aggravating!

My grandma had a Hoover Elite and I don't remember it having this problem.

Also I've used a cheapo Bissell Powerforce bagless and it didn't do that either. It had a more rigid hose that wasn't as springy...

I also have a Kenmore Progressive upright and while its hose is pretty short, I find it to be fairly useable. There's a clip on the back that lowers the center of gravity so it doesn't tip as easily, or you can unclip if you need more hose. Also the other good thing is it has a 3 speed motor so you can slow the suction down, as well as a suction valve on the wand. I find the tools not all that great though, it has a tiny dusting brush with short scratchy bristles that slide off to make an upholstery tool with sharp edges.

My mom now has a newer Hoover Windtunnel 2 bagless upright, and I do find the hose useable on that. It also has a decent dusting brush that has fairly soft bristles.

I've never used a Sebo or Miele upright, but I bet they have great hoses and tools with them. And of course Kirbys I've noticed have a great hose setup. I believe they even have soft horsehair brushes too.

It just seems even if manufacturers had good tools on their canisters, they almost always skimped on the uprights - cheaper tools or less selection to use.
Also for some reason tool on board uprights tended to use proprietary tools so you can't just swap out 1 1/4" ones to use. Although many older ones did.

 

[human]

Electrolux

My favorite uprights to use with tools are the twin-motor Electrolux vacuums (Discovery II/Genesis/Epic/etc.). You just open the rubber flap on top of the bag door, shove the hose into place and plug in the electrical pigtail if you're planning to use a SideKick and the machine in question has an electrical connection for it. My Genesis LXe and Epic 3500SR are factory equipped with an electrical connection and I retrofitted my Discovery II with an adapter kit so it now has one as well. They use all the same tools as the Electrolux canisters and have plenty of suction power through the hose. The only one of those I'm not fond of is the Discovery Plus, which has onboard tool storage. While it's handy to be able to store the tools together with the vacuum, it's impossibly awkward to use with tools stowed aboard, especially the hose. I have to jettison at least the hose to make it usable.

I also have a bunch of Kirbys and I love them as well and while it's kind of fun to convert those machines so many different ways, it's also a fairly cumbersome process so I mainly use them in the upright mode unless I'm just in the mood to play with one. I've had several years of practice and am reasonably good at it now but I don't think I'll ever be able to do it as quickly and seemingly effortlessly as the salesman I watched demonstrate a Classic Omega in our living room when I was about ten years old. I was enthralled with the demo and was a bit disappointed when we didn't buy one but hey, I've made up for it with interest in the past few years.

 

[blackheart]

Miele

I like the tool system on the Miele S7/U1 the low mounted hose means the machine is more likely to follow you rather than tip over. The handle, though kind of bulky, is comfortable in the hand. The hose also has a pretty good reach and with the variable speed system and vents in the upholstery tool the pullback from the hose can be minimized.

As for least favorite I'm having a hard time picking one which really stands out. I know it would be a top mounted hose like a Sebo or certain lindhauses though I think Sebo's slightly better due to their longer hose.

 

[electromatik]

I never liked any of them. The "falling over" problem happened on EVERY upright my mother owned or myself ever owned. In addition, the hose almost never reached far enough to suit me, even with the wands.

I always hated uprights, so I admit I am biased. Canisters just always seemed more portable, more usable, lighter, and with better tools.

 

[vinvac]

Most of the modern uprights I would not give you two cents. Dyson, Bissell, Panasonic, Hoover, Eureka all have those darn stretch hoses that are useless. None of them have tools that are worth using.

I never liked the Hoover Convertible set up. The rear hook ups had no air flow. (designed for light dusting) Early Eureka's with the front top mount were the same. However when they went to the bottom fit it improve air flow and the tools were actually useable.

Panasonic in the early days had the flip lid where you could insert the hose directly and those were awesome. The Hoover Dial-a-matic was way ahead of it's time and worked well. (although I have never been a fan of Hoover tools)

I love any Kirby or Royal. Very useable tools and good air flow.

I have never used an Electrolux Discovery (upright) but would assume they would be good as well.

Just my two cents.

 

[lesinutah]

The

Riccar or simplicity on board tools are very user friendly. I have a dark green old riccar that has on board tools. I like the port to attach a hose. I have a 12" riccar hose. It's great for doing the stairs.
The vacuum is 80-85 cfm. The hose is is pretty similar. The Kenmore progressive upright too short.
I don't use the riccar very much. I have a newer simplicity I just need the belt and bags. I seen a Titan upright today when I went to the vacuum service center. It looked well built. I didn't ask as I didn't want to hear a sales pitch.

 

[eurekaprince]

I think the Miele S7/U1 Dynamic upright had the best set up because you had 3 separate normal attachments on board ( including an extra long crevice tool), and a switch on the upright's handle to turn off the brush roll. It also had a detachable telescopic wand.

The only other uprights that seemed to have decent above the floor cleaning set-ups were the two-motor Panasonic/Kenmore uprights and the Eureka SmartVac with it's three full-size World Vac tools on board.

 

[n0oxy]

Sebo Felix

I only have one upright, the Sebo Felix. I'm definitely much more of a canister or central vacuum person. The Felix gives you a couple of options. You can remove the power nozzle or hard floor attachment and lay the main unit on the floor, then pull the hose out and clean that way. It will not follow you around this way. Alternatively, you can push the handle down and attach an accessory to the end of the machine itself.
This is one of the main reasons why I like canister or central vacuums so much better, all of this is avoided. Your hose is the primary way of cleaning. Use whatever tool you need and if you want to clean carpets, use an electric power nozzle. All of the cleaning power of an upright and the issues with the cleaner following you around or the inability to use the tool you need are completely eliminated.
Mike

 

[fan-of-fans]

The Eureka Smart Vac was also nice in that it shut off the brush when using the hose, and you could get a horsehair dusting brush for it.

I figured the Riccar had good attachments I know it had a horsehair dusting brush too.

I wouldn't mind having a Miele S7 to try out either.

Yeah, this is one reason why if I could only have one vacuum, it would be a power nozzle canister. There are situations where a lightweight, fan first upright makes more sense (less hassle in setup and storage.) But to me a power nozzle canister is best of both worlds - powerful carpet cleaning that lets you get under and around tight areas. And also great hard floor, stair and above floor cleaning. There's no worry about tugging the hose too much and tipping it over - resulting in injury or damage.

The attachments on most good canisters many times are/were better than those on uprights also, but there are always exceptions.

Also for those with arthritis or trouble pushing heavy weight, most of the weight is on the floor behind you.

I know a lot of younger collectors only like uprights and some really dislike canisters. I don't understand this, but I'd guess it's because they were too young to experience many canisters being around. But we can all like or collect whatever we like, and there's nothing wrong with that.

 

[human]

I agree about power nozzle canisters. The first one I ever used was a 1970s vintage Eureka Princess that had belonged to my grandmother. The only canisters I had used before that were straight suction and the addition of a power nozzle was a revelation. Truly the best of both worlds and definitely preferable to trying to use a hose and tools with just about any upright.

 

[thevacomaticiec]

The only uprighti like is my Electrolux Discovery 2 the hose is right on the top . Talk about a nice place for it .Altho ido wish it had more suction and air flow but for palcement you canèt beat it .

 

[lesinutah]

I

Had a royal straight suction cannister. It was the last straight suction they made. I no longer own it shows how much I liked it. The hose was long but the auction was nothing special.
I prefer my compact c9 and it's power nozzle. If you catch a runner on a rug the power nozzle is slot lighter than a Kirby or other uprights.

 

[cam2s]

Maybe a controversial opinion but one of the few things the Hoover Z had going for it was it’s great hose set up. Easy to use and the hose attached at the base of the machine so it wouldn’t upset. The weight of the thing helped keep in place too. Of course the Z was backwards from most vacuums in that using it as an upright was awkward but it had a great hose setup.

I think a lot of uprights could be faulted for Their poor hose setups but I’ll pick on the Regina Housekeeper. It was before stretch hoses where a thing and it just wasn’t long enough to be useful

 

[lesinutah]

The

Hoover does have a good setup. IMO the upright floor nozzle is just average.

 

[kloveland]

I agree. I enjoy using the later convertibles and Eureka uprights with the pan converter. They have long hoses. The suction is low but enough to get most jobs done.

Kirby also converts to a decent tank cleaner. Most hoses on modern uprights are too short and causes the upright to tip over. As others have said above.

 

[fan-of-fans]

Some vacuums I completely missed were Fantoms. How are the tools to use on these? I always thought it was nifty how the handle became the extension wand/hose like Dyson.

It's also a little unusual that the Fantoms had a floor brush that stored onboard and an actual horsehair dusting brush. Those two features are often lacking with uprights.

 

[suckolux]

My older Hoover Dimension, which I just got back has a very useable hose, dirty fan so not strong suction, easier to handle. My newer Hoover wind tunnel, and Dyson it's too strong, when you go to use the end of the hose the vacuum comes flying at you usually right into your head no thank you. If I need a hose that's strong I will pull out a canister.

 

[cam2s]

The Dyson/Fantom intergrated handle/hose is a clever idea but can be awkward depending on how you use it. When you pull it out you have the whole thing at full extension. If you need the whole thing to reach a tall spot then it’s great. If you don’t need the wand, then you either have to fight using it or pull the assembly out of the hose and then put it back together. My two Fantoms anyways don’t really have enough suction through the hose to make it snap back.

 

[blackheart]

Fantom

Oh ya know all this talk of Fantom reminds me. I found the Dyson DC-07 pretty good for tool use too. Since you could attach the hose to either end of the handle/wand assembly you could clip it to the top to give you a more comfortable grip. Though if that length wasn't needed you could just attach the tools to the hose.