What direct-air vacuums do you like?

[ajr2993]

I mostly like the Royal and Kirby vacuums because they are all metal. The Royal All-Metal Uprights tend to be much lighter weight and have brush stiffeners, while the Kirby vacuums can have multiple purposes, like a blower, a shampooer, and can even be used to spray paint or shampoo furniture. Royal no longer exists as a company and Kirby still exists, despite all the door-to-door scams. Both seem to deep-clean carpets excellently, which is an awesome thing about direct-air vacuums.

https://www.greatvacs.com/products/save-700-reconditioned-kirby-vacuum-cleaner-w-5-year-warranty

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

ajr2993

Andrew,

I agree with you about Kirby and Royal having made the best upright vacuum cleaners for decades, and how excellent they perform.

~Ben

 

[panasonicvac]

The most powerful ones that I've used would be Royal. But my personal favorite would be the Eureka Sanitaire F&G style vacuums.

 

[tolivac]

I am with most on here-Royal and Kirby.I do have a ProTeam cordless direct air up right-FReeFlex that works from a 92V Lithium battery.You can use it with a cord,too.Has a brushroll in it that is similar to Sebo uprights.Think this vacuum can get honorable mentions.

 

[hygiene903]

I Agree!

Kirby, Royal, and other Royal built products (especially Electro-Hygiene) are among my favorites. Both are powerful, durable, and versatile, although Royal tends to be lighter and more maneuverable than Kirby. Both are great for above the floor cleaning, but the Royal attachments are sturdier. However, I don't care much for the newer models of either one. With Kirby that would be anything newer than the Legend II, as if they hadn't made the G models even heavier than before, they wouldn't need to be self-propelled. For the Royals, I don't care for any of them that were built in China after TTI took over, especially the screamers with the higher amp motors.
Jeff

 

[jo]

Hmm…two come to mind.

Kirby for the quality and durability and has some flexibility to be used with attachments and other accessories. For a lightweight direct air vacuum , I like the Hoover platinum collection upright. Nice styling and does a good job and has two speeds and appropriate rollers so it can be used on hard floors as well as carpet and doesn’t require pesky height adjustments and the filtration of the bags and self closing bags are really nice. Suction is quite good on these on high. Now I know they probably aren’t supper durable but that wasn’t a requirement in the thread subject line. I have mostly hard wood floors in my house and some natural stone but could use this Hoover to clean my floors whereas a Kirby…not so much unless one is careful to make sure the nozzle is up off the floor. The Hoover also has the debris scatter prevention design so the roller brush doesn’t fling the dirt out the back of the vacuum. These Hoovers unfortunately aren’t made anymore.

Jon

 

[fan-of-fans]

I haven't tried a Kirby or Royal, but I do have a later plastic Eureka F&G and like it. Lightweight, durable, not too loud, easy to maintain and cleans very well. Also the bags are cheap and hold a lot, and with the Eureka Arm & Hammer bags, don't smell for a long time.

I've got a Hoover Convertible also but it needs some work so have yet to try it. The one I used in the past I liked as well.

 

[eurekaprince]

I too love my Hoover Platinum Lightweight bagged upright…it’s an Oreck clone that is a pleasure to use. Too bad TTI stopped making them.

I also am glad the the tried-and-true Eureka fan-first classic upright is still available under the Sanitaire name. And now that Sanitaire is owned by Bissell, the Bissell versions should provide the same reliable carpet cleaning performance as the Eureka fan-first uprights of the 1970’s.

 

[human]

I'm solidly in the Kirby camp and I also like Eureka/Sanitaire uprights. I'm not put off by the weight of the G3 and newer Kirbys because the Tech Drive works so well. That said, I do see the irony of it and agree that some of its advantage is canceled out by the added bulk. I had a similar experience with a self-propelled lawnmower.

What does put me off on both of the above brands is dump bags. I've had two Kirbys, a Classic III and a Heritage, that came to me with dump bags and both have been retrofitted with Heritage II/Legend II bag systems. Same with the older of my two Sanitaires. The moment I saw an F&G conversion kit with a dozen F&G bags on eBay for $25, I jumped on it without a second thought and haven't looked back.

I would probably appreciate a Royal upright but I've never had the pleasure of using one. The only Royals in my collection are Prince 501 handhelds, which I love for what they are.

 

[vacmadman]

Polished aluminum

One of the requirements to be in my collection is being made of primarily polished aluminum. My Easy Clean was made by Royal but sold under a different name.

Jim

 

[blackheart]

Most of them really.

I appreciate direct air machines for being, generally, very good performers on carpet while, also generally, being efficient energy wise. I like most of them, Kirby, Royal, Eureka/sanitaire, hoovers, orecks, other lightweight direct airs.

 

[stephanb9]

I love that hammered metal on the motor housing on the easy clean and the curved headlight cover really cool twist on the royal vacs.

 

[rivstg1]

i'm a BIG Royal/Kirby fan....have 2 Hoover's as well that are direct air machines....but my heart is with the the former ones .

 

[vacuumman]

In terms of style, nothing beats the twin motor Air-Way. However, for actual cleaning, I would go with a late 80's to early 90's Royal or a G-series Kirby.