What is the worst vacuum from the past 20-ish years?

[hoover300]

I bought a Bissell Cleanview Rewind 4 years ago, and it was pretty bad. the rewind weakened drastically after about 3 months, and it blew dust no matter how much I cleaned it, and the power brush broke after about 5 months.
I know pretty much everybody hates Eureka Lightspeeds, but I got an early one for free that had been sitting out, completely exposed in the elements for more than a year, and it still worked!
What are your worst vacuums?
~K

 

[turbo500]

This thing.

 

[huskyvacs]

Eureka The Boss Superlite. A truly wretched vacuum.

 

[dysonman1]

The Hoover Z was REALLY bad. I bought one for $50 on closeout at Home Depot years ago and detested it. Nothing good about it. They had this stupid idea to use a 'self cleaning' filter that couldn't clean itself. Just worthless.

The other machine that's totally worthless as a vacuum cleaner is The Pigg. It cannot be used as a vacuum cleaner successfully. It's actually worse than the first Big Power vacuums.

 

[tolivac]

The Premeir Mastercraft upright I ordered for a radio station from a janitorial supply dealer.Based on the later GE-premier uprights.Had a steel fan that beroke more easily than most plastic or aluminum ones and the base would break when the fan broke.Replaced that abomination with a metal Royal upright from the same janitorial ssupplier-they started carrying Royal.Was SN MUCH better!The Mastercraft met its pressing-crushing fate in the hopper of an E-Z pack RL trash truck.Delightful to see that horrible Mastercraft reduced to plastic schrapnel!!!Have the bag for it somewhere.Only thing that was any good!

 

[fan-of-fans]

I have one of those Eureka Boss Superlites. They are very cute vacuums and I like the two motor design, but I hate how loud they are and the filtration is poor. I guess some of their other similar machines like the Optima would be a slightly better choice.

Hoover Z - never used one but did try pushing one that came into Habitat. Was way too heavy, would not have wanted to carry that thing down the stairs! Others commented on the weight as well. I do kind of like the looks of the silver ones though with the LED headlights.

For me, it's hard to say which is the worst exactly. I just generally don't like the bagless vacuums we've had with their poor filter designs, especially those with paper filter that instantly clog. Bagless systems have gotten a lot better since they've gone with dual cyclones instead of the single cyclones they used to use which made the filters clog worse.

 

[mikanic]

Hoover itself!

I'm really frustrated at Hoover right now. They really did follow that idiotic theory of 'Everything that could be invented has been invented'.

They made ads in the 90s saying they were 'proud' to say they were updating their products to fit the modern era. They should have NEVER done that.

These models were the worst:
Whirlwind, the ONE, Dust Manager (I mean the lot).

They decided NOT to make their own machines and handed their work to someone else who had never heard of the companies work- the P.R.C! A place where the 'powerful' future was based. Call it power? I call it efficiency, not power. 2.4kw, heat, noise, everything. I'm so glad the EU stopped it all. (I'm sorry if I sound too angry)

It's not only Hoover who make bad vacuums, so do Dyson. They over-price their work and make so many suspicion-threatening claims, for example 'Better than any other vacuum', 'More suction than any other robotic vacuum', 'Replaces the big corded vacuum' and so on. I saw a review of their V10 vacuum on YouTube from a channel named 'NumaticVacuum' and the person making the video said it wasn't very inconvenient. I see what he means there- constantly changing floor tools. I actually used one in Currys PC World and (this is embarrassing) the unit is more heavier than the rest! Meaning it figuratively clings onto you saying 'Oohh, I've got a fan!'. That type of vacuum is certainly not what I call a 'stick' vacuum.

I can promise you, in the end, it's all 100% opinion based. You might not think it's all that bad, and that's OK!

 

[bryan1980]

Tough to name just one

There have been so many terrible vacuums made recently! Dyson may be the worst, on a price-per-performance basis. Sharks aren't great, either, but they're better than most Dysons, for about half the price.

 

[human]

That's easy. Anything plastic and bagless.

 

[nicktechtalk]

Fantom Wildcat?

I know a lot of people have never seen or used a Wildcat before, but they are hilariously cheaply made. The handle breaking off was a common design flaw in these machines and the brushroll was very small and had a narrow opening. Finding one of these machines is very difficult nowadays and I've only come across one (photo below is of mine). Did not deep clean that well in my opinion but I rarely used it due to how fragile the handle is.

 

[tolivac]

According to CU tests the Wildcat vacuum was a GREAT dust blower-it would blow the dust you picked up to be filtered in your lungs or back on the surfaces you just tried to clean!I have seen these in stores long ago they did not make me go head-over-heals to buy one.

 

[josh1998]

Shark lift away

Shark vacuums are really popular right now but they aren't great. I have the shark rotator lift away. My mom gave it to me for Christmas last year. They are cheaply made for one thing. They are heavy considering they are all plastic and the vacuum body is so clunky it won't even go under a standard height coffee table. The carpet nozzle is really small and it takes longer to vacuum large spaces than it does with a standard size upright vacuum. It's also hard to push on thick carpeting. It's bagless and it doesn't filter well. And the design of the dirt container lets dirt get stuck in the sides. When I would empty it I always had to pull wads of dirt out from around the edges with my hand. Eww. It has a decent turbo brush for pet hair but the other attachments are pathetic. The dusting brush is like a tiny dusting brush with bristles about 1/4 an inch long. Pitiful trying to dust with that thing. It has a stretch hose but that's not a plus. The hose shrinks up if you obstruct the suction by using the turbo nozzle or the crevice tool. If you dont have the canister part detached when the hose shrinks it pulls the entire vacuum over and it goes crashing to the ground. If you dont have the optional roller cart for the canister, which I don't, you have to carry the canister part around with you when it's lifted off. You totally can't move it. If you try to pull the canister it just falls on it's side and drags. The canister is heavy and it gets tedious carrying it around if you're vacuuming baseboards or something. The 2 pluses with the shark are that it's very quiet and it's cool looking. I found a Kirby g4 on CL for $45 and I love it. It's ten times better than my shark! The shark has been retired to the guest bedroom closet.

 

[rivstg1]

josh1988

great review/contrast of the Shark lift away! Nicely detailed...you brought up points that I didn't know

 

[josh1998]

Rivstg1

Thanks. But I realized I didn't mention anything about the sharks cleaning ability. It does have strong suction and it does a pretty good job on carpeting. The first time I vacuumed my house with it I had to empty the dirt canister 4 times before I got the whole house done. But the main reason for that was because I had been using a straight suction canister for several months before I got the shark and Im sure there was a lot of built up dog hair and grit the canister couldn't pick up. Then every time I vacuumed with it the canister was full by the time I did the whole house so I thought it was doing a good job. When I used my Kirby the first time I could actually hear it picking up all kinds of grit and sand. It had a new bag in it and when I finished vacuuming the bag wasn't nearly full or anything but it had a little weight to it which is a sure sign with a vacuum bag that you've picked up a butt load of grit and sand. My mom has a shark too and I vacuumed her house with my kirby. I started with a new bag and it picked up even more grit than it had in my house.

So the shark does a great job cleaning surface dirt and pet hair but despite it's powerful suction it doesn't do a good job deep cleaning carpets. I think maybe it's because of the carpet nozzle. It's pretty much like a tiny powernozzle you would find on a canister. It does have a cogged belt and the brushroll revolves strongly. But for whatever reason it doesn't deep clean carpets. And to be fair I did vacuum my house again with the shark after I had used the Kirby and there was nothing in the canister but a tiny bit of fuzz. On the plus side for the shark is the fact it did a great job on bare floors. The brushroll turns off and it picked up all the hair and crumbs off the kitchen floor with no problem. It has an air driven turbo brush for upholstery and it did an awesome job cleaning dog hair off the sofa.

The shark is clunky and awkward to use with the hose attachments and it doesn't deep clean carpets well. But from a collecting perspective they are cool to own because they are unique and in my opinion very cool looking.

 

[dirtmaster37]

Worst.. and HEAVIEST. POFS....of ALL!!!!!!!!!

This. DAMN. THING!! HEAVY. BULKY. LOUD. WEIRD CORD. did I say HEAVY!!!!

As a Royal dealer, we sold WAY too many of them surprisingly. Within abt. 3 yrs 90% of them that were sold, were replaced by a regular Royal All Metal Upright, usually an 8200 etc.

I cant tell you how many of these ship anchors we had in our warehouse. Let's just say that there was ALOT of scrap aluminum and plastic to send to the local recyclers after we parted them. We hired college kids to do it. Took a whole summer...

Let's say that Royal lost ALOT of customers because of this Titanic. And so did we. I speak not of this machine, as it still causes some of our older employees to swear (such as F*** that thing), or at least give angry looks, or red faces.... I use a smooth combination of the choices, when I think of them...(that STUPID fu***ng P.O.S. for example)....

To further a point, or the WRETCHEDNESS of this GDT...A chain of dealers, over by Detroit had a lady who really was pissed off by hers. From what I've been told, she actually strapped hers somehow to the back of her Cadillac, and drove around her area of town with signs taped to it saying she got screwed by... one of the very first to fail in our district. Thankfully, she was the only CooCooCahcChoo I heard of. And we had many of our OWN to choose from, of the angry individuals.

This GOD DAMNED THING...... Id rather use a Regina Housekeeper.

Anywho..

Chad

 

[josh1998]

Ok....so don't kill me Chad but that thing looks totally cool! I'm not saying it's any good, just that it looks way cool. I wouldn't mind having one just as a collection piece.

 

[completenutt]

I agree with Josh...

Gorgeous door stops are hard to find!  

 

[kirbysthebest]

I bought my brother and sister in law a Powercast as a housewarming gift when they bought their house. They absolutely hate it. In fourteen years, I would be safe to say it still has the original bag in it.

I thought it was pretty cool. They don't.

 

[fan-of-fans]

Shark

Have tried the Shark at work. Mostly just used the hose to clean around the computer. I thought the attachments were pretty good compared to most newer uprights. Pretty good size dusting brush with decent bristles and crevice tool. No upholstery tool, had a turbo tool but didn't use it.

There were actually two, the first was the silver and purple model, and the one that seems to have replaced it is white and red. I liked the hose design of the first one better, just pull it out to use it. The new one requires a button to be pressed and then the handle comes off with the hose and a wand attached, a little trickier to use.

As far as floor cleaning, I found the cleaning path to be too narrow. It seemed to have decent agitation, liked the brushroll indicator and shutoff, but I could just tell it wasn't a deep cleaner by how it felt. Too light and the brush didn't seem to propel it as well as other uprights I have and have used.

The new one also has a floor brush with a microfiber cloth on it, haven't seen it used yet.

 

[tolivac]

Royal Powercast-yes they look "cool" but a total failure as Dirtmaster37 says.I own two of these beasts-the direct air Royal metals OUTPERFORM these hulks with LESS power.The "dirt devil" paper bags these machines used were pitiful.They would clog quickly so you had to replace the paper bags in these often.the machine drew too much power often tripping 15A breakers when no other appliances on the circuit.And you needed a truck or tractor to push those things.They didn't last with a local cleaning service here.They quickly went back to their Sanitaires.If a Powercast fell off their truck the machine was hopeless.

 

[dirtmaster37]

Killing, and good looks..Oh My!!

I wont disagree at all that they are cool looking. In fact that helped sell them. To me, it kinda resembles what would happen if you crossed your eyes and other things, you mated Air-Way DirtMasteR from the 30's; with it's sister an Air-Way Twin motor of the same vintage ( hey this happens in ArrrKansas).... Then that offspring later on mated with a Royal Dirt Devil, and had a lovechild which ended up being he Powercast.

There were three models that I clearly remember. The Blue trim was the base model, IIRC didn't come with tools (but had a cheap set like the next one as an option); the Rose/Reddish color was the middle of the road, had a few more features, and IIRC came with a cheap plastic tool-set. And finally the Grey one, that had all the bells, and whistles, and a deluxe tool-set that had metal wands etc... It's been a LONG time since I thought about them, but that seems to be what was offered. Good/Better/Best...

So, to many at that point in time, the weight was actually an asset. To many a heavy machine feels solid, and therefore a good buy. Ask anyone who buys a Kirby, a Miele U1 upright range, or a dual motor anything from Tacony. It shocked me, being that this was nearly 30 lbs; as to how many felt that way (that it was solid and therefore worthy of purchase). These same persons were also still buying competitor vacuums that weighed about or near the same. Or had an equally heavy machine prior too...

And how quickly the enthusiasm failed, the production lines fell silent, replacements with regular models mounted, or a rebate of sorts. Kinda how Ford Motor felt in 1959 when the discontinued the Edsel. Hence why many that I knew from our area, called it Royal's Edsel. It probably had alot to do with why Royal became less itself, and more a corporate conglomerate. I'ms sure that they lost money on the whole fiasco. Certainly someone was taken to the factory courtyard, and strapped prostrate, and spanked before the crowd. Or just got fired. Or maybe im a pervert. Hmmn.

Ahh memories. Another that was similar in my mind was the Hoover Z for (Zilch sales). As heavy, looked like someone gutted Johnny5 and put in vacuum motors and called it the evolution of Hoover. Nope that was another nail in the coffin of the big H itself..

And more anon...


Chad

 

[tolivac]

The HEAVY Powercast had NO assisted or self propel as the Kirby and some other vacuums out there.The cleaning service out here who tried the Powercast HATED it because it was just too heavy and clumsy to use-esp women operators.And they HATED trying to carry them on or off the service van.Can see why a few of them got dropped.The Hoover Z was simply like pushing a clumsy wheelbarrow full of bricks.And it was just an AWKWARD machine.The cleaning services didn't care about tools-they had separate canisters.Too many folks out there a HEAVY machine is a turnoff-just too heavy to lift and use-clumsy as well.At least you can get the hang of using the Kirby with its assisted propel.and it was LIGHRTER than either the Powercast or Z.And the Z didn't have a self propel and was equipped with that STUPID rotating filter that didn't work.Kinda like the Keeler device that is so hated here.

 

[durango159]

Awwww Chad!!!

I actually really love the Royal PowerCast!! It's one of my favorite vacs to use whenever I visit a collector who has one. I agree with you Josh, as a collector it looks SUPER COOL!!!

That being said my pick for the worst vacuum over the past 20 years would be the god awful Eureka Maxima/ Powerline lineup. These uprights came in both bagged and bagless form and both absolutely atrocious!!

If you want a dust spewer for all of your attempted cleaning and the dirt to remain on the floor while attempting to clean then these god awful things are for you!! The sounded absolutely awful and were clogged in seconds whether you got the punishment of using the bagged or bagless one!!

YUCK!!

 

[gregvacs28]

Anything bagless.


It doesn't matter if's upright, canister, central Vacuum, a shop vac, or even a cheap 12 volt car vacuum that plugs into your dash.

 

[kloveland]

Regina Housskeeper

Me too Chad. I'm being sarcastic and serious at the same time lol!

 

[vacuumdevil]

@kloveland the Regina housekeeper was pretty bad. At the same time there was the Phantom which was worse. And who could forget some of the Bissell products of the time?

 

[mark40511]

I wish I could remember

what upright vacuum I bought brand new on some website. It was a commercial "sealed" Eureka I think, but I could be wrong. I'm thinking it was between 225 and 300 dollars. It was bagged. Maybe it was a hoover or sanitaire. I honestly can't remember. I remember it was a hard-bodied vac. The thing I hated about it was the suction was horrible. I literally couldn't believe how horrible it was.....I ended up giving it to someone. I wish I could remember the model but I can't. This was probably around 2007 (ish).

 

[gregvacs28]

Bissell zing bagged

Bought one of these last summer.  When camping for the summer in a camping trailer.


 


It does NOT stand on end, as shown in the picture.  There are no supports for that and the cord end sticks out of the cord winder.


It makes a annoying high-pitched noise.


The thing gave off a burning smell which I thought was just the result of being new; but over time, it didn't get better.


I paid like $60.


 


Frankly, it helped me get interested in researching central vacuums as I realized if the vacuum were outside and I simply got a long hose, which I did, the noise, the smell, and any dust would stay outside.  I ordered a 15' shop vac hose and adapted to this and put the vac right outside the door when vacuuming.  Worked great that way.


 


It was a bad vac, but with a very positive outcome.

 

[mariotron]

Dirt Devil Breeze bagless

The exhaust was in the front so it blew stuff everywhere and the curtains would go flying and occasionally the dust cup would fall off spill. Plus it was a PAIN to clean the filter.

BTW the that Power Cast... how is the hose connected? I've seen one in person.