what should my next vacuum(s) be?

[katieboo72]

I live in a 2400 sq foot single story home, carpeting in the bedrooms, laminate and tile in bathrooms and common areas. A couple of area rugs. 3 dogs. golden retriever broke our Bissell Cyclonic Lift Pet vacuum's beater brush with his long hair (and I didn't maintain it). Getting new parts, but I've had it with these dusty bagless vacuums with plastic parts and expensive hepa filters.

Trying to research reviews, finding very little helpful info on the web.

Even though there's not much carpet left in the house, it's labor intensive, as the dogs sleep and spend most of their time on the floor in the carpeted master bedroom. And we have a big monolith pottery barn bed that cannot be moved. One dog sleeps under the bed, so I need to be able to get underneath there.

In the rest of the house, tons of furniture, two dining sets, heavy dining chairs (furniture and house came with boyfriend), tough to move around.

I'm open to an upright for carpeted areas and rugs and switching to canister for hard surfaces. And I'd like to keep each vacuum around $200 if possible, I'm fine with used vacuums. Not worried about allergies, I figure a strong powerful vacuum and more frequent vacuuming will help with that.

I'd appreciate your input. I've spent some time reading on VLand I'm kind of in information overload and would simply like a few personal opinions. Thanks!

 

[kirbyclassiciii]

Welcome Christina,

You could always pick up an old Kirby Dual Sanitronic 50 or 80, or an old metal Royal vacuum.

~Ben

 

[sebo_fan]

Can a Kirby or Royal get under a bed though and deal with hard floors?

 

[vacuumfreak95]

Panasonic MC-CG902 canister.

I just purchased this vacuum and I LOVE it! My house is hardwood/area rugs and this does the job very well and is under 200 on Amazon.com where I bought mine! My total was 230 bucks after tax and shipping, but this vacuum is worth every penny to me! Hope this help!

 

[durango159]

I agree with the Panasonic MC-CG902 canister above. No matter the job, it has the tools for it all and is quiet and easy to use!!!

On board tools for every task. Low profile power nozzle fits under beds and low lying furniture. Bare floor brush easily connects to wands for total bare floor cleaning.

Free shipping and less than $200 from this trusted vendor below. 1 machine does everything. You don't need 2!!!!

http://www.vcdiscounter.com/mccg902.html

 

[jade_angel]

Yeah, the Panasonic is a pretty good call.

Another option, if you're looking for an upright and a canister and aren't averse to second-hand: look at a new or used Sanitaire or the low-end Riccar and Simplicity models, plus a used TriStar CXL or Filter Queen. Both TriStar and Filter Queen offer great airflow, great filtration and a dead-simple design that's unlikely to break and easy to fix if it does. For Riccar and Simplicity, they offer both an 8-pound lightweight upright (kinda like an Oreck, but more effective) and a heavier but stronger clean-air upright, known by many names. The current ones are the Riccar Vibrance and Simplicity Symmetry, but older variations have other names: Simplicity 6-series or 7-series, Riccar 8-series.

You will definitely have to go used to get a TriStar or Filter Queen for under $200, but careful shopping on eBay can turn up some steals. You'll probably need to do maintenance - like new bags/filters, belts for the power nozzle, etc, but all that's pretty cheap and very easy.

For uprights, a used Royal or older Kirby is pretty good - few things work better on carpets - but they do have issues with getting under things. If you get a canister with a power nozzle, that's less of an issue, since you can use the PN to get under things.

 

[katieboo72]

Thanks for the input everyone. I'll definitely look into the Panasonic. If I can find a used high end upright, I may still work with two. The master bedroom carpet is kind of like my problem child, it's only maybe 15% of the square footage of the house but it takes up 70% of my carpet cleaning time.

 

[mieles7]

I'd look around for a used Riccar 8900 upright if you go that route. The metal brushrolls on those are amazing on carpet and pet hair, and can be turned off for bare floors. Although some versions of that Riccar don't have on board tools, I'm pretty sure all variants of the 8900 have a port to attach an extended hose. On mine, I've never had to worry about pet hair wrapping around the brushroll due to the hair not being able to stick to the metal. I've seen these go from $50 to $180, depending on the condition and the model. I got really lucky and found mine for only $35, but I would be willing to pay five times that just because the vacuum works so well.

 

[jade_angel]

The Simplicity 6-series and 7-series are almost identical to the Riccar 8900, as well. The major difference between the 6 and 7 is that the 7 can turn off the brush roll, while the 6-series can't.

 

[vacman117]

I'm not a fan of participating in these types of threads but I think you should definitely check out a used Filter Queen. They clean literally everything, and they do a very good job at it. The crazy amount of suction paired with their awesome (in my opinion) bare floor tool works wonders on hard floors, and the power nozzles are pretty decent. You said you don't have very much carpet left, and I know for a fact that it'd do great on area rugs. They're also very easy to work on and easy to get parts for.


 


I've attached a link to a used Majestic on eBay for a Buy It Now price of $229, of course you could probably find them even cheaper than that...


 


Just a suggestion...


 


Chase



http://www.ebay.com/itm/Filter-Quee...290976504411?pt=US_Vacuum&hash=item43bf8d1a5b

 

[bagintheback]

Since you have very little carpeting but lots of furniture, you need a good canister vacuum. The Panasonic and Filter Queen are nice but come with cheap generic attachments. I would suggest something along the lines of a Sebo, but those run way over $200. Take a look into a refurbished Aerus Electrolux. Their attachments are excellent, especially the Sidekick which will really help with upholstery. You could easily get under the bed with the power nozzle, and it's L-shape helps with cleaning in-between chairs. I have a house very similar to what you describe and have been nothing but pleased with my Electrolux. 

 

[dustin]

I would recommend a used Tristar CXL- I have one and I can't believe what it pulls out of our carpets. You can fill the bags completely full and the filtration is excellent. Bags are inexpensive, as are the filters, you have the option of using a HEPA filter or a standard foam filter. I only have the standard filter, and it does just fine. The canister is all metal, and the power nozzle is excellent.

 

[suckolux]

I have owned Tristar, fq and the panasonic/kenmore cannister. All good I think, the tristar I would also add to its benefits, simmple/ easy to repair and also very easy to maneuver around.

 

[eurekaprince]

I would definitely recommend a pair of powerful yet easy to use vacs: the Hoover Platinum Lightweight Bagged upright for carpets, and the bottom of the line Miele Olympus S2120 canister for everything else. These two are very simple basic vacs that are designed well and perform their respective tasks very well!

 

[katieboo72]

Thanks for the continued input and ideas. Tristar's not one I've really looked into so I'll read up more on that one and the electrolux too. I did like the L shape for getting around all the furniture. Good point about the attachments, I've already broken a telescoping wand, the inner plastic ring broke.

 

[blackheart]

Tristar would be an excellent option

A cxl or dxl would be a great choice. They have excellent airflow, and their tools are pretty nice as well.

If you wish to get something slightly newer i'd look into the EXL as far as i know it was the last tristar to use a dual stage motor, and as far as i can tell it has about 3x the airflow of the models using the VM3 motor (MG1 and MG2) It too has the L shaped nozzle but offers better deep cleaning than the electrolux nozzles due to it's weighted cover. They also offer the Ministar, which is a mini electric head meant for stairs and upholstery.

 

[durango159]

Attachments

The Panasonic is still a perfect match as far as attachments go. The Panasonic has a full set of great on board tools. If you're not pleased with what's included then that's an easy fix. The hose has what we call a "Universal End." It will fit most any slide on other attachment from several manufacturers on the market to include many Hoover, Eureka, Dirt Devil, Riccar, generic, central vac tools, etc. The Panasonic also fits a mini power head known as the PowerMate Jr. that is found with many Kenmore machines.

Used Filter Queen, Electrolux and Tristars are nice, powerful machines. However they will only fit attachments specifically designed for those machines. Replacement tools if they break, would be expensive or for an older FilterQueen such as the one on eBay- it may only be an eBay find. That model power head and attachment set has been discontinued 10 years ago!! I myself have not been a fan of Electrolux tools. The floor brush is very small, the upholstery nozzle has adjustable plastic wings. There are no bristles or any form of agitation to remove fluff and hair from a surface with Electrolux/ Aerus upholstery nozzle!!!

 

[katieboo72]

Panasonic problems

Thank you, the panasonic seems like a good fit, especially if I can get it new for 200, but I read a couple of members on this site and some user on Amazon that had problems with the interior filling up with dust because of problems with the bag sealing to the hose.

So I haven't ruled it out, but I'm waiting to read more about it before I order one. I need one to be very user friendly it's been years since I've used a bag vacuum.

 

[durango159]

Panasonic vacs

The body style on that Panasonic model the MC-CG902 is a trusted design that originally showed up on Kenmores about 15 years ago. Since then Kenmores have changed to a cheaper design, but Panasonic has kept it as Panasonic basically manufactures the Kenmore line. Panasonic Kenmores have used the same bag locking system for years. I just looked over reviews on Homedepot website for it. It has 5 Stars from all 9 customer reviews. No mention of the bag issue below!!!

I just read the thread on this website about the bag issue with the filter and am completely dumbfounded by the situation!!! I have never heard or experienced that. I don't own that same model Panasonic but I have used numerous times the exact same design and had ZERO issues with it. If using the proper 5055 C paper bags or Q bags and installed properly with bag door shut right and I think its best to reinstall hose after changing bag then I think there should be no problems.

Otherwise, other Panasonic MC-CG917, or MC-CG937 have a different designed bag system. I have friends that own the MC-CG917 and love it!! The MC-CG917 has a mini air turbine driven power head for upholstery along with a combination upholstery/ dusting brush. So it's a slightly different attachment set. Still has the Universal Fit hose so you can use several other possible attachments with the machine. The black and green trimmed MC-CG917 is pictured below. You'll notice that the power nozzle is the same design but suction unit is different!

If you get canister power head system, I would get an extra set of wands for the bare floor attachment. This adds convenience and also puts far less wear and tear on the power nozzle wiring connections regardless if its a cord going up the wand or a quick release pedal. An extra set of wands--- could be various types will probably run about $20 and in the long run will prove very convenient. The fabulous thing about the power nozzle canister system is you'll have 1 machine to tackle all of your household chores rather than an upright strictly for carpets and a portable canister strictly for bare floors. So really an extra $20 or so for a separate set of wands for the bare floor brush is a tremendous savings over buying a second vacuum!!! Slightly higher price for the MC-CG917 at $236 but far less than buying 2 separate machines and still a great valued, powerful machine.

http://www.target.com/p/panasonic-c...ilight-green/-/A-14504415#prodSlot=medium_1_2