Vacuum Cleaner Review

Procure the best vacuum cleaner and usher in freshness into your indoor environment. Just like a dishwasher, a trash compactor or a garbage disposal, vacuum cleaners help in good housekeeping with reduced time and effort. Equip yourself with interesting and beneficial facts about vacuum cleaners.

Read this informative vacuum cleaner review to make informed decisions before investing on a vacuum cleaner. This will make it easier to choose the one that suits your specific need from amongst the hundreds of different types and models available in the market. Is it better to go in for vacuum cleaner bag or a bagless model?

Choosing Vacuum cleaners

The first step to consider before you set out to purchase a vacuum cleaner is to evaluate the use. A lot depends on variety of surfaces that require the use of a cleaning machine.

• Commercial or household purpose
  
• General cleaning or allergen specific
  
• Carpeted or non-carpeted floors
  
• Top areas or hard to reach places
  

We will restrict our vacuum cleaner guide to household cleaning purposes. The market is full of innovative vacuum cleaner models and choosing the right one can be quite daunting. The size of your house plays a major role in deciding the best vacuum cleaner. A full-size canister vacuum cleaner is ideally suited for a very large house.

Choose a vacuum cleaner with substantial suction power if you have considerable carpeting in the house. The type of vacuum cleaner you choose also depends on your storage options. While upright vacuum cleaners can be easily stored in a compact closet, canister vacuum cleaners need more space. Canister vacuum cleaners are easier to move on bare floors and carpets. Vacuum cleaners differ widely in their life expectancy.

While some can last you a lifetime, others don't last more than a few years. Choosing a vacuum cleaner that allows good servicing may cost more but will last longer. Vacuum cleaners that come in sealed motor houses are not easy to repair. Regular cleaning of the vacuum cleaner parts, roller brush and replacing the belt and inner bag can go a long way in maintaining it in good working condition.

Vacuum cleaner review

Vacuum cleaners come in different style options each with its own features. You need to choose the best vacuum cleaner - the right size, right style, right price and accessories.

• Upright
  
• Canister
  
• Wet/dry
  
• Bag
  
• Broom stick
  
• Handheld
  
• HEPA Filters
  
• Central Vacuums
  

Upright vacuum cleaner

• Best suited for carpet cleaning especially for large homes
  
• Lightweight and easy to navigate
  
• Height Adjustments possible
  
• Less expensive when compared to canister vacuum cleaner
  
• Easier to change dust bag
  
• Tools and accessories are not very user-friendly
  
• Not very effective on hard surfaces
  

Canister vacuum cleaner

• Ideal for hard surfaces, upholstery, linoleum, wood, tiles and stairs
  
  
• Easily portable
  
  
• Offers greater suction and airflow
  
  
• Smaller nozzles facilitate cleaning the hard-to-reach areas
  
• Excellent electrostatic or HEPA filtration
  

Wet/dry cleaner vacuum cleaner

• Suited for liquid spills as well as dry debris
  
  
• Not so ideal for household use
  

Bagless (Hard bag) vacuum cleaner

• Ideally suited for those suffering from allergy
  
  
• Saves on the buying of vacuum cleaner bag
  
  
• Emptying a filled vacuum cleaner bag can be messy
  

Broom stick (stick vacs) vacuum cleaner

• Easy for use on upholstery and hardwood floors
  
  
• Suitable for small area cleaning
  
  
• Cannot offer deep cleaning
  
  
• Consumes less power
  

Handheld vacuum cleaner

• Can be used for cleaning car interiors, crevices in kitchens and other room
  
  
• Battery operable
  
  
• Weak motor
  

Central vacuum cleaners are usually mounted in the garage or basement. It is designed to vacuum every room in the house. But it needs elaborate pipe systems and is ideal when done for a new house. Robotic vacuum cleaner models roam the floor space. They can be programmed to do so. You can look for additional features such as heated cleaning, dirt indicator sensors, built-in water pump and HEPA filters.

Vacuum cleaners with HEPA filters are a boon for allergy sufferers since the air quality is maintained. The average vacuum cleaner only filters particles from 30 to 50 microns, thus exhausting harmful respirable allergens back into the air. Installing HEPA filters can go a long way in ensuring air filtration so that your home is sans allergens.

Vacuum cleaner bag

A vacuum cleaner bag needs to be cleaned and changed when it is full. Periodic cleaning of brush rollers and other parts of the vacuum cleaner is essential to keep it in good shape. Bags must never be reused as it reduces the efficiency of the airflow and cleaning. Some models come with self-sealing bags that make for easier disposal.

Bagless vacuum cleaners only need to be emptied when they are full. You are saved the bother of replacing the vacuum cleaner bag and buying new ones. Since bagless vacuum cleaners use more advanced technology, they are priced slightly higher. They may work out to be more cost-effective in the long run though.

Vacuum cleaner parts

Vacuum cleaners come with versatile accessories that aid the cleaning process and allow you to put it to multiple uses.

Crevice tool: gets in tight corners and around the edge of the floor.

Extension wand: makes the hose longer for hard to reach areas.

Hose couplings: joins the extension wand to the hose.

Combination wet/dry nozzle: alleviates the need to switch nozzles before switching functions.

Gulper nozzle: great for the wet vacuum function.

Round brush: used for scrubbing

Cleaning kit: includes all items needed to clean upholstery and other areas.

Vacuum cleaner guide

• Check the capacity of the vacuum cleaner measured in watts : the higher the wattage, better is the cleaning capability and paradoxically you will use less electrical power in the long run. But check the wall utility socket for adequate capacity. You can't plug in a machine which draws 15 A into a wall socket rated at 10 Amps.
  
  
• Check the number of fans as part of the vacuum cleaner. More than 1 is recommended for improved suction power.
  
  
• Check the presence of any special filtration filters for it can benefit quality filtration. Do remember to check the dust bag quality to avoid messy work.
  
  
• Check if the brushes are of revolving type. This helps in picking up far reaching particles and also supports better operation.
  
  
• Check use of quality hose and nozzle design too. These will have an impact on suction.
  
  
• Check for CRI (Carpet and Rug Institute) Green Label. This certifies adherence to stringent performance standards.
  

Effective use of vacuum cleaner

• High-traffic areas should be vacuum frequently so as to control dirt accumulation and deposition too deeply into carpets.
  
  
• Light-soiling areas need a minimum of three passes and heavily soiled areas need at least five to seven passes with the Vacuum cleaner.
  
  
• Beater-bars and turbo brushes should be turned off while using Vacuum cleaner on delicate rugs.
  
  
• Avoid over-filling of bags as it means incomplete suction.
  
  
• Furniture can be vacuumed once a week.
  
  
• Use an edge cleaner for cleaning tight edges of carpets.
  
  
• Change vacuum cleaner bag as required to avoid breeding of bacteria.
  
  
• To avoid electric shock, do not stand on wet surface.