Are you in the market for a vacuum cleaner? If yes, then the following info will help you pick the right vacuum.
Which is the best vacuum?
Most people are trying to find the best vacuum, but what is the best one on the market?
In fact, it depends on your budget, cleaning needs, personal preference, etc. Mostly your budget and cleaning needs. For example, if you need a deep cleaner for vacuuming carpeted surfaces, then a top rated light weight vacuum for quick pick up definitely is not the best one for you. A vacuum cleaner that does a good job on removing dog hair might not be good on cat litter.
Budget is also a very important factor. If you have limited budget and are looking for the best vacuum under $100, then those high rated items that are priced over $1000 obviously are not your options, even though they work far better than the cheaper ones. So, set your budget and knowing your cleaning needs first.
Tips on Finding the Right Vacuum
There is one easy way to find a good vacuum that meets your needs. Visit those big online retailer websites, such as Amazon.com and Walmart.com, locate to the vacuum category, set price range, choose the top 5 – 10 best selling items that fit your needs. Read reviews, then buy the right one. For reading reviews, there is one useful tip to save you time. Go to the product page, enter “pros”,”cons”,”goods”,”bads”,or similar words in the review search box, read the pros and cons of the vacuums that are pointed out by users. If you think the pros outweigh the cons, then the vacuum is a good one to consider. Otherwise, just move on.
Reading reviews written by users is an effective way to do research on a product before placing an order. However, some people do not trust the online reviews. If you are one of them, you can also choose the offline way to do the research, such as visiting local stores to test the best selling vacuums, and you can also ask for advice from people around you who have a vacuum and similar cleaning needs.
Upright, Canister, Stick, Handheld or Robotic Vacuum
Generally speaking, upright vacuum is the bulkiest and heaviest, but has the best suction power for deep and whole house cleaning. Most upright vacuum cleaners come with motorized beater bar which is powerful enough to deep clean carpets, such as pull up embedded pet hair. And they usually feature variable height settings for different kinds of carpets and hard floors. Commonly, they also have long wands for cleaning areas like walls and ceiling, and also other attachments for cleaning crevice and upholstery. However, if you to thoroughly clean a carpet, an upright vacuum is not enough for such job, you will need a carpet washing machine, such as the Bissell Big Green Commercial BG10 and Professional 86T3, to remove those stains and odor. And most upright vacuum cleaners are heavy, bulky and not very easy to maneuver. Some people believe that an upright has higher chance to damage hard floors than other types of vacuum cleaners due to its heavy weight and beater bar (some vacuums allow you to turn off the rotary bar).
Here comes the canister vacuum, it provides enough suction for cleaning hard floors. Some units have suction only and have no rotating brush to risk the wood floors, such as these vacuums without beater bar. The cleaner head usually is low enough to get under furniture. It also weighs less than an upright, this makes it more portable and convenient to carry up and down flights of stairs to do the cleaning jobs. But it has less power than an upright, and is still not convenient enough for fast clean up.
If you need one for daily quick pick up, then you might want to consider a stick vacuum. Commonly it is lighter and more portable than the upright and canister. For vacuuming stairs, tight areas, under furniture, or doing quick pickup on hard floors, a stick vac will meet your needs. Stick vacuum cleaners are lightweight, compact, easy to maneuver, and with low profile design. Though they cannot replace the full size cleaners, they are very helpful for doing the small cleaning jobs between periodic deep vacuuming.
There are more lighter and smaller vacuum cleaners that are called handheld vacuum cleaner. Most of this type of vacuum cleaners are ideal for cleaning furniture, tight spots, stairs, lampshades, countertops and other above the floor surfaces. Hand vac can also be used to clean car interior.
Besides the several types of vacuum cleaners mentioned above, there is a new type of vacuum, it is the robotic vacuum which allows you to set the cleaning schedule, and the vacuum cleaner will works by itself – charges and vacuums automatically. The robot vacuum is getting more and more popular nowadays.
Corded or Cordless
If you want to vacuum without worrying the battery power, or need more power, just choose the corded ones. If you like to clean around freely without the restriction of the cord, then buy the battery powered vacuum. Generally speaking, corded vacs are more powerful than cordless items, cordless ones are more expensive because of the battery pack. And most cordless vacuums are stick or handheld. For upright and canister, the battery cannot handle the heavy work.
Bagged or Bagless
Generally speaking, using bagged vacuum will cost you more money because you have to keep buying bags, but the good thing is you just need to dump the bag without dealing with so much mess when taking out a dust cup to empty and clean up. For bagless, you save money on bags, but more mess while emptying. For people who suffer from allergy or asthma, bagged should be a better choice, such as this Miele canister bagged vacuum with power head.
Other info you may be interested in reading if you are a pet owner.
The dangers of pet hair:
Pet hair can harbor dander, dust, pollen, etc. And it can also stir up allergies and other health problems. If it is not removed from your house, it will be bad for your family’s health. Therefore you need a good vacuum to deal with the dog and cat hair.
Tips to reduce the pet hair problem in your home:
You can brush your pets often to remove their dead hair.
You can limit the places your dogs and cats can go.
Feed your pets with high quality pet food, this will reduce pet hair shedding.