Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

Shark is going after the Dyson Ball pretty hard with the Navigator product.  It claims no loss of suction and claims its just as easy to maneuver as the Dyson Ball.  After acknowledging Dyson as the first to offer no loss of suction, they go for the throat.  They do a direct comparison to a Dyson Ball and state that they are equal in all ways (easy to maneuver, no loss of suction, 5 year warranty) but price.  For less than $200 you can get a Shark Navigator with a free steam cleaner thrown in to boot. 

In the UK wehre we have Kim and Aggie's How Clean Is Your House, there's been a few episodes where theyve recommended adding baking powder manually to dust bags in vacuums. Thus and on the basis that online bicarb of soda powder is mentioned for a myriad of odour control solutions I and others have done the bicarb of soda in bags manually. It does keep odours away but I would'nt imagine many buying the upright on that basis just because bags may well come with the stuff added into the layers. I think the reason to why the Electrolux Professional has done badly is because of an online "independent" test that was shown recently in the UK. Having read Kim and Aggie's Ultimate Guide to Cleaning where no manufacturer is actually listed to vacuum cleaner brand preference, on TV their cleaning companies use a mix of Henry canisters and Sebo's BS commercial uprights. If you're interested in watching the video shown here's the link: http://fwd.five.tv/gadget-show/videos/jon-test/jon-tests-vacuum-cleaners You'll see from this that the Professional model gets the thumbs up from Kim but the carpet tests reveals that pick up wasn't as successful as the two bagless uprights shown.

Tried to watch the videos but unsuccessful.  Warning message says unable to watch from location/country.

Carmine D.

vacmanuk wrote:

Did all Vacuums tested have a Brushroll or were they suction only?

vacmanuk wrote:

What kind of test dirt did they use in their tests?  

If Dyson's were more sturdy, I would think they would make a good commercial cleaner for low pile carpeting.

Severus wrote:

Agree.  The bagless venue if properly constructed offers an ideal product for the commercial cleaning market.

Carmine D.

CarmineD wrote:

I would think they would want to copy some of the features of the Windsor/Sebo line as well.   The long hose could go, and be replaced with a better set up - like the Shark Navigator's.   

They used the following contents to test pick up: Bird seed Coco pops Plastic squares (about 1") or it may have been chocolate squares Hay flecks An actual bag of household dust mixed in Actual pet hair The video doesn't give a complete iota of what has been tested as a stats list but rather used visually for a quick assessement. Both the Hoover and the Dyson bagless uprights picks up 100% whereas the Professional bagged Electrolux left a few bits out.

vacmanuk wrote:

I would have liked to see the video.   I think there are some differences in how carpets are tested in the US and UK.   Dyson seems to do a lot better in the UK tests than the US tests.  Perhaps the lower voltage US machines just don't clean as well. 

The Five Gadget Show in the UK is an independent company so the test carried out - I think - isn't as variable as the one they showed. It was after all a short presentation to see which out of the three vacs tested picked up and remained the most versatile. Hoover's awful Slalom (I had one!) seemed to agree with what I initially didnt like about it - tools and mechanisms that dont quite work making it time consuming. I was really surprised about the so-called Electrolux Professional. I thought they would have gone with the Sebo inspired design and fitted a motor drive belt, but no it runs on old fashioned rubber belts and you have to manually change the height setting of the brush bar. Im not that surprised that it didn't do too well on the pick up test though - the brush roll seemed to be at odds with its general design and I think the strips are replaceable.

Happened to be in the local KOHL's and stopped by the vacuum aisle to scope out the Navigator.  Only one available was the display.  Apparently the store had a run on them for the Christmas holidays.  Talked with staff there and appranetly the lightweight and price are pluses with the buyers.

Carmine D.