Mike_W

If you like the SEBO upright, then I would suggest that you purchase it.  Make sure it meets all of you needs.  You said that you have alot of carpeting.  It filters well and the bags will not cost as much as Miele.  SEBO vacuum cleaners are very reliable, like Miele.   Am I correct in assuming that you are not in North America?

You may be confused about vacuum cleaners and Carpet washers(Steam cleaners/Extractors in the U.S.)  Vacuum cleaners are used on a regular basis like once a week.  They pick up dirt debris like hair, dirt, etc.  Carpet washers are used occasionally, like once or twice a year.  They are used after you first vacuum.  It then loosens and picks up any hidden soil and grime attached to the carpeting.  The machine applies a cleaning solution, scrubs the carpeting, then sucks the dirt solution up into a tank.  You should not use a Carpet washer instead of a vacuum cleaner.  If you have carpeting, it would be beneficial to always have a vacuum cleaner.

Catlady;

With all the animals in your home, I would have never recommended the machine you have.  At this rate, the cost per year, for bags alone, is going to be approx. $100.00.  I would have recommended a bagless vacuum cleaner and just ask other family members to empty it , if emptying is a problem for you.

With Miele bags, as well as other bags using the polymer, clothlike material,  the amount of debris collected can be much more than   microlined bags before performance is compromised.  The Miele will have tremendous power until the bag can fill no more.  So keep filling.  With other bags I say to chance when 3/4 full, but these bags can hold much more.

A central vacuum system has its advantages like filtering the dirt away from the living area and larger dirt capacity.  There is something I do not know if you have considered in your situation.  You will be vacuuming everyday.  This means that you will have to get the 30ft hose out, plus the other attachments.  You will have to figure out if you want to do this everyday.  There are those who use a regular vacuum cleaner and add a lighter one, because they do not want to even pull out the full-sized vacuum cleaner.

Motorhead wrote:
I do not know if you can say that Douglas "private-labeled" for Kirby when Douglas and Kirby are owned by the same company S&F(owned by Berkshire Hatheway).  Douglas models were also under the Kirby banner like the corded Vacuette, the rechargeable Split Second handvac and the Split Second II, which was a handvac that plugged into your automobile cig lighter.

CarmineD wrote: It is fine if you disagree w/me.  I think you need to explain more how water is going to degrade the cloth vacuum bag of this Eureka.  There are actually other factors that degrade cloth and it is not water and detergent.  The sun is one of them.  Another is bleach.  How about agitation and friction.  If the Eureka bag is so old and frail, then I think the agitation and friction, from a broom, will be damaging also.

Venson wrote:
Ah, so that is where you got your info for Michael.  Notice nowhere did it say  "Do Not Wash the Bag".  HOOVER, and others, wanted to make maintenance of their machines easy.  Users would not wash their bag nor would they sweep it out.  Who wants to clean their shake out vacuum bag.  Hey, plenty of vacuum makers told people to empty their bags after every use.  But did they do that? No.  What do they do if the bag needed to be cleaned?  They would  take it to the vac shop and it would be hooked up to a machine that brushes it for them.

Hand washing a cloth bag on the Eureka Rotomatic/Super Rotomatic canister would probably only be done once or twice in its lifetime.  There is no reason to wash it on a monthly basis.  The above poster, Michael, is a collector.  He wants to make his newly acquired machine more presentable.  The handwashing will not hurt the bag if he has examined it before he washes.

You will be hardpressed to find any old manuals that state, "Do Not Wash".  Today it is different, because shake-out bags are made differently.  I know that for years, Eureka/Sanitaire always says, "DO NOT WASH OR DRYCLEAN".  I also know that today, there are some that say it is fine to wash.  Take a look at Air Storm.

To sum things up, it is fine to wash the outer bag of a canister like the Eureka Rotomatic/Super Rotomatic.  As a collector, Michael, you have to examine it first and make sure it will hold up to a washing.  If it is hard and brittle, it ain't going to make it.