Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

I would like to hear the experiences of owners/users of the following lightweight bagged uprights in comparison to the Orecks and each other

HOOVER PLATINUM

BISSELL, now available as Karcher, Tornado, Powerflite and MaidLight

RICCAR and SIMPLICITY

HOOVER and ROYAL clean n' light

any others I have missed/neglected to mention

with regard to deep cleaning an various carpet/floor surfaces, surface litter/pet hair pickup, bare floor cleaning, edge cleaning, cleaning under furniture (nozzle raising up or not) noise, ease of use, and cost of maintenance

Well, I have been in the vacuum business for awhile now. I have sold my share of lightweights. As far as power and cleaning capability, Riccar outperforms any Oreck. Oreck only cleans the surface, it does not do a deep cleaning as the Riccar. We sell alot more Riccars than Oreck

tomtlb66 wrote:

I hear this often as a selling point for RICCAR/SIMPLICITY lightweight uprights.  Consumer Reports rates RICCAR/SIMPLICITY lightweight models over ORECK, but not by much of a difference, in fact very close in comparative tests.  Explain please, if you will, the reasons that the RICCAR Supralite deep cleans carpets better than ORECK which you say is a surface cleaner.  What gives the RICCAR the edge as a deep cleaner vice ORECK as just a surface cleaner.  In features and performance?

Carmine D.

CarmineD wrote:

1. Bigger motor Fan 2. Stiffer Brush Roll. Not only a deeper clean but actually vibrates the dirt up from the carpet and MUCH easier to push than an Oreck 3. Long lasting Belts (One version even has a Hall Sensor that shuts off the brushroll, virtually giving the machine a lifetime belt). Oreck belts should be replaced 6-8 months to ensure optimum efficency. 4. The Aluminum Handle Orecks almost always loosen at the screws making the handle sloppy and harder to control.

Thank you Lucky1.  I would add that the RICCAR is 5.5 amps vice the ORECK 4.0.  Does that make a big difference?  Maybe?  Maybe not.  BTW, while I replace the belts as often as you say on the ORECK Classic, I have yet to have to tighten the handle screws after exactly 3 years of usage this month.   I don't mind the softer brush tufts on the ORECK.  In fact I prefer it.  Why?  Makes for a much better vacuum cleaner on barefloors and tiles which is about 70 percent of my home.   I have always thought that the RICCAR/SIMPLICITY lightweights are a tad bit above the ORECK's in performance and quality. 

Carmine D.

CarmineD wrote:

Hi Carmine

Ive seen the orecks under other names...some with medium to agressive brushrolls....and can see where the orecks would/could benefit from this upgrade or

at least offer this as an option....Lucky1 makes some great points.....and do agree with most...as riccar is my vac of choice/fav.

But from what ive seen, the orecks in my opinion are the more solid/durable built of the two.....an option on the brushroll is all thats missing...because the time tested quality

and soild build of the oreck  has been proven in both home and commercial use.

turtle. 

I've had the Powr-Flite PF62EC for about 2 years.  At  $ 159 what are you waiting for??

Strong build, made in USA,  dual fans  160 cfm.  8 lbs. You can get all replacement parts on line.  Yes it screams, thats what ipods are for :-)

Lets not forget the humble Miele stick vacs- they're good if you can put up with the long handle.

The Miele stick vacs use a telescopic tube as a handle and are somewhat adjustable, and can operate with the tube between the nozzle and the cleaner for long reaches under furniture. The one model will even accept a powerhead to deep cleaning carpet. The addition of a power nozzle, hand turbo tool and hose kit raise the total price to approximately $750.00. But for a household with mainly bare floors, some carpet that needed deep cleaning, and is short on storage, I could see it being an ideal choice. Some people will never satisfactorily switch to a canister.

Trebor wrote:
Well, we don't have them in the UK. Last time was around 1990 and I bought one a couple of years ago. Miele named it "The Alternative" and carries model number 142. As such its a basic model and the UK ones only have a fixed height single tube with a slide in lock handle at the top. My mum uses it solely for hard floor pick up using an additional Miele parquet brush tool. There used to be a long flexible hose attachment for it turning it into a canister possibility, but I don't really see how it would work with the exhaust filter at the back - it would probably keep floors very hot if the stick vac was made to lay flat for a long period of time. $750 is a lot of money! They only cost about £140 /$225.15 when they were sold in the UK.

Talking of lightweight things, a friend of mine has just moved into a new home and its tiny. They have just enough space for their SEBO K canister and nothing else. However, he's got a long staircase with which the SEBO is great for doing and the SEBO spends most of its time upstairs where all the new carpet is (and the turbo brush is doing just fine). However, to combat the problem of hard floor cleaning and instead of carrying the vac constantly up and down the stairs, as space was at a premium I decided to go and buy a lightweight cyclonic upright vacuum from a UK company called Lakeland. Now, I've not seen this kind of stick vac before - but perhaps you guys in the U.S/Canada have: Here is the cordless version - I bought the mains powered version and he adores it - so handy to use especially with the hand held part that just comes out. When inspecting it in the shop, the hand held part is very familiar to Electrolux, especially as it has a slide out crevice tool on the base similar to the Ergorapido Mk1 / Pronto.




And the mains corded version (800 watts) which doesn't have the brush roll but a simple 2 way hard floor/soft carpet standard floor head:





There's also a video of it on the main product page: http://www.lakeland.co.uk/F/product/22758

Lakeland are a franchise who deal in homewares - they aren't a manufacturer, but rather like Amway, they sell cleaning products for the home etc etc!