What Kind Of Vacuum Cleaner Should I Get?

The introduction of the bagless vacuum cleaner by Dyson has really shaken the market up. Before that came out then they were all pretty much the same, so you just decided which brand you liked the most and which model looked the best, and you could be happy with that. Now the market has exploded and there are all sorts of crazy designs and technology to sift through.

So now the humble vacuum cleaner has been dressed up in a wild melody of colours and has been given fancy names and even fancier attachments for even the most obscure of tasks. But do we need all that? Most of us are perfectly happy with a simple cleaner with a bag like we used to have. Below we look at the main choices you have when buying a new vacuum:

Bagless: The original design by Dyson to do away with the bag in a vacuum cleaner was supposed to solve the problem of a your unit with a bag losing power as the bag fills up with dirt, and it turned the industry on its head when it launched. The jury is still out though as to whether there is any significant benefit to the technology, and if there is one then if it outweighs the drawbacks. For instance if you have allergies then the fact you have to empty all the dust and dirt out into a bag or bin when it is full is a lot messier than just throwing away a full bag like with a normal model.

Upright: This is the normal design for a vacuum cleaner, with the mechanics of it being upright with a handle at the top so you can push and pull the unit easily. The big advantage of this design is that as you can push and pull it while the head at the bottom does the cleaning, then you can quickly and easily cover large areas of open floor.

Canister vacuum: This design is where you have a small unit on the floor which contains all the mechanics and the bag/container, and then a long hose attachment on it to allow you to clean around the room. The long hose with various attachments means it is easier to get under furniture and around things than with an upright vacuum, but it is a lot harder to do large areas of open carpet with it. It you have rooms that are stuffed full of furniture then this might be the right choice for you, otherwise stick with the upright.

Carpet cleaner: The final option is to go even deeper and go for a machine that can shampoo your carpets as well to really get the dirt out of them. You need to get one of these in addition to a normal vacuum, because I don’t know of any machines that can do both shampooing and normal cleaning, but they can be a great buy if you do get one. Over time a lot of dirt and grime gets worked into the carpet which makes it unhygienic and makes it lose its colour and look older that it really is, a carpet cleaner can bring it back to its former glory for you, and they are relatively cheap too.

You don’t need to spend a fortune on a good vacuum cleaner, the Hoover U5140-900 is one of the top selling models on the market, but it costs less than 70 dollars.