Why do we need a vacuum cleaner? How to buy a vacuum cleaner? How do we choose a good vacuum cleaner?
What are the top ten vacuum cleaners? What is the best vacuum cleaner?
Why we need a vacuum cleaner
A vacuum cleaner is almost a must in any home, regardless whether we have carpet or not. Gone are the days we use a broom to clean the house. A vacuum cleaner does a much better job of getting rid of dust, pet hair and debris.
When we have rugs or carpets in the house it is almost impossible to clean them without a vacuum cleaner. A vacuum cleaner sucks out all the particles on or adhered to the fibers of the material. Depending on the suction power of the vacuum machine the amount of dirt and dust removed will vary. In general the more powerful the vacuum motor is the better the vacuuming. However as the collection of dust increases the suction power usually decreases as the air flow becomes more constricted. Some manufacturers circumvent this problem by using centrifugal forces or cyclone vacuum, the most famous being the Dyson vacuum cleaners. Their suction power barely decreases since the dirt are centrifuged out of the air way and cause no blocking.
It is incredible that not only dust and dirt settle on a carpeted floor but also hazardous substances like smoke particles (especially for smokers), chemicals from sprays, fleas and their eggs, dust mites and toxic molds.
Carpets also emit chemical vapors in the air like toluene, benzene, formaldehyde, ethyl benzene, styrene, acetone and even carcinogenic chemicals such as p-Dichlorobenzene. The adhesive that is used to install them contain among others stain protectors and fire retardants.
Cleaning your carpet will not eliminate all these harmful chemicals and substances. It will simply reduce the content with time.
The best thing is to avoid carpet completely in the house. But if it is not possible or too late, regular vacuuming is all the more important to at least eliminate some of the hazardous substances.
Having bare wooden flooring or tiles also requires vacuum cleaning to a certain degree. Mopping is not very effective if dirt are all over the place. Some of the dirt will just be moved around the floor with the mop.
What vacuum cleaner should I buy?
Since floors, rugs and carpets are the meeting point of all dust and dirt they need to be cleaned regularly, at least once a week. Of course a daily cleaning is the best.
We therefore need a vacuum cleaner which is going to last and which can undergo hours of work without complaining, in brief, a very good one.
What are the criteria for a good vacuum cleaner?
Spotshoppingguide selected the following criteria.
First and foremost no one basically enjoys vacuum cleaning. It’s hard work, even if it looks like play (Mrs. Doubtfire).
- So we need a vacuum cleaner which is easy to handle and to maneuver around.
- It should be as light as possible and easy to carry.
- It must be powerful enough to get rid of all the dust, dirt and hazardous substances trapped in the fibers.
- The air it exhausts should not be harmful when we breathe it.
- Quiet operation
- The vacuum cleaner should be able to withstand knocks and little collisions without getting damaged easily.
- It should have enough power to get the job done.
- Emptying the collected dust and dirt should be simple and should not escape in the surrounding.
- Maintenance should be minimal and not costly.
- Price factor. You can only spend so much.
Which vacuum cleaner fits those criteria?
We want you to allocate points to each criteria, depending on how important it is to you. Each should be between 0 to 4.
0 means “No importance at all”, 4 being “Crucial” and 2 is the mid point which denotes “Important but not that crucial”.
You should place all the criteria with the highest marks at the top. Once you have done that you will have a clear idea what kind of vacuum cleaner you want.
Spotshoppingguide recommends that a “4″ be given for the quality of the exhaust air. It is very important that the vacuum cleaner does not redistribute the room with dust during its operation. A good HEPA filter might help and it should be properly sealed.
Types of vacuum cleaners
Upright vacuum cleaners
They perform very well on carpets and are powerful. They are generally quite heavy and are not suitable for staircase cleaning unless they have a very long hose. The beater brush helps to loosen the dust trapped in the carpet. They come with bag or without bag.
Canister vacuum cleaners
They are light and are very good on bare floor. Because they generally do not have beater brush they are not so good on carpet. They come with bag or without bag.
Hand vacuum cleaners
They are very light and are often cordless (battery operated), in which case they can run for about 15 minutes before requiring a recharge. They are excellent for quick cleaning. They are bagless.
Central vacuum cleaners
The main advantage with a central vacuum cleaner is that its suction motor is located outside the rooms, often in the garage. Consequently the dirty exhaust air is not blown back inside the room. There is less noise during vacuuming. The bag needs to be changed only once or twice a year.
Wet/Dry Drum vacuum cleaners
They are mainly used in workshops or for industrial application. They suck solids and liquid, which collect in a drum.
Special vacuum cleaners
Robotic vacuum cleaners
They are the only vacuum cleaners that work while you read a book and sip a nice cup of coffee. They are pretty “blind and dumb” and miss obvious areas but given enough time they cover almost all areas except the corners. THe Samsung GTO Hauzen VC-RE70 has a camera which keeps track of the route taken so that it does not clean the same location again. They are ideal for light job and are best for bare floor, especially under the beds or hard to reach areas. Their suction power is very weak but they still clean quite well using their rotary brushes. They have no bag and they can run about 45 minutes before needing a recharge.
Water Filtration vacuum cleaners
The intake air is forced through water where it is “cleaned” before it is exhausted. The problem encountered with this type of vacuum cleaners is that discharging the dirty sludgy water after the cleaning is a messy job. There are complaints that they do not perform well.
Selecting your vacuum cleaner
You can go through a catalog of vacuum cleaners and check the criteria. Start crossing off anyone which does not fit the bill. Try to pick the top ten vacuum cleaners according to your criteria.
It will be difficult to assess the performance of a vacuum cleaner just from its specifications. The next step is to go online and to google each vacuum cleaner for a review. There will be two kinds of results:
- A professional review like Consumers Report
- Consumers reviews
Both are very valuable. Consumers reviews can be faked but if there are a lot they become quite objective. Professional reviews are normally less subjective but they are not always fully accurate. After considering both of them you probably have a better idea what to buy or you have become more confused.
Spotshoppingguide Recommendations
We realize how difficult it can be to select the best vacuum cleaner. It is time consuming to go through all those websites and to read all the reviews.
We have therefore done the chores for you and chosen what we believe to be the top and the best vacuum cleaners in the market. We will be publishing them very soon. We will also be updating our recommendations every now and then as new models are introduced.
Bookmark the page to remain updated.
