I’ve been hearing a lot about vacuum cleaners lately. They came up in the DK Saturday Morning Repair blog a few weeks ago and many of my clients are talking about them. One of my many jobs is cleaning houses for a living.
My clients are talking about them because some of them are at home quarantined and I'm not allowed to come clean their houses. They seem to be trying to clean on their own, bless their hearts.
One client called me to ask me where her vacuum was. I’ve cleaned her house for over 20 years and apparently she hasn’t vacuumed in that time. I did get a call back from her that she had resorted to using her little dirt devil, the real vacuum was too heavy for her. Tell me about it, I vacuum for an hour every day.
I have all my clients buy this vacuum, a Panasonic upright with on board tools.
I need an upright because I vacuum a lot and for a long time and I'm in a hurry. I would (and have) bashed a canister vacuum into the corner walls as I go from room to room.
I also use an extension cord on the uprights I use. I have a system where I only plug in twice per floor (I clean some 3 story houses) and I'm not going back into a room, to unplug, I just pull the cord out of the wall and I don't want the vacuum cord to look like this:
I like onboard tools because, again, I'm in a hurry, I don't have time to muck about attaching tools. With on board tools you don't even have to bend over, just grab the wand and get whatever dirt is in the corner, on top of the curtains etc.
The one problem I do have with the new Panasonic is changing the belt. Running over shoelaces (yes, some of my clients have not discovered velcro), phone cords, and fringe on carpets (why would anyone have fringe on their carpets?). I keep a few belts at each clients house and they are on their own with changing them.
Except of course for the client who doesn't know where her vacuum is kept. I take hers to the shop to replace the belt which is the same thing I do when my belt needs replacing. Which is maybe once every 10 years.
I also use vacuums with bags. I have tried the bag less ones but if you've ever seen the Swedish guy empty his Dyson on a commercial you may have noticed that while it shows him easily flipping the button to empty the canister which holds the dirt/dog hair and whatever else the vacuum has picked up off the floor, it doesn't actually show the contents emptying into the trash can.
That's because they don't. You have to stick your hand up there along various random tools and sticks to try to get the contents to empty in the trash. Even then not everything is coming out and your going to have to repeat this a few times when vacuuming a house.
These bag less vacuums don't smell so good either. Give me a bag any day. They are inexpensive, made of paper and thin cardboard and break down easily and quickly in the trash.
Why have a vacuum at all? I admit that it's a lot more Zen to sweep with a broom but even if you have hardwood floors you're not getting up all the dirt with a broom. A lot of stuff stays in the cracks, and if you have pets that stuff can include flea eggs.
If you've got carpet or rugs, and who wouldn't want carpet, it's warm and soft on your feet and can add some *pop* to your room décor. But if you have it, you really need a vacuum, especially if you have pets. I've swept with a broom in a pinch but you really need a vacuum with a beater bar to get the dirt up.
Are there other brands of vacuums that are good? Not many in my opinion and none that I would want to vacuum with for more than an hour a day. YMMV.