Way off the gun track here with this one, but I'm in need of a new vacuum cleaner.  Anyone here own either of these brands?  They are so expensive and I was wondering if they are really all that much better than a $200 Hoover. Thanks.............Sheldon the dirty carpet guy.

They all suck.

I prefer Filter Queen.

[url]www.filterqueen.com[/url]

You might want to also look into "Oreck."

I've used a rainbow when visiting my mom. And no, I don't go there just to vacuum - she's elderly. Personally, I think both Rainbow & Kirby are way overpriced. We have a used canister that works great and an upright. Both were under 300.

NMSight

AAWW, Ya' beat me to it!!!
WTS: Blow dryer that "sucks", best offer.

I do remember watching
in horror
as the Kirby salesman
displayed all ot the dead
skin the cleaner lifted
from a mattress.
That's power!

I have had a Kirby and an Orek but the best vacuum cleaner, hands down, is a Sharp! Most vacuums suck the debris straight through or by the engine but this totally bypasses it. I've picked up marbles with mine. They will suck the hide off of a horse and are really reasonable, a decent one is around $200.
Lori

Back when I was a kid, we had a Rainbow salesman demo one of their vaccums at our house.  He had me take our Hoover and go over one spot in front of the door 100 times, which I did.  Then he took his demo Rainbow and went over the same spot once.  He put a piece of cloth in the feeder tube, and it picked up a whole bunch of crap that the hoover upright had missed.  They're not bad vaccum cleaners, but they're not the greatest either.  Emptying out water from the bottom after each vaccum isn't my idea of fun either.

If I had to buy a new vaccum right now, I'd got with what hotels and cleaning crews use, which is Oreck (sp?) vaccums.  Or, I'd buy one of the riding vacs that the cleaning crews at work use.

God Bless Texas

Take it from a single dad - Electrolux.

Royal.  You too can push a piece of solid cast metal made just like they did in 1935.  No plastic.  No frills.  No self-propel.  Nuthin'.  And priced twice what any modern vacuum costs.

Who cares if it lasts forever.  Go figure.

Hi Sheldon;

I got tired of the cr@p that is sold to the home market and got myself a [i]serious [/i] vacuuming tool. I present for your inspection:
The Super Coach Vac.
[img]http://www.centralsupplyco.com/supercoach1.jpg[/img]
Does it seem to much? Maybe if you are living in an apartment.
But if you or anyone reading this is a homeowner, how would you like to zip through the disgusting cleaning chores in 1/2 the time?

I go from the basement to the first floor to the garage to vacumming out the cars, just changing where I plug in.

Tools fit on the belt. No damn canister to follow around and bump into things. 4-level filtration. And the suction? [b]This thing [i]really [/i] can suck the chrome off a ball hitch! [/b]

After all Sheldon, the professional janitorial industry does not want to phuck around with cheesy tools, and neither should we.
Yes, it cost$ more. More than a cheesy Sears, -But less than a Royal or Kirby.

Point to remember - Kirby and Royal do not expect their vacuumes to be used by the professional. You don't have to wonder if the Coach Vac will last. You'll never beat it up like a  minimum wage janitor that uses it 5 days a week! And [i]that's what it's designed for!! [/i]

Search for it on the net. Look for "Super Coach Vac" or do a broad search for "backpack vacuume"

Yeah! - Just make sure you empty it!!!  My aunt didn't bother, and when she turned it on a week later it exhausted some very nasty bacteria - sent everybody in the house to the hospital.  I've got a Kirby and love it, it has been the only vaccum cleaner my wife has been unable to destroy.(You think she does it on purpose?)[thinking]

Kirby
they did the same sales pitch as God Bless Texas, in our home in Texas when I was a kid. My Mom's kirby is still working I think (30 years ago?)

I am wondering though...
Is it illegal to attach a potato propulsion device to the "Super Coach Vac", and convert it to blow instead of suck? What about max. potatoe round capacity?
[size=6]DAMMIT  DAMMIT  DAMMIT[size=6]
I just spelled potato(e) two different ways. Can anyone tell me if the spell checker is a Dan Quayle version 1.05 or older?

Stay VERY far away from Kirby and Rainbow!!!
They are VERY overpriced and HEAVY

Trust us who have them [b]Electrolux!!!!![/b]
Even a USED one ROCKS!


BISHOP

I give U lotsa points for excellent humor! [:)]

But in regards to other posters here; I wonder, once you get the idea of walking around with a vacuume, why would anyone still want to drag a canister around like the proverbial ball-n-chain?

What the Rainbow and Kirby - heck all the others [i]won't [/i] do is show you how power [b]& [/b] portability equals [i]fast and easy [/i] cleaning. You want to get done with the housecleaning [b]NOW [/b] don't you?!!

Look, I'm not a sales critter & I have no interest in the company. I'm just sharing my find of the best damn household tool I've bought lately.

Think of this as the "Tim the Tool Man Taylor" [u]Finds the Best Vacuume[/u] episode.

SGB, Damn son you sound like you just got home from a Kirby regional meeting!! [;)]  I used to sell the Kirby G3 then the G4 and after 3 long years of door to door sales I got out of the business.  But all BS aside, I never, ever saw a vacuum that would out perform a Kirby. The things the sales people do in your house are all very real, there is no BS or fake things done in the presentation. You could not go wrong with the Kirby.

[beer]

I bought a Kirby for two reasons:

1) It is self propelled

2) If you get all of the attachments you can shampoo the carpet and beleive it or not it even comes with a paint sprayer attchment.

Mother in law offered to buy both her daughters a reall good vac.My sister in law picked out a 400.oo I dont remember the name.We took the 400 +200 more and bought a G5 Kirby.Best vac we ever had .Still work like new.This is with a 4 and 6 year old.Sister in laws bit the dust in less than a year.You couldnt give me a vacum from sears walmart ect.Unless you gave me the recipt so I could take it back.Something that works better and only 20.00 is the Eureka superbroom brush up.Keeps from filling up the Kirby bag with popcorn.you wouldnt believe the amont of crap it picks up.We stopped using our last vac and used this instead because it works better.Only thing my mom uses.Thet wear out evry couple years but like I said there 20.00

WTS: Still have blow dryer that "sucks", will throw mother-in-law in the deal. Willing to negotiate!

Hey!

Dude, I can tell you more about Kirby's when you return to work. Talk to you then!

Rainbow.... I know absolutely NOTHING about!

A review of the Kirby:
[url]http://www.epinions.com/hmgd-review-2354-16264808-3A11DD1A-prod2[/url]

BTW, can that Super Coach Vac be rigged to shoot napalm?  [:D] [pyro]

I have a friend that sold them expensive vacs.  not sure which brand, but they were around 1000 bucks.  He told me that they were actually a lot better than the store junk. (no, he does not sell them anymore)
But one other thing I found interesting is that he would sell one to someone for 1200 bucks and the next person for 5-600 bucks.  Might want to keep that in mind when purchasing.

W e have a rainbow, it is a pain to use for something quick , really cleans good. And if you don't dump the water you can grow some cool Biological cultures.

My mom has a rainbow and that thing works great but Im not sure its worth $1200. The water works wonders in keeping the dust down and the water is a hell of alot cheaper then the new hepa filters. I guess if it lasts long enough you might come out even someday!


BKVic

Kirby......

I run two of them...  my choice are the heritage II models... a little lighter in weight.

The only draw back with the Kirby is changing the front for the hose attachment...  so, I run one full time with the hose attached and one just for area vacuuming... also, you can purchase your Kirby's quite cheap 2nd hand thru the paper or from garage/estate sales.... I build them also...  I buy discarded machines from a metal scrap yard for a couple bucks each..... I've built them for family and friends who are more concerned about using a top of the line vacuum then whether or not the colors all match on the machine....  What's really bad ass is I'll take a machine whose aluminum body is so oxidized that it looks like it should by scraped...   a little rouge and a buffing wheel and you've got a high polished aluminum Kirby vac. that looks like brand new!

I haven't bought a Kirby yet from the scrap yard where the motor hasn't run !

We have the rainbow, wife loves it. First vacuum we ever had that actually eliminates the dust from our house, and we live in the middle of the desert. Expensive but worth it. My mom has had a rainbow for over 20 years as well and it's still working.

"Take it from a single dad - Electrolux."

"Trust us who have them Electrolux!!!!!
Even a USED one ROCKS!"

what malpaso and biship said!

for painting the car or shampooing the couch or polishing your shoes...buy the kirby, rainbow or compact.

for the best vacuum money can buy, get an electrolux!

I thought it was all in the amount of airflow it had? My mother in law has an Electrolux but she thinks our Rainbow e-series works better than hers. We have only had it for about a year.
What bothers me is the vacuum shops are always coming and going...None of them stay in business around here long.
The Rainbow was expensive but so were (are) my 2 kids!![:D]
The best things in life are not always the cheapest.

BigDozer66     [marines]

When I got married, my wife and I bought a Dirt-Devil vacume, it broke around six months later. About the same time, my mother passed away. I was cleaning out her house and noticed an old Kirby that she'd had since as far back as I could remember as a child. I'm 35yo, and I was amazed that it still worked. I used it to vacume up before I left. I did take it to a vacume cleaner repair shop, and paid around thirty dollars to get it maintenanced, have the belts and cord replaced. That was about six years ago. I still use it, in fact, I used it to vacume my bedroom this morning. If anything ever happens to this one, I'll definately buy another Kirby.

Okay, U guys are havin' fun.

But nobody has said [i]why [/i] a backpack vac [i]wouldn't [/i] work, or why someone should pay [i]more [/i] for a canister that you drag around.

BTW: When you are cleaning steps or such, how do you vacuume, grasp the rail for security, and drag the stoopid canister at the same time? [:P]

I know a guy who owns four vacuum stores in the local area.  He sells just about everything and yes, I know Kirby, Filter Queen, Rainbow and the other BMW priced vacuums aren't available in stores; he sells used ones taken in trade.  

Bottom line:  

The BMW models (above $1,000) are well built and will last a lifetime if cared for.   Panasonic and Simplicity cost $200-$400, depending on the model, and will last ten plus years if cared for.  AFA cleaning, the Kirby probably comes out on the bottom.  Also, everything picked-up by the Kirby passes through the fan.  Not good if you pick-up something hard.  The sales pitch about filtration is just that, a sales pitch.  Don't buy into all the hype about HEPA filters.  While the filter may very well be capable of filtering down to 0.00001 microns, the rest of the vacuum leaks like a sieve.

Look for one that doesn't pass everything through the fan/motor, has a 12 amp motor and whatever features you want.  

I think someone mentioned Oreck.  Junk.  My cordless drill has a larger motor.  My friend has a set-up in his stores.  A vacuum hose goes up the wall across the ceiling, with numerous "knots" and back to the floor; fifty feet total.  Connect one end to a vacuum and feed a three ounce slug in the other end.  I have watched $200 vacuums suck the slug up like a Thai wh...you get the idea.  Kirby's, Filter Queens and Rainbows will pick it up, but at about half the speed.  

The holding a bowling ball trick is... you guess it, a trick.  I can do it with any vacuum that works.  All you have to do is get the proper seal.  I can take the same vacuum and show you a variation of the trick and it won't pick up a penny.  Place a penny on you palm and hold the hose over the penny tight against your hand; have someone turn the vacuum on for as long as you like and off again.  Provided you didn't break the seal, the penny will still be there.  Kirby has this trick where you vacuum a portion of your carpet using your vac.  then the salesman goes over the same area with a Kirby that has a special filter attached to show the dirt picked-up.  If you can attach a similat filter to your vac and go over the same area a third time you'll get more dirt.

Last thing: Stay away from the Wal-Mart specials such as Hoover, Dirt Devil, etc.

Good luck,

Eddie