What Is The Best Vacuum? Part 1

This is a question that we get asked a lot, almost every day, and it's rather subjective. We have come to find that vacuum cleaners are not a "one size fits all" product. There's a laundry list of reasons as to why one vacuum will work well for some folks and perform poorly for others. When coming to our store looking for a vacuum we tend to ask questions prior to making any recommendations. The things that we take into consideration most are:

• What is the carpet and flooring situation?
• What kind of carpets do you have?
• Do you have shedding pets or family members with long hair?
• Do you use the vacuum attachments frequently?
• How do you clean your stairs?
• Do you have any allergies or asthma?
• Are there any physical restrictions like arthritis or joint inflammations that make vacuuming difficult or even painful? 

Starting from the ground up

The carpet and bare floor mixture will play a big part in determining whether an upright vacuum cleaner or canister vacuum cleaner is the best vacuum for you.

If your home is predominantly wall to wall carpet with limited bare floors then the convenience of an upright vacuum cleaner is a good fit for you. Upright vacuums are loved for their ease of use and tend to really shine on their ability to clean carpets. Most upright vacuum cleaners come standard equipped with on board tools to help you get the most out of your vacuum. Some upright vacuum cleaners will even have rubberized wheels and a switch to stop the brush roll from spinning, making making them safe to use on bare floors.

If the flooring in your home consists mostly of hardwood, stone/ceramic tiles, or linoleum with limited carpeting then a canister vacuum cleaner will be the best fit for your needs. Canister vacuum cleaners are long known for their versatility and will do your bare floor cleaning with ease. Canister vacuum cleaners are convenient for stair cleaning too, we'll get to that a bit later.

The type of carpeting and rugs you have matters

Not all carpets are created equal. Some carpeting is designed to be soft and luxurious, some for rugged use, while others are more a part of your homes decor. There are many carpet styles to choose from today and this is one of the most major factors we take into consideration before we make our recommendations. Before we get into the whys and wherefores lets look at the key players.

• Ultra Plush or Ultra Soft Carpeting
• Frieze
• Plush
• Berber
• Shag
• Industrial
• Wool
• Silk or Handwoven

The more rugged and dense carpeting like a traditional plush or an industrial carpet will require the use of a beater bar or brush roll to get a proper cleaning. You will be able to use any upright vacuum cleaner on these kinds of carpets, and as long as you have a canister vacuum with an electric power nozzle then you're in business. 

Delicate carpeting like handwoven/silk rugs, wool, or looped Berber should not have a brush roll used on them. The use of a revolving brush on these kinds of carpets will cause the fibers to come out (pilling) which can ruin your investment. If you choose to buy an upright vacuum then you will want to get one where you can stop the brush from revolving or otherwise risk damaging your carpet.

Soft carpeting like shag, frieze, ultra soft, and ultraplush require a bit more attention to detail due to their lack of density. These kinds of carpets narrow your options rather quickly. There's a whole blog post here on why these carpets present their own set of challenges which we highly encourage you to read if you have one of those types. 

In part two of our three part series we'll be looking at the best way to clean pet hairs, what those vacuum tools are for, and how to best vacuum your stairs.