My vacuum cleaner of 7 years just gave out on me. I’m in the market for a new one. I don’t want to spend over 200 dollars but I want something good. I was thinking about a steam vacuum because I heard these were great but is it for everyday use? My 6 month old is rolling over everywhere and can find any bit of debris missed on the floor and try to eat it so I want something that will pick up really well. My last vacuum cleaner picked up great at first but then lost power just a short while later. I want something that is in it for the long haul. Any tips? Thanks.
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For the $200 price range, I like the Sears Canister Vacuum.
The great thing about a canister vac is that you can very quickly and easily take the head off for along the baseboard, large messes on hard floors and bigger items that would clog the head. Then you snap it back on. I have the Sears version of the Canister vac and love it.
I would recommend springing for the five year maintenance plan. I took mine in every year for a tune up (free with the plan) and never had a problem with it loosing suction. They keep it for about a week – which was too long to go without vacuuming when you have kids. Each time I asked if they had a loaner vacuum and they’d always send me home with one. It was definitely not as good as my vacuum that I dropped off with them, but for a week, definitely able to handle.
I still have my canister and use it. It’s over seven years old right now and still has the same amount of power that it had when I bought it.
I don’t believe steam vacs are for every day use. Plus, your floor would be a little damp when you were done with it and it would be hard to confine your baby until the floor dried! I did buy a hard floor steamer (the shark brand) which works on hard floors and sanitizes it. It also has a little attachment that you can snap on that makes it so that you can use it on your carpets for spot cleaning. Maybe that’s what you should look into. The Shark floor steamer is about $70. It would be a good supplement to a good vacuum.
The best advise I have is purchase a maintenance plan for your vacuum. That way you are guaranteed that your vacuum will last for at least as many years as the plan is and won’t die on you before then! Before we bought our Sears vacuum, we were replacing a vacuum every year because we bought the cheap ones that didn’t work.
I have a Bissell Healthy Home sweeper and I really like it. It’s a bit more expensive than your $200 but you can find it for that if someone has it on sale. I got mine at Lowe’s for $200 but it is normally $250.
It’s got a ton of power, well designed tools on board, a 5 year warranty and a lifetime belt so no worries there. It’s got a 9 cyclone suction power very similar to Dyson for 1/2 the cost.
I have a lot of pet hair and remodeling dust (we’re working on This Old House again!) and the sweeper just sail right through it. Oh! It’s a bag less unit also! This is the sweeper with the sealed HEPA filtration and it gets something like 99.9% of dust, dirt, pollen, pet dander.
What sold me on it is my middle son is allergic to cats. He no longer sneezes when he stops in for a visit. And that started within 1 week of getting the sweeper and running it very thoroughly on all the floors and furniture. And we have 4 cats in the house!