Which Is The Best Vacuum Cleaner?
If I had a £1 for every time I have been asked this question.......however, its not as easy as you might think. If you listen to the commercials you need cyclone power this or widget that....when what you really need to know is the weight of the vaccum, how much air it flows (e.g. suction power) and what type of filtration it has. After that, pretty colours and a zillion gadgets (most of which you'll never use) are just personal preference.
Which Vacuum Do We Use?
Here at HomeMaid we use a commercial "henry" its actually an 370-2 if thats any clearer! They are light to use and flow around 45l per min.These base units have upgraded filtration (HEPA) and "AiroBrush" hose attachments. We also use extended hoses for health and safety reasons, as they reach all the way to the top of staircases without having to carry the vacuum with you.
NOTE: Never place a vacuum at the top of the staircase when vacuuming...especially if you have a short hose...it will at some point no doubt, come crashing down on your head!
Which One Should I Use At Home?
This is personal choice, however, if you have any kind of allergy such as hay fever or rhinitis of any form, asthma, eczema or anything related to these conditions your absolute starting point must be a vacuum with a HEPA filtration system. Why? well HEPA was invented to filter radioactive material back in the 50's, however, its excellent at filtering pollen, dust and dust mite faeces (a potent allergen) from the surfaces your vacuuming. HEPA filtered units will reduce the resettlement of dust, although you'll never eliminate it completely.
Upright or Tub?
If you have more carpet than hard floor, then an upright works better on carpets, whilst "tub" types are easier to manouvre and carry around, performing well on hard floors. Bag or Bagless? this is really down to you, our experience with the bagless type is that they are unable to handle heavy commerical use (e.g. five cleans a day) for very long, but should be ok in an ordinary domestic environment. Less bags is marginally easier on the planet too.
How Much To Spend?
There is no need to spend £100's on a vacuum if you dont mind aesthetics, then a high quality, reliable and durable commercial vaccum can be bought for £130.00 and will have better performance than something you buy from a supermarket at twice the price.