OK, here we go...
First off, I've been selling Kirby Vacuums for almost 2 years now. That said I'm sure that my opinion will not be entirely fair and balanced. I will, however, try to bestow some of the things I've leared from visiting it people's houses just like yours and having the oppertunity to use just about every vacuum ever made.
I will go through the 4 basic types of vacuums, and explain the benifits and downsides of each. I have a feeling this will be a long post, but if you take the time to read through it, you will probably learn something.
Canister Vacs.
Canisters are the ones you tote arround, and use a hose almost exclusively for suction. Many canisters have a "power head" that includes a spinning brushroll. Where canister's shine is surface cleaning. Hardwood floors, dusting, shelves, tile, or lenolium. Unfortunately surface cleaning is the ONLY area where using a canister makes any sense at all. Even $1000 canisters cannot deep clean (more on this later) your carpet. The Kirby can convert into a canister for your surface cleaining needs, but it would be foolish to use your Kirby's canister on anything other than hard surfaces. Because all canister's loose power via the hose, you are spereading out the power of your suction. Think of it this way: two people go to McDonald's, they both order a small shake. One drinks it out of the cup, and the other drinks it through a 3' long straw... Who finishes first?
Electric Brooms.
Basically a broom with a mdocom of suction, not very popular anymore; now that most vacuums have an "electric broom" attachment. Kirby has one of the best available.
Uprights.
By far the most popular and effective choice for removal of dust and dirt. An upright should be easy to push, and have the ability to DEEP CLEAN, unfortunately [salesman]after going into different people's homes several times a da; almost every day for close to two years, The Kirby Home Care System is the ONLY system I've seen that can effectively remove all the dirt[/salesman]. First off, when I say all the dirt, I understand that you can never get 100% of the fine particles burried under your padding, but with the Kirby you can get enough so that the damage done to your carpet by shrap sand stops, and even reverses.
heres how it works:
[Kirby]
The power head of the upright forms a "seal" with the carpet, lifting it slightly from the padding/subfloor. This allows airflow from underneath the carpet, all the way through the padding/carpet, and into your machine. This ablility to reach dirt that has already settled into the padding is considered "Deep Cleaning" Many machines claim to deep clean, but really the offer no logical explination or definition of a "deep clean."
[/Kirby]
[Other POS Vacs.]
The spinning brushroll is on a raised bar, that beats into the carpet (beaterbar) as of now, I belive that only dysons and hoovers are still using the beater bar design, as it has been prooven to prematurely wear out carpet (like beating it with a stick at 10,000 rpm). The theory behind a beater bar is that it will "knock" dirt loose, to compensate for lack of suction/ability to form a seal
[/Other POS Vacs.]
*A note on suction*
Amps, Watts, Horsepower, WindTunnels, Tornadoes, Whirlwinds. Absolutely none of these describe your vacuum's suction power, they are ALL marketing gimicks. Suction is achtually a principal of physicics, and it is described as airflow; measured in CFM Cubic Feet/Min of airflow. Most company's will not give you an airflow or CFM rating, and would rather fill your head with nonsense about how 12 amps is so much better than 8 amps, when in effect amps simply describes how much power the motor will draw from the wall (if it isnt used effectively, whats the point. The most amount of airflow created by a vacuum cleaner that you can buy in a store is 50CFM (Hoover Windtunnel). As for Rainbows, Filter Queens, and Central Vacs, they are all canisters, and thys any advantage there motors may have had to begin with is lost resulting from going through the hose. To form a seal with loose knit carpeting, you need at least 80CFM. The new Kirby Ultimate Generation Diamond edition produces 175.2 CFM.
[edit]
the fourth type of vac is the hand-held portable, kirby does this too, and whille most of the dirt devils you use in your cars have pitifully underpowerd motors and very little suction, the kirby's has the full 175.2 CFM.
I could go on like this for hours, but I'm taking the day off from work so I don't have to. If anyone feels like challangeing anything I said, go for it. I may or may not respond depending on if I feel like throwing down.
The problem with dysons is the same thing as any othe vac out there that doesn't deep clean. Shure they dyson may get more dirt thatn a $100 eureka, but if it's still leaving 50% of the total dirt behind, whats the point of vacuuming?? Plus bagless vacuums leak dirt alot more than bagged machines[/edit]
First off, I've been selling Kirby Vacuums for almost 2 years now. That said I'm sure that my opinion will not be entirely fair and balanced. I will, however, try to bestow some of the things I've leared from visiting it people's houses just like yours and having the oppertunity to use just about every vacuum ever made.
I will go through the 4 basic types of vacuums, and explain the benifits and downsides of each. I have a feeling this will be a long post, but if you take the time to read through it, you will probably learn something.
Canister Vacs.
Canisters are the ones you tote arround, and use a hose almost exclusively for suction. Many canisters have a "power head" that includes a spinning brushroll. Where canister's shine is surface cleaning. Hardwood floors, dusting, shelves, tile, or lenolium. Unfortunately surface cleaning is the ONLY area where using a canister makes any sense at all. Even $1000 canisters cannot deep clean (more on this later) your carpet. The Kirby can convert into a canister for your surface cleaining needs, but it would be foolish to use your Kirby's canister on anything other than hard surfaces. Because all canister's loose power via the hose, you are spereading out the power of your suction. Think of it this way: two people go to McDonald's, they both order a small shake. One drinks it out of the cup, and the other drinks it through a 3' long straw... Who finishes first?
Electric Brooms.
Basically a broom with a mdocom of suction, not very popular anymore; now that most vacuums have an "electric broom" attachment. Kirby has one of the best available.
Uprights.
By far the most popular and effective choice for removal of dust and dirt. An upright should be easy to push, and have the ability to DEEP CLEAN, unfortunately [salesman]after going into different people's homes several times a da; almost every day for close to two years, The Kirby Home Care System is the ONLY system I've seen that can effectively remove all the dirt[/salesman]. First off, when I say all the dirt, I understand that you can never get 100% of the fine particles burried under your padding, but with the Kirby you can get enough so that the damage done to your carpet by shrap sand stops, and even reverses.
heres how it works:
[Kirby]
The power head of the upright forms a "seal" with the carpet, lifting it slightly from the padding/subfloor. This allows airflow from underneath the carpet, all the way through the padding/carpet, and into your machine. This ablility to reach dirt that has already settled into the padding is considered "Deep Cleaning" Many machines claim to deep clean, but really the offer no logical explination or definition of a "deep clean."
[/Kirby]
[Other POS Vacs.]
The spinning brushroll is on a raised bar, that beats into the carpet (beaterbar) as of now, I belive that only dysons and hoovers are still using the beater bar design, as it has been prooven to prematurely wear out carpet (like beating it with a stick at 10,000 rpm). The theory behind a beater bar is that it will "knock" dirt loose, to compensate for lack of suction/ability to form a seal
[/Other POS Vacs.]
*A note on suction*
Amps, Watts, Horsepower, WindTunnels, Tornadoes, Whirlwinds. Absolutely none of these describe your vacuum's suction power, they are ALL marketing gimicks. Suction is achtually a principal of physicics, and it is described as airflow; measured in CFM Cubic Feet/Min of airflow. Most company's will not give you an airflow or CFM rating, and would rather fill your head with nonsense about how 12 amps is so much better than 8 amps, when in effect amps simply describes how much power the motor will draw from the wall (if it isnt used effectively, whats the point. The most amount of airflow created by a vacuum cleaner that you can buy in a store is 50CFM (Hoover Windtunnel). As for Rainbows, Filter Queens, and Central Vacs, they are all canisters, and thys any advantage there motors may have had to begin with is lost resulting from going through the hose. To form a seal with loose knit carpeting, you need at least 80CFM. The new Kirby Ultimate Generation Diamond edition produces 175.2 CFM.
[edit]
the fourth type of vac is the hand-held portable, kirby does this too, and whille most of the dirt devils you use in your cars have pitifully underpowerd motors and very little suction, the kirby's has the full 175.2 CFM.
I could go on like this for hours, but I'm taking the day off from work so I don't have to. If anyone feels like challangeing anything I said, go for it. I may or may not respond depending on if I feel like throwing down.
The problem with dysons is the same thing as any othe vac out there that doesn't deep clean. Shure they dyson may get more dirt thatn a $100 eureka, but if it's still leaving 50% of the total dirt behind, whats the point of vacuuming?? Plus bagless vacuums leak dirt alot more than bagged machines[/edit]