Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Vacuum Cleaners

It's the end of an era here at the Kelly home. For over a decade, I've bragged to friends about my Electrolux vacuum cleaner, the one I inherited from my husband's grandmother. I called it "the Tank" and marveled that it still had so much suck after 40 years. But nothing lasts forever, and the Tank has given out."Guess I'll check out the price on a new Electrolux," I told my friend Bernice.

"Don't," she replied. "I bought one off of QVC for $400 , and it broke down constantly. I finally got rid of it."

I couldn't believe it, so I called the one Electrolux dealer in town (Aerus Electrolux, Clairemont, 858-565-8288) to hear their side of it. Employee Rick explained, "There's another Electrolux out there called the Oxygen. It's actually a relabeled Eureka, from a company called AB Electrolux. It's a good vacuum for what it does -- you buy it, use it for a year, and when it breaks down, you throw it away. It's not made to the same standard." It seemed that Electrolux had sold its name and now used the brand name Aerus Electrolux to denote its own products. Rick assured me they were still tanks. Three reasons to buy: "Reputation, longevity, and warranty. The price range is $1100 to $2499 . Even the entry-level vacuums have a 5-year warranty on the motor. There's also a 7-year, and the top-of-the-line Guardian has a 25-year warranty on the motor and a 2-year warranty on parts."

Sponsored
Sponsored

It sounded good, but it sounded expensive. I decided to call around. My friend Shawn swears by her Rainbow canister vacuum ( $1997-$2477 at Rainbow Service Center in Clairemont, 619-275-1691). "I love how well it picks up dirt. It cleans super-well and uses water as a filter. I also love that, when you vacuum, you can see the dirt, along with any trinkets you've picked up. But I hate that I have to put water in it every time I vacuum."

Friend Julie paid $2200 five years ago for her Kirby upright (Kirby Vacuum, Kearny Mesa, 858-565-2827). "I like that it's well-built. I've had it for five years, and nothing has broken. And it has a lot of flexibility -- there are a lot of attachments made for every little type of vacuuming that you might want to do -- even carpet shampooing. But it can be complicated to use -- you have to break out the owner's manual or watch a video before you try to do certain things. And I think we paid way too much for a vacuum cleaner."

As for Bernice, she liked her Oreck upright just fine. "I love how light it is. It's really easy to move around, and the kids can do it. But the belts keep popping off." (Orecks are priced $299-$749 at Oreck Authorized Sales in Mira Mesa, 858-586-7100.)

Finally, I turned to Brett Roberts, owner of Metro Vacuum in La Mesa (619-466-4430). Roberts was a man who knew what he believed, starting with the superiority of canister vacuums over uprights. "Canisters are better for all surfaces, and uprights are better for no surfaces. A canister has much more sucking power because the motor is bigger and heavier. That would weigh down an upright, but with a canister, your motor sits in one spot while you work around. An upright cannot navigate between chairs and table legs, or under beds or coffee tables. You have to put the whole machine any place you vacuum, but with a canister, you have this little maneuverable brush. An upright is terrible for above-the-floor vacuuming -- vents, blinds, furniture, shelves, cars." At best, he said, you have to attach a separate hose. "But there's already an attached hose on a canister."

Roberts wasn't a fan of the Oreck ("Archaic design -- everything you suck up goes through the motor blades, and they break constantly"); the Kirby ("Well made, but poorly designed and very pricey -- plus, it's an upright"); or the Rainbow ("If a bubble pops at the top of the water filter, the dust goes back into the air. New-model Rainbows have a hepa filter at the exhaust port"). The Electrolux was okay, he said, but expensive, and not as good as his favorite: Miele (available at Metro Vacuum, $529-$1000 ).

Miele, he said, delivered the most important feature a vacuum can have: "high air speed occurring where the dirt is. Miele gives you 140 cubic feet per minute of airflow and a tremendous amount of suction. The air is moving very quickly, and Miele captures that speed where the dirt is, with tools that interface appropriately with carpet and floor. The parquet floor brush, for example, will penetrate into a variegated surface. If a nozzle interfaces poorly with a floor -- say, a carpet -- then very little of the flowing air is going through the carpet fibers, where the dirt is."

Once you get the dirt up into the vacuum cleaner, said Roberts, you want to make sure it stays there. The bag is the big filter, made from "a polyspun electrostatic material that you can't break," but Miele also includes a hepa filter, "which delivers a filtration level of 99.97 percent efficiency at 0.3 microns. It's the only vacuum to pass the European EN1822 test, which monitors hepa filtration while the machine is running, not just the filter independent of the machine. Most vacuums that have the hepa filter don't deliver true hepa filtration, because some of the exhaust air goes around the filter."

And if canisters in general were more maneuverable than uprights, Miele was the most maneuverable of all. "It's light, but it also feels light. All three wheels on the bottom swivel. If you kick your machine sideways, then it rolls sideways. It's very easy to maneuver. Also, the brush at the end of the hose swivels -- just twist the hose, and the brush on the floor steers with your twist." Finally, "there's a swivel where the hose enters the grip, so that the hose always stays in a relaxed position. It never twists."

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

2024 continues to impress with yellowfin much closer to San Diego than they should be

New rockfish regulations coming this week as opener approaches
Next Article

Flowering pear trees in Kensington not that nice

Empty dirt plots in front of Ken Cinema

It's the end of an era here at the Kelly home. For over a decade, I've bragged to friends about my Electrolux vacuum cleaner, the one I inherited from my husband's grandmother. I called it "the Tank" and marveled that it still had so much suck after 40 years. But nothing lasts forever, and the Tank has given out."Guess I'll check out the price on a new Electrolux," I told my friend Bernice.

"Don't," she replied. "I bought one off of QVC for $400 , and it broke down constantly. I finally got rid of it."

I couldn't believe it, so I called the one Electrolux dealer in town (Aerus Electrolux, Clairemont, 858-565-8288) to hear their side of it. Employee Rick explained, "There's another Electrolux out there called the Oxygen. It's actually a relabeled Eureka, from a company called AB Electrolux. It's a good vacuum for what it does -- you buy it, use it for a year, and when it breaks down, you throw it away. It's not made to the same standard." It seemed that Electrolux had sold its name and now used the brand name Aerus Electrolux to denote its own products. Rick assured me they were still tanks. Three reasons to buy: "Reputation, longevity, and warranty. The price range is $1100 to $2499 . Even the entry-level vacuums have a 5-year warranty on the motor. There's also a 7-year, and the top-of-the-line Guardian has a 25-year warranty on the motor and a 2-year warranty on parts."

Sponsored
Sponsored

It sounded good, but it sounded expensive. I decided to call around. My friend Shawn swears by her Rainbow canister vacuum ( $1997-$2477 at Rainbow Service Center in Clairemont, 619-275-1691). "I love how well it picks up dirt. It cleans super-well and uses water as a filter. I also love that, when you vacuum, you can see the dirt, along with any trinkets you've picked up. But I hate that I have to put water in it every time I vacuum."

Friend Julie paid $2200 five years ago for her Kirby upright (Kirby Vacuum, Kearny Mesa, 858-565-2827). "I like that it's well-built. I've had it for five years, and nothing has broken. And it has a lot of flexibility -- there are a lot of attachments made for every little type of vacuuming that you might want to do -- even carpet shampooing. But it can be complicated to use -- you have to break out the owner's manual or watch a video before you try to do certain things. And I think we paid way too much for a vacuum cleaner."

As for Bernice, she liked her Oreck upright just fine. "I love how light it is. It's really easy to move around, and the kids can do it. But the belts keep popping off." (Orecks are priced $299-$749 at Oreck Authorized Sales in Mira Mesa, 858-586-7100.)

Finally, I turned to Brett Roberts, owner of Metro Vacuum in La Mesa (619-466-4430). Roberts was a man who knew what he believed, starting with the superiority of canister vacuums over uprights. "Canisters are better for all surfaces, and uprights are better for no surfaces. A canister has much more sucking power because the motor is bigger and heavier. That would weigh down an upright, but with a canister, your motor sits in one spot while you work around. An upright cannot navigate between chairs and table legs, or under beds or coffee tables. You have to put the whole machine any place you vacuum, but with a canister, you have this little maneuverable brush. An upright is terrible for above-the-floor vacuuming -- vents, blinds, furniture, shelves, cars." At best, he said, you have to attach a separate hose. "But there's already an attached hose on a canister."

Roberts wasn't a fan of the Oreck ("Archaic design -- everything you suck up goes through the motor blades, and they break constantly"); the Kirby ("Well made, but poorly designed and very pricey -- plus, it's an upright"); or the Rainbow ("If a bubble pops at the top of the water filter, the dust goes back into the air. New-model Rainbows have a hepa filter at the exhaust port"). The Electrolux was okay, he said, but expensive, and not as good as his favorite: Miele (available at Metro Vacuum, $529-$1000 ).

Miele, he said, delivered the most important feature a vacuum can have: "high air speed occurring where the dirt is. Miele gives you 140 cubic feet per minute of airflow and a tremendous amount of suction. The air is moving very quickly, and Miele captures that speed where the dirt is, with tools that interface appropriately with carpet and floor. The parquet floor brush, for example, will penetrate into a variegated surface. If a nozzle interfaces poorly with a floor -- say, a carpet -- then very little of the flowing air is going through the carpet fibers, where the dirt is."

Once you get the dirt up into the vacuum cleaner, said Roberts, you want to make sure it stays there. The bag is the big filter, made from "a polyspun electrostatic material that you can't break," but Miele also includes a hepa filter, "which delivers a filtration level of 99.97 percent efficiency at 0.3 microns. It's the only vacuum to pass the European EN1822 test, which monitors hepa filtration while the machine is running, not just the filter independent of the machine. Most vacuums that have the hepa filter don't deliver true hepa filtration, because some of the exhaust air goes around the filter."

And if canisters in general were more maneuverable than uprights, Miele was the most maneuverable of all. "It's light, but it also feels light. All three wheels on the bottom swivel. If you kick your machine sideways, then it rolls sideways. It's very easy to maneuver. Also, the brush at the end of the hose swivels -- just twist the hose, and the brush on the floor steers with your twist." Finally, "there's a swivel where the hose enters the grip, so that the hose always stays in a relaxed position. It never twists."

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego Reader 2024 Music & Arts Issue

Favorite fakers: Baby Bushka, Fleetwood Max, Electric Waste Band, Oceans, Geezer – plus upcoming tribute schedule
Next Article

OSHA rules wall falls our fault

Who, U.S.?
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.