Which vacuum should I buy?
So, you’re on the lookout for a vacuum cleaner buyers guide? What makes a good vacuum cleaner, well in this vacuum buyer guide, we shall go over a few points to help you make the right decision so you can buy the best vacuum for your requirements.
There are quite a few vacuum cleaners available from bagless vacuums to upright or robotic vacuums, they all share the same core use, cleaning your home or space, knowing which one you should buy is very much dependent on what purpose you need your vacuum for…
Let us begin!
We will take a look at the different types of vacuum cleaners and their main uses in situations, Are you ready?
What is a Cylinder Vacuum Cleaner? Do you need one?
Cylinder vacuums are small, compact and tend to be light-weight when comparing them to upright models, they are good cleaners for hard flooring and carpet as well as very portable to get up and down stairs, most cylinder vacuums are bagless so there are minimal accessories needed to purchase in addition as they do tend to come with all the attachments within the box.. That was easy.
There’s more….
Cylinder vacuum cleans are easy to use, press one button and you’re ready to start hoovering, they have wheels and a flexible hose which allows you to get into and under tight spaces to do your cleaning, you pull or drag the cylinder behind you by steering with the flexible hose so maneuvering is very easy. To mention a few good cylinder vacuum brands to look out for would be VAX, Miele and Sebo, we would have included Dyson but they stopped producing their cylinder models and have decided to focus on their upright light weight battery powered models nowadays so stick to the three mentioned when you’re buying a cylinder vacuum, well this was quick wasn’t it? You wish, there’s a lot more types of vacuums to go through, read below;
The Good Old Mighty Upright Vacuum Cleaner!
Upright vacuum cleaners used to be the bread and butter of cleaners, they were in every home, they were big, hard-tough type vacuums that just worked, generally they were all bagged models but do you need an upright vacuum for yourself in todays use-cases? We’ll go through the situation, scenarios where an upright vacuum cleaner would benefit you and some situations where they could be rather tedious for cleaning!
Lets find out!
Upright vacuum cleaners are primarily needed if you have a large home or space that is predominately upholstery (carpet or material/fabric) if you own a very large home with big rooms and lots of carpet, then this is the best choice for you, because 
its’ upright, there’s no bending down involved so you can clean big areas with ease, unlike the cylinder vacuums where you need to pull the bulky vacuum with you as you clean, the upright vacuum is well suited to push forward which gives you more agility which makes it much more mobile cleaning flat surfaces.
The build quality and design….
Upright hoovers, high end upright cleaners are very well built, hardly anything goes wrong with them to our knowledge, they are big, strong and will clean anything given to it, they are belt driven which gives the brush more friction when in use, the question is simply what you need your vacuum for and if its for all the points mentioned, then we would suggest looking out for these brands Shark, VAX and Hoover upright models as these manufactures excel with these types of vacuums.
Lets continue…
Cordless Upright Vacuums also known as A Stick Cleaner?
We said we were going to give you a complete buyers guide for buying a vacuum and this is what we’re doing, some of these vacuums can cost a pretty penny, therefore you should read this guide thoroughly to make sure you’re purchasing the vacuum for you.
Back to the best cordless upright vacuums for you…
Cordless vacuums are similar to traditional standing upright vacuums however there are a few benefits. Let’s begin, cordless vacuums weigh much less than the corded variety which makes it perfect if you need a vacuum for many rooms, if you have a multi-story home with lots of stairs and levels then maybe this type of hoover should be on your list of possibilities, being so light weight, allows you to lift it up the stairs easily while being portable as it is battery powered, most battery powered vacuums require an initial full charge of around 2 to 4 hours, once charged you can expect anywhere between 20 to 40 minutes of cleaning, the time of usage very much depends on the battery capacity, most batteries for these vacuums are of the L-ION type which allow many recharges and balance power with usage.
There are more benefits…
There is nothing more annoying than having to be tied down to plug sockets, some homes don’t have plug sockets where it would make vacuuming a quick and easy job, having a cordless vacuum allows that freedom to quickly vacuum your home within an hour without having to detach plugs and finding another socket, this makes light work if you have a cordless stick cleaner for your house.
Now, the best cordless upright vacuum brands would be Dyson, VAX and Bosch, the ultimate manufacture for these types of vacuums would be Dyson as they only specialise in these types of vacuums, they have discontinued all other models and solely produce upright cordless stick vacuums, these hoovers are very much recommended by us if you would like our opinion!
Nonetheless, the cordless upright vacuums may be our choice and recommendation but there are still more variants that could possibly be more beneficial for your needs…
On to the next vacuum!
The cordless hand-held vacuum! What’s the difference between cordless upright and cordless hand-held vacuums?
The difference is that if you take a look at the Dyson cordless upright vacuum range, they essentially are a two in one, they have the collecting cylinder near the top where the grip/handle is located, this allows this type of vacuum to be hand-held with different attachments, however some other brands don’t use this type of construction, whereby the actual cylinder/container is located in the same traditional place, near the bottom.
So back to the cordless hand held vacuum range…
Cordless hand held vacuum cleaners are an absolute must for hoovering your car, quick spot cleaning for sofas, carpets and pet hair! Yes, these little hand held vacuums shine when it comes down to getting rid of pet hair or hair in general, if you own a pet, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about, pet hair on the stairs? On the bed? Or perhaps on the sofa, grab your cordless hand held vacuum and zap it up real quick.
Hand-held cordless vacuums should be your choice if you live in a small apartment/flat or studio, there isn’t a need to purchase a big upright or an expensive cordless upright, or even a cylinder in this scenario, the perfect choice would be to go for a neat and tidy small but powerful cordless hand held vacuum.
The manufactures to look for are again, Dyson, VAX and also the AmazonBasics range, AmazonBasics could be a good buy in this situation simply due to the sheer prices of the first two listed and if you’re just wanting a good vacuum without breaking the bank or you don’t want to spend a small fortune, then go for one of these.
Now to quickly mention the other types of vacuums available, some may not be considered as a vacuum but they clean floors and carpets nonetheless…
Steam cleaners and Purpose built Carpet cleaners, what are these for and why would I need one?
Steam cleaners are a great way to kill bad bacteria without the use of chemicals like bleach, ridding of bacteria can release odours from upholstery and any types of floors, carpet cleaning vacuums essentially do the same but for fabric materials like carpets, rugs and have strong brushes to agitate the potential dirt within the fibers and then sucks this up out of the fibers as well as using some type of detergent which leaves a fresh scent after a clean, where as a steamer usually uses no chemicals at all and is very much more useful for non-fiber type surfaces such as tile and hard wood flooring.
How much are steam cleaners and are they worth it?
A good microfiber steam cleaner is definitely a good buy, not much maintenance is required with this, just add water and wash your microfiber cloths after use, they are not very expensive and cost a lot less than any vacuum cleaner but we would recommend using a steam cleaner to aid a normal vacuum cleaner, so you would vacuum your floors then in addition, steam clean the surface after to stay bacteria free, manufactures to look out for are Morphy Richards, VAX, Shark and Vileda, all these brands produce very good steamers with most having multiple uses and attachments for any job you may come across.
How about Carpet Cleaners? Do I need a Carpet Cleaner?
Carpet cleaners basically have one purpose, that is to clean and wash carpets leaving them good as new and smelling great, We would recommend buying a carpet cleaner if you have a big home with lots of carpet throughout otherwise, you will not need one.
So what’s the point in buying a carpet cleaning vacuum?
A well kept home should include good cleaning, if you’re house proud and have the money to purchase a carpet cleaning vacuum then go ahead, it’ll only improve your homes appearance and importantly enhance the smell of your rooms by eliminating any odours that my come from your carpet and upholstery, most of the new models leave your carpets dry within an hour of shampooing as they suck up the water as you go, a fantastic piece of home kit IF you are wanting a vacuum to deep clean your floors, primarily but not limited to… carpet.
And there you have it…
Our comprehensive vacuum buyers guide, if you read all of it, you should have a good understanding of what to go for, which not only saves you time trying different vacuums but also money, knowing you’re buying the right equipment for the job at hand.
