Best vacuum for allergies?

jackieb

My present vacuum has served me well but it's almost 9 years old and we need a better one. My son has very bad eczema which we've been trying to get under control for the past 18 months and I wondered if anyone had any recomendations for what the best anti-allergy vac is.

The one I have is bagless, and I had 2 washable filters, so I always had a clean one. But if a bagged vacuum was better then i'd buy a bagged one. At this point i'll try anything to try and get rid of his eczema. My vacuum is often covered in dust so i'm thinking the filter's not that good anyway.

I was thinking about getting a Dyson but i've had one previously and it had to have the motor replaced. The second motor also went kaput and I got rid, so i'm not filled with confidence with them.

I was thinking about a Miele but was wondering if they're excessively heavy for lugging up and down the stairs.

Jake'sGran

jackieb wrote: »

My present vacuum has served me well but it's almost 9 years old and we need a better one. My son has very bad eczema which we've been trying to get under control for the past 18 months and I wondered if anyone had any recomendations for what the best anti-allergy vac is.

The one I have is bagless, and I had 2 washable filters, so I always had a clean one. But if a bagged vacuum was better then i'd buy a bagged one. At this point i'll try anything to try and get rid of his eczema. My vacuum is often covered in dust so i'm thinking the filter's not that good anyway.

I was thinking about getting a Dyson but i've had one previously and it had to have the motor replaced. The second motor also went kaput and I got rid, so i'm not filled with confidence with them.

I was thinking about a Miele but was wondering if they're excessively heavy for lugging up and down the stairs.

I would Google for the answer. There is an expensive vac that does the job but I cannot remember the name.u Just put "vacuum cleaner for allergy sufferer" and you will be surprised by what comes up. I think eczema
is awful and do hope it clears up in time. Do you have anti-allergy bedding for him? That is expensive too but might make a difference. I know that steroid creams help but they are not a good idea in the long run.

SonjaLiK

Miele Cat and Dog.
Don't have it myself but know quite a few people that do and love it.

jackieb

Jake'sGran wrote: »

I would Google for the answer. There is an expensive vac that does the job but I cannot remember the name.u Just put "vacuum cleaner for allergy sufferer" and you will be surprised by what comes up. I think eczema
is awful and do hope it clears up in time. Do you have anti-allergy bedding for him? That is expensive too but might make a difference. I know that steroid creams help but they are not a good idea in the long run.

I don't have anti allergy bedding, although I do have mattress and pillow protectors which are regulalry changed, and a washing machine that has an allergy and a steam setting (and have been told by dermatologist to wash his clothing in Surcare or Ecover). I also wash his duvet every week - sheets every other day. There is so much skin that comes off of him you'd think he was eating a dozen slices of toast in it! We've tried loads of different cream combinations. You name it - we've probably tried it. He's waiting to see if he's suitable for some tablets but he has to have a couple of blood tests taken and his blood pressure has to be taken 4 times first, and then if he does get it, they have to be checked regularly. I'd rather he didn't have to go onto them as we've been told it can sometimes affect the kidneys and liver.

SonjaLiK wrote: »

Miele Cat and Dog.
Don't have it myself but know quite a few people that do and love it.

I'm wondering if the cat and dog is different from the anti-allergy one Miele have? We don't have any pets. I would've thought the anti-allergy version might be better for us?

SonjaLiK

I am not sure but most of the people I know with Cat and Dog don't actually have pets but rather kids allergic to dust, oversensitive etc.

jackieb

SonjaLiK wrote: »

I am not sure but most of the people I know with Cat and Dog don't actually have pets but rather kids allergic to dust, oversensitive etc.

Thanks. I know the anti-allergy one has bags with special filters in them. I didn't really look at the cat and dog version, but i'll have a read about that one too.

SimbaSimon

I'd go with the Dyson Animal. Some people seem to have the odd problem but I've had mine 6 years now and put it through quite a bit of abuse over the time and it'll happily hoover up bits of hay and all sorts of thick dust. Usually the filters can be washed or replaced.

Jake'sGran

SonjaLiK wrote: »

I am not sure but most of the people I know with Cat and Dog don't actually have pets but rather kids allergic to dust, oversensitive etc.

My daughter bought the Cat & Dog and really likes it. No one in their house has an allergy except perhaps her husband who gets a problem with his hands due to something used at his workplace. He saw a consultant and was told to use a simple white cream that puts fluid back (an emollient). It used to be £2 for a large tub at Boots. He no longer has the problem with his hands.

We were going to buy the Cat & Doc vac. I believe it is the suction power which is it's big advantage i.e. it's not sold as "anti allergy". My DD said it is heavy and therefore unsuitable for me (bad heart). The John Lewis site will give more detail.

Jake'sGran

For jackieB

Me again! Forgot to say I don't like the sound of the tablets. My cardiologist would like me to take a drug that would correct my very irregular heartbeat but that needs monthly liver tests and has lots of side effects.

It would be great if something else could help your son.

timmybear

Jackie, in my time i have worked repairing vacuums, for many years i sold them when i worked in an electrical showroom, and for the best part of the last 10 years i've been running a domestic cleaning business, so i think i can offer some advice.

First of all, bag or bagless? Well, as i am sure you know, at one time of the day all cleaners had cloth bags but during the 1960's it became very fashionable for the top-of-the-range cleaners to have paper-bags as this was considered more hygenic and much more convienient.

By the 1980's most cleaners had paper bags and were now percieved as a pain in the neck as the bags were considered expensive and wasteful. Some models of vacuum cleaner allowed you un-do the paper bag and shake it out to use it again. There were also some cleaners like the Hitachi (others too) which had a large central filter and no bag at all. These were very popular among consumers who were wanting a bagless cleaner.

However, the fine weave of the paper bags would soon clog up and bagless cleaners with a central filters were even worse as the filter was far smaller than your average dust bag. Cleaning those filters out was a nightmare, an absolute nightmare, and by the late 1990's such machines had all but been discontinued.

This is where James Dyson came in and stormed the market. In 1978 he devised a cleaner which did not lose suction power and it went on sale in the UK in 1993. When i started my job in the showroom in 1997, the Dyson DC01 upright was really taking off. However, the bagless aspect of the cleaner was not the principle reason for it being invented, and yet in all my years spent selling these machines, never did anyone ask for a cleaner which never lost it's suction, rather they asked for 'the one without a bag'.

Electrolux was the first to bring out something to compete, closely followed by Hoover. Hoover even went so far to copy part of the Dyson patented design, for which Dyson successfully sued them and the cleaner had to come off sale. What we have since seen is no end of 'bagless' cleaners on sale, which range from nothing more than a filter in a box through to elaborate cyclone systems, all of which cannot be a Dyson because the Dyson design is patented.

Now, that is all well and good, but so far no one has indicated what the optimum level of suction is to ensure thorough cleaning. Motors are of course measured in watts, and the suction in air watts, but it's the latter which is the best indicator of suction.

However, do we need a massive amount of suction? Not neccesarily. Upright cleaners will always out perform a cylinder on carpets as they have a powerful revolving brush bar which easily loosens dust and debris from carpets, not to mention pet hair. The suction on an upright does not have to been too strong as the suction does not do the bulk of the cleaning, the brush does that.

But for jobs like vacuuming bare floors, stairs, curtains, anything above carpet level infact, you cannot beat a dedicated cylinder. And again, for cleaning bare floors and suction-dusting surfaces, you really don't need lots of suction. So even with a full bag, there may well be more than enough suction to carry on cleaning succesfully.

You see what no one ever dares mention is that it is the dilligence of the person doing the cleaning which makes the biggest difference to the cleaning task, not the machine. I have lost count of the number of people i have met in one walk of life or another who bought a top-of-the-range vacuum cleaner in the belief they would have a cleaner home, but didnt ever clean 'properly' with their new machine. What i find lurking behind peoples beds is horrific

If i was to buy a bagless cleaner, i would not buy anything that was not a Dyson. Why? Because the others are filthy, disgusting things to try and empty & clean the filters out. I would rather have a paper bag than a non-Dyson bagless. The point you raise about your current vacuum cleaner being covered in dust is an excellent one and is likely to be a combination of dirt falling out when you empty it and dust which has made it's way through the machine.

So what do i use to clean? Well i now own a fleet of Numatic cylinders of various models (Henry, James, George, etc) as these are bulletproof little cleaners with amply suction, plain no-frills but comprehensive tool kits, and the bags are (forgive the pun) dirt cheap. Done carefully, the bag can be removed & sealed without too much hassle and dust escaping.

I also have a couple of Dyson uprights which i use to clean houses with lots of carpet and / or pet hair. Incidently, the 'cat & dog', 'animal', 'pet' etc models are usually so-called because they have a carbon filter to help eliminate stale pet odours and in the case of uprights have a small suction-driven turbo head for stairs, and in the case of cylinders a large suction-driven turbo head for carpets. They may or may not have anti-allergy filtration; you will need to check. Whilst the turbo head on a cylinder is better at cleaning carpets than the 'normal' static head, it is still no where near as effective as an upright cleaner is.

As for your son, what flooring does he have in his room? Carpets have the overriding advantage that dust and fluff and debris will fall to the floor and stay there until it is vacuumed, but vacuuming alone may not remove it all. A hard floor can be cleaned and washed, but what falls to the floor does not stay there because it becomes airbourne as soon as a window is opened or a draught enters the room. It is a difficult one. Were it me, i would be tempted to lay a laminated floor in his bedroom and use a barely damp flat-mop to damp-dust the floor at least once a day, using the vacuum cleaner say weekly to vacuum edges and surfaces etc thoroughly. I would also use the vacuum cleaner to vacuum surfaces before dusting with a damp cloth and buffing with a dry one. I am sure i dont need to tell you that soft furnishings should also be kept to a bare minimum too.

Hope this helps.

timmybear

Oh and i forgot to say, Dyson cleaners now come with a 5 yr guarentee as standard, so they really are good value as Dyson will repair the cleaner should it break down in the first five years. They are not cheap cleaners, but when you consider the cost of living, £200-£300 spent on a vacuum cleaner is nothing over the five years.