Best vacuum for allergies?

jackieb

Thank you for that very comprehensive reply!

I've had a Dyson previously (12 years ago now) and I didn't care for it. Maybe that's because 2 motors went in it, and my sister's motor in her one also blew up. I have seen that now they have a 5yr guarantee so that's a positive.

He does actually have a carpet in his room. We got a black one and you can see every spec on it (he sheds a LOT of skin). I thought this would be better than a neutral carpet where you the dust can be less obvious. At least with the black you can see what's on there. We live in the north of Scotland so I think laminate would be too cold for here. I damp dust with a microfibre cloth as well. I was reading that the anti-allergy Miele one has a bag with 9 layers of filtration.

timmybear

jackieb wrote: »

Thank you for that very comprehensive reply!

I've had a Dyson previously (12 years ago now) and I didn't care for it. Maybe that's because 2 motors went in it, and my sister's motor in her one also blew up. I have seen that now they have a 5yr guarantee so that's a positive.

He does actually have a carpet in his room. We got a black one and you can see every spec on it (he sheds a LOT of skin). I thought this would be better than a neutral carpet where you the dust can be less obvious. At least with the black you can see what's on there. We live in the north of Scotland so I think laminate would be too cold for here. I damp dust with a microfibre cloth as well. I was reading that the anti-allergy Miele one has a bag with 9 layers of filtration.

Hi Jackie

I have no doubt that the Miele will do a good job of sealing the dust in the cleaner, but as they are cylinders, i would very much question how much muck they can actually pull out the carpet to begin with.

A Dyson going back 12 years will almost certainly have been a DC01 of some description. They have come a long way since then; my mother is a cleaning fanatic but her 9 year old DC04 is still going strong, having needed just a few small parts here and there over the years.

I absolutly hammered a brand new DC07 to its death, this was in the days before the 5yr warranty, but i had taken out an extended guarentee. I didnt of course say i used it for what amounts to commercial use and when the Dyson guy came round, it was rebuilt like new.....so that gave me another couple of years in which i murdered it again. I was astounded at how much use the cleaner took before burning out. Since then, i've had several more DC07's, new and 2nd hand, they've all done really well.

My auntie alos has a DC07 which after almost 7 years use burned out recently. For £69 Dyson refurbished it with a brand-new motor and lots of other parts which were wearing out. She was well chuffed.

The problem we have is that we are used to things lasting for a lot longer than they do now, because through rose-tinted specs we recall the stuff our parents owned lasted forever. However, we forget that electrical items -even irons and kettles etc- were always repaired when they went wrong, and in fact were built in such a way that they could be easily repaired. But we forget the on-going repair costs.......my mother often fondly recalls how her first automatic washing machine -a Zanussi- lasted 14 years. What she forgets is that after the first 3 or so years she used to have to get it mended every year. But you did back then :rotfl:

For what they cost, i think electrical items in general are quite good value when compared to our other expenses.

jackieb

Miele actually do uprights now. http://www.miele.co.uk/vacuum-cleaners/s7/

My Dyson was a De Stijl model - purple, red and yellow - it looked like a toy one. And yes, it was a DC01 model. http://www.dyson-ball.com/dyson-dc01-de-stijl-red-bagless-upright-vacuum-cleaner/

SonjaLiK

Timmybear, wonderful, excellent post but as far as Dysons go - users say differently.
I don't think more than 10% of Dyson users actually like them (from what I heard).

Jackie, what about engineered flooring with underfloor heating? That would be my choice. In case you've never looked at such an option, it's not actually as expensive as it sounds.

timmybear

Jackie, i forgot that miele now do uprights, they had in the past always been commited to making cylinders, indeed one of their advertising campaigns even said "are you an upright citizen" in an attempt to get consumers to switch to their Reveloution cylinder. My moms DC04 is the De stijl version and thinking about it, she has a reconditioned DC01 de stijl for upstairs (i'd forgotten about that) which works ok but the difference between the 01 and the 04 is very noticable. Mind you, i recall the 04 going on sale when i was in the showroom and we were all quite impressed. The biggest plus over all Dysons since the 01 is that the cyclone and dirt tank can be completly removed and taken outside to empty, unlike the 01 which as you know had the cyclone attached to the cleaner and had to be emptied in situ (or else the whole cleaner taken outside).

Sonja, thanks for the compliment. I must say though, i am not sure where you got the 10% statistic from, though i am naturally wary of statistics as i always think "well no one asked me" what i do know is that lots of houses i have cleaned have had more than one dyson, and i've known many people who have replaced a dyson with another dyson. I think its all subjective as i've also heard people saying they weren't that keen on their dyson, although i've also heard people say they didnt realise how good the dyson was until they bought some other make.

I do also think that the more basic the cleaner, the better really, so many have bells & whistles which i can't really see the point of.

SonjaLiK

i am not sure where you got the 10% statistic from

I said in the brackets - it's just from what I heard from people I know, people they know etc.

jackieb

My current Morphy Richards cost me less than £60 and it's been good value for money - I just think we need something better now.

My mum used to have a Kirby, and I think it cost her almost £600 back in the early 80s. That thing weighed a ton!

timmybear

Ah the Kirby!

Wonderful at vacuuming carpets (those brush bars are superb) BUT the soft-bag hanging off the side of them was a magnet for stray dust and dirt. Unbeliveably, this design of bagiing up the dirt (which goes back right to the beginning of vacuum-cleaner time) is still being used today by Kirby and one or two others.

Jake'sGran

jackieb wrote: »

Thank you for that very comprehensive reply!

I've had a Dyson previously (12 years ago now) and I didn't care for it. Maybe that's because 2 motors went in it, and my sister's motor in her one also blew up. I have seen that now they have a 5yr guarantee so that's a positive.

He does actually have a carpet in his room. We got a black one and you can see every spec on it (he sheds a LOT of skin). I thought this would be better than a neutral carpet where you the dust can be less obvious. At least with the black you can see what's on there. We live in the north of Scotland so I think laminate would be too cold for here. I damp dust with a microfibre cloth as well. I was reading that the anti-allergy Miele one has a bag with 9 layers of filtration.

Everyone I know who bought a Dyson didn't like them. Mostly they commented that they are very heavy.

Jackieb - I forgot to mention about hard floor covering being better than carpets probably because all my knowledge of bedroom conditions for allergy sufferers came from the time I was a member of the Asthma society. (I was being treated for it but didn't have it - it was heart disease).
There was one member who lived in a lovely part of the country and who offered one week holidays to young sufferers as she had created a special bedroom for them - and her own child as well. It was super dust free but I can't remember the details.

Slinky_Malinky

http://www.miele.co.uk/vacuum-cleaners/s4/remotecontrolhepas4782-378/


The above Miele has some sort of sensor on it to tell you your carpet is clean. If you are worried about the weight for carrying it upstairs, the S4 series are small and compact. The downside of this is there is no on board storage of accessories and you will have to change the bag more often as it is quite small. I used to have A Cat & Dog model but when i had a hysterectomy wanted something more lightweight so I bought an S4. I love it.

On the subject of your son`s eczema, have you considered homeopathy? I have heard that it can be very effective at treating this condition.