Best vacuum cleaner for allergy / carpets

peachespeaches

Which is the best vacuum cleaner for allergy sufferers? We have recently moved to a house with lots of carpets and my asthma has flared up again. The youngest also has eczema. (Getting rid of the carpets is not an option. The house is rented privately, theres nothing wrong with the carpets but the rooms are quite big and it would cost a fortune to replace. Moving again is not an option either!).

At the moment we have an Electrolux boss which is about 5 years old and a newish Hoover Sprint (cylinder) which I use upstairs. The Sprint is the best picker upper but it hurts my back to push the brush attachment. It also has a cloth bag that you reuse and I wonder about dust being blown out from this.

We have a mostly outdoors cat that I dont seem to be allergic to. BUT the previous resident of the house had a large dog and I think its that which I am reacting to. The carpets have been cleaned but obviously allergens remain.

Which would be the best cleaner for our acres of carpets?

paddy's_mum

You may be interested to read a thread begun by N9eav on 17/4/07 in this section, entitled 'Miele cat and dog or other best vacuum'. It gives a lot of opinion/comment on precisely the topic you are asking about. My own comments are on page 4 of that thread.

I too bought the Sebo K3 Premium, which was not cheap but it is without doubt the best cleaner I have ever had or used. My youngest daughter loathes housework with a passion but was so intrigued by the Sebo that she turned it on, used it, and went away saying 'that's the one I want'! Quite some recommendation, I can assure you.

I also recently bought direct from Bissell a reconditioned ProTech carpet washer and although it is heavier to use than a vacuum cleaner, I have been pleased with the results on our rugs and my mother's fitted carpets. Perhaps the combination of Sebo cleaner and maybe also hiring a Rug Doctor to wash the carpets would give you a double-pronged approach and a good result. Good luck and hope that helps.

peachespeaches

Thank you both. I read the Miele thread too. I will research Miele and Sebo.

Does the which? report recommend one specifically for allergy sufferers?

Lots of cleaners have HEPA filters nowadays but I am sceptical about these. How often do you have to change the filters?