I know this might seem like an odd question, and this might be the wrong community (if it is, pls tell), but I’m currently looking for a reliable, but very cheap vacuum cleaners.
For years my family just bought the cheapest name brand vacuum that they could find in the nearest store, but they all suck (pun intended) these days. I think most of companies just whitelabel asian vacuums and sell them for as much profit as possible, and the end users end up with vacuums where random plastic clips break and the vacuum just not turning on, directly after the warranty expired.
Our new Philips one just kicked the bucket, and now we try to not repeat our mistakes. Is there any secret brand for our purposes?
We practically vacuum the whole house daily because of the dog hair. We’ve had bad experiences both with bagless and non-bagless, so that doesn’t matter, as long as the bags are reasonably priced. The budget is pretty much what the cheapest supermarket vacuum would cost, and probably not much more.
The vacuum needs to be available in Germany.
I hope theres some good household tech out there anymore, god I love capitalism so much
If you have any questions, let me know
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Get on eBay and pick up a used Miele canister vac. The C1 is underpowered but C2 and 3 are good
You can get brand new but scratched items for €70 or so.
They haven’t gone downhill, they’re still excellent quality
Henry also makes incredibly reliable vacs, but they’re a horrible design and fall over constantly, as well as catching on every corner
Gotta second the Miele. We have the C3 and it is fantastic. Our friend who is allergic to cats barely had any trouble when she comes over because of that vacuum, she even ended up buying one too.
They are expensive so hopefully you can find a used one. There are also places that will repair them, so you don’t need to trash them if something breaks.
I got a Miele a few years ago and love it it’s a little pricy, but they are well made and have good warranties. A vacuum repair person recommended the brand to me saying that when they do finally break, they are much easier repair.
But are their current models still good, or have they also gone down the profit maximising route?
Sebo is more reliable these days, I’m really happy with mine.
Looks like they are still very good. I have the C1 which is still made in Germany. I wouldn’t buy a model made in China, regardless of manufacturer, but to each their own.
https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/1cban91/miele_vacuum_worth_the_cost/
https://www.rtings.com/vacuum/reviews/miele
The biggest knock Rtings has us the cost of operation (filter and bag replacements) but you can get reusable options for both. I have two very sheddy dogs and one reusable bag has worked fine as long as I’ve owned the vacuum.
Advice for any purchase really that I learned far to late, cheap is expensive. A $400 vacuum that is made well, repairable, and will run for 20+ years is better than a new $120 vacuum every 5 years.
I previously had the Roborock S4, and upgraded to a Roborock S8 with the auto-emptying dock last year. I have a husky mix, and so my home gets quite hairy. Having a robot vacuum that can empty itself without me having to really do much is a lifesaver. Roborock also offers spare parts, and you can take these machines apart to fix them, if the need arises; none of my machines have ever broken down though.
You don’t need to connect the robot to the app, but I don’t think you get the scheduling functionality without it. You can of course always just press the button to start it manually, and that’s what I’ve been doing most of the time since I want it running when I’m out and that time window tends to shift a bit.
Yesterday I also learned that there’s OSS you can flash onto the machine to decouple it from Xiaomi’s stuff, which I think is great.
Is it Valetudo?
Aye. I didn’t look deeply into it but it’s nice that it exists.
Take one from Bosch-Siemens. Medium price, excellent quality, long life.
I think Bosch is really a mixed bag. They probably have some good ones, but they seem to also follow the plastic china vacuum route
they seem to also follow the plastic china vacuum route
Tell me one such model please?
My experience is cheap Siemens/Bosch is not great. Si ignore entry price models even if you don’t need the features.
I’m slowly replacing my breaking Siemens stuff with Miele and so far it seems to be worth the premium without having to research each model.
I just replaced a Dyson vacuum with a Miele bagless and boy, it’s so much more powerfu, and seems better designed and more robust.
Also fuck Dyson for lobbying for Brexit and then bailed to Singapore.
Dysons have planned obsolescence, their plastics are shit, and they are overly loud on purpose, so that people have the impression they are powerful.
I was partly lucky I guess. My first Dyson never broke but was losing sucking power despite cleaning the filters, I had a killer rebate on a new one so I sold the old one and got a new one.
The new one had a very silly design flaw where the vacuum head pivots on a tiny, crappy, little plastic flat ring held by a single screw. That broke but thankfully while under warranty and they quickly replaced the part. Recently the same exact part broke again but out of warranty. Considered replacing it but for such an old vacuum, the part was expensive (about $80) and out of stock so I pulled the trigger on putting some extra money in a newer, better-quality one instead.
I’m all for repairing stuff to extend their life but some things just aren’t worth sinking more money into them.
We hada Philips and a Dyson, which were in our opinion trash. We now have a Nilfisk for the last five/six years, holds really well.
They all suck.
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I don’t know about buy it for life, but an Oreck XL is a good value and easily repairable. We had one for about 12 years. It ran through many bags, about half a dozen belts, one puppy-chewed power cord, a few disassemblies to remove foreign objects that were too big for its rather small intake, and one replacement wooden brush cylinder. I doubt the consumables and repair parts even hit a hundred bucks for over a decade. When it finally went (cracked interior housing that refused to respond to super glue and cable ties), we just got another. In the interim, it’s just a good flat-floor vacuum. We have a random cheap-ass hoover with attachments for nooks and crannies, and because it gets little use, it’s lasted quite a while as well, though it wouldn’t last a year if it were the “main” vac.
My mom had one for 20 years before the motor finally gave up. Got a new one of the same model to replace it and it’s still going 15 years later.
I’ve got a Miele canister vacuum and it has way more options than I really need, but man is it easy to work with just like the Oreck was. The nice part with the canister is that I can use it for anything. Except water. Get the ShopVac for that.
If you’re planning to use it every day, I suggest you consider investing a bit more and get a good one! Spend your money where you spend your time
The term my husband uses is, “Buy it nice, or buy it twice!”
I don’t have a specific vacuum recommendation, but here is a trustworthy ratings site that covers them.
Also, look at Amazon bestsellers rankings. There are different types of vacuums (upright, canister, stick, etc.).
I have a Dyson v8 and a Dyson v11 and have no complaints except for long term battery life.
I also have a shark little portable shop vac, the messmaster. It’s also very handy.
I remember seeing a post on Reddit from some vacuum repair guy and the overall takeaway I’m pretty sure was get a miele
I don’t have strong opinions on vacuums in general, we don’t have much carpet in our house, I have a roborock s7 on our first floor to clean and mop, but that’s all tile and hardwood and an s6 that runs in our basement that is the thinnest cheapest carpet known to man. For our second floor and stairs, we have a shark lift away. It seems to work well enough, I like it being cordless, and the lift away setup is nice for the stairs. Had it for a couple years now and we’ve been happy so far. If you have a bigger house or more carpet than we do though, the batter life way disappoint you.
I asked him (the vacuum repair guy) about a specific model for ellergic people and got the same answer, Miele. Got one and it’s the best vacuum I ever had, still works perfectly well, it’s just a bit scratched after some 10 years.
Lightweight and with all the filters for allergies too btw.
On a side note, he said keep away from dyson because it’s crap.
I think his name was /u/donttouchmyfuckingcoffee. His occasional vacuum AMAs were pretty interesting.
Unfortunately may be out of your budget, but I have a Dyson V10 “animal” (this includes all kind of accessories for dog hairs) and it is super powerful, light, etc. but may be too expensive for you. There’s all kind of new version like V15 etc.
Else the Shark one are not that bad and cheaper.
I’ve heard good things about Dyson, but no way a normal family is able to afford such a thing
I have a Dyson. It’s really quite terrible with weak suction. I got it free from my sister-in-law when it “broke”. It took me an hour to disassemble it and clear out all the clogged sections. In order to keep it working it needs a full disassemble and cleaning around once a year. It’s an excellent example of a shitty design.
My other vacuum is one I got 18 years ago that still works well. The brand has since gone to shit so I can’t recommend them now.
What to look for:
First look at the amps on the bottom. Amps = suction power. The more amps it draws the stronger the motor is.
Second you want a beater bar. This is the belt driven part that spins. This makes the vacuum much more effective on carpet. It gets pet hair a lot better.
Third you want something with common easily replaced air filters. These clog easily and need to be replaced constantly. Look for machines with oversized filters.
And last, look for something simple to break apart and fix that you can find affordable replacement parts for online. Fixing a broken vacuum is generally pretty simple.
These are generally midrange machines not the cheapest but not the most expensive. In the long-term these tend to be the most economical in terms of performance/cost.
We have a Dyson rechargeable for small pickups. It’s nice, but nowhere near worth the hype. Lots of ABS and technology that is legit, but hardly revolutionary like they claim. I also had to replace the power-tool style battery after about three years, which is fair but unremarkable for a plastic box full of 18650 cells.
Dyson’s are overpriced pieces of shit. They are about gimmicks and often perform worse than other brands. What they lack in performance they make up in their advertising budget.
I personally have a Shark vacuum that I got on sale at Costco. It was $200 cheaper than the Dyson and much lighter.
If you don’t mind bags get an oreck vacuum.
These very well could be out of your price range, but I really encourage you to consider a robot vacuum. https://valetudo.cloud/pages/general/supported-robots.html
I got my first one back in 2017 and they’re wonderful.
And here I thought someone was just going to say they all suck. My brain is just wired for terrible jokes…
Yes this.
Check out the don’t vacuum me site and pick a ‘hackable’ robot. Add Valetudo and you’re set.
Using a Roborock S6 here, started by home assistant when no one is home.
For the occasional jobs/accidents, we use a Hyundai cordless. Really robust, easy to clean and properly designed.
I second this. Have a Roomba that goes a couple times a week and it is great for picking up cat hair!
Wish that was an option, but the animals wouldn’t want to share they’re space with robots I’m afraid.
I have to say I never use my I robot vacuum…it’s terrible loud and goes over the same place constantly. I’m very meh over the 2023 model.
Third. Love my roomba, works well to keep the dog hair to a minimum. We’ve also got a Shark which is also great. Both were quite expensive but I’d say worth it. I love not having to hoover regularly but having the shark for spot jobs and upstairs now and then really helps too.
We used to have the same problem. Years ago, a relative recommended a Miele canister-style. They were pretty pricey, but took a chance. It could practically pull the floorboards up (fortunately, the power level is adjustable). It lasted forever.
Replaced it with the same brand. Apparently, some models are now made overseas and use cheaper components, but the higher-end models are still made in Germany. Totally worth it.
Seconding this, buy a miele. Here in europe they are not even that pricey. I paid an equivalent of about 200€ for mine three years ago and it was worth it. If you’re in Germany you should be able to find an used one.
Third Miele. Might be a bit more than the usual, but some things you have to pay more to avoid having to buy cheap two or three times. I love the adjustable power, so you can clean delicate things or stuff that would get sucked up easily. The full power isn’t all that loud either compared to others we’ve had.
I bought a Miele S8 off marketplace about 5 years ago. After I bought it, I did some research and found the same thing you did. The S8 was the most powerful vacuum that Miele ever made, and used a motor made in Germany. After that model they replaced it with the C3 that is almost identical except uses a Chinese motor.
Miele C3 Complete
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10x better than a dyson. Great attatchments, never clogs, very good particle filter, powerful as fuck, attachments have hair grabbing fabric used on old anti-lint brushes so scrubbing at spots matted with hair (dog on a welcome mat), everything is made of very thick plastic that won’t break off, head is fully rotatable (as long as the head fits under furniture, you can completely vacuum under).
We have even used it sucking up dust and stones in our renovation sometimes and it hasn’t affected it at all.
I was never satisfied with home vacuum cleaners. At some point I needed a shop vac for sludge and I bought a kärcher Wd3. It’s big and loud but cost/effectiveness ratio is unreachable by any home vac.
