Doing a lot of fitting jobs in clients' homes, you get to be quite an expert on different vacuum cleaners! Although I carry one in the van, I always ask to borrow theirs - 90% of the time they reply 'Don't worry love, I'll do it after you've gone'. RESULT!!! :lol:
From the times I have to use one, however, I would rank them as follows;
1. Kirby. These are those ridiculously heavy old fashioned looking things sold door to door using strong arm American sales tactics to vulnerable old dears for a couple of grand. Thing is, the product is absolutely fantastic! The carpet is literally lifted up from the floor by the suction. Great quality - pity about the way they feel they have to market them. I have a Kirby sales office near my shop - a sleazier looking bunch of individuals it would be difficult to imagine!
2. Hoover Junior. The hoover of our youth. My mum had one. Your mum had one. Everyone's mum had one. Find one with a metal casing (later models were plastic) and you'll never need to replace it. The Wadkin of the vacuum cleaner world. Still see a lot of them in daily use.
3. Henry. The little feller with the bowler hat. Great design, great performance. Great for carrying round in the van.
4 - 55 The rest. They're all much of a muchness.
56. Dyson. The ultimate example of form over function. James Dyson pulled off the world's greatest marketing conjuring trick by persuading us all to spend three times what we needed to to aquire his frankly pants 'invention'. And not just once - but again and again!!
I believe that Hoover experimented with the cyclone system in the sixties but dismissed it as unworkable and ineffective. Avoid at all costs.
Cheers
Brad
