bagged or bagless??? Upright or canister?

[Elwood Blues]

What's your preference in vacuums?

I have a 5 year old Fantom Lightning that's slowly falling apart. It's baggless but it doesn't hold much and has to be emptied frequently (twice if I do the whole house).


I've read that bagged are better for people with allergies.

But I guess I don't fully understand the reason why one is better than the other when a lot of newer vacuums have multi stage filtering and some have a HEPA filter. What's the point of having all that filtering if the stuff that aggravates allergies is getting past all that filtering (and a HEPA filter too!)?

 

[grinningghost]

Well, I've had both and I like the bags better. At least on my Oreck. I had a bagless that required frequent emptying because of pet hair and that was a pain.

My Oreck bag vacuum is a dream come true. The bag really holds the dust in and the vacuum is light and easy to maneuver, even under chairs.

 

[tar heel]

Consumer Reports likes the cleaners with bags better.

 

[Beth76]

I'm interested too because I'll probably be getting a new vacuum too. What's the purpose of the bagless? Is it supposed to be easier? My vacuum isn't hard at all to change the bags and I think I would be more aggravated at having to empty the bagless ones more often. Of course, it does become a problem if I don't have any extra bags on hand.

 

[Aimeedyan]

I like bags better - esp since emptying a bagless with my allergies/asthma sends me over the edge.

Bags are easier, IMO, and make less mess.

 

[Yardbird]

We have a Rainbow, it's bagless. We have had it for over ten years, and it's the best vacuum that I have ever owned!

 

[meeshi]

I prefer the bags also, all the dust and dirt is contained in the bag. I have an old electrolux canister vacuum (which I prefer to use) and a phantom bagless one and it's a mess to empty.

 

[Cinderellagrl]

Well, I've had both and I like the bags better. At least on my Oreck. I had a bagless that required frequent emptying because of pet hair and that was a pain.

My Oreck bag vacuum is a dream come true. The bag really holds the dust in and the vacuum is light and easy to maneuver, even under chairs.

I agree. I just bought a bagless because I thought it was going to be better (HEPA filter). It's such a pain. With having a dog, I am emptying it several times when I vacuum. It takes much longer to vacuum my house now, not to mention taking it apart and washing the filters constantly. Then you have to let it sit overnight for them to dry. It's a real pain. I plan on buying another new one...with a bag...after the holidays.

 

[ZachnElli]

I had a bagged that I loved. Allergist recommended the bagless (ds has really bad allergies). Bought a bagless and HATED it! New house with a central vac, LOVE it! I'd get a bagged if I were you.

 

[gr8tpanther]

Baggless!!! I have a wind tunnel. I want a DYSON!!!

 

[disneysteve]

Bagless just never made sense to me. The whole point of vacuuming is to suck the dust and dirt off the floor and dispose of it. With a bagged vacuum, the dirt is sucked into the bag, you remove the bag and put it in the trash. With a bagless, the dirt is sucked into a chamber. You then have to stir everything up to dump it from the chamber into the trash can. You can't possibly do that without some of it getting back into the air and you breathing it back in.

So if you have allergies or dust sensitivity, stick with a bagged vacuum with a HEPA filter and change the bag regularly - don't let it get overfilled.

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

I've never used bagless. I'm allergic to everything, so I guess I should stick with bagged.

 

[Tink&SquirtsMom]

We have a Dyson. They are bagless. You press a button which releases the cannister then take the cannister to the outside trash can and press another button which empties it. You never touch anything near the dust. And the dust never gets released back into the air in your house. They have lifetime hepa filters in them and are awesome for allerigies because they get so much more dust out of your carpets. We are much happier with it then we were with our bag vac.

 

[disneysteve]

We have a Dyson. They are bagless. You press a button which releases the cannister then take the cannister to the outside trash can and press another button which empties it. You never touch anything near the dust. And the dust never gets released back into the air in your house.

Well, I guess that would be true of any bagless if you empty it outdoors. But realistically, I wouldn't want to have to go outside every time I had to empty the vacuum. That seems rather inconvenient. How is the Dyson as far as dust being raised if you were to empty it into a trashcan inside the house? Perhaps I'm wrong but I just picture dumping this canister full of dirt into the trashcan and having it billow back at me.

 

[~*Belle 2003*~]

Still prefer bags here. I love Hoover vacuum cleaners the best.

 

[Tink&SquirtsMom]

Well some bagless's the cannister is open on the top when you pull it out, so dust escapes before you even empty it. The Dyson is fully closed until empty it. And you only have to empty it as often as you would empty a bag. I assume you'd take a vacuum bag outside right? The dust really doesn't billow back. I can't explain why. My dh might be able to. He's really into the science/tech part of the Dyson (I swear its his new toy). They claim it sucks the dust particles out of the air and the "dust" looks like clumpy dirt when it gets in the cannister. Maybe thats why?? I just know it falls fast to the bottom of the trashcan. Also another side note is dh and I were noticing that now that we've had the Dyson we've had to dust alot less. I heard this comment from other people who recommended it to me. Again I don't know why that is but our tvs and flat surfaces have been accumlating dust alot slower since we've had the Dyson.

 

[disneysteve]

The Dyson is fully closed until empty it. And you only have to empty it as often as you would empty a bag.

That's a nice feature. And it sounds like the canister holds a fair amount. Some earlier posts on this thread complained about having to empty the bagless vacuums too often.

Also another side note is dh and I were noticing that now that we've had the Dyson we've had to dust alot less.

That makes sense. We noticed the same thing when we swtiched from a really old Hoover to our Wind Tunnel with HEPA filter a few years ago. If your vacuum is removing more dust from the carpet, floor and furniture, there is less dust remaining in the house.

 

[cgcw]

Another Dyson fan here.

We just bought one a couple of weeks ago. It really is a breeze to empty (we do it outside) -- my DS4 taught me how to release it for emptying, go figure.

As for what it picks up, after seeing what comes out of the carpet it's almost enough incentive to go hardwood floors throughout the house. It's really disgusting AND we vacuum every night. I never noticed our old vacuum to clean as much -- even though it was bagless too.

 

[KatelynnsAuntie]

This thread is making me feel guilty. I should be vacuuming my house right now instead of DISing. Oh, I use bags BTW.

 

[Elwood Blues]

Thanks for the replies. I should have asked an additional question (I'll modify the title).

Upright or canister?

I've had both. I like the idea of the flexibility of the canister for getting under things like the bed but with the cord and the hose to deal with and then pulling it along while vacuuming, it's a PITA.

I just ordered a Eureka 4870DT from Amazon ($25 off and free shipping). It's a highly rated bagged model. Hopefully I chose wisely.