Dyson or Kirby

[vaDisneyGuy]

Does anyone own a Kirby vacuum that has owned a Dyson before. I love my Dyson but the Kirby can also Shampoo the carpet. I have a Dyson now and I love it. Is the Kirby better???

 

[Sheree]

we have a dyson and a shampooer
sister had kirby, has dyson now

 

[taylor3297]

I currently have a Dyson. My previous vacuum was a Kirby that was bought in 1967 and still had all the original extra parts. The vacuum still worked, but I was ready for a new one. I sold it to a collector for $100 bucks.

Both are excellent vacuums. If money were no object, I would get a rainbow.

I was not the original owner of the Kirby, My grandmother bought in 1967, then when she passed my dad gave it to me.

 

[I loveStitchnippyjon]

My Kirby is an overpriced piece of junk. Parts are ridiculously expensive.
I never had a Dyson, but it has got to be better.

 

[MSLRAC]

My Kirby is an overpriced piece of junk. Parts are ridiculously expensive.
I never had a Dyson, but it has got to be better.

We had a Kirby Sentria that we recently sold because I hated it. The whole system was ridiculously overpriced and then you had to buy bags, belts and shampoo that were also ridiculously overpriced, it was extremely heavy, it didn't do that good of a job and the shampooer was a PITA to use. We now have a Dyson Animal and Bissell shampooer that we get much better results with for a faction of the price. We also noticed a huge difference in our kids when we made the change over...their allergies and asthma calmed down considerably.

 

[clm10308]

I have a Kirby, and when we lived in a house with lots of carpet, I loved it.
I am not one to rent a carpet shampooer or pay to have the carpets cleaned. I loved the convience of being able to shampoo the carpets whenever I wanted to. I thought it did a great job of vacuuming too. It was the only way I could get all the cat hair off the couch.
It is very heavy though and expensive. My mother goes through her cheaper vacuum cleaners about every two years. I have had to have the belt replaced once, but my husband did it, so we only paid for the belt.
I had a friend who made sure to get her Kirby as part of her divorce settlement.
We have since moved to a house with very little carpet, so it does not get used much.

 

[8esther8]

I currently have both. Pluses and minuses of both:

Kirby:

*ridiculously expensive.

Bought mine beautifully refurbished from Ebay for $250 or so, so you don't have to pay a lot. Really like the Diamond edition. It's a few years old, so you don't have to pay out the wazoo, but has the two speed button, so you can vacuum area rugs which would get sucked up otherwise. Greatvacs is a good seller on Ebay, lots of reading material for Kirby vs. Dyson on their website, goodvacs.com

*suction is far superior to Dyson. Your house will be very clean.
*you will never vacuum the stairs, too hard to switch out the hoses; you literally have to watch a video to learn how to do it. I guess I'm too lazy.
*extremely heavy. Has a good handle, though, so you can carry it around the house without too much trouble.
*bags are expensive, but Ebay has off-brand ones that work just fine.

I now only use mine when I want to deep clean, but I'm glad I have it.

Dyson:

*plastic parts, does not feel as well built.
*doesn't vacuum nearly as well.
*pretty
*wand is easy to use for cobwebs, etc.
*my daily go to machine.
*beware--I think most stairs have 14 steps--dyson does not reach to the top of the stairs, no matter what they say. Tips over or starts rolling once you begin reaching with the hose. Ugg! Still have not found anything I'm happy with to vacuum my stairs, so they are not very clean

Hope this helps, Leslie

 

[adventure_woman]

I LOVE my Kirby. I used to sell them (during college 13 yrs ago) and the comparison btw them and all other vacuums IMO is hands down Kirby. I put it up against Rainbow, Electrolux and the Kirby was awesome.

I bought my Kirby used off eBay for about $350.

My BFF had a Dyson and had a VERY clean house w/ a golden retriever. She had the Kirby guy over to get a free shampooing. She vacuumed really good (again, she vacuums every day and their house was only about a year old). When he vacuumed and got up all the dirt/pet hair that her new Dyson hadn't gotten she looked at her DH and they bought one right there.

 

[moonpie85]

I have the most expensive Kirby and I HATE IT! I can't wait for this stupid thing to die so i can go back to Dyson Animal.

 

[kayrosek]

I had a Dyson which I loved at first but towards the end I started hating it and my whole family were having a lot of breathing issues. We bought a Kirby and I love it!

 

[marie1203]

I have a dyson and the resin is that most vacuum cleaners are not seal. So while the suction might be better they throw dust in the air. I don't think the kirby is seal my dyson is seal and it works great. I don't have any carpets in the house. I have seen my asthma improve since.

 

[pixiewings71]

I had a Kirby, it was destroyed in a house and rather then replace it they paid me for it. I replaced it with a Dyson Animal and love the Dyson. The Dyson is much easier to use and just as effective as the Kirby was. I don't miss the carpet cleaning part so much, I rarely used it and the only rooms in our house with carpet are the bedrooms.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

I currently have a Dyson. My previous vacuum was a Kirby that was bought in 1967 and still had all the original extra parts. The vacuum still worked, but I was ready for a new one. I sold it to a collector for $100 bucks.

Both are excellent vacuums. If money were no object, I would get a rainbow.

I was not the original owner of the Kirby, My grandmother bought in 1967, then when she passed my dad gave it to me.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my rainbow!!! I bought it about 7 years ago, refurbished for $550. Worth every penny!

I've used my MIL's dyson and just didn't think it did a very good job. I had a Kirby for about a month but it was just too bulky and heavy.

If I were looking for a new upright, it would be an Orek XL. It has a bag, but I love them. They are so smooth and seems to do a good job for my middle of the week vacuum.

 

[vaDisneyGuy]

Thanks everyone for the info I think I am going to get a Kirby. I love my Dyson but I think I will love the Kirby more and my old Dyson that is only 1 year old will be a nice surprise for my SIL who has a really cheap like $40.00 vac.

 

[JoyG]

I bought a ridiculously expensive Kirby in 1995 from my brother in law who was selling them.

I still have that vacuum and it sucks just as good as it did the day I bought it.

I never use the attachments however. I think I shampooed once or twice in the beginning, but now I don't even know where all those pieces are. It was a pain in the but to change the attachments. But I would never give up the kirby due to how well it vacuums my carpets.

 

[kehouse]

well, i own a vacuum shop, i would recommend you look at a riccar radiance. by far the best vacuum on the market. dyson does a good job, but repairs are high on them, and the kirby also. Riccar is made in St. James MO. USA!! they have a great website. Riccar.com. find your nearest dealer and go look at one, they will blow you away. and even if you don't want one, most vac shops have rebuilt kirbys pretty reasonable, and with warranties.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

Okay so I have a Kirby Gold. It does shampoo but we only used that function a handful of times because the shampoo is super expensive. I love the actual vacuuming though and it does a SUPER job on cat and dog hair and with the two speeds is just great on area rugs. That said unless I missed something the price point of a Kirby is NOWHERE near the price point of any dyson I have seen. Am i missing something?

 

[vaDisneyGuy]

Okay so I have a Kirby Gold. It does shampoo but we only used that function a handful of times because the shampoo is super expensive. I love the actual vacuuming though and it does a SUPER job on cat and dog hair and with the two speeds is just great on area rugs. That said unless I missed something the price point of a Kirby is NOWHERE near the price point of any dyson I have seen. Am i missing something?

I know that the Kirby is much more than the Dyson. I just wanted to see if people thought Kirby was better than a Dyson since it cost so much more.

 

[crisi]

My mother has a Kirby. Its really heavy or "a great vaccuum if you don't have steps, unfortunately, I have a split level." I had a Dyson I hated. We both now have Meiles. (I think I might like my Oreck best though).