Rating  - Reality sets in...
Have owned this vac for a couple of years. The back-pack vac concept is great. You can cover territory faster than any other type; very efficient with a long cord. This model may not be the best execution of the concept. I recommend you look around at all the models before buying. COMFORT: those straps are pretty thin, and the hard plastic back hurts my spine and makes me sweat. HANDLING: because the hose attaches at the top of the canister, it swings around over your head, particularly if you lean over to pick something up. I have to wrap it around my forearm to keep it from flopping about. It picks up static electricity too. CLEANING: the convertible floor/rug tool does a good job but not outstanding, and requires repeated passes, particularly on rugs. Makes a squeaky sound on wood floors on the back stroke (?). FILTERS: these babies cost $5+ per filter, in packs of 5, plus shipping. Wow. On the other hand, they do a very good job keeping dust inside the canister. HOSE: the purportedly "heavy duty" hose breaks off near the wand and canister fittings every couple of months, shortening the hose by a couple of inches each time. I am down to 4' of hose, and it is not enough. Replacement is $38 plus shipping. VELCRO: The on/off switch hangs off the canister on a short dongle, and is velcro'd to the waist belt for convenience. It gets pretty warm during usage, and the Velcro adhesive gave way eventually, so I had to replace that. ATTACHMENTS: The attachments work reasonably well, but an adaptor is required to attach some to the wands. All fit into the waist band with elastic loops. The attachments regularly fall off the strap, because they are in the way of your swinging arms so you bump them. The elastic loops began to fray pretty quickly.
Rating  - Makes vacuuming easy
I got my vacuum yesterday and, of course, proceeded to clean my entire house. That was the best cleaning it has gotten in years and it took less than 30 minutes. This machine made the cleaning process easy, which also means it will get done more often. My house is over 3k sq ft and most of the floors are tiled. Dust Bunnies breed like rabbits. A regular vacuum is a hassle on hard floors. This vacuum is light and comfortable, the power cord reaches throughout the house, and I like being able to easily reach up and clean the ceiling, windowsills and furniture. At first, I thought it wasn't going to be powerful enough, but it picked up everything, even chunks of cat turds (I have a 20 yr old cat who misses the box occasionally). My only complaint is that the holes in the metal tubes are cut a bit crudely. Trying to release the tubes from one another when pressing the little button can result in some lost skin on your thumb. A little more precision in manufacturing would have eliminated the problem. I will smooth out the edges with a sander.
Rating - WoooHooo! It's AWESOME!
I could use an extra star here, 6 stars for this bad boy! Love it!
Rating - Huge time-saver
Goodbye to dustcloths, brooms, dustpans! I use the wand with brush attachment for cobwebs/tables/windowsills, switch to the T-attachment for furniture, then wrap up with the floor attachment which works equally well for wood/tile floors and oriental rugs. Some people might find the backpack model cumbersome, but in my mind it beats lugging a canister around and having to move it every 5 feet (especially for steps!) I would not recommend it for wall-to-wall carpeting (we have wood floors so no problem there) or garage cleaning (that's what a 'real' shopvac is for.) For everything else, though, this device is wonderful... good power/noise ratio and power/weight ratio. One minor complaint is that the T-handle doesn't have an integrated dirt-loosening brush; I swapped it out with a more effective version from an old upright.
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Customer Reviews for Shop-Vac,285-00-10,026282285003,0026282285003,B00004RHL5, |
