The carpeting in your home has a direct impact on the quality of life of everyone who lives there. If the carpeting is vacuumed and professionally cleaned on a regular basis your entire house will benefit in ways both aesthetic and practical. When it comes to carpet cleaning no one is better qualified than the team at Steve's Carpet Care. But when it comes to choosing the right vacuum for your carpets, that much is up to you. In the interest of giving you a leg up on the process, we've brought together the following list of things you should look for and consider when shopping for a new vacuum cleaner.
Our Boulder Carpet Cleaning Pros Recommend These Vacuums
There are several different types of vacuum available today. Some are ideal for wall-to-wall carpeting, others are perfect for area rug cleaning and some are designed to vacuum upholstery and drapes. The two main types of vacuum cleaners are the upright vacuum and the canister vacuum. We’ll lead off this discussion by taking a look at those two types.
The Upright Vacuum
The upright vacuum was actually invented sometime after the first canister vacuums, but we're leading off with the upright because it's become the most popular type of contemporary vacuum cleaner. The upright vacuum features the motor and brushes in a (typically) rectangular-shaped box that is parallel to the floor, and has a dust bag that is mounted to the upright handle. Upright vacuums can be adjusted to reach down into various types of carpeting and provide robust vacuuming capability.
The upright vacuum is the de facto choice of the world's commercial cleaning companies, which should tell you something about its suitability to clean large amounts of carpeting effectively. Indeed whether you have wall-to-wall or area rugs a quality upright vacuum will do a dependably good job and should last for years. Upright vacuums have the added benefit of being able to vacuum hardwood or tile floors by making a quick adjustment to their settings.
The Canister Vacuum
The canister vacuum once ruled the domestic roost, but that has changed over the past 50 years. The upright is now by far the more popular choice, but some people still prefer the slightly better maneuverability and accessibility provided by the canister. With a canister vacuum, you can go directly from vacuuming the wall-to-wall carpeting to vacuuming the upholstery in your living room by quickly switching out the head.
The canister will also do a better job getting into hard-to-reach places, reaching under furniture, and even vacuuming your drapery. As you might imagine all this versatility means you have a plethora of choices when it comes to attachments. That alone makes them an attractive option for people with drapes and fabric-covered furniture. It's also easier to store them than it is to store upright vacuums.
The Stick Vacuum
Stick vacuums are, as the name implies, extremely thin and light upright vacuum cleaners that offer outstanding mobility and versatility. What they do not offer is a ton of power, or a large dust collection bag. For these reasons alone the stick vacuum is one of those devices that is typically used just to spruce things up. In other words, if you just want to give an area rug a quick once over before guests arrive you whip out the stick vacuum and have at it. Stick vacuums are also a popular choice for dorm rooms, small apartments, and the home office.
If you decide to try and save money and buy a stick vacuum to handle your wall-to-wall carpet cleaning needs you’re going to be disappointed. They simply don’t have the power to handle such a big job. Stick vacuums are, however, available in both corded and cordless models. So you can keep a cordless stick vacuum in the RV to make sure everything is always neat and clean.
The Robotic Vacuum
The robotic vacuum has been making some inroads into the overall vacuum market, but those inroads are still pretty modest. The robotic vacuum is a small, circular device on wheels that moves about by itself and has the ability to avoid objects. In theory anyway. They do a decent enough job at keeping up appearances. But if you need a deep clean on a carpet or area rug you’ll want to take matters into your own hands with an upright or canister vacuum.
There’s nothing wrong with programming the robotic vacuum to hit the carpeting in the living room a couple of times a week. But don’t expect it to get into corners and do expect it to get stuck on a pretty regular basis. Most robotic vacuums today come with smartphone apps. That’s good because they can alert you when the vacuum has become stuck or is running out of power. Long story short, until ways can be found to overcome its weaknesses, the robotic vacuum will remain something of a gimmick.
The Bottom Line
Keep the above information upfront when shopping for a new vacuum cleaner and you should end up with one that will serve your needs well. But remember, vacuuming is only one side of the carpet maintenance coin. For expert carpet cleaning, rug cleaning and carpet repair services contact Steve's Carpet Care. We have nearly 45 years of experience helping the people of Colorado keep their homes looking and feeling great and our prices are always competitive. So give us a call today.