Introduction
There are thousands of vacuum cleaners that have made the market. Each of the vacuum cleaners had its strengths and weaknesses. That doesn’t mean that there hasn’t been any debate about what is the best option.
Many people who have bought vacuums have expressed their choice over others. The vacuum that was extremely supported due to its mobility, superior cleaning, and multiple accessories was the Canister Vacuum.
The name might be familiar to your ears. But if you don’t know what exactly is a Canister vacuum and what its features are, then you have come to the right place. This article will give you details about all you need to know about canister vacuums.
What Exactly is a Canister Vacuum?
A canister vacuum is a type of vacuum with a separate main unit or canister attached at the end of a hose. The canister has the motor, the dust bag, and the filter. The canister does all the cleaning process, collects debris, and filters the air before throwing it out of the exhaust.
The canister has wheels underneath it, which increases its portability. You can clean anywhere you like on the floors, in the bathroom, on the stairs and so on. Due to the wheels attached, sometimes cleaning rugs or carpets is difficult for the canister vacuums. However, some models can even tackle this problem easily.
The hose attached to the canister has an elongated head that can easily clean hard to reach places easily. The hose can be replaced with other accessories that come with the canister vacuum, making it a tool to clean almost all your house places.
Even canister vacuums have different types. Some are bagless, and some that have dust bags. It affects the size and weight of the canister vacuum. However, worry not! The basic use and functionality of the vacuum are not affected at all.
When to Use a Canister Vacuum?
Out of the many available vacuums, we are always confused about under which conditions we should buy a canister vacuum.
The design of the canister vacuum is traditional, but it still does its part. It shows its hundred percent efficiency when used on bare floors, hard floors, or thin carpets. Its long head also makes it easier to clean hard-to-reach places, increasing its charm.
Also, this type of vacuum has a lot of maneuverability. This type of vacuum can easily clean rooms with many furniture or buildings with multiple floors. It is extremely useful on the stairs since we don’t have to carry the whole body. Just extend the hose, and all the dust will be sucked easily.
If you have people with various allergies in your house and want to remove allergens, the canister vacuum is your best choice. The motor and filters’ weight is present in the canister, and it is balanced by the two wheels that drag it. This means that you can use any type of large filters as well, making the air cleaner, fresher, and more breathable for allergic people.
Highlight Features of the Canister Vacuum
There are many reasons why the Canister Vacuums have made their mark and are still favored by customers. Majorly the vacuums are used to suck dust and clean air, but little additions here and there are what appeals to the audience. Canister Vacuums are no different. Many features highlight the use of Canister Vacuums and make them appealing to their customers. Some of the major features are as follows.
- Light Weight and Comfortable Size: the Canister Vacuums are easy to carry due to their lightweight. Even though an average canister vacuum weighs 4 kg, the major weight is of the canister, which is held by wheels. The only thing in your hand is the pipe used to suck the dirt and debris.
The size of the canister vacuum is also very smart. You can easily store it anywhere you want. It is also better and easier to carry than upright vacuums.
- Powerful Suction Motor: due to its large size and motor and filter present in the canister, the Canister vacuum has a strong motor. It aids in providing stronger suction and a greater cleaning rate.
Stronger suction mostly means that every kind of dust, debris, spills, and other kinds of dirt is easily cleaned by canister vacuums. You can also choose your favorite kind of canister vacuums since there are two types of them.
- Great Insulation Against Noise: normal vacuums are usually very noisy and create a lot of disturbance during cleaning. This may disturb your family members and pets in their daily work. To avoid troubling them and experiencing a peaceful cleaning yourself, a canister vacuum is best. It has great insulation in its canister, which dulls the voice of motors. So, canister vacuums are generally very quiet.
- HEPA Filters: the canister vacuums have a big motor, and all its machinery is present in the canister. This increases their ability to add accessories. Due to this ability, big HEPA filters can be easily attached to the motor. These filters are great for cleaning allergens and microbes from the environment. It is also great for people who are allergic to pet hair since it sucks and filters germs from them too.
- Easily Portable: the weight of the canister is handled by the wheels present under them. This makes them extremely portable and increases their maneuverability. Due to this cleaning stairs, corners, crevices, the floor under the furniture and table becomes a cinch.
- Multitude Tools: the canister vacuums can attach several tools to them to increase their cleaning functionality. They can become handheld vacuums and reach places where you can’t reach easily. It is also equipped with dry floor tools, carpet tools, brush tools, and crevice tools. This helps to clean the whole house with a single vacuum rather than purchasing multiple types of machinery.
The Downsides:
The canister vacuums may seem like an ideal tool for cleaning, but like any other thing on this planet, they have their downsides as well. Some of them are as follows.
- Their bulky size makes them difficult to store. However, if you disassemble them, they can be easily stored.
- They do not fit in the ‘ready-to-use’ criteria. When they come, you have to follow the instruction to assemble them, and it can cause some issues and delays.
- To operate the vacuum, you have to bend to press buttons on the canister. This is extremely uncomfortable for people with back pains or pregnant women. Some models do have buttons on the hose, but the disassembling and assembling may still cause some issues.
- You have to clean the dirtbags more frequently. Since the motor and dirtbag is in the same space, the vacuum’s suction power mostly lessens with the increase in dust and debris. So regular cleaning and changing filters are a must. Continuously changing filters and dust bags is also not very cost-effective.
- Dragging the canister behind seems to be a pain for some people. Rather than dragging a weight behind them wherever they clean, people sometimes prefer upright vacuums.
Choosing the Right Vacuum for Your Needs
Even in canister vacuums, there are many options to choose from, and you can do so according to your taste and surroundings.
The two major types of canister vacuums where you will find yourself in a fix are bagless and bagged vacuums.
- Bagged Canister Vacuums: these canister vacuums have an extra bag attached to the motor. The bag collects all the dust, debris, mites, germs, and allergens from the environment and keeps it there until you dispose of them yourself. Just take off the bag and chuck it into the bin. Simple, isn’t it?
The downside is that you have to buy extra bags and fix them after every cleaning. If you don’t clean them on time, the suction power is also affected. It may not be cost-effective, but at least you don’t have to touch the rubbish.
- Bagless Canister Vacuum: the Bagless canister vacuums save the trouble of changing dust bags and filters. It has a chamber that locks all the debris inside. It is mostly transparent, so you know when to clean it. You don’t have to buy a lot of bags, so it saves a lot of money.
The downside of bagless vacuums is that you have to deal with dirt yourself. Opening the chamber may sometimes release the dust back into the surroundings where you collected it from. To deal with it, you should clean it in an outdoor area.
Additional Things to Consider When Buying a Canister Vacuum
There are several canister vacuums with additional attributes that you may want to consider and pique your interest.
- Wet-dry canister vacuums are best for oil and water spills. They can also clear your flooded sinks or bathrooms if the tank is large enough.
- Dry canister vacuums are only good for cleaning dust and debris from soft floors like your offices or homes and hard floors like in restaurants. Their efficiency on all kinds of floors gives them a great edge.
- Heads of the vacuum are also an important point to consider while buying a vacuum. A lighter head would be easy to carry, but a slightly heavier head will be wider and suck dust from a lot of space.
- HEPA Filters are not always available in all canister vacuums. If you can spare a little bit more money, you can get cleaner and fresher air easily.
- Motor Controls on the canister or the head makes a lot of difference while using a canister vacuum and also affects the ease with which you can use it.
Best Canister Vacuums to Buy
There are several types of canister vacuum cleaners that have made the market and are a customer favorite. Some of the top ones are listed below.
- Kenmore Elite 81714 Pet-Friendly Canister Vacuum: This has made the top list because of its great suction power aided by a double motor in its canister. It also has a 26-foot cord and 10 feet wand that makes it easier to clean under furniture.
It is an ideal option for people with pets since its Pet Powermate technology easily sucks all the pet hairs from the rugs and carpets. It may sometimes be difficult to adjust its parts due to its long wand manually, but considering its other great features, this can be ignored.
- Mighty Mite 3670G Corded Canister Vacuum Cleaner: this vacuum cleaner has made second to our list because of its compact size. It is an ideal vacuum for people with smaller apartments and less storing space.
Just because the size is small doesn’t mean that it lacks in power. It has great suction and is great for cleaning dry and hard floors. The most interesting part about this vacuum is that it not only sucks dust, but you can also invert its function and make it a blower. So if you have a garden, blowing fallen leaves away in autumn is a piece of a cinch for it.
- Miele Blizzard CX1 Cat and Dog: this vacuum is the only bagless vacuum on our list. Bagless means that there is no trouble with changing bags regularly. It can easily suck and collect dust and hairs from hard floors, but it is not exactly efficient on carpets. Even though it is bagless, it has a great plug that doesn’t allow the dust and debris to be released back into the room you just cleaned.
Conclusion
So, you have read all the special features and faults of the canister vacuums. If the merits have intrigued you more, you have also read the different kinds of canister vacuums available and the best ones in the market. Now, the only thing that you have do is to know what you want best and go to buy it. Simple, right?
