Cordless vacuum cleaners - AIBU to think they're just a bit shit?

[smoothieooo]

I bought a Vax blade earlier in the year and for the first couple of months was pretty impressed but it's now on the verge of pointless! No real sucking power and when you turn it off, anything you have managed to vacuum up just spills out as it doesn't quite manage to reach the 'dirt store' bit in the body. Has anybody has a cordless which lasted and kept its power?

I've got to now retrieve 'the beast' from under the stairs and plug it in!

To be fair if you buy anything by Vax it will be shit

I know that opinion is mixed, but we got a Dyson V8 cordless a few years ago and I love it. I use it on the highest suction setting, so it gives 6 minutes’ use (the lowest suction gives about 45 minutes’ use) and I think the suction is excellent on it, still. It is used every couple of days in a quite messy household.

I'm inclined to agree with you OP. Cordless definitely the dream, but the reality is a let down. And the maintenance of cleaning dusty filters, pulling long hair off the rotating bar, and pulling dirt out of different parts of it is very wearing. Although tbh that describes both kinds.

Our cordless dyson is still going strong after 5 odd years. Gets used most days for 5 minutes.

If it used to work ok, you probably just need to clean it out properly, including all the filters etc....

I have a cordless Dyson and a g-tech and I love them both.

Robot vacuum. Cleaners on the other hand are shit. And over-priced.

I have a Vileda one which was end of the range and I paid £35 for, and it does something of a job of going under the furniture etc, but how people spend £££ on roomba’s and dyson robots and so on is beyond me.

Yes, especially for the money they cost. A

"Robot vacuum. Cleaners on the other hand are shit. And over-priced. "

You need to spend a bit more than £35. I've got one which cost around £200 and it works very well, especially on tiles/wooden floors as it has sweepers as well as a normal brushbar.

Both those symptoms OP suggest to me that your VAX is is partially blocked.

If bits fall out the bottom when you switch it off it may be the 'head' is blocked. They usually come apart to enable you to clean them.

BoingBoingyBoing I gave all of the filters a good clean before using it.

Seems I should perhaps have spent more to get a Dyson cordless, although do they do the anti-hair wrap thing that Shark are currently advertising? I'm bloody sick of pulling my hair out of the Vax brush!

Our dyson is as good as our non-dyson corded vacuum.

I don't have a cordless (current vacuum is a Russell Hobbs beast from B&M that was reduced to £15, and it has great suction) but if I did buy a cordless it would something like the Dyson, not a Vax.

I'm pretty much a time served Dyson e engineer now
I still get sucked in and but them though.

WhoWouldHaveThoughtThat the head definitely isn't blocked as I checked that too. I spent 5 minutes of my life trying to hoover up a solitary cat biscuit and lost that particular battle

I couldn't live without my cordless Dyson! I have had it quite a few years and it is used every day. I have replaced the battery once and the brush end though the brush it was because of my dog biting it... I also have a Bagotte robot cleaner which does a very decent job downstairs on the hard floors.

Another vote for the dyson. You don’t need the newest priciest model, you can get one in the mid £200s. If you have hard flooring look for the hard flooring tool.

We have 3 dogs and use a robot vacuum (roomba) and cordless (Dyson V10), (plus a robot mop for the hard floors).

I rate them both, tbh, for different reasons. The robot goes around everyday before anyone get up so that your day always starts with the floors in reasonable condition. The cordless is used on max power every few days for a deeper clean.

Both pick up tons of dirt and dog hair every day.

However, I agree that the roomba is overpriced. It was £500 which is bonkers money for a acuum and was only the mid-range model. It also requires a lot of maintenance. Emptying, cleaning, wiping rescuing, swapping bits out. Plus your house needs to be set up a bit to make sure the floor sar clear. I still love it, but can see how it might not be for everyone.

The Dyson is a bit less high mantainance but still more temperamental than any plug-in vacuum I've ever had. Plus, it was also bonkers expensive. It never gets hair wrapped up though: dog or my own long hair. It is very easy to use though, and I love just being able to grab it and go, without faffing with cords.

They also both benefit from spending more £ on spare bits, e.g. a second filter for the Dyson so that you can swap them without waiting for the recently cleaned one to dry. It can all get a bit much and if we didn't have so many dogs to keep up with, there is no way I'd have spent £1000 on vacuums.

The mop was much less money and is ok at quickly polishing the floors in between steam cleans.

I just had a look and it seems that Currys are doing the V8 Animal for a comparatively competitive £324. So much money though!

I love my £50 one from Lidl's- maybe not as many features but it does what I want it to, quick hoover on the hard floors and carpets in the evening and can use with the attachments to get the dust off the (deep) sills easily

Needs the brush head and filter cleaned on a regular basis and to deep clean I get the big (10 year old) dyson out

AmberShadesofGold oblada I do love the idea of a robot cleaner / Roomba for the novel factor alone!

I nearly wept when I paid for it, but my Dyson has been worth every penny

The problem with the majority of the robot vacuums is that they are too tall to go underneath any of the furniture.

I agree that £35 is not much to spend but the next model which was identacle cost around £150 so this price was purely down to the cleaner being discontinued to make way for the new range.

But it’s the only one I’ve seen which would go under my chairs so none of the others are any good.

@smoothieooo we do occasionally get some funny looks as it tootles past in the background while I open the door for a delivery etc....

I also think you mentioned cats. Cats riding robot vacuums = very funny videos

Come and look at us all on the Eufy robot vacuum thread! We are like groupies.

I've had mine a week and love it.

Based on what you say, you'd probably be better off putting a broomstick up the cat's bottom and pushing that around.
I think it would probably make faster work of the cat biscuit than your VAX has!