Bought this to replace our 10 year old Kenmore. We looked at a number of higher end models as replacements primarily Miele, Ricarr and Simplicity brands. This was after looking at our go-to of Costco where every vacuum was a swivel head and had a vast majority of parts and components made from plastic and super narrow cleaning heads and eclectic trendy color combinations, loaded with useless gizmos. We have friend in the U.K. who lives by the Dyson factory who warned us to never buy a Dyson despite how nifty they look. We have almost 3500 sq feet of carpet which I vacuum every other day, narrow plastic vacuum heads just won't cut it. Trendy tools not needed, but good air filtration, HEPA filters and a metal bar at the front of the vacuum to prevent damage from sucking in harmful stuff was key. We don't have pets so pet hair management is not a must. For some reason I'm not a fan of the swivel head styles because it puts the pressure of the vacuum head on your wrist when you maneuver the vacuum and with our amount of carpet that's a problem. This vacuum was just perfect. Priced right, super long cord, wide brush (15 inches) and the upgraded never break band, and very quiet. It does have a removable wand for tight spaces or furniture and some basic tools- not sexy but functional. It's bagged which helps with suction and air particulate management. It's literally ready to go out of the box with no tools. This vacuum provides comparable cleaning and quality parts to the Ricarr and Simplicity at about half the price. Have had it for about 4 months and am very happy. Would highly recommend. Read more
We have had this vacuum and the 13" HushTone since March 2016. I clean an office building and my husband owns a carpet cleaning business, so we know how important it is to have good quality vacuums. Our current vacuums were on their last straw (and so were we). Between the repairs we were constantly needing to do, we found it more beneficial to go buy new vacuums. A new "COMMERCIAL GRADE" vacuum can start at $150 and go up from there. Our Current vacuums we are running are: Hoover CH50100 Insight-Quiet Industrial Upright, 10 Amp, 20 lb., 13" Path, Black which are corporate issued. They lasted us about 2 years no issues on the first one. The second one, we were finding issues after a few MONTHS! So, the hunt was on! I prefer the name brand HOOVER. I started there and searched commercial. These vacuums looked the nicest! When I read the specs on them, it sounded to good to be true! Let me tell YOU, these are NICE! Features I LOVE!: -The look is clean, crisp, professional -Adjustable sound hence the name Hushtone. There are 2 levels of dB sound... this is handy if you are cleaning while people are trying to work, it isnt as distracting. Some commercial vacuums can be SO LOUD! This one is PERFECT! Although it is quieter it does lose a bit of suction power, but no big deal. -Not too heavy and easy to push and manuever. -Easy access to all parts. The vacuum is designed to be easy access without tools. The use of clips instead of screws allows for quick fixes in case the magical sock fairy clogs your bristles. -Nice, easy to use, wand for edging and cobwebs. It comes with a couple of attachments to use (crevice tool, brush...) -The bags hold a lot (*BAGS NOT INCLUDED*) I believe there is only ONE bag included with the vacuum but would DEFINITELY recommend ordering this AND BAGS. You will be amazed at how quickly they will fill up because I am sure this is better that what you are currently using. -This vacuum has a wider track (15 inches of vacuum instead of 13) which gets the job done a little faster 2 inches at a time. -It has the RINSEABLE HEPA filter which pulls the dust out of the air! I HATE THE SMELL OF DUST! ( I have used vacuums that have had no filter... EW) -EASY assembly, Just snap it together, NO TOOLS -If the cord gets worn. YOU CAN REPLACE IT! NO HASSLE! Just buy a new extension cord. IT HAS AMAZING REACH with a 40 ft cord! I think most store vacuums have about a 20-25 ft cord. -Bag change indicator. If it is losing "suction power" there is a gauge that lets you know... red means change bag or something is blocking air. Green means go (obviously... LOL) I am sure there are other features that I am forgetting that are AMAZING! Overall, I will definitely be purchasing this brand again! Next upgrade will be the INTELLIBELT Version! (the bristles stop if something is stuck... since I am notorious for capturing the corner of a bed skirt or a blanket/ sock hiding under the bed.) - Read more
I have worked in the vacuum industry for a number of years and recently moved onto a retail environment. I had my eye on this vacuum for quite a while and upon getting to my new job knew that I needed to replace to beat up and abused Oreck XL commercial vacuum that was previously being used. We now use this in conjunction with a large hoover conquest to vacuum 20,000 square feet of retail space with all commercial grade carpet tiles. Before I purchased this I checked availability of replacement parts since If I recall correctly this vacuum is discontinued by Hoover. There are still a number of parts available, particularly the consumables such as filters, belts, brush rollers, bags, handles, etc. We have used this vacuum for about a month and we like it. It is used by many part time teenagers who don't necessarily care about being careful with the use of equipment such as this, and it has held up very well to wreckless use. The plastic body is good quality and does not scuff or scratch easily so it still looks almost new. The front bumper is very large and prevents damage to the unit and to the object it gets bumped into. The extension cord it comes with is a high visibility 40' cord which is very good quality although I thought it came with a 50' cord when I bought it. The hush mode is great for us as we have to vacuum with customers in the store regularly and as a customer, I cannot stand trying to focus on looking at merchandise when someone is trying to vacuum with the typically loud commercial vacuum. We keep it on boost and when a customer comes close to us we set it to hush mode and we are easily able to talk to the customer over the sound of the vacuum. The hose is a decent length and the tools it comes with are great. There were a few concerns I had with the vacuum before I bought it and used it and those concerns were quickly not a factor when I began using the machine. The first was the bag system. It uses a bag system that is very close to Hoovers residential T-Series Windtunnel in which you place the bag into the bag door and not directly onto an inlet within the bag compartment. I have worked on several of these other models which always seemed to have leaky bag connections so dust was a common issue within the bag compartment (which I don't like because that means that dust is entering the motor which decreases its life span). This vacuum does not have that issue (We only use the yellow allergen bags, I'd imagine it is different with the standard single ply white bags). The rubber gasket on the bags plays a huge role in this. My other concern was that the handle would be loose over time or have play in it as it is not screwed in but held in with a latch mechanism. Once I installed the handle after getting the vacuum, I realized how tightly the handle is held in so I cannot see that coming loose any time soon. My only true complaint with this vacuum is the rubber/plastic squeegee strip behind the brush roll. We have to keep ours set to the hi traffic carpet height as the commercial carpet setting is too high (it could be because our carpet is very matted down and worn out in places), but at the hi traffic height, the rubber squeegee strip which makes for better use on hard floors, touches the carpet and makes it heavy to push. You can feel the strip move back and forth as you move the vacuum and if you have the vacuum angled too high it sometimes gets stuck and you have to lower the handle to move it again (i'm not sure of a better way to explain this). That mixed with a heavy handle weight makes it somewhat of a workout to vacuum this large store (for comparison our hoover conquest is heavier but much easier to vacuum with because of the lower handle weight and the lack of the squeegee strip. Now onto some pro's and con's to wrap this up: Pros -Good quality construction overall -Can handle a lot of use -Efficient dust filtering when using allergen bags -permanent belt system -Consumable part availability -Attachments and hose which is not common on commercial vacuums -Quiet even on boost mode -Excellent suction -Low side profile for getting under retail shelving -Can lower down to the floor without having to press handle release a second time (many vacuums have a notch when you reach 45 degrees or so in which you need to press the handle release again to get it to lower any further -Can remove the lower blow molded nozzle hose to check for clogs very easily, same with the main hose -Pigtail cord system which I've found to be essential in commercial use for easy replacing of the cord -Tool free access to repair any part of the vacuum Cons -Bags are expensive, particularly allergen bags and not always easy to find -Heavy Handle Weight -No additional extension wand/no telescopic extension on the existing wand -Foam gasket between hose and the extension wand (I never like foam gaskets that are held on with adhesive from my experience fixing vacuums, but this seems to be the only foam gasket on the unit held in with glue -Only three real carpet height settings, would be useful to have more height settings -The elbow where the hose meets the back of the body towards the bag inlet is not clear on these newer models as the pictures show, it would be nice to have it clear to check for obstructions -The bottom cord wrap has a quick release function where you rotate it out of the way to remove the cord (similar to windsor/sebo vacuums) but this has never been easy to rotate with a cord wrapped around it so we just wrap the cord around our arm and hang it on the top hook as opposed to wrapping it around both Read more
