Kirby - Avalir 2

Kirby Avalir 2, great vaccum, well built and performance very well.

100% find a used Kirby or bagged vacuum with push-pull assist. Always test used. You're gonna save yourself a huge chunk of money buying used. Contrary too what people say on this reddit, bagged uprights that let you pull the brushroll out, for hard floors are the best thing ever. I've never been a canister vacuum fan. I love my used Kirby avalir 2. Whole kit, used with 20 extra bags for 50 US dollars. Two dogs here. A corgi and a great Dane. Their hair length, fineness, and density are polar opposites. The Kirby gets every single hair fiber in one push and pull, per path. Disclaimer I am not biased. I've been fixing, wiring and rebuilding vacuums of all kinds since I was 6 years old. Just knew how to do it all since birth I guess. Used and tested every vacuum on the market starting in 2015, when I started my appliance business and cleaning business. Too this day I can NOT find any model that compares too Kirbys. 

Kirby vacuums are very durable and they last forever. Kirbys are good at cleaning carpets but not as good at cleaning hard floors. But they're very heavy and switching between tools is extra steps. If you really want a Kirby vacuum you can buy a great condition used Kirby Avalir 2 with all the tools for $200-300. And you can buy good condition older Kirby Legend II to Avalir models with all the tools for $50-100. People usually get tired of how heavy they are and the extra steps required to use the regular hose and tools. Kirby does not have a lifetime replacement or lifetime warranty that covers defects. Kirby has a 3 Year Warranty on new vacuums and Lifetime Rebuild Program which only means that no matter the age of the Kirby you can send it back and PAY Kirby to rebuild your vacuum. I think you should look for a used Kirby Avalir or Avalir 2 for $100-200 and see if you like Kirbys. If you want a modern vacuum that is lighter and quieter but very durable I would look at the Sebo Felix $799. Sebos come with 10 yr motor/10 yr parts/7 yr labor warranty from authorized dealers. If you have all or mostly hard floors a canister vacuum would be much better.

Love Kirbys, I just bought another one, but they are outclassed by modern vacuums. Kirbys are still good for carpets and they are a strong value when you buy a used one under $100, but they are heavy, inconvenient to use the hose and tools. And the brand new prices are insane. It's not that Kirbys aren't as good as they once were, the problem is they're almost the same as they've been for the past 40 years and modern bagged vacuums have gotten better and they're lighter. I still recommend used Kirbys if you have lots of carpet and a budget under $100.

I don't recommend any of the vacuums listed. The bagless Bissell vacuums filter poorly and don't last very long. The Eureka 3670M does not have a powerhead for carpets and the Intercleaner vacuums are cheap and don't deep clean carpets. I do recommend the Bissell PowerForce Bagged 1739 $58. It's a good vacuum for carpets, and you can get use Style 7 Hepa bags from Clean Obsessed and other brands to make the filtration good. Downsides are a short cord and short hose but that's par for vacuums under $100. I do recommend the Vacmaster UB0302E, this is a cheaper version of the Kenmore Intuition and it sells for $99-125. So you check it's current price. It's a better all-around vacuum because it has brushroll shutoff for hard floors. I know you didn't ask for that but it makes it more flexible if your flooring changes. If you've ever wanted a Kirby vacuum you can usually find good condition used Kirbys for $50-100. They are heavy but they last forever and they're great at cleaning carpets. Thoughts?

You're not doing anything wrong with your Sebo it's an old sales trick. The vacuum that goes last will always pick up some additional dirt. If the Kirby went first and you put those demonstration pads on your Sebo it would be picking up dirt left behind by the Kirby. Kirby and Rainbow and other door-to-door salesmen always use this trick. Kirbys do have high agitation and high airflow but very low suction power. Most people vacuum too fast to pick up everything. If you want to get the best clean vacuum much slower, do a couple passes, then change direction in the room and do it again. I don't like to vacuum super duper slow so I'd rather do more passes and different directions. But if I'm vacuuming before carpet shampooing I'll vacuum very slowly and thoroughly. Lastly if you want a Kirby you can buy a good condition used Kirby for $100 or less. They last forever but they're heavy and people sell them in a few years.

Kirbys have a direct fan design where the air passes through the fan before reaching the bag. This design moves a lot of air volume cfm but it doesn’t lift heavy particles because it has low suction in inches of water lift. So it’s really good at cleaning carpets but if you use the hose to pick up heavy debris like sand it isn’t as strong as a clean air fan design. Kirby’s are still very good for cleaning carpets but not as good at cleaning bare floors.

What specific vacuum model did you buy? Shag carpets are harder to clean because the long shags(?) or tassels can jam up the brushroll. You need a vacuum with a high range of carpet height adjustment. The recommendation of a used Kirby is actually quite a good one. Good condition used Kirbys can be easily found from $50-100. They're heavy but they last forever. They have a huge range of height adjustment and they were vacuuming shag carpets when shag was invented. Other old school direct air or dirty air vacuums with carpet height adjustment will also work like the Eureka F&G uprights, Hoover Convertible, and Sanitaire Tradition to name a few. If you like used vintage vacuums this is a good excuse to check them out. The Kirby and Sanitaire are still sold brand new. Of these vacuums Kirbys have the longest lasting belts, each belt should last 4-6 months each and they're really cheap to replace like $2 a piece. The Eureka, Hoover, and Sanitaire belts need to be replaced more often but they're even cheaper around $1 each.

The Soniclean Soft Carpet Upright is an interesting vacuum. It's like a light weight Oreck specifically made for plush soft carpets. But it has no hose or tools so keep that in mind. If you want a single purpose easy to use vacuum for plush carpets it's a good choice. It doesn't have carpet height adjustment because it's already made for taller plush carpets. Downsides are it's mostly just sold online and warranty coverage is spotty. I like vintage stuff so I would get a used Kirby for $100. Kirbys have a huge range of height adjustment and an optional delicate carpet brushroll. Kirbys are heavy but they last forever. At first it can be fun to use all the different attachments but after a while it will get tedious to take the powerhead off everytime you want to use the hose. It's heavy so carrying up/down stairs is a pain but the actual self-propelled drive system makes it easy to push and pull on carpets. If you want one vacuum to clean everything in your house and last for 15-20 years check out the Sebo K3 and Sebo Felix. They're sold at local vacuum stores so you can try it before you buy it. Ask your carpet installers to leave you all the carpet remnants. You can use the pieces for spot repairs if you ever need it. Then you can take a piece of your actual carpet to a vacuum store and try their vacuums on your specific carpet.

Are we talking upright or canister vacuum? If upright and mostly carpets, I'd go with a second hand Kirby machine. Something from the later Generation series up to the Avalir (they are all fundamentally the same machine) If a canister, then yeah probably a Shop Vac. Although if he has no patience for being able to fix the vacuums I don't like his chances of dealing with the Kirby, as far as maintenance goes. Also, sounds like the bf needs to do some growing up, if he's breaking stuff regularly because it doesn't work I think he needs to learn some emotional regulation. Sounds like a spoiled child to be honest. If he's breaking them he should be paying for them, and if he doesn't have a job, well you guessed it, he should be working if he wants to break shit. Sure he may have some mental illness or problems, and I can relate, but that doesn't excuse him from acting like an idiot? This is not cute behaviour and it only gets worse if validated. EDIT: Just went through your post history.....get rid of this fucking deadbeat. I'm sorry he had a rough upbringing but he's still alive and he's fucking 33. It's time for him to take responsibility for his own life and stop blaming his past. None of this behaviour is endearing or worthy of any sort of coddling or admiration, it's just plain toxic. You DO NOT owe him a thing and it's time to move him on and find someone more aligned with you, and the fact that HE gave you an ultimatum some time back about moving in or he would leave, I'd have called his bluff and taken that opportunity to leave.

We had a Kirby salesman stop by our house when we were growing up. My father let him in and allowed his pitch. Now, my parents loved wine, specifically my dad, and the salesman seemed to notice this and capitalized on it. He told my dad that the Kirby can pull wine stains out of a carpet, my father being him, called his bluff. Bout an hour later he cut the check and had a brand new vacuum with the carpet shampoo system attachment. Guy sold about $3k worth of product in the first 5 minutes. Kirby vacuums are truly some of the best, if not the best (they still have it and use it regularly, and this happened 20 years ago)

Kirby upstairs and a Shop-Vac downstairs. The Kirby is an absolute beast, worth every penny.

Kirbys are great because they're so easy to fix. Every single part is user-replaceable

My first choice is Kirby. I don't understand others' posts implying they aren't reliable. Mine is 40 years old and probably has another 60 years left. Plastic crap, Dyson and Shark, is just that. Crap. Panasonic commercial vacuums have been a standard for many years.

As well, a Kirby is probably the best carpet cleaning Vacuum made. It’s just antiquated.

I love kirby vacuums. You can get a used one for a steal.