TRADITION® Upright Vacuum SC888N

Sanitaire sc688b with the 2000 hour motor life. Probably the most sold vacuum model range ever in commercial settings. Same base model for over 40 years. I prefer the 888 but it's basically the same except for cosmetics, nice chrome metal hood vs plastic. Get bags and a few belts at the same time and there is a 10% coupon code and free shipping off their site. You want the 7 amp/840w/2000hour motor version and also the disposable bag version. It is a beast of a carpet only vacuum cleaner and if you somehow break something you can actually fix it. You do need to replace the belt once or twice a year but that takes 1 minute and it will give you an opportunity to inspect and de-hair the brush roll. It's dead simple, no tools.

Bagged > bagless, corded > cordless. Sanitaire 888 has a 2000 hour (365 hrs/days\*5=1825) motor designed for brutally hard commercial/food service use on carpet. Only carpet. Same basic model for over 40 years. Parts widely available, most user replaceable. Back that up with just about any straight suction canister from a mighty mite to a metrovac or (used) tristar. Tristar and metrovac being all metal will last forever though you may have to replace the motor at some point simply because it's worn out if you really vacuum every single day for an hour per machine. All three of these are basically the same as they were when I worked in a vac shop in the 80s. Of the thousands of random vacuums I saw over 3-4 years of servicing vacs, I distinctly remember these 3 as being dead simple and with the metal canisters, bulletproof. Metrovac requires a bit of care as it has no bumpers to hit walls and furniture and it may roll too easily for its own good in that respect.

You could try an old school commerical vacuum like the Sanitaire Tradition SC888N $292. These are carpet-only vacuums with no hose or tools. But they have a metal brushroll and carpet height adjustment. You still get hair wrapped on the brushroll but you can remove the baseplate without any tools and clean off the brushroll. Even just one long haired person in the house I would clean off the brushroll after each use on every vacuum that has a brushroll. The Sanitaire Traditions are good at cleaning carpets because that's all they can do. The brushroll is always spinning so you shouldn't use it on hard floors. It has no hose or tools. There are several version of the Tradition plastic hood and chrome hood doesn't matter. But there are different bag versions. You don't want the fabric dump out bag or the dump out cup attached to the fabric bag. You want one of the disposable inner bag versions that either uses F&G bags or ST bags. ST bags are better they're Hepa-like synthetic bags and they attach easily. The F&G bags use a spring you have to roll on to the collar of the bag, they're not as convenient. The different model numbers denote hood and bag version so I would stick to the SC888N chrome hood and ST bags or the SC889D gray metal hood and ST bags with a 2 speed switch. Sanitaire Traditions have been around for decades you can also find them used but many do get beat up in commercial use. What do you think?

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.

If you want pure bulletproof durability: Sanitaire SC886/SC888 If you want quieter operation + attachments: Hoover HushTone 15” If you want top filtration + attachments at the max of your budget: ProTeam ProForce 1500XP

Until last year we had the classic Sanitaire. Then the motor burnt out on all of them because nobody can take care of them. They replaced them with shitty little battery powered Ryobi ones definitely NOT made for commercial use. Surprise, mine already had a wheel fall off this week 😒

The only answer is a vintage Sanitaire Electrolux Commercial upright. They're built like tanks, work fantastic, and last for generations. When they do break down, the repairs are super simple to do yourself with super cheap abd available parts. 

For carpet areas I suggest a commercial santaire. Super affordable super great - look at amazon. I had mine at home many years- moved to a house with no carpet - sent it to college with a kid - who gave it to a cousin in college - it won’t die and it works so great. It’s too much for wood floors though.

I'm just going to add Clarke and Sanitaire to your list for the commercial options. Windsor is also a good choice, because they are often rebranded Sebo's at half the price. Orek is a good buy if you want something lightweight. My mom's XL has been going for 28 years now without needing repair. It's very easy to do stairs with, except it has no hoses or attachments for nooks ans crannies. Shop vacs (and rigid) are also built like tanks. You can use those for nooks and crannies as well as cleaning up liquids and larger chunks that would kill typical vacuums. They are cheap too. The only thing is you have to set them up for their purpose. You can dual filter with a bag and a HEPA filter to get just as precise cleaning as you get on a house vacuum, despite what some people say, but you need to take those off for liquids and use the sponge filter instead.