Vacuum Cleaners

Specifies what type of vacuum cleaner it is.

Cylinder: Are lightweight and versatile. They are particularly good for cleaning under furniture, curtains and cobwebs, but can be tiring when used on big expanses of deep-pile carpet.

Upright: Upright vacuum cleaners are by far the most popular type of vacuum cleaner in the United States. Uprights are excellent for homes that feature significant wall-to-wall plush carpeting. In recent years, many features have been added to uprights that make them better at cleaning hard floor surfaces as well as above-floor cleaning (i.e. drapes, stairs).

Uprights are available with a variety of tool configurations -from no tools to a complete set of on-board tools. On-board tools will make an upright heavier but they eliminate the need to own a separate vacuum for above floor cleaning.

Some uprights have a feature which turns off the brushroll. This is beneficial when using attachments or tools for above-floor cleaning. This feature also allows the upright to clean hardwood floors. With the brushroll turned off, dirt and debris are not scattered.

An upright is easier to use than a canister vacuum, but is not as light. They are usally also easy to store. Most uprights offer excellent filtration (electrostatic or HEPA type).

This is information about how the vacuum cleaner capture and contains dirt and dust. Does it use dust bags, a tank or maybe a canister (which is common for bagless vacuum cleaners)?

HEPA filters, S-class filters or Micro filters are effective catching fine particles such as pollen. The filter should be placed so that all air drawn into the machine exit through it.

This indicates the power of the vacuum cleaner in watts. Generally the more powerful the motor the better the cleaning performance, but for a more reliable indication of a vacuum's ability to clean it is important to consider suction power.