Vacuum cleaner reviews: Common problems
There are two areas where several vacs fall short: consistently good cleaning ability on different floor surfaces and being too loud.
Cleaning ability
Cleaners should be adaptable enough to clean carpets, traditional floorboards and laminate floors, and remove dust right up to a wall. It's also crucial that dust is retained in the machine once collected. Unfortunately, some cleaners have poor filtration and allow dust to escape back into the room.
Cleaning carpets
Most vacuum cleaners clean better when the bag or dust container is empty and pick-up starts to dwindle as the bag or dust container becomes full. So, for the best possible results, start with an empty bag or dust container.
| Percentage of dust picked up | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Dust picked up from a carpet by: | Percentage picked up with the container/bag empty | Percentage picked up with 100g dust already in the container/bag | Percentage picked up with 400g dust already in the container/bag |
| A consistent vacuum cleanera | 72.2% | 71.5% | 71.5% |
| An average vacuum cleanerb | 67.3% | 63.1% | 58.3% |
| A vacuum cleaner struggling to maintain good suctiona | 67.3% | 65.6% | 48.8% |
Table notes
- Based on models we’ve tested
- The average figures for the percentage of dust picked up are from a sample of vacuum cleaners in our April 2008 test
Cleaning carpets is one of the toughest tasks for a vacuum cleaner, because dirt can get ground in and stick to fibres. Plenty of models struggle, some leaving more than half the dust behind.
To do a good job, they need strong suction and cleaning heads that can loosen and lift dirt.
Hard floors
Most vacs do OK on laminate but, with floorboards, often there's no middle ground – cleaners either sail through or are completely stumped.
Many premium-priced models have special brush heads with softer bristles, which are less likely to scratch sensitive floors, but they don't always clean as well as the normal cleaning brush.
Noisy cleaners
Upping the wattage on a vac has become a common sales tactic (although more powerful vacs aren’t necessarily better cleaners – power means nothing if the vac isn't well designed).
High wattage usually means more noise. Installing noise insulation is expensive, so most manufacturers don't bother. However, that doesn't mean you get a quieter machine if you pay more; some of the worst culprits are the pricier brands. Some cleaners reach as high as 90 decibels.
The difference from 80 to 90 decibels may not seem like much but it’s roughly the difference between traffic noise in London and a symphony orchestra during loud passages.
Uprights tend to be noisier than cylinders.