Not as satisfied as I thought I would be; a review after 2 years
Written: Jun 16 '07
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Pros: Bag-less vac, intelli-clean system, true HEPA, super long cord
Cons: expensive filter, clogs easily with pet hair/dander
The Bottom Line: I would buy this vacuum again but I strongly recommend at least yearly maintenance at a vacuum repair shop to extend its life - especially if you have pets!
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| wiseonetoo's Full Review: Kenmore 36933 Bagless Upright Vacuum |
This is going to be a rather long, detailed review. I have owned this vacuum for about two and a half years now; I would like to share the good and the bad we have experienced with it. I will summarize why I purchased the vacuum, detail the features of the machine, and, finally, I will outline the problems we had with it.
After owning several crummy vacuums that put out more dust than they sucked up, I decided that I was going to do a little homework and find a good vacuum. After reading some good reviews on consumerreports.org, I decided that this Kenmore was the one for me.
When we first purchased this machine, I was dazzled and amazed. It left few dust particles in the air during and after vacuuming - unlike most models that just throw dust everywhere - and it was powerful. We lived in a home that we rented and the carpet was very short, "level loop" industrial grade which was throughout almost the entire house. At the time, my oldest son was five and our youngest was just turning one. You can imagine the messes they could make, I'm sure. I needed a reliable, easy to use vacuum for daily spills and messes in addition to the weekly all over cleaning and the Kenmore, in this situation, worked very well.
Here's the low-down on the Vacuum, I will break my review up into two parts: the vacuum and the accessories.
The Kenmore Progressive Bagless Upright with Intelli-clean system
This bagless upright has several very nice features, to include:
1. The Intelli-clean system
2. The HEPA filtration system
3. Carpet height adjuster
4. 35 foot cord
5. bag-less canister
6. On-board tool storage
Next, I'll go over each feature briefly. First, let's look at the Intelli-clean system. This system is designed to some how 'sense' how much dirt is coming up out of the carpet. The vacuum will tell you how dirty your carpet is by a bank of lights that sit right above where the bag-less canister. There are four lights - ranging in color to deep red/orange to green. When all four are lit to the right, they will shine green and this means your carpet is clean; when the lights are lit to the left and are orange or red/orange, your carpets are dirty.
A note on the bag-less dust-cup: this feature is a nice one and is very easy to take out. The top swivels to one side and comes off, leaving the top piece (which holds the dust-cup filter) in one hand and the dust-cup in your other. Generally, I usually sit the filter piece in the dust pan beside the trash can while I carefully dump the dust-cup out. After that, I hold the filter assembly over the trash can and gently brush it with the hand brush to the dust pan. This does generally stir up some bunnies into the air, but I have found that if you do this into a mostly empty trash can and sort of lean in a bit so the filter's near the bottom of your trashcan, very little dirt escapes this necessary process.
This vacuum cleaner features a "True HEPA filtration" - what this means is that, over the exhaust (where many vacuums blow out dust), there is a filter that catches dust and germs. As far as I can tell, this thing works excellently. What the filter inside the dust cup doesn't catch, the exhaust filter does - I've looked! I have never seen any dust escape from the exhaust of this vacuum cleaner.
The rest of the features of the vacuum itself are pretty standard (except for the long cord) and they are helpful. I think the carpet height adjuster could have a few more options but that's just me - it only has four height settings. The tools for this vacuum neatly fit against the side of the vacuum in the caddy while the upholstery tool that has a rotating brush, sits neatly in its own compartment above the bag-less dust-cup.
The Accessories
If you're looking for a lot of accessories, this machine is not for you; it's pretty spartan when it comes to parts and pieces. This vacuum comes with three (technically four) attachments: the crevice wand, the collapsible extension wand, the upholstery tool and the stretchy hose. These four items, well with the exception of the hose, are solid and easy to use. The collapsible extension wand extends to about 3.5 to 4 feet and has a little locking mechanism (so it doesn't retract while you're dusting something over your head). The extension wand is actually where you store your crevice tool when not in use. The upholstery tool has a rotating brush and is powered by the suction of the hose when you attach it. It works fairly well and I have no complaints about it. I think the only thing I don't like about this vacuum is the hose which is made of a heavy duty, accordion plastic; it's supposed to stretch out to 17 feet but it never has. I have a heck of a time fighting with it when I'm using the crevice tool or the upholstery tool. The hose is so stiff and always wants to retract to its compact size so you're always left feeling like you're playing tug-o-war with it!
Our recent experiences - the beginning of the end for the Kenmore
In December of 2006, we moved; we purchased an older home from some folks that had pets - four cats and at least one dog we later found out - and the entire house was carpeted. I would also like to mention that we do not have pets of any kind.
I vacuumed the house very thoroughly - three times before we even started moving the furniture in - and yet I kept finding cat hair everywhere. I was extremely frustrated! I kept vacuuming everyday for several months - shampooing at least once a month to help 'lift' the hair out of the carpets - and it seemed like there was still ghastly amounts of hair coming up. It was really gross!
In February of 2007, I had to replace the in the cylinder filter - boy was that expensive! Granted, our first one had lasted two years - we kept gently brushing off the dust bunnies and hair every time we emptied the canister out - but after only four months of cat hair and dander the thing was becoming so disgusting that every time it was more and more difficult to clean. My husband made the mistake of trying to rinse.wash it off - the thing molded overnight (due to the germs that were in the filter already, I suspect) - so I pitched it and bought a new one from Sears.
March of this year (2007) proved to be even worse for the Kenmore. There was so much pet dander in the carpet that the junction where the brush meets the internal hose which goes up to the canister got completely clogged. How'd I know this? Well, the intelli-clean system stopped working and the vacuum started making this load groaning noise for about two seconds when you tried to turned the vacuum on, after a second, the intelli-clean system shut itself off and the vacuum seemed to be working. After further inspection, I noticed that the contents of the bagless container were not spinning like they usually did. I tried out the hose, which seemed to make the contents of the container spin but normal vacuuming did not. I ended up taking the thing apart, cleaning out copious amounts of dander (there were a couple of times I thought I was going to be sick) - the tube/hose that goes from the brush-roll to the canister is approximately 2 inches in diameter and it was packed solid with dander.
I thought that would solve the problem and, for a few weeks, it did. The vacuum worked as if it were brand-new again...until it clogged again two weeks later. The thing was an absolute pain in the behind to take apart and put back together, by the way. It took the combined strength of myself and a girlfriend while my husband was holding it firmly in place, to get most of the parts snapped back into place after maintenance it the first time.
So folks, here's the bottom line: if you've got pets and you have a not-so-great vacuum now, I would suggest either buying this vacuum and having it serviced every six months or going with a refurbished Kirby vacuum.
We were extremely happy with this vacuum for two years when it was just us and our children. Unfortunately, I feel that the previous home-owners and their inability to properly take care of our carpets is what killed my beloved Kenmore; after five months of vacuuming up endless pet hair and dander, it just couldn't make it.
I still feel that this is a good vacuum but I must admit that I am a bit disappointed in it. I have not had the heart to throw it away even though I have purchased a replacement (the new vacuum is a refurbished Kirby G4) for it. I am contemplating taking it to a repair shop, getting it fixed and cleaned before giving it to a friend as a gift mostly because it did such a good job in our old house and when it is working it is such a good vacuum.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 279.99
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Epinions.com ID:
wiseonetoo
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Member: Melissa Wise
Location: Bellevue, NE, USA
Reviews written: 8
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
I'm a working wife and mother of two boys.
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