An Economical Little Vac
Written: Mar 07 '01
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Durability: |
|
|
| Ease of Cleaning: |
 |
|
| Style: |
 |
|
|
Pros: Great suction, small, lightweight, large dust bag, inexpensive
Cons: Balky stiff hose
The Bottom Line: A great little vac that keeps the dog hair tumbleweeds under control!
|
|
|
| chuffle's Full Review: Hoover S3410 Spirit Bagged Canister Vacuum |
Sharing my house with two dogs means that I vacuum daily. My small house has wall to wall carpeting which is kept in top shape by my venerable (38 years old) Hoover Convertible and Hoover Windtunnel upright, and hard wood/tile floors that need a canister vac.
My requirements for a canister were that it be light weight (it would be carted up and down the stairs, used for dusting the baseboards, dealing with that crevice between the carpeting and baseboard in addition to the downstairs hard floors), straight suction (no need for a motorized brushroll with two uprights in the family), a reasonably large dust bag (one of my dogs has long hair which would fill a small bag quickly), and plenty of suction.
I have had the Spirit for two months now, and, with a few tweaks (which I will mention in a bit), I am able to say that this is a fine little vac. It is easily carried around the house, it balances easily on the steps (it can be placed on its end for this purpose) and is light enough to hold with one hand if I need to stand on a chair to get at some hard to reach place. The Type K Hoover dust bag holds a lot of dirt. I am a fanatic about my vacs, checking the bags regularly and changing them when they are three fourths full. After two months of use, I changed my first bag. Most people would get more use out of a bag, I'm sure. Suction-wise, it picks up everything in sight!
Now for the tweaks that I did to turn this into a great little vac. I use the Hoover Allergen Type K bags. They have a nice little rubber seal on the opening where the hose enters the bag. I tried the regular Hoover dust bag, and found that due to the design of the machine, this bag does not seal completely around the hose, leaking dirt and dog hair into the sweeper. Over a period of time, this could create a mess in the bag compartment, and the dirt blowing through the motor could decrease its life. The down side is that the allergen bags are twice the price of the regular ones. I bought an optional floor brush attachment, as I like more brushes than the combo bare floor/rug attachment has.
The one thing that I could not change (and I even got in contact with Hoover about this one) is the hose that sometimes has a mind of its own. The hose does not swivel where it attaches to the cleaner (though it does at the hand end), and this causes it to twist sometimes...a bit awkward in tight places. The hose is also made of a stiff plastic...wish that it was of the super stretch type.
I know that some people would feel that the last two paragraphs are not acceptable in an inexpensive vacuum. Please bear in mind that I use this cleaner so much that I wanted it personalized to my tastes. Those of you who want an economical vac for occasional use, I would have to say that the Hoover Spirit is definitely one that you should give a try.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 93.00
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
chuffle
|
|
Location: Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania
Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.