So your vacuum cleaner has ceased to function. No matter what you try to bring it back to life, including checking for blockages and replacing faulty parts , it becomes clear that you’ll need to order a new one. Checking out replacement vacuums, the choices seem endless, but which type of vacuum is the best one for your home?

Here we give you a brief overview of the most common types of vacuum and their different qualities:

Upright Vacuum Cleaners are the most popular type of household vacuum due to their wide cleaning path, strong suction power and their love for large carpeted areas. Upright vacuums are great for houses with mainly carpeted rooms, as they have a brush roll which works the bits out of your carpet, and a larger capacity means more room to store said bits. The downside is that they’re not great for tackling stairs, although some include a long hose attachment to get around this problem.

Cylinder Vacuum Cleaners are particularly popular amongst flat-dwellers as they usually have a smaller capacity than an upright vacuum, meaning they’re lighter to carry and better suited to cleaning smaller areas. Their long hose and head attachments also enable them to get into more difficult-to-reach areas.

Handheld Vacuum Cleaners are ideal for clearing up small spillages or getting into less vacuum-friendly areas like corners, stairs, or car interiors. Some are also useful for getting pet hairs off your upholstery. Handheld vacuum cleaners are usually portable and powered by a rechargeable battery, making them way more convenient than hulking out a full-sized, heavier vacuum for a tiny cleanup job.

Wet and Dry Vacuum Cleaners: Remember the 1980s when the VAX exploded into our homes with its revolutionary carpet-washing capabilities? Suddenly everyone could clean their own carpets any time they felt like it, without needing to fork out on the professionals. These days there’s an abundance of wet and dry vacuums available with all kinds of features and capabilities.  They’re able to vacuum both liquids and dry debris and you can even get dinky handheld ones for spot-cleaning carpet stains.

Robotic Vacuum Cleaners (iRobot): These autonomous little guys put your average vacuum cleaner to shame, mapping out the dimensions of your floor to make sure that they cover every square inch, all by themselves. The iRobot Roomba is best if your home is primarily carpeted, with a self-adjusting cleaning head that enables a transition to hard floors. If you’re more a fan of hardwood or linoleum flooring, the iRobot Scooba can wash your floors for you! Some models of robotic vacuum can even be pre-programmed to do their thing while you’re out at work.

Devices such as this often seem too good to be true; stay tuned for future blog posts when we’ll be putting robotic vacuums to the test!

Tags: vacuum cleaner