I've started handing my 5 year old the handheld vacuum and she seems to be on the fence about admitting she enjoys it. I remember using a corded handheld vacuum to vacuum the stairs as a kid with some regularity too
Wife wanted a cordless vacuum this year after our main driver died. Our house is multi levels and about 80% carpet and I've always been sceptical of the efficiency of the dinky cordless vacuums. I then found this guys testing videos on YouTube and immediately changed her mind.
We ended up finding the highest performing Shark from below for $250 refurbed and it performs as well as he shows.
Also need to give a shout out to Miele. German made and my dad swears by his, just a bit too rich for me to afford right now.
I'm so done with vacuums, point blank. First you've got the mass-produced Walmart/Target/Amazon/Home Depot bullshit. Dirt Devil, etc. They're made like a child's toy, designed to break, and there are so many ever-changing, oh-so-similarly-named-but-slightly-different models that you literally often cannot find relevant information, even on the manufacturers' websites.
I repaired and ultimately replaced like 4 of those over the years before buying a vintage steel behemoth Kirby like my grandma would have had. It worked great, but hauling it up and down stairs was not great and I left it behind when I moved.
Then I moved to a fancy new stick vac, which is...fine. Feels like a miracle weight-wise, cordless-wise, and maintenance-wise, but I have two dogs and it only picks up like 60% of anything.
Yep agree.
The tradie tools have got the right thing going. You get a couple batteries and then the tool skins, like vacuums or blowers. The battery dies after a few years and you just get another.
And I agree those ones with soldered in batteries feel like they're meant to be disposable. The corded vacuums are what you need for carpet or anything else though. Nothing beats a wet/dry shop vacuum haha
I’m on board with your thought process but just keep reasonable expectations; it’s probably not going to last more than 5 years regardless if it’s battery operated or plug-in at this point. We have built in obsolescence and designed to fail products.
Literally. I'm 29 and recently "splurged" on a cordless vacuum since the cat hair situation tends to get out of hand in spring and it was a fantastic purchase but definitely one I had to weigh up. I'm very glad I got it though. It's also handy when you eat in your bed and leave crubs.
Remember always buy one that uses replaceable battery packs. Even better if you can just use a power tool battery. There are even adapters for certain brands of vacuums so you can put a power tool battery into the vacuum.
If the battery is not replaceable you have to trash the vacuum after a couple of years of use, since the battery won’t hold a charge. Replacing the li-on cells is not easy and requires a spot welder, you can’t just use a soldering iron.
Or worse yet, the battery is serviceable (barely, one has to completely disassemble the unit for access), only to find that a replacement costs almost as much as a brand new vacuum. The best part is, since there is usually little to no info online about the part number for the battery, one only learns of the cost until after one has taken on the challenge to take the damn thing apart (which definitely didn’t take 1-2 hours). Looking at you, Shark 🙄
My mental ding dong is hard and ready to use it. My nerves are tingling and my hands are shaking at the thought of being able to touch such an artefact. I know ultimate pleasure is in my future and I cannot wait.
I bought a used Ryobi lead acid riding mower with bad batteries for cheap. Converted to lithium. I was and still am psyched to get that thing out every week. And I'm in the same age range as you.
I plan on doing the exact same thing!!! I have a buddy who has done a few already and flipped them.
I was going to do it this time but the wifey was less than thrilled since we needed a mower immediately when our last one died. We have a pretty decent sized yard that is a pain to mow with a push mower. And when I said “new mower” before I meant new to me since it wasn’t new. It was however free since a family member gave me one they weren’t using anymore since they downsized their yard. So spending money on something that was going to require work wasn’t gonna fly. It is definitely on my plan for next summer however. At least this new one is less noisy than the last. My next door neighbor has one of those exact same Ryobi mowers (still with the SLA batteries however) and I’m so jealous how quiet it is.
They clog? Glad I don't have one then. I use a Henry hoover, having a cable doesn't really seem like a problem tbh, and who couldn't love a hoover with that face?
My wife and I are 44, and can think of little finer than driving down to a local beach, getting a bag of chips, and watching people walk by with their Very Good Dogs. On a sunny day it's just about one of the best things you can do.
If 24 year old me knew about this, he'd probably have hanged himself.
100% recommendation from me. Find yourself a good Dog Beach* that's a short walk from a good chippy and you need never be sad again.
_
*be careful it's not a Dogging Beach. That's a very different thing.
An important thing us people at 40 have to keep in mind is tech advances and gets better all the time. The cordless vac I have now works great for being portable and usable in our townhouse, which has no carpet.
Would a good corded vacuum be better? Depends on the terms. It'll be better max performance, bit I don't have to lug a heavier vacuum upstairs to clean stuff in my room, and what I have works.
As a photography hobbyist, it's like saying why take a picture with a phone camera, m43, or apsc when you could use full frame or medium format? The cameras are objectively better quality pictures, but they are more expensive and larger, especially when it comes to lenses. Sometimes convenience is "better."
Kudos for a great argument. I completely agree that in some cases a cordless will suffice. But in general I feel they all are terrible and at some point become disappointing. Guess I just have a lot of need for something that eats carpet for breakfast.
Cord management is such a big part of vacuuming to me I don't think I would be very excited about a cordless vacuum. It would just be missing part of the experience for me.
It would excite me more if I could afford a place big enough to feel like owning one would be a necessity. My small dustbuster is enough (which is a cordless vacuum, technically).
Mid 40s here, and I have been trying to straddle that “senior engineer turned goose farmer” line for a few years now. I fiddle with the bleep bloos during the day, and on evenings and weekends I’ve been doing some pretty heavy construction in the back yard for various animals of ours.
Tools are therefore a huge one for me, with two major categories. First are the nice power tools like my DeWalt handheld stuff and my EGO outdoor stuff. But second are the cheap and indispensable, but also easily replaceable, small convenient “everyday carry” type tools. Things like the perfect minimal keychain or pocket knife.
I haven’t carried my nice pocket knife for years because it’s huge and I didn’t miss it much as long as I had something sharp on my keychain. But now after using a utility knife a lot in the past couple months, I’ve realized how nice pocket knives designed around replaceable blades can be. You always have a brutally sharp and very thin blade, and you don’t have to think twice about damaging the blade by cutting or prying. My current cheap favorite is the Oknife Otacle U1. The ideal-looking upgrade that I’m getting next is the TiRant V3. The same company makes the TiRant Ultra which has a whole new interchangeable blade system on top of the utility knife blade thing, but it’s slightly larger and a lot more expensive.
I also found tiny knives great for my keychain that use scalpel blades. I use one that folds as small as a 3” pencil and uses a #11 blade — the pointy one with a straight edge.