First lets clarify things,
a beater is a rubber bead on a brush roll in a power head. Beaters are most often recommended for berber type carpeting or commercial low pile only. It is VERY common that people call a motor driven power head a RUG BEATER. This leads to a lot of confusion. As noted above a beater or rolling bristle should not be used on a hard surface the bristle will burnish the floor and wear off the brush prematurely
We spend $2000 on a frdige to keep $300 in food cold, but we only spend $150 on a vac to clean and preserve $10000 in flooring, plus furniture and hopefully matresses to elimite dust and bugs and allergins.... BAD Decision
It`s not so much the brand of vac but the tools you need to compare to start with to see the quality.This will lead you quickly away from the junk. Most department store brand vacs are marginal at best and disposable.. They leak dust and use expensive replacement filters which is what the store sells to make huge profit.
FYI if it is good quality one your current vac may improve with fresh accessories . what brand is it .
A good quality higher end new vac will have rubberized swivelling wheels which glide silently
along the laminate instead of skidding sideways:furious:
It will contain a multi ply filtering type bag as well as a good exhaust filter system, but the filter itself need not be an expensive cartridge. Money spent on a good vac will reduce the xpense of wasted filters caused by low quality vac bags or bagless systems which are filthy and consume more filters.
To clean any flooring, plank, laminate , tile, etc, a good natural bristle brush will help. Natural bristle will look grey or brown, like shaving brush. Nylon bristle will be shiney black and curl up as it ages where natural will flex and get into corners and grout lines and last for years.
Consider a floor brush at least 12 inches wide. There are also new laminate and wood floor mop type heads now for vacuums with soft blue or red mop type spaghetti bristles.
If you are purchasing a new vac consider the good European ones like, SEBO, Miele, Bosch or a central vac but upgrade the tools before increasing the vac motor capacity. DONT waste time with made in China products. Go European for the best filtration or North American for Central vac and ask to see the European tool sets.
Go to a vacuum specialty shop and compare brands and don`t buy anything based on AMPS or Horsepower or ENGINES from anyone who pushes you that way. Walk away, and find a pro they don`t know their business.
Amperage is consumption not output or suction, Engines run on gas, horsepower is for pulling wagons for weight not air.
A 15 amp motor with 1 fan has poor suction. A 10 amp central vac motor with 2 fan stages will clean a 5000 ft home through 250 feet of pipe.
Look for quality of tools and accessories, a gear type belt drive in the power head if you need one and stay away from a BEATER strip on the power head unless your carpet installer recommends a beater strip.
The better power heads are European as well, look for ones made by Wessel Werk, Lindhaus or Sebo if you have carpet to clean. The extra $100-$300 spent now will pay back in preserving your flooring and faster cleaning results with less frustration and broken accessories.
Budget for $400 or more but go to a pro:thumbsup:
