Our customers often ask us "Which are better? Bagless vacuum cleaners or traditional bagged vacuums?". Basically, folks are wondering if bagless vacuums are easier to use and less expensive.

Did you know that the first vacuum cleaners invented, in one way or the other, were bagless? The dirt went directly into a cylinder or cloth bag that needed to be emptied or shaken out as they got full.

This turned out to be a mess, so the great vacuum inventor minds got together and developed a much more sanitary dirt collection system….the disposable bag!

With a disposable bag, when it gets full, you simply remove it from the bag compartment and toss it away. Most of the newest style bags have a seal that covers the dirt opening so that no dust leaks back into your breathable air. An average person who vacuums once or twice a week may fill a bag every month or two.

With bagless vacuum cleaners, when you remove the dust bin to empty it, look at the plastic enclosure that the dust bin has been sitting in. You will usually see fine dust particles coating the plastic. This is a layer of electrically charged dust that leaks back into the air as you vacuum, sticking to the vacuum, your furniture, your walls, TV, and in your lungs! This is very, very unhealthy. This was a major reason why the vacuum industry got away from bagless vacuums and invented the bag system.

Among other things, bagless vacuums make you touch your dirt as you constantly clean the dust bin and dust filters so that the vacuum doesn’t lose suction. Disgusting!

They also make you believe that you are picking up so much more dirt because you can see fluffy dirt in the clear dust bin. This is false. The dust bin has dirt in it that is fluffed up as it spins, just like cotton candy in a spinning cotton candy machine. In a bagged vacuum, that same dust is compressed down and allows you to vacuum many times until the bag is full. Then you just remove the bag and insert a new one; no touching your own dirt.

Oh, do you know the claim that they never lose suction? That is the most false statement ever! Every vacuum has the potential of losing suction, but bagless vacuums have even more ways for the suction to be diminished than a bagged vacuum, and can cost you more in the long run to keep buying those dirt cup filters. And forget the claims that they are washable. The HEPA filter is a paper media and by running water over it insures that the dust the filter contains solidifies and clogs the pores in the filter, rendering it useless.

One more thing: You are actually doing much more work by using a bagless vacuum, as nearly every time you use it, you are emptying that dust bin at least once and usually many more times. I’d rather remove a sealed bag that gets thrown away and install a new clean bag without breathing or touching that dirt I just picked up.