Sanitaire EUK688 SC688 Upright Vacuum, Bagged, 7 amp, 1.53 gal, Red, Silver

I went to a professional Vacuum store over 20 years ago to buy the best upright vacuum (particularly for stubborn pet hair), and this Sanitaire was recommended, so I bought it. It has performed flawlessly all those years, and still does. Aside from bags, I think I replaced the rubber belt-drive loop once? Now we have a "cottage" in FL, where the coquina (crushed seashells) from our walking paths gets tracked into the house on a daily basis.I made the mistake of buying a smaller bagless vac with onboard tools - a clever package for sure - but the canister opening still allows a copious amount of dust, etc to get blown back into the room. Using the tools also made dust blow everywhere. UGH.... A). I'm VERY allergic to dust B). I'm not fond of dusting every time I vacuum, because every horizontal surface would be covered in dust. When I found my laptop computer (which was off and closed) filled with dust because the bagless vac had passed nearby - that was the final straw.This beauty arrived a few days later. Assembly was easy (plan on a wide-bladed screwdriver to install the bag base to the "body"). The cord (this IS a commercial vac after all) is about a half-mile long - I can plug in once and vacuum our entire condo....LOL! I learned ages ago from my first Sanitaire, to coil the cord in a figure 8 pattern to prevent what sailors call "hockling" (twisting into messy loops). While not overly quiet, the motor runs about 2 octaves lower in pitch than my shrill bagless vac, so it's not painful on the ears. Best of all - NO DUST. Yes, it has a bag to empty, but the bags hold POUNDS of dirt with no loss of suction; and they're $7-something for 5 on Amazon, so not too expensive.There are no tools. This is strictly an upright vac. There's a dial on the nose, to raise or lower the brush for hard floors or carpet - you can sort of feel if the brush is too low because the vac becomes hard to push. There's no clever handle to help it do stairs, although the looooong cord would let you do a couple of flights with one well-placed outlet. But if you're like me, and want clean carpet/floors without a lot of extra work - this is the one to buy. And if you have pets? It's beyond awesome! My Cattle Dog (R.I.P.) was a never-ending source of porcupine quill-like hair; and the Sanitaire picked that up with no problem.

This beast could suck the tattoo off of someone, pretty sure.It does what a good commercial-level vacuum should do: suck and pound dirt, dust, and pet hair from carpets in a way that has your carpet screaming surrender and giving up dirt from deep underneath that you didn't even know was there.I have older berber carpets that have been well used by rambunctious pets, so I've tried several vacs over the years, and have continued to be frustrated by vacuuming, then walking around in socks and finding I'm still picking up pet hair. I thought maybe my carpet was just shot, but finally picked up this vac, and I don't know what took me so long. I used to use similar vacs when helping my sister in her cleaning business, so I know how well they work.I had the wide-eyed look the first time I used it on these carpets; I couldn't believe what it brought up.Biggest test: put on socks, walk around, examine socks, NO pet hair. YES! Finally.Unlike bagless vacs, this captures ALL the dust, far fewer things to go wrong, no constant cleaning, high-quality, durable parts (both moving and static), and it actually picks everything up.I do wish I'd done a little more research, because I think I would have purchased the 2-speed Sanitaire, only because I have a couple of area carpets that this thing is determined to devour, so I don't use it on those, even with the highest pile setting. But that's on me!

This is a well-engineered and constructed machine. It is basically a clone of the venerable Hoover "Convertible" and later "Decade" series units. This unit has been modernized in its materials but not compromised in its design. The use of lighter weight materials (NOT in the motor stator, rotor, wiring, or beater bar/brush) make it easier to use than the prehistoric versions, but it is just as powerful and robust. Instead of throwing away the unit every 3-5 years as would happen with the typical consumer-grade vacuum, only the belt and floor brushes would have be replaced - Yes, this unit is actually serviceable and worth the minimal five minute effort and small expense to restore to new condition. Moreover, the use of modern high-efficiency filter bags makes it just as effective at allergen removal as any of those "designer" vacuums you may have thrown away.Some of those 1950s Hoovers are still in use, and I would not expect anything less from these machines. This is my second unit like this, and not because of problems but due to the convenience of have a reliable vacuum on every level of the house.