auntieruth's Full Review: Kirby G5 Bagged Upright Vacuum
I've been considering selling my G5 Kirby, because,
1. It is too darn heavy with its carpet attachment on it
2. It is too darn heavy without its carpet attachment on it.
But what the heck, I have hard wood floors throughout most of the house, and haven't used that carpet attachment in years. So I looked around at the epinions about my vacuum, which I really dislike, and have decided to keep it. I have a love-hate relationship with my Kirby (something similar to a relationship with a former boyfriend), that has something to do with it being too heavy, too complicated, and, oh, did I mention: too heavy?
Kirby sends salespeople out to your house to make a pitch, and it goes something like this:
You have "won" a free carpet cleaning and possibly a free bowling ball, if you let us clean your carpet and show you what filth you really live in. After we clean your carpet (sofa, chair, curtains, whatever), we're going to convince you that you should buy this incredibly heavy, cumbersome, EXPENSIVE, vacuum for a large chunk of cash (forget chunk of change, this one involves zeroes, commas, and a decimal point. Furthermore, we at Kirby promise that you will forever have trouble attaching the carpet self-propelled monster that goes on the front of it, because the giant rubber band that makes the wheels turn will constantly fall off (or break). But we also promise you that this thing isn't run by gerbils, that it will suck a small car out of the garage across the street and is guaranteed to such up dust mites, insects (and their fecal matter), cat hair, dog hair, dirt, small stones, and small children.
So I paid about $1450 for my Kirby G5, with all the attachments, most of which I haven't used. I have taken off the upright handle, and inserted the carry handle, so for me it functions like a canister vacuum, which means I can also lug it around a little easier. The suction is awesome, the bags are efficient, and take up a lot of dirt. Very little gets back out into the air, so my asthma isn't kicked up by the machine.
Regular uses:
Vacuuming wood floors and reaching behind furniture and the piano using the wand attachment.
Scaring spiders, the cat, and one of the dogs.
vacuuming cat and dog hair off the upholstered furniture.
Vacuuming the dog with the dog attachment. The other dog won't come near it (too loud)
cleaning up the debris from sanding wood
Irregular uses:
Blowing leaves
Cleaning the gutters (I strapped it on with a luggage shoulder strap and climbed a ladder)
Inflating a raft, an air mattress, and a set of balloons
cleaning mattresses (semi-annual)
sucking dirt out of the heat ducts
blow drying the neighbor's dog
blow drying my car
Retrieving a diamond ring from a well
Blowing out a stopped up drain
and my all time favorite (yuck):
Cleaning the inside (literally, the inside!) of the stove after a rat entered it and had babies under the lid.
I have used it to clean the basement and the attic. I would say that my house has never been cleaner; previous vacuums included a Kenmore canister and an old Hoover. It is very good at sucking crap out of the air vents, in particular the return air vent seems to attract all kinds of dust and pet hair, the Kirby just takes it right out.
Emptying the bag:
The bag itself can be tossed away. No dirty hands. No filters. Just the bag. I buy the bags from Kirby online, not the most efficient store in the world, but the bags come on time. There are other places to buy bags, and I typically by them 20 or so at a time (cheaper).
I also put a coffee filter with some eucalyptus oil or some other kind of oil, on it into the red bag, which keeps the odors down. This was especially important after cleaning up the rat dung. (I have two dogs and a cat, and only one of them showed any interest in the rodent resident).
ONE (1) NEW KIRBY G4, G5 G6 (Since G4, G5 G6 Models are Basically Identical in the way they Hook up, Kirby no longer makes the G4 or G5 Book ) OWNERS ...More at eBay
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