Anyone recommend an ultralightweight hoover?

My wife points out that with the hand-held stick hoovers from John Lewis you can just do a minutes hoovering in one room and stand it back up against the wall in a cupboard. Now that we have it both of us more or less every day do a room that needs it almost without thinking. You are not put off by having to drag something out of a cupboard and bend down to plug it in in one room and then in another. The hoover can hang on its clip next to a power point at worktop height.

 

Actually if I can find a hoover I can use, a major reason for having a home help would disappear!

 

Luckily I no longer have any stairs, but I used to do them with the car vac. I sat on one half of the top step, hoovered the other half, and then bumped my way down the staircase on my bum. Later, or the next day, I'd do the other half of each step.

It was a bit time consuming, but didn't use much energy because I could place the nose of the lightweight vac at the extreme edge of the carpet and just draw it gently towards me. If you don't move your body laterally across the step to do both halves at the same time, the effort doesn't raise your heart rate or stress your thigh muscles much at all.

Once a year I used to get a company to do a deep clean of the cleaning I particularly struggle with – washing down doors, skirtings, and window frames, scrubbing the corners of the hard floors that the steam cleaner doesn't reach well, and giving the stair carpet a really good going over with the big hoover.

I now only have carpet in the bedroom, the rest is tiled. It's so much easier to hoover, and I find I can push a steam cleaner over it okay (though some folk with ME would still struggle with this).

 

Our solution was a surprise and shows how individual it is. It's not ideal but far better than the alternatives I tried. It's a Shark upright (Liftaway).

With a light canister vacuum I would have to lift it out of the cupboard, then move it around to clean a carpet. Even though it was incredibly light I found hanging onto the hose and moving it around very hard. Was having to make more movements to clean although it was light to drag around. Could not use at all without setbacks.

With the Shark I can wheel it out of the cupboard easily or leave it sitting in a corner. When I switch it on to the carpet mode it has a life of it's own and moves without my having to apply much force. At times I need to cling onto it. Makes a racket but is so quick.

It was my cleaner's recommendation and in isolation it is my other half who uses it most now. Although I can clean a little it's impossible to put the cord back in place. It's the only thing I miss from the canister type (with a pedal to push down on that retracts the cord).

So for me the lightness of a unit was cancelled out by the effort of swishing it around on the carpet which made me breathless and drained, with an upright with wheels to move and a strong motor that moves the unit for me.

 

I have 4 cats (previously 2 dogs as well) so I've stuck with my Miele cylinder Cat and Dog, fitted with a HEPA filter due to my allergies (the bags also have several layers of filtering):





They do make more compact models, but the vacuum is very stable when lying flat and due to the design of the 'ball shape' wheels, is very easy to pull along, even through doorways, it doesn't require too much strength. I recommended it to my elderly mum in the past, who was struggling with the upright hoover and also her Henry and she also found she could use it into her 80s.

I only need to carry it if taking it upstairs. The metal extension comes off easily and the hose is plenty long enough to vacuum the bottom half of the stairs with the body of the vacuum downstairs and the top half of the stairs with the body on the landing. However, it can also sit upright as per the photo above, so can sit on an individual stair/step. I also like that the hose can unclip from the body and can be disinfected in a bucket, then left to air dry.

I have quite a few of the attachments, which are interchangeable with other models (so don't need replacing when you upgrade to a newer model), such as the mini turbo brush, the mattress nozzle and the long flexible nozzle.

https://www.miele.co.uk/e/vacuum-cleaner-accessories-1017544-c

https://www.miele.co.uk/e/miele-dustbags-and-filters-1022153-c

Despite what they say, it is not quiet, but I think that all vacuum cleaners are going to be noisy due to the way they work.

Edit: It also has a rubber band all the way around the body (when lying flat) which saves the furniture and door frames getting damaged when it get knocked against them (something I do all the time).

 

Too bad you can't remove the damn stair carpeting.

I have a Royal upright vacuum, must be 30+ years old. Bought before it was bought by a Chinese company. Feels heavy to move it along, though less if the contact with the carpet is set higher (less deep suction).

If I'm highly symptomatic, I don't dare vacuum, or just 'do a line' near the couch for crumbs.

But if I lie on the floor (or when the cat was alive, he was a good indicator) and come up with a sweater full of crumbs and assorted, then I know I 'should' vacuum.
I usually do an abbreviated room one day, then wait two days and do a second (last) room.

I won't part with this marvelous machine, though no hepa filter.

 

Not quite answering the question you asked, so apologies if you've already ruled these out, I only skimmed the previous posts.
We bought a robot vacuum a couple of years ago, and it's one of the best purchases we've made. In my view it doesn't wholly replace a conventional, which ever type you get, but it really makes a difference keeping down the dust.
Ours is one of eufy ones (https://uk.eufylife.com/collections/all) but there are other makes. It's set to come on in the morning before we get up and I empty it once a week.
You need to make sure the floor is clear of things it can get snagged on, so any cables that have been dropped by the family I pick up before going to bed.
Otherwise we have a Dyson stick, although I'd get a different make next time for various reasons. It's light enough to push around for a couple of minutes for me.
I second the earlier comment about a steam cleaner for tiled floors, again that's something I find manageable.

 

I have a
VYTRONIX CSU600 Lightweight 600W Corded 2 in 1 Bagless Upright Handheld Stick Vacuum Cleaner

£30 from amazon. 2kg. Maybe not good enough if lots of rooms with heavy pet fur but works well for me.

 

Wow, that has a lot of highly desirable features!

Do you use it on carpet? Do you think it does a good job? Does the suction make it hard to move?

 

Yes, I use it on carpet and it's good. No the suction doesn't make it hard to move. It really is good, I'm very pleased with it. For £30 it was worth it for me - I couldn't afford a dyson or shark and I'm not sure they're actually worth that much more having tried this one. I'm happy with it.

When someone else is able to hoover for me I do get them to use my bigger, heavier one which I think is probably a bit better at picking up all the hair and cat fur. But for when I can't get any help, this one is great. I'd definitely recommend.

It needs emptying fairly regularly that's the only down side but I think that would be the case for any that size.

 

Thanks, @Tia - I've gone ahead and ordered one! The best hoover will be one I can actually use and this sounds pretty amazing for £30 - HEPA filter and everything.

Thanks very much to everyone who has contributed to this thread - much food for thought for all PwME who are thinking about hoovers!

 

oooo am I now an influencer?! I hope it works for you. It's one of my best purchases and so cheap. But also, yes, as @NelliePledge says, still got to take it easy. I do a little at a time

 

Maybe you'll get a mention in @Sasha's unboxing youtube video!

"There is no need to do any housework at all. After the first four years the dirt doesn't get any worse. It's just a question of not losing your nerve."

- Quentin Crisp

 

Just wanted to provide an update on this. I bought the Vytronix hoover that @Tia suggested and, to my great happiness, was able to easily carry it up the stairs in its box when it arrived. I just tucked the package under my arm! Very light.

I put it together easily and used it for ten minutes with no problem when it suddenly cut out, spewing dust from the floorhead, because of the sheer amount of dust it had pulled up from my small patch of carpet (hadn't been hoovered in nine months). It must have triggered a safety cut-out because it came back to life after I emptied the cannister and removed dust from the filter (both easy to do). Over the next few days I did the whole flat and pulled up a ton of dust.

I'd be curious to know whether my standard hoover would pull more up but I can't use it at all so I won't find out. But my nose has stopped running all the time and my eyes are less itchy.

I'm so pleased with this hoover! It really is amazingly light and usable.

Thanks again, @Tia! And to everyone on the thread who pitched in with their thoughts.

 

All I remembered from this thread was that stick type hoovers, the the motor at/near the top were reported to be easier to use and effectively lighter as the weight was closer.

So I bought a Shark HZ500UK.

This is a corded hoover, as the cordless version seemed to be around double the price.

It has 'interesting' design choices - and I would question if any of the people who designed it had ever used a hoover.

The cord wrap is on the wrong side, for a right handed person anyway, in order to do anything, even straighten it into its operating configuration the whole of the 10m cord has to be dropped off it's mounts. It's probably just because I am used to an upright, which is over double the weight, but it seems heavy and difficult to control, even to the point of keeping the brush head on the floor, and for some reason, I haven't yet established why, it doesn't seem to want to go under my sofa, at least from the front, it has no issues from the sides (the ability to go under sofas and other large bits of furniture is a 'design feature' of it and one of the things that steered me towards it.

It very nearly went straight back but unfortunately I didn't take copious photographs and notes as I unpacked it so I can't figure out how to repack it into it's box.

So it'll just be a case of getting used to it I suppose - not untypical, I don't tend to get on with new things.

 

Oh good, I'm so pleased. I've been wondering how you're finding it. Sounds like you love it as much as I do!! Nice to find something cheap that works isn't it?

 

@Tia I also bought the Vytronix cleaner that you recommended (but for my student daughter who doesn't have ME). I tried it on my kitchen floor and a small piece of carpet in the hallway. I found it noticeably lighter to carry compared with my Dyson stick vacuum (Dyson V6? something like that. It's an old one bought in a clearance sale).
However I did find it more clunky and awkward in use due to stiffness and swivelling of the head and think the Dyson uses less of my energy to use because of it, though it's heavier. If it was for me I would have to do something about that. There's also things about it's build that makes me think it may not last many years. However, it's £30 against the ridiculous amount we paid for the Dyson and I agree it has good suction. I think for the money it's a very good buy - an excellent buy if it lasts - so thanks for the recommendation.