apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I take the vacuum's dust bin out to the garbage room in my building and empty it directly into their garbage can - no fuss, no muss - of course I have one of the machines that has a little flap on the bin so that the dust doesn't fly everywhere until I open it in the garbage room...

...and it's waay more inconvenient to have to run down the street to buy bags when you want to clean and have a full bag and have no more left than it is to replace the cup into the vacuum and clean up the little bit of dust that might get on the vacuum and floor after you empty it.

Oh, oh, oh, bagless all the way, and here's what you do to avoid flying dust. You buy a stack of recycled paper sacks, big enough around to encase your vac's dust catcher/container with a bit of room to spare. Remove the dust catcher, place inside a paper bag (of course, hold onto it), squash the bag up around your hand and shake away. Everything stays in the bag. Stop, wait a few ticks for the dust inside the bag to settle, open carefully, remove the dust catcher, give it a quick rinse and -- ta-da! -- you're done.

i have major dust allergies, but i have a hepa filtered bagless vacuum. i cover my face when i empty it out.

so far so good

I also hate bagless vacuums. Every now and then, I suck up a gross bug. The thought of having to see it or, god forbid, accidentally touch it when emptying the bag is absolutely horrifying to me.

I don't think buying bags is that much of a hassle. I just buy a lot each time at it lasts the whole year.

Bagless. I had a wonderful, indestructable old canister vacuum for which I can no longer purchase bags that fit. Lovely. Don't presume that your bags will always be available. I'm a bagless convert because of that experience. Plenty of creative ways to empty the dustbin without getting the contents everywhere.

I love my bagless. I just take it outside to empty the canister - no problem!

oh, they still make vacuum cleaners using bags? Who knew.

I'm not enjoying my bagless. It does create a mess when you empty it out, and if I'm putting it in recycled paper sacks like one of the commenters suggests, then I might as well be using a bag.

I hated my last bagless vacuum because it was a huge mess to empty (dog/people hair wrapped around a center post that required me to touch it to get it clean), but my Dyson changed my mind on the subject. You just hold it over the garbage can (outside!) and press a button. The bottom falls away and the stuff falls out. I don't have to touch anything or breathe anything in. And with two 70 pound hairy dogs, I would be doing the environment (nor myself) any favors by running through a bag a week. As it is, I empty my bagless every day - yes, there is that much fur in my house!

It was always a mess when I had a bagless vaccum. Never again. Disposable bags for me.

I would never get a bag less vacuum cleaner.

Marketing is the only thing that would make anyone want the inconvenience of bag less.
The guy does a con job on TV.

It's all about the Dyson. The bin where it collects everything you've vacuumed up is easy to empty and designed in such a way that it doesn't make a mess when you empty it into the trash can. Plus, you can take apart the bin and wash it if you need to. The filters are also easily washed by just rinsing with cold water and are in separate compartments from the collection bin so they don't get nearly as dirty. After having been through 3 cheapo vacuums in the past year I am very impressed with the quality and performance of the Dyson. It is a piece of mechanical engineering genius and I can't believe how clean my carpets get. It even can get the very edges of the walls so I don't have to go around the entire house with the hose. I am convinced that most of the reason that vacuum companies make replaceable bags and filters is to make more money.

ARGH. I hate the bagless vacuum dust cloud, although I have a front porch and can at least tap the filter and bang the contents of the canister outside and let most of it fly away.
I also spend a LOT more time cleaning, emptying, etc. than I did with a traditional vacuum. Now that I am doing the AT cure and have a long-haired cat, I am vacuuming more than ever, and I am actually longing for my hand-me-down bagged vaccuum cleaner. No dust in the face and I needed to dump the bag much less often than the canister becuase the bag was so big!
I also hate the planned obsolencensce of todays' cheapo plastic vaccuum cleaners. I have gone through 2 in the last 3 years. The old vacuum had lasted 40 years.

I grew up with a bagged vacuum in our household and always hated having to change the bag. You would always get a little bit of the crap spilling out.

I bought a bagless for convenience, not for Marketing, and I love it. I take the container out, dump it in the trash, wait for the dust to settle and put it back.

I'll ask the maid what kind she uses.

I LOVE my Dyson! Love it, I tell you! I like it better than my new, central vac, even, although that's pretty cool too. The only bad thing in my opinion about my purple "Animal" Dyson is the weight -- I'm petite and not very strong, so hefting it up and down stairs is kind of a drag, but it makes up for that in cleaning power and ease of use.

My previous vac was a Panasonic that used bags that I had to special order from the Sew and Vac place, which was a real pain if I ran out and needed to clean. Plus it gave me ten times the problems and didn't clean as well. (I vaccumed the living room with the Panasonic the day I bought the Dyson. Then I immediately did the same area WITH the Dyson and had to empty the tank TWICE! The old one had been leaving stuff behind for ages.)

I can't speak for other brands of bagless vacuum, but Dysons rock! (I suspect this is an example of "you get what you pay for".)

I got a Dyson a couple months ago. I love it so far. :)

I think it really depends on the type of bagless, I've used some that are horrible.

I've never had trouble emptying my Dyson. However, it doesn't do an especially good job of picking up heavier things unless I use the hose. It does great with dust and lighter things.

i HATE bagless vacuums!
i more or less inherited one and i have an allergy attack every freaking time i have to empty it.

I had a bagless vacuum and grew disenchanted very quickly.

Sure, it looks sharp right out of the box, but after the first use you're looking at last week's crud in the clear plastic cup.

And it didn't work well. Granted it wasn't a Dyson.

I went back to bags and I ain't looking back!

Every time I've gone to Stark's for a new vacuum, the sales guys steer me away from the bagless. They say that customers who buy them bring them back for service way more often than the customers who buy bagged vacuums.

And no, they're not steering me away from bagless to plump their commissions. Last time I was there they sold me a $200 Panasonic (plus $20 for a bare floors attachment they made for me in the back room) instead of the $800 Miele I was ogling because the Panasonic was a better value for what I needed.

Bagged all the way. They won't spill if you change it before it's busting at the seams and you won't be tempted to try and overload the bag if you stock up on a whole stack of cheaper generic (I got a bunch of of ebay).

Hate bagless -- very happy with my Sebo (another german make, originally a commercial supplier to hotels et al) -- best part: the bags have a cover over the hole that slides into place as you remove it from the machine, so never any spillage or dust clouds.

I love my bagless. I don't miss buying and changing vacuum bags at all.

I miss the old bagged vacuums. My bagless always break, the dust cloud is annoying, and the filter never seems to be clean.

I use an inexpensive Eureka and also a Bissell, both bagless. We have two dogs, a cat, and have to vac more than once per week. I empty the cup every time I use the vacs. Takes less than half a minute.

I used to have a cleaning biz in my youth, and I used every type of vac. I used to go home blowing dirt and dust out of my nose, which irked my allergies to no end. The bagless when emptied properly leaves no such trail, and my nose is clean and clear after vaccuuming my 28 sq. ft home. Ours have HEPA filters which makes the difference. Also washable filters. I haven't spent over $130 and the suction is very good on both vacs.

I also once had a panasonic that I hated and I could never find bags for. Then I bought a dyson and it's been pure love ever since then. It's been about three, four years with the dyson. I also had the experience where I pulled up canisters upon canisters of dirt vacuuming right after using the panasonic. It's just a better machine.

Here's what I do for containing any dust when emptying it. Take a small garbage bag. Wrap it around the bottom of the canister tightly, holding it in place. Pull the loop that opens the canister and the dirt drops out, into the bag. Give it a gentle shake to get the last of it out. Carefully pull the bag off the canister and tie it closed. Dirt all sealed away. I live in a third floor walk-up condo, so it isn't convenient to take the canister right to the outside garbage to empty.

We have a family friend who owns a vacuum repair shop and he *loves* bagless vacuums because they break down more often and bring him more business. Apparently tiny dust can get past the receptacle and into the motor which eventually damages the motor, causing it to work less well or burn out completely. Thus I use a vacuum that has both a dust cup and a bag to capture anything that might somehow get past the filter. I have had the same bag in there since about 2004, and it is still not ready to be changed and the motor is working great.

Bagless with a water filter. No dust and they're easier to empty, plus they're better for people with asthma (read: me).

I think my father ordered my mother a Dyson for Christmas, but I haven't heard if it ever came in or whether she loves it or what.

I have a Shark which is bagless and I like it fine. I much prefer it to the bag kind, because I HATE the idea that you're stuck forever buying the bags, and are dependant on their being available. The minute they discontinue the bags of an old vacuum, you can practically hear the thump thump thump of thousands of vaccum cleaners all over the country hitting the landfill. Very sad. Very wrong.

The filter CAN be a little dusty, but I'm with the first poster - I just take the whole cylinder outside and dump directly into the garbage can. My problem with the filter is the cat hair it gets clogged with! OMG, my cats are so freaking furry!!

It's been said, but I am in love with my Dyson!

Well, I happen to be shopping for a vacuum cleaner right now, and... and this post has left me more confused than ever on the bagged vs. not-bagged debate. So la-la-la, I'll just buy the best I can on my limited budget -- bagged or not -- and find out for myself. Wish I could afford a Dyson.

*criez, holds out tin cup*