But the thing with a canister or an upright is that... usually they weight a lot thus making them "less" portable (although there some few exceptions of course) and most of the time they won't let you sneak-out into places like inside your cars or below seats or any other place inside your house because of the overall size. Although you can use wands or an extension hose attachment most of the time but still they won't give you the full maneuverability anyway.
That's when you should consider buying a portable vacuum cleaner. So let's talk some of the things that you have to keep in mind when looking for a one.
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They aren't for everyone
1. Remember that because of their nature, you cannot use them to clean larger areas such as carpets or wood floors, etc and should only be used for cleaning spots or smaller areas such as inside vehicles, etc as pointed above or otherwise you're gonna be disappointed.
Steam or vacuum
2. If you have to pickup stains or anything related... then steam hand vac is recommended. In that case be careful about where or on what surfaces that you use the pressurized steam, because it can easily do some damages (high temperatures of hot steam on subtle surfaces... you know the rest).
Anyway, unlike vacs, when combined with a chemical (if they come with a one) they'll always outperform vacs while removing stains, grease, etc (can also be used around kitchen for cleaning sink/s, ovens or sanitizing mattresses as well).
But if you choose a steamer... then remember they as said before, they cannot be used on delicate surfaces such as waxed wood/hardwood, furniture, nylon mesh screens (some), etc. So you're somewhat "limited" with them.
Wireless (battery powered) or with wires?
3. Well it again depends. For instance, the hand-held ones usually won't come with really longer wire cords (usually below 20ft). So if you have places where that sort of lengths won't be enough (which is the case for cleaning inside vehicles usually)... then you should consider a battery powered one or an extension cable.
Otherwise a portable vacuum which is directly powered via a wire is the best option and make sure the wire has at least 20ft (minimum) or more lengths (although I'd be more inclined toward 25ft +). But still you can "fix" it via an extension cable, so in comparison it is fixable.
A little more about the battery...
Another thing with the ones that come with a battery is that, once fully charged they usually won't last that long. If you're lucky you'll get about 15 min and 20-30 are really rare!, So make sure the battery meets your needs. . + the battery has a warranty and should be removable.
Why the removable feature is important?
Let's say that you bought a vac with a battery and it is a non-removable one and had to replace it after the warranty period is no longer available, then you can't buy a battery since it is embedded into the body, and in those situations you'll be forced to buy a new one!. So if you're going for a wireless model, then make sure the battery is removable.
Take especial precautions about its ability to hold the charge too, a common complaint among the users is that within few months these batteries have a tendency to lose the charge in significant amounts thus they're forced to buy a new one or ask for a replacement.
The charging time is another very important aspect. Now don't be fooled by the size of the machine and think it's gonna charge within like 1-2 hours. No they won't. Usually they take a lot longer than that (6+ hours). But there are very few vacuums that actually charges faster than others (such as this dyson dc35 for instance) which which can be handy (let's say you forgot to charge it during the night and now have to wait like till it's noon to use it ?.. not good right).
Note - A model with wall-mounted charging is more convenient than the others.
The weight
4. Now as anyone can guess intuitively, this is one of the most important aspect which can totally jeopardize even if it has all the other features. I really can't give an exact weight scale since it depends from person to person.
But as a general rule try not to go anything that has a weight of 3.5kg or more. Still sometimes if you want more power ... you'll have to bear some of that weight. Anyway if the manufacture or the web service or whatever the "source" does not provide the details such as its weight, in my opinion you should not buy it unless there is a way to get a sense of its weight.
And if you're browsing in a local store then you have the advantage of holding it on your hands .. so you can have a little sense of its weight (well I'm pretty sure you know that... but you know just in case).
Tools (accessories)
5. First think about on what conditions you're going to use it.
For instance if you have a lots of pets and have to remove their hair from couch, beds or inside your car/van, etc... then you must look for a portable vacuum that has an especially built power nozzle (with a motorized brush roll), crevice tool for that purpose. If you want to use it on subtle materials then an especially built furniture brush or something similar would be pretty the perfect match.
*. Note - The more powerful (motorized brushes, etc) it is the more noises are to be expected.
What about the hose attachment
6. Well, hand-held vacs certainly don't have super nozzle widths but on certain occasions the default nozzle width might not "fit" in some places. In that case you can use the hose attachment with a more sharper nozzle/tool to clean those areas. So, yes it is useful.
Dust bag/bin capacity?
7. Again it is hard to give specific details concerning the size but in general both bags and bag-less are all good.
But other than the slightly higher cost, bags can be pretty easy to use (easy to empty for instance). Still dust cups are totally OK and if they come with an "easy to empty" feature or "one touch empty" feature that might come in handy for you when it comes to disposing the dust without making hand contact (especially if you have allergies ... in that case bags will be the best choice).
But don't go for models with smaller bag/bin capacity if you want to avoid frequent re-fillings!.
About the Filters
If you have allergies to dust or anything related then you must check for the filter's ability to filter-out dust mites or allergens in general. There are usually two main standard contenders when it comes to vacuum filters, but I highly recommend HEPA filters because they give the best performances and easy maintain.
*. Note - If you have a lot of pet hair to be cleaned then make sure to pay extra attention to the filters since if not properly cleaned not only it can damage the filters and the overall suctions, but more importantly because of the lower filtration... the unusually higher temperatures inside the vac can destroy the motor. So make especial cares for those filters!.
Noise levels
8. Although most might think since portable hand-held vacs are small they won't make huge noises. But in truth they do!. But you can find ones with moderate or low noises if you do a little bit of a research.
If you want quiet ones then make sure their noises levels are within 71-74 dB (which can come in handy if you have kids that don't need to be awakened ;-) ) ... this information usually can be found in the manual or manufacture's product page).
Although the more power they deliver more noises are expected but you can find pretty powerful ones with very lower noises ... but they usually aren't cheap and you'll do just fine with a vac with moderate noises apart from the above mentioned quiet ones nonetheless.
If you can physically look at the product then turn it on to get an idea of the noises (if it has multiple speed/suction settings, use the highest setting) or if you're browsing online... then you can use services like Youtube.com for instance and put the model name and search for a "video review". Although you won't always find your "product review" but it's well worth a shot!.
So these are some of the few tips that I found on my own research but if you have suggestions or corrections that has to be made, then please leave some comments. Thank you for reading.
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