Well to start this, it had been 3 days since I vacuumed, so I was desperate desperate for some vacuuming. And we were going to see grandma. So I decided o take the Dyson and see how much dirt I could get. Well, I filled the bin after vacuuming her whole house. I was shocked that I was able to get that mush dirt, since she has a central vac. Right now, it would look like my Dyson is a better cleaning vacuum than the central, but there's more, more to the story, and more dirt in the carpet...

So I checked the central to make sure it was working, and it was. There was only about 1 vacuuming or dirt in the can, which I had emptied at teh beginning of summer. So I decided to assume she hadn't vacuumed much this summer. And this gave me a interesting idea. If the Dyson could get a bin full, what can the central do? I decided to answer that. So emptied the dirt can and cleaned the filter. After vacuuming her whole house again with the central, I checked tha can and found that it had picked up more dirt. More dirt than the Dyson had got, about 3 times as much. I was shocked.

I took these with my phone, so they aren't the best.

In the central can you see a mountain of fuzz balls (carpet fibers, hair, lint and every other imaginable fuzzy thing) about 5 in, at its highest peak, and a 1/4in layer of sand, grit and similar dirt. The Dyson found the same type of dirt in smaller amounts. The same carpet fuzz also wrapped around the Dyson brushroll.

what kind of powernozzle does the central vac use?Your expereiment sure does prove that when you vacuum with one vacuum before the other-you will still pick up dirt.I have proven this to.But just to think when I was selling TriStars-you let the prospect vacuum with his machine first-then let them try the TriStar-or whatever vacuum you are trying to sell.you just don't bring up letting the customer try his machine again.On some of the demos-the customers vac is clogged-typically Hoover Bagless Windtunnel machines with clogged pleat filters and STUFFED dirt cups.And the dirt cup is stuffed with smelly dog hair.But they do buy the TriStar.The TriStar is easier to empty-just remove the bag assembly and dump it into a trash can.Sorta combines the features of bagged and bagless vacs.

A few thoughts:

1) Carpet fibers. Is the presence of substantial amounts of carpet fibers in the dust cup an indication of thorough vacuuming, or is it more a sign of an overly aggressive brush roll that is accelerating wear on the carpeting?

2) Grandma vs. younguns. I know my elderly mom became less and less able to clean house as she aged, until we had to hire a cleaning service for her. Perhaps she didn't operated the central vac as thoroughly as Compact9 does. There may also be issues with proper setting of the carpet height adjuster, etc.

3) Did you try going over the carpet a third time with the Dyson, to see if it would get (or create) stuff the central vac missed?

On the other hand, I recently go the "poor man's Dyson", a $160 Dirt Devil dual cyclone Reaction D2. It has impressed me with sucking up substantial amounts of fine, nasty dust from carpets around the home - dust that the Eurekas had left behind for years. The D2 clearly has more powerful suction and a more aggressive brush roll than the Eurekas, so it's getting more carpet fibers, as well. But I'm willing to live with the greater carpet wear in exchange for the improved cleaning.

WOW, that's amazing, especially the fact that the central and Dyson bins look full! What is the pile of the carpet you were vacuuming?

You should bring a Convertible next time to see how much dirt is left! ;-)

Wow Reggie!

that's neat!! wierd though!!!
Kyle
ps(DYSON"S ARE BAD!!!) HaHa!!

I understand that you will get dirt with the second vacuum, but the second one actually picked up a larger amount of dirt than the second. The Dyson was empty and had a clean filter when I started too. I wasn't shocked by the carpet fibers, but more the sandy type dirt. The Dyson really didn't get much of it, but the central got a ton of it.

My grandma has had a DustMate Quietdrive powernozzle for about a year now. This is part of a set sold by Cen-Tec and uses the same p/n that most Kenmore canisters have now.

My idea on why this went the way it did: agitation. The Dyson has a very weak brushroll that barely agitates the carpet, but the central vac p/n has a good aggressive brushroll that did a much better job loosening the deep sandy dirt. As many people here probably already know, I don't really consider the Dyson to be a good carpet cleaner. I have not been impressed at all with its cleaning ability. But this did still shock me, I didn't expect to get a larger amount of dirt with the central. I didn't use the Dyson a second time because I didn't have time, but I know that all I could have got with it would have been clean carpet fibers, no dirt.

I think your grandmother must be a very patient lady to let you vacuum her house twice over!

I think the biggest factor is that it's nearly impossible to know how long to keep vacuuming before you've gotten everything you can get. I wonder how long you could stay over and grandma's, going back and forth over the same rugs, before the machine stopped pulling stuff up.

If you combine a dirt-sensor vacuum with a thick, heavily-trafficked carpet, it may take twenty or more forward-and-back passes to get that light to clear. There's always more dirt.

I can agree on the Dyson vs the central vac-sounds like the central machine has a stronger roller brush --and more airflow than the Dyson.I can totally agree-the Dyson vacs have inadequate brushrolls.the DC15 "Ball" is a little better-but still not as good as other vacuums.I think if Dyson put a more powerful brushroll in their machines--they could dig up more dirt.I have two Dysons in my collectiona DC07 and a DC 15.The DC07 was a trade in for a Kirby-got it from the Kirby folks.The DC15 I got from Best Buy.

I completely agree on adding a better brushroll. I think the vacuum would have picked up much more dirt if it had a more aggressive brushroll.