Kirby? well built, but heavy

Yeah, if you don't have much carpet then Kirby isn't the best choice for you. They are strong machines, many users on this site love them.

Personally, they're not my cup of tea, but I'm well known on this site as a fanatical nut for power nozzle canister vacuums!! They are bulky, heavy and attachments can be a chore to install. Just more time consuming than many desire really. In the attachment mode, the tone produced by the G series machines is hurtful to my ears too. I think if Kirby had a power nozzle canister vacuum cleaner I would go bananas over it as I assume it would be very powerful, well built and god willing being a canister they would be put some attachments on board!

However, Kirbys are one of if not the most durably built machines on the market. Constructed of mostly metal, they take a beating and last a lifetime. The plethora of attachments available from Kirby, if you decided to purchase them all, could fill an entire closet pretty much. Numerous options available for them!

I'm not sure what other vacuums you have in your collection but a bagged canister vacuum would work very well for your hard flooring. A generic $10 10" wide bare floor brush with horse hair bristles would work quite well. Or you could get a wider bare floor brush but most have wheels, unless you remove them. I've done house cleaning for years as a side job and found wheels on a bare floor brush inhibiting to what I was looking to accomplish efficiently.

A really good option may be Riccar and Simplicity. They have microfiber equipped bare floor tools. They have a Vac & Shine tool and a smaller Soft Sweep tool, some refer to them as the "WOW" tool. The Vac and Shine actually allows you to mist the floor or pad with a spray and run the vacuum with the pad over the floor. Riccar and Simplicity make great machines. Definitely worthy to check your local vacuum dealer to get more info for them. The prices on the website are MSRP and completely out of reality from what the majority of dealers sell them as.

Miele has a nice parquet tool for their canisters. I believe it uses bristle and felt to finely dust floors. I've only heard positive feedback of them but have never used one of the parquet tools myself. They very well may have more than available too.

Lastly, Panasonic has a new canister with a mini 10" power nozzle head that is a soft sweep brush roll that is specially designed for bare floors and lightweight throw rugs. I've posted a Youtube video about it below. The special power nozzle is PN150. With the universal wand system that Panasonic uses on their canisters you could also utilize a generic bare floor brush along with the power head.

All of the manufacturers above have great cleaning canister and upright vacuums that are well built and have various price ranges for different budgets along with numerous options to choose from depending on your needs. For a 2 floor household a canister vacuum is very nice for stair cleaning too!

CLICK HERE TO GO TO Durango159's LINK


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Post# 347961 3/18/2016 at 22:11 (2,953 days old) by blknblu (CT)
Checkrate/Likes 1 I never paid much attention to the Kirby chatter on here. But this dropped in :) I think this is a G6d 2000 Limited Edition, that I recently received. No attachments, the drive works, runs strong. I think it was barely used, since it was too heavy for the owner to use. I myself have mostly hardwood floors, and the Kirby is not easy to lift up and down stairs :) While I appreciate what goes into them, I don't have a need for a machine like this.

Post# 347963 , Reply# 1 3/18/2016 at 22:20 (2,953 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina)
Checkrate/Likes 3 Yeah, it doesn't sound like it's the machine for you and that's okay. I love mine--all three of them--but I find the attachments ungainly to use so I rely on my Electrolux canisters for the jobs requiring specialized tools.

Post# 347966 , Reply# 2 3/18/2016 at 23:09 (2,952 days old) by Kirbysthebest (Midwest)
Checkrate/Likes 3 *Kirby is my first love* But they are not for everyone. This is why they make so many different types of vacuums. I think vacuums are like cars. Not everyone needs a 4 door 4X4 pick-up or freight train length suburban, then again not everyone wants a SMART for2.

Post# 347974 , Reply# 3 3/19/2016 at 00:30 (2,952 days old) by gottahaveahoove (Pittston, Pennsylvania, 18640)
Checkrate/Likes 2 *Harley !!!* That was so well said. I, personally appreciate other "species", while I only have a need for a Hoover. Well, maybe more than one.... there are so many from which to choose. :)

Post# 347983 , Reply# 4 3/19/2016 at 05:31 (2,952 days old) by blknblu (CT)
Checkrate/Likes 1 hmm, no pic? Here it is .. View Full Size

Post# 348668 , Reply# 5 3/26/2016 at 21:52 (2,945 days old) by Durango159 (State College, PA)
Checkrate/Likes Yeah, if you don't have much carpet then Kirby isn't the best choice for you. They are strong machines, many users on this site love them. Personally, they're not my cup of tea, but I'm well known on this site as a fanatical nut for power nozzle canister vacuums!! They are bulky, heavy and attachments can be a chore to install. Just more time consuming than many desire really. In the attachment mode, the tone produced by the G series machines is hurtful to my ears too. I think if Kirby had a power nozzle canister vacuum cleaner I would go bananas over it as I assume it would be very powerful, well built and god willing being a canister they would be put some attachments on board! However, Kirbys are one of if not the most durably built machines on the market. Constructed of mostly metal, they take a beating and last a lifetime. The plethora of attachments available from Kirby, if you decided to purchase them all, could fill an entire closet pretty much. Numerous options available for them! I'm not sure what other vacuums you have in your collection but a bagged canister vacuum would work very well for your hard flooring. A generic $10 10" wide bare floor brush with horse hair bristles would work quite well. Or you could get a wider bare floor brush but most have wheels, unless you remove them. I've done house cleaning for years as a side job and found wheels on a bare floor brush inhibiting to what I was looking to accomplish efficiently. A really good option may be Riccar and Simplicity. They have microfiber equipped bare floor tools. They have a Vac & Shine tool and a smaller Soft Sweep tool, some refer to them as the "WOW" tool. The Vac and Shine actually allows you to mist the floor or pad with a spray and run the vacuum with the pad over the floor. Riccar and Simplicity make great machines. Definitely worthy to check your local vacuum dealer to get more info for them. The prices on the website are MSRP and completely out of reality from what the majority of dealers sell them as. Miele has a nice parquet tool for their canisters. I believe it uses bristle and felt to finely dust floors. I've only heard positive feedback of them but have never used one of the parquet tools myself. They very well may have more than available too. Lastly, Panasonic has a new canister with a mini 10" power nozzle head that is a soft sweep brush roll that is specially designed for bare floors and lightweight throw rugs. I've posted a Youtube video about it below. The special power nozzle is PN150. With the universal wand system that Panasonic uses on their canisters you could also utilize a generic bare floor brush along with the power head. All of the manufacturers above have great cleaning canister and upright vacuums that are well built and have various price ranges for different budgets along with numerous options to choose from depending on your needs. For a 2 floor household a canister vacuum is very nice for stair cleaning too! CLICK HERE TO GO TO Durango159's LINK

Post# 348674 , Reply# 6 3/26/2016 at 22:23 (2,945 days old) by blknblu (CT)
Checkrate/Likes Thanks for the insightful comments. I actually have FOUR levels in my house. It is a small footprint, tall colonial. I have a 1/2 finished walk out basement (house has sloped yard) - all carpet. 1st floor - all hardwood, 2nd floor - all hardwood, 3rd floor - all carpet. House has central vac. Oh yeah, we also have an attic (not a walk up though). I have several Electrolux canisters (metal & plastic) , and power nozzles, as well as an Electrolux Discovery II upright. With a tall house, and carpeted areas on completely opposite floors, having a dedicated vac on each floor makes perfect sense. :) Don't know about that Kirby, might be good if I had one level ranch house with carpet throughout. Darn thing is too heavy to lug up and down stairs. :) View Full Size

Post# 348675 , Reply# 7 3/26/2016 at 22:27 (2,945 days old) by vacuumlad1650 (Wauponsee, IL)
Checkrate/Likes nice house, Sven! I quite like its looks

Post# 348712 , Reply# 8 3/27/2016 at 01:01 (2,944 days old) by Durango159 (State College, PA)
Checkrate/Likes 1 *Gorgeous home!* Well at least you are set with a few canisters and you have the central vac to be able to handle a wide variety of flooring types. With several levels you could just leave the Kirby on one particular floor that has more carpet and use it every once in a while or have it for your collection. Else you could put up on Craigslist or perhaps find another collector to trade with. I have no idea how difficult or easy they are to disassemble for shipping! Kirbys are hard to carry up and down stairs, it is easier with the carry handle that is at the base of the unit just below where it says Kirby G on the handle. To maneuver room to room you set the height adjuster up all the way, and set the drive pedal to N for Neutral. It will then at least roll along relatively well except will be loud on grouted tile floor and tough on any thresholds you may have. Your house looks gorgeous. Colonials are very nice style. Sounds like you have lots of space!

Post# 348736 , Reply# 9 3/27/2016 at 08:45 (2,944 days old) by suckolux (Yuba City, CA)
Checkrate/Likes Heavy for sure! Built like a tank, loving my Diamond. The tools, power and long hose all very nice. Use the old Lux also when I need " other" uses. Had the quasi grandson take Kirby out to car and convert to hose for that, figured he would learn more how to use the machine. He liked it.Thankfully the tools I found did have the conversion handle.Helps a bit, would be really handy for stairs.

Post# 348742 , Reply# 11 3/27/2016 at 09:14 (2,944 days old) by suckolux (Yuba City, CA)
Checkrate/Likes Its handsome!

Post# 348833 , Reply# 13 3/28/2016 at 00:59 (2,943 days old) by gottahaveahoove (Pittston, Pennsylvania, 18640)
Checkrate/Likes 2 *House is a beauty......* Rob Shore, our own"Zippy"...anut?a fanatical power nozzle guy?I don't believe it.But,we love him, all the same. You should consider driving to the convention together. You'd love it.

Post# 348739 , Reply# 10 3/27/2016 at 09:05 (2,944 days old) by blknblu (CT)
Checkrate/Likes The house is deceiving, we had the architect create a functional house. almost no wasted space. By no means is it a mansion, just shy of 2500 sq ft.

Post# 348797 , Reply# 12 3/27/2016 at 21:40 (2,944 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina)
Checkrate/Likes 1 Yeah, a G-series Kirby and an Electrolux metal canister make a dynamite cleaning combination. That's what I use. When I lived in a two-story apartment, I kept the Kirby on the ground level and the Electrolux upstairs.