I did the Oreck challenge

Hey all,

So I recently undertook the Oreck challenge.

Ok, well, not exactly.

Over the Christmas holiday, I was contacted by an old school friend who’s great aunt had sadly passed away. His great uncle had died a few years ago and was something of a hoarder. The house was a very odd set up as the great aunt was very clean and house proud - the living room, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom were immaculate, but the dining room, 2 other bedrooms and garage were piled high with hoard. They found a number of vacuums buried in the house, but the one that was getting used day to day was this Oreck XL Classic, I believe from the late 90’s.

It was in a bit of a sorry state. It was filthy and the brushroll was pretty bare. And the disposable bag had split so the outer bag was filthy. But with a good clean, bag washed, new brushroll and belt and a genuine HEPA bag fitted, it’s now working as it should.

This week, I decided to put it through its paces as I like to do. I’ve used Oreck’s before but never actually owned one. I’ve quite liked using it. It’s very light and comfortable to use and appears to pick up well. Not to mention the huge bag capacity.

After a week of day to day vacuuming, and a top to bottom clean today, I decided to put the demo filter on my Sebo X7 Pet and see what, if anything, the Oreck was leaving behind. Results to follow shortly.

Photos... < > Photo 1 of 3 View Full Size


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Post# 437215 1/9/2021 at 09:51 (1,196 days old) by Turbo500 (West Yorkshire, UK)
Checkrate/Likes Hey all, So I recently undertook the Oreck challenge. Ok, well, not exactly. Over the Christmas holiday, I was contacted by an old school friend who’s great aunt had sadly passed away. His great uncle had died a few years ago and was something of a hoarder. The house was a very odd set up as the great aunt was very clean and house proud - the living room, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom were immaculate, but the dining room, 2 other bedrooms and garage were piled high with hoard. They found a number of vacuums buried in the house, but the one that was getting used day to day was this Oreck XL Classic, I believe from the late 90’s. It was in a bit of a sorry state. It was filthy and the brushroll was pretty bare. And the disposable bag had split so the outer bag was filthy. But with a good clean, bag washed, new brushroll and belt and a genuine HEPA bag fitted, it’s now working as it should. This week, I decided to put it through its paces as I like to do. I’ve used Oreck’s before but never actually owned one. I’ve quite liked using it. It’s very light and comfortable to use and appears to pick up well. Not to mention the huge bag capacity. After a week of day to day vacuuming, and a top to bottom clean today, I decided to put the demo filter on my Sebo X7 Pet and see what, if anything, the Oreck was leaving behind. Results to follow shortly. Photos... < > Photo 1 of 3 View Full Size

Post# 437216 , Reply# 1 1/9/2021 at 09:54 (1,196 days old) by Turbo500 (West Yorkshire, UK)
Checkrate/Likes Now, disclaimer, I did not use boost mood on the X7. This was the standard automatic height adjustment. The Sebo has much stronger suction so I knew there would be some dust and maybe a bit of grit, but I wasn’t expecting this much. Photos... < > Photo 1 of 4 View Full Size

Post# 437234 , Reply# 2 1/9/2021 at 17:58 (1,196 days old) by aprules2 (New Jersey)
Checkrate/Likes Wow, I actually used to have the same Vacuum I would have thought it worked better than that. Its kind of a let down...

Post# 437249 , Reply# 3 1/10/2021 at 01:33 (1,195 days old) by tolivac (Greenville,NC)
Checkrate/Likes Where do you get those Sebo dirtmeters?Would like one for my Sebos.Pretty neat!

Post# 437251 , Reply# 4 1/10/2021 at 04:43 (1,195 days old) by Turbo500 (West Yorkshire, UK)
Checkrate/Likes I got the demo filter from an ex-Sebo employee who had a few going spare. Apparently they don’t make them anymore

Post# 437254 , Reply# 5 1/10/2021 at 10:32 (1,195 days old) by Blackheart (North Dakota)
Checkrate/Likes *Question.* How much space did you cover with that demo pad?

Post# 437256 , Reply# 6 1/10/2021 at 12:21 (1,195 days old) by Turbo500 (West Yorkshire, UK)
Checkrate/Likes The hallway, living room and dining room. I didn’t do upstairs

Post# 437260 , Reply# 7 1/10/2021 at 16:10 (1,195 days old) by rivstg1 (colorado springs)
Checkrate/Likes I see lots of carpet fiber there ( along with hair), so THAT indicates more on a aggressive bristles/brushroll more often than not.

Post# 437264 , Reply# 8 1/10/2021 at 17:22 (1,195 days old) by cam2s (Nebraska)
Checkrate/Likes Oreck's generally do have pretty soft bristles so it's not a huge surprise that your Sebo would pick up more carpet fluff. I guess I haven't really subjectively tested any my Orecks, but the bags seem to fill quite quickly when I use them. I sometimes peek in afterwards and it always seems to have pulled up a good amount of filth. There probably are better deep cleaners but they are so easy and convenient to use. Also I never knew Sebo made a demonstrator, kinda unusual since they don't do door to door sales. Would be fun to have one though!

Post# 437284 , Reply# 9 1/11/2021 at 18:10 (1,193 days old) by bagintheback (Flagstaff, Arizona)
Checkrate/Likes It's crazy how this model of Oreck is now considered "vintage"! I'm not sure about UK prices, but Oreck retail prices are notorious for being ridiculously high. At some point I'm sure you could have bought a TOL Oreck for about the same as an entry-level Sebo. In 2005 the introductory price for the XL21 was $699. TTI has brought these prices down a lot, especially with the commercial models. I agree with the other replies, it looks like a decent amount of what the Sebo picked up was carpet fiber, but there's definitely some real dirt in there. The Sebo is probably much quieter too.