A few years ago a vacuum cleaner manufacturer came to call and said "I bet you never thought that when you graduated college you would end up selling vacuum cleaners!” He was right- never in my wildest dreams, and more so because vacuum cleaning was the dreaded task that my Mother used to ask me to do as a teenager, at the age when you treat the family house as a hotel.

In a recent edition of this newsletter, I summarized the points to look for when purchasing a good hepa vacuum cleaner in my Vacuum Cleaners Buyers Guide. We ourselves brought into the office in 2003 a number of eager contestants who wished to be tested, in hopes of joining the AllergyBuyersClub.com exalted list of recommended vacuum cleaners for 2004. One of whom even offered to sponsor this newsletter. Sadly while nameless, many did not make the cut and were sent packing. But the good news is we did find a few that brought smiles to our faces, which is difficult to do when you start from disliking the whole concept of having to vacuum in the first place.

I am a canister type of gal, so I will talk about those first. Heading the list in vacuum cleaner self indulgence is the new Miele Red Velvet whose color and finish live up to its name. More importantly, when you have gotten over the price of $1249.00, this vacuum combines all the famed features of the Miele Silver Moon with a new big power brush, which was my only real criticism of the Silver Moon. Incidentally, the Silver Moon is being discontinued soon, so if you want it, buy it soon. To me the perfect vacuum cleaner is light and therefore easy to maneuver such as the Silver Moon, but I want it paired with a really powerful power head. The Miele Red Velvet hits the perfect note with me, and goes on my wish list for a luxury housewarming gift when my new golf-side condo is built in 2005.

I am a loyal fan of the Sebo C3 canister, which I use in my own home, and we use the X1 upright in our offices, which tells you we are SEBO fans. Now we are offering two new SEBO canister vacuum cleaners, which also have a lot going for it. The K2 and K3 Sebo Vacuum Cleaners are Sebo’s answer to providing a lighter weight, slightly less powerful, and hence less expensive version [$499.00 and $759.00] of the best selling Sebo C1 and C2 canister. The Sebo K2 is especially keenly priced and will give the new Electrolux Harmony an honest horse race.

Coming up the rear in prices but more pocketbook friendly are the new Electrolux vacuum cleaners. Here is the history of this new line of vacuum cleaners. Eureka bought the Electrolux brand and factory to produce a series of vacuum cleaners, which at first glance [and even second in some cases] look suspiciously like the Eureka Oxygen line. Eureka told me that they were being made at the old Electrolux factory. They do indeed sport some improvements over the current Oxygen line, which is now being discontinued. Of the new Electrolux line, it is in my opinion the least expensive model is the best. The Electrolux Harmony Canister at $298, which is geared towards those of you with almost bare floors and a few scatter rugs, is a cute, little, quiet vacuum which got the guys in our office saying “way cool” and everyone sidling up to ask if they could buy the demo for their own home. Almost everything about this vacuum cleaner is done right. The famous washable hepa filter is optional with this machine, although a standard hepa filter is included. This vacuum cleaner is well worth taking a look at and we like it a lot. It is not recycled Eureka Oxygen, so I had to swallow my skepticism, as it represents some real design breakthroughs at Electrolux.

The Electrolux Oxygen and Oxygen Ultra canister vacuums are price-bashing [$399.99 to $599.99] competitors aimed at taking a hefty swipe at the high priced European vacuums on the market. I do not feel they offer a great deal more than the old Oxygen line [which we liked], but for sheer value compared to the European competitors they cannot be beat. They have built on their Eureka Oxygen legacy and if you want to support the domestic brand, which in our experience has a pretty good track record, these are well worth taking a look at. The new low price is certainly going to be popular among consumers.

Then for the upright vacuum cleaner devotees among you we have some great new entries. Best news of all is that they are cheaper!

My own personal favorites in uprights are the SEBOs. These are for people who are searching out best in class. We use the SEBO X1 in our office and have had no complaints over the two years in which we have offered this upright vacuum cleaner. Given our successful history with SEBO, I was very interested when the SEO vacuum cleaner manufacturer came to call with new vacuums for us to review. They did not disappoint, and there was giddy laughter while we tested them and found they actually performed the way we wanted. After testing so many duds last year, we were just ecstatic! Sebo has additional high-end vacuums in the X series, the SEBO X4 and SEBO X5.To put it succinctly, the advantages these vacuums have over the X1 is BIG improved suction power. In our office, we have typical flat thin office type carpet, but if you have Berber or pet hair at home, the extra suction power would be extremely useful.

The vacuums in the Sebo X series work especially well if you have different carpeting or flooring heights as the vacuum self adjusts to the right height. The Sebo X4 at $699.00 and X5 at $749.00 represent the Rolls Royce of uprights. However if you have wall- to- wall straight uniform carpeting throughout your home, then the G series at $549.00 give you the extra power you need but at no extra price over the X1 upright.

See all the vacuum cleaners at Allergybuyersclub.com

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