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Awhile ago, I asked for vacuum recommendations. Finally finished my research & decided which model to get. The winner was......Riccar! Specifically, the Riccar Vibrance model, an upright.

I looked around online & in stores, and that vacuum had the features I wanted. It has a 30 foot cord, tools on board, an on/off switch for the beater bar (so you can use it on bare floors without the brush rolling), and it's not too light or too heavy. In fact, with the weight distribution, it pushes VERY easily -- almost with 2 fingers. It does have a bag, which I wanted (I don't mind changing bags). It does not have that swivel "ball" feature that many vacuums have these days. I found that hard for me to control, and felt a twisting strain in my wrist when I tried those vacuums at the stores. Since I've had surgery in my "vacuuming hand," I didn't want to fight that swivel. This Riccar upright has a feature where you step on the release twice, and it lays as flat as it can go for vacuuming under low furniture.

It seems to clean really well. Like a good sewing machine buyer who takes her own fabric to try, I took my own Baggie of cat hair to the store and stomped it into their carpet! I ran the vacuum around my sewing room for the first time today, and I could see things starting to "dance" about a foot ahead of the vacuum. That's a good sign.

It cost about $100 more than I had hoped, but I was done reading reviews & going around looking, so I was not about to turn it down for that. I handed over the credit card & didn't look back! I got it from the same "Mom & Pop" vacuum store where I bought my last two vacuums, so I didn't mind helping their business again. They do repairs in-shop, which is nice. Minor things, they'll fix on the spot & not charge you a penny. Good "old-fashioned" service there.

The only minor thing about this vacuum that I don't like is that the on/off switch is on the side of the body, not up on the handle at your thumb. I've been pushing there all morning out of habit & nothing happens! It would have been $100 more for the next model up that has the switch on the handle. I drew the price line there & said I'd just have to learn where the switch was.

Hope this helps anyone else researching new vacuums. Like irons & sewing machines, buying one is not always an easy decision!

Sounds interesting StarrySky... I have never heard of that name...
Sounds like you are happy and that is what matters!
Don't wear a hole in the handle

"Don't wear a hole in the handle" -- HA! -- or get a blister on my thumb from rubbing where there's no switch!

Forgot to mention -- this vacuum is made in the USA, if that would help anyone decide. There are several different models in that line. Mine is the spiffy red one. The white one is $100 less & doesn't have the disconnect switch for the beater bar. I think the one with the switch on the handle is blue? I forget.

I also think the sales lady told me that Riccar is coming out with new models soon, and that the price is going up. This one was $399. Hope it lasts through 30 years of cat hair & fabric snippets!

screaming that you took your personal bag of cat hair. pffffffffffftttttttttttt!!!

Well it was either take a bag of cat hair or take a cat or three & roll them around the shop floor for awhile... Nobody wanted to volunteer to get in the car, so I got out the comb & filled a Baggie instead!

I resisted the urge to take one of my full vacuum bags & dump it on their floor. Wasn't there an old TV show that used that as a gag -- a door-to-door vacuum salesman dumped stuff out & then either the vacuum didn't work or there was some other silly twist in the plot?

OMG - i have a Riccar and I LOVE, love, love it!

I have a Brilliance. (i think)

The first time my MIL came over after vacuuming with my new Riccar, she asked if I just had my carpets cleaned!

Hands down, it is the BEST vacuum I've ever owned.

Nice to hear another YES vote for that brand.

Funny about the clean carpet. My old vacuum left obvious cleaning lines & marks on my carpet, and this one leaves more subtle marks. Those marks used to be proof that I slaved all day at cleaning! Now I'll just have to be on the divan with a cool compress on my forehead when DH gets home, and act exhausted. Or maybe make sure the vacuum motor is still warm to the touch.

I've never heard of that brand but I always had hoover till I started having all the back problems. Now that my spine is mostly titanium I had to have an easy model and my hoover was nice enough to break just in time for my birthday LOL. Glad you got what you wanted for sure but watch those string wraping around the beater bar. Ask me how i know LOL.

I purchased a Riccar last August and just love it! (I don't remember which model but it blue and has the switch on the handle...also two speeds.) It does a nice job of cleaning and I feel comfortable using it on wood floors. I made a good choice.

Thanks girls! I am needing a new vacuum also and 2 MN girls and Starry too, I am now sold on Riccar. I like a bag and always had a Hoover with bag. It seems like my self propelled unit is hard to push these days..So I am gonna go shopping. Thanks again, Joyce

Yea - we may soon be able to form a Riccar Club!

I still haven't read a bad thing about them online, except for a report that someone used theirs on damp carpet & something rusted.

Ricca used to be good sewing machine manufacturer. Almost bought one, well dh almost did.

ETA: Glad you like your new vac. May be in the market for one soon. Will keep these recommendations in mind. Thanks.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Strings,

Hey - you're RIGHT about Riccar sewing machines - I remember that brand from way back when! Thanks for the brain jog! There are some for sale on eBay...I had to go look.

All this vacuum stuff started for me because our "garage" vacuum (an old Panasonic, probably 30 years old) stopped working. That meant that DH was using the "good" vacuum (another Panasonic) in places where he shouldn't. So I needed to get a NEW vacuum so the "good" vacuum could become the "garage" vacuum. Follow that logic?? LOL! We have a shop vac, but it can't do stuff like vacuum the indoor-outdoor carpet on the screen porch. Need a beater bar for that. So we always have one "good" vacuum & one "garage" vacuum. We keep demoting vacuums as they age, but I hope it's awhile before the shiny red Riccar is the "garage" vac.

Lumpy, what did you end up getting?

I have never heard of Riccar either. Does someone make it other than Riccar?

You're happy and I'm happy for you...want me to send you some dirt, lol?

LOL - Will take a pass on the kind offer for free dirt. We somehow manage to come up with enough on our own. I'm not sure where it all comes from, but it finds us.

Here's Riccar's "About Us" page from their site:

http://www.riccar.com/about-us/

My vacuum has a big "Made in the USA" sticker on the front, and the dealer did say it was from Missouri. I didn't ask if every last nut & bolt inside was also made in the USA, but the website says the vacuums are assembled there. Here's the manufacturing plant's info:

http://www.tacony.com/Strategi...its/home-floor-care/

It looks like they make Riccar & Simplicity vacuums there. And hey - they have a vacuum cleaner museum, too! Maybe that's where we can hold our annual Riccar Owners' Club meeting?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: StarrySky,

I've not heard of a Riccar either. i just bought a Shark Lift Around. finally got my basement stairs vacuumned! the cord is extra long. i have the upright too and it disconnects from the roller bottom but it tends to disconnect when i dont' want it too. i could just see it falling off and down the basesment stairs. The Lift Around has a strap I can put over my shoulder. works very well.

A few years ago my DH gave me a Riccar for Christmas (no, a new vacumn cleaner was NOT on my wish list, lol!) I had never heard that name either, as I was a Eureka fan. Anyway, I've been very happy with the Riccar, don't know what the model is, but mine is black, with switch on the handle. I like the attachments, especially the telescoping wand thingy, use it all the time.

Downsouth I bought a dyson. Been wanting onefor ages but couldn't keep DH's nose out of it. Then he was doing the vacumn but withthe progression of his COPD he can't doit any more so hetold meto get whatever I wanted, LOL to bad it wasn't a furniture store also. I really love my dyson and they let me throwdirt on the floor to try the vacumn. It is so easy to push once you getused to the ball it goes like crazy and gets in nooks and crannies I couldn't get in before.
You'll have to excuse the lack of spaces I am typing witha big bandaid on mythumb LOL

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Lumpy Tush,

Sounds like a good cleaner. I think I am in the market for one also. And DD Angelinamor I think has that brand.

I will be glad to go back to a bag. I have a bagless and it is easy to empty, but every few months it starts not to pick up very well. Then I remove the two filters and clean them out so I have suction again. And I would just rather change that bag. Easier in the long run.

Mary

Lumpy, that's what my DIL bought and she loves it. Right now I'm not in the market for a vac (moving expenses, etc, so not in the budget this year). The Shark we have works good and it's lightweight, but it doesn't hold much and has to be emptied after each room. I definitely want a bagless one. I loved the old Phantom we had (or was it Fanthom?), but they don't make them anymore.

I love my dyson. It picks up dirt my hoover neve did and I used it with the "lint lizard" they sell on TV for cleaning your dryer vent and boy what a wad it suc ked up. I had to empty it. The dyson I was told will not clog but it will loose suction if you let the bin get really full. I did the whole house and didn't have to empty it even though it looked full and i have a lot of carpet.

I have never heard of that brand either. I bought an Oreck on ebay-the commercial one. I love it! I'd much rather change a bag than deal with the cannister and cleaning filters. I had several bagless and h*ated both! I love my Oreck but wish I had the tools on board. I use my dustbuster for some things though.

Enjoy your new toy-you'll have the cleanest house in town! We have two dogs so I have to vacuum every other day. It's amazing what everyone trapses in-not just the dogs!

Hugs,

Pam

Try 3 long-haired cats and 3 boxes of kitty litter.....need I say more?!

DH likes the new vacuum, too, & last night volunteered to run it around the whole house! He calls it the Rolls Royce vacuum, for the double "R" symbol on the front.