To find our how well a vacuum picks up dirt, how much it retains, how easy it is to maneuver, and how noisy it is, Consumer Reports puts its vacuum cleaners through a tough set of tests. Comparing the results provides the most complete picture. Here are the details.We adapt an industry-standard test to lift embedded talc and sand from a preconditioned, medium-pile carpet. Before the test, which uses two samples of each vacuum, we adjust vacuums to uniform settings and weigh the soiled carpet and vacuum. After a sequence of 16 back-and-forth strokes across the test area, we weigh the carpet and vacuum again and derive a score from how much debris the vacuum picked up.We use the same type of sand over a specified section of sheet vinyl, running each vacuum on its bare-floor setting for two strokes—one forward, one back—for about 1 second per stroke. We calculate the score by how much each picks up.We attach the vacuum’s accessory hose to a cylinder with a set opening and measure for pressure drops as we vacuum up 300 grams of wood flour—enough to gag some lesser vacuums.

We test how much debris a vacuum retains using a sealed, climate-controlled room. Running each vacuum for a set period, we load the vacuum with 50 grams of wood flour. We then run the vacuum with the brush propped off the floor in order to measure the particle concentration released by the bag or the bin. Then we vacuum a carpet embedded with dirt.We embed hair from Maine coon cats into medium-pile carpet. We pass each vacuum a set number of times over the carpet and measure how much gets entangled in the vacuum’s brush, wheels, and bearings. We also judge how much hair the vacuum left behind on the carpet.We use a decibel meter. While ­vacuuming, we measure sound from where a user might stand (2 feet in front, 5 feet up) with a vacuum set to deep-clean at its maximum power setting.We assess handling by two judgments: ease of carrying, which includes vacuum weight and handle height, and ease of pushing and pulling the model. Weight includes the vacuum and any onboard tools. In calculating a model’s overall score, we also judge a vacuum’s cord length, how much a bagless vacuum's bin holds, and more.

15 Stars Whose 'First Time' Was With...how to operate bissell vacuum cleaner 29 Stars You May Not Have Known Have Allegedly Got The Clapvacuum cleaner in kuwait Episode aired 10 March 1984bagless vacuum cleaners on sale Mama's carpet cleaner has had it, so she uses Naomi's instead. Unfortunately, a key Naomi has lost gets stuck in the gears and ends up wrecking Mama's rug, which has been in the family for ... See full summary » 2 more credits » Thelma 'Mama' Crowley Harper Vinton 'Buzz' Harper, Jr. Rest of cast listed alphabetically:Unfortunately, a key Naomi has lost gets stuck in the gears and ends up wrecking Mama's rug, which has been in the family for generations.

The two, naturally, blame each other and decide to take the matter to court. Mama overdoes it making the judge annoyed and Naomi is just as bad. The two bicker in court, leading the judge to the obvious resolution to the problem. Release Date: 10 March 1984 (USA) Studio 33, CBS Television City - 7800 Beverly Blvd., Fairfax, Los Angeles, California, USA The weirdest mama ep? Iola was so pathetic! Do You prefer NBC Naomi or Syndication Naomi??? Did Mama ever make you mad? What do you think happened after Tiffany Thelma Harper was born? Discuss Harper Versus Harper (1984) on the IMDb message boards » Judge Willard E. PackardThis gets everyone's attention, because everyone is interested in vacuum cleaner power. Before we get into what really does influence cleaning power - it's important to understand the things that don't. Manufacturer's go to great lengths to deceive you. We're going to help you educate yourself. (1) Suction does NOT clean.

These tricks have been used for 80 years on the buying public. This is why you can pick up a bowling ball, but you can't pick up a piece of fuzz. Ignore all of the 'suction' gimmicks you see. (2) Electrical Ratings are a GIMMICK. A little history first.... About 10 years ago, vacuum companies were fooling the public by publishing a 'peak horsepower' rating. If you have an older machine, you may even see a sticker on it proclaiming something like '4.2 peak horsepower'. These ratings couldn't be proven, because to achieve them, you could have no air (or dirt) entering the machine, and you had to strain the motor to the point of ruin to reach these ratings. Worse yet, this had nothing to do with a machine's ability to pick up dirt. Due to (finally) some government pressure, this rating system was dropped. (3) With the above taken away, the manufacturer's switched to something they could prove - electrical ratings. They come up with various models such as 8-amp, 10-amp, and 12-amp machines, with the higher amp machines costing you more of your hard earned money.

The brilliant part of this scenario is that to create a higher amp motor, they used lower quality bearings, which caused the motors to strain (and wear out faster), which in turn caused them to burn more electricity (amps). 'Watts' are the same as amps, with 1 amp = roughly 110 watts. If you see '1300 watts' listed, it's a 12-amp motor. More importantly, this has NOTHING to do with cleaning ability, either. It's just a measurement of electrical consumption. It's the equivilent of bragging to your friends about having a car that gets really bad gas mileage. (4) In an effort to out-do each other, the manufacturer's began lowering the prices of '12 amp' machines until that was what the consumer expected. They now have no choice but to keep offering machines which burn tons of electricity, with no increase in performance. In the U.S. 12.5 amps (1300 watts) is the maximum amount of electricity you can pull out of a wall socket. With the manufacturer's now having 'painted themselves into a corner', some of them devised...

(5) The Manufacturer's OWN rating system. is the king of this (although NOT the only manufacturer doing it), because as the price increases, they give the machine a higher 'efficiency' number. Why do they do this? Here's why: You go to the local store, and walk down the vacuum aisle. As you look at each cheap plastic machine offered by the various companies, you begin reading the numbers out loud to yourself...12 amps...this one has 12 amps....this one has 12 amps...wait, this one has 18.7 Here's what happens: Because you would need a magnifying glass to see the words 'rating' under the 18.7, and because you are not an electrician, you ASSUME that because it's a bigger number, it has to be a more powerful machine. You throw it in your buggy, take it home, and add to it your collection of machines which do not work as advertised. Interesting Sidenote: Hoover's own ratings are a 'scientific formula' based on the ability to pick up just 25 percent of the dirt tested.how much dirt do YOU want a machine to pick up?

(6) What they don't want you to know! The movement of air picks up dirt. The measurement for this is called 'cubic feet per minute' (abbreviated as C.F.M.). This rates the volume of air you can pull through the machine in one minute's time. The more air you can pull, the more dirt you'll pick up. You're saying to yourself 'Great..where do I find THIS rating?'.....here's the kicker - most manufacturer's will NOT tell you. If they did, then you could be an educated shopper, and that's the last thing most of them want. It's easier to keep selling you stuff that doesn't work if they continue to mislead you with other silly numbers. (It's important to note again this has NOTHING to do with amps, as we've seen 7 amp machines that have double the 'airflow' of a 12-amp machine due to a very efficient design.) (7) Final Verdict: We actually give you the scoop on this brand-by-brand in our section. You may also want to read the article on , because this is the other area where the consumers are mislead.