Is a Bagless Vacuum Better for Allergy Sufferers?
Even the tidiest of allergy suffers are susceptible to coming down with symptoms from things hiding out in the carpet. Carpet harbors a number of allergy-aggravating substances especially the dust mite. This is not to say that if you suffer from allergies you should go about ripping up all the carpet in your home. The best way to keep allergens at bay is to care for you carpet properly with regular vacuuming and routine professional carpet cleanings. Vacuuming is the best thing we can do on our own to keep our carpets as clean as possible.
Of course, you will want to make sure you have a high quality and reliable vacuum if you are an allergy sufferer, especially during the spring when so many different allergens can get tracked into the home from outside.
What is the best type of vacuum for an allergy suffer? Is a bagless vacuum better?
The first ever vacuum was developed by James M. Spangler. It was 1907 and he worked in a department store as a janitor. Shortly after he patented his ingenious product and perfected the design a bit, he started his own company producing electric vacuums. The patents later to be purchased by a Mr. Hoover.
The earliest of Spangler’s vacuum prototypes used a pillowcase to serve as the vacuum bag. Today’s bag model vacuums work much in the same way just with a more modern cloth or paper bag.
The way a vacuum works is of course with the use of suction. A fan inside the vacuum creates suction by pulling air in through the intake and out through the exhaust port. Most vacuums have a brush that spins and as it comes in contact with the carpet it dislodges dirt and debris while simultaneously sucking it up into the machine. The debris is carried up either into the canister or bag to be deposited in the trash later.
As bag vacuums become more full they begin to lose their suction power. When the machine has lost its power to suck in debris this is a sign that it is past time to change out that bag. Ideally, a bag should be changed at about half to two-thirds full. A bagless vacuum’s suction ability is much less affected as the amount of debris collected in the canister rises. It is also easier to determine when the canister needs to be emptied as most of them are see through. For these reasons, many people have come to believe that a bagless vacuum is more allergy friendly than one with a bag.
While bagless vacuums do sustain more suction and are easier to empty, when it comes to emptying them there can be drawbacks. Once the removable dust canister is full it needs to be emptied into the trash. The action of emptying the dust canister into the can kick up a cloud of dust and allergens as it is deposited into the can. This now makes a vacuum with a bag sound much nicer as pulling the bag from the vacuum does not create a cloud of dust every time the machine is full and needs to be emptied.
One way to keep the dust down with a bagless model is to wrap a plastic bag around the opening of the canister and then empty it. You can then remove the canister from the bag, tie the bag shut, and deposit it into the trash.
So as for the question of whether a bagless vacuum is better for allergy sufferers, the answer merely lies in the opinion of how you prefer to empty out your machine.