apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I'd love to see how well this works. :)

the Arm & Hammer site says the bags are available exclusively at Wal-mart which is not good...I won't shop there because it's such a nightmare.

I'm allergic to pretty much everything that lives indoors and out. My landlord has switched the building from AC to heat, due to the Chicago law, which means I have to leave the windows open to receive any relief from this extension of summer. There's a lot of dust/pollen/flying evils infiltrating my apartment now. And I live in downtown Chicago without a car - so driving to Wal-mart to get my hands on them isn't even an option. I would love to take these for a test-spin in my prized garage-sale vacuum.

Did I miss something in Vaccuuming engineering class? (It's quite likely I did). How does a vaccuum cleaner BAG improve anything in my home? It's inside the vaccuum. It has no contact with anything outside it.

Thanks.
(And forgive me if I mis-spelled vaccuum. Must've been passing too many notes in spelling class.)

Before I got my cats, I went to the allergist and made her test me against every kind of cat allergen there is. I'm allergic to dust mites and just about every kind of mold and mildew there is, and I sneeze at least 20 times every day, so it was a valid concern. All negative. Then came the kitties. And then came the rashes and the congestion and the etc. Back to the allergist I went and low and behold, I'm allergic to the two little fuzz balls that by that point my boyfriend and I had become completely besotted with.

Besides getting rid of them (not an option), my allergist's only other recommendation was to become a cleaning freak. So that's what I do. My vacuum cleaner and I have become very close and anything that is washable is washed frequently. I've been managing to keep the rashes at bay, but the fall molds make this a particularly bad time of year for me.

I'm willing to try anything that can make me less snotty. I don't know that I understand how this would work, as Alana mentioned, but I'm definitely willing to try.

I have a Sanyo vacuum cleaner but a little research tells me that the Hoover S bags would fit my bill nicely.

Alana -- Check out the FAQ on A&H's vacuum bag Web site (it's linked in the original post) -- question #5 explains what these bags do to eliminate odors. It's really a remarkable scientific advance!

howsabout, my house is overrun with construction dust from competing work sites (across the street, a kind and gracious crew after I gave them an earful about the whistling at women before noon; outside the back bedroom, a foul mouthed team of seriously foul mouthed foul mouthers) and I've got house guests arriving on Tuesday who aren't used to New York City to begin with, let alone constant construction and fine layers of grit working their way into everything.

I have a dog who is just now getting over a case of fleas (she got 'em from the dog run), and I used no powerful chemicals. I DID use baking soda, though, among other things (constant laundering of bedding, frequent dog baths, etc.). I doused the carpets with baking soda, a whole box per room, and left it to sink in there for an hour or two, then vacuumed it all up and threw out the bag. It works on fleas and it also works on odors.

I think this approach probably works as well as the vacuum bags (or possibly better - I don't really get how vacuum bags can work either) to remove odors and allergens, and is probably much cheaper.

I use a bagless, and as I inherited some orientals that spent time in storage (and under cats), I sprinkle liberally with baking soda (off brand, about 39 cents for the little boxes) about a half hour before I vacuum. Can't imagine this product doing a better job, for less, then my current m.o. And, thanks, but no thanks to Walmart

I think that if yur vacuum bag stinks, you've got something nasty fermenting in there and you gotta replace it. A little baking soda won't do anything to change that.

I also think that while I would *like* a vacuum bag to be a super cheap solution to upgrade a regular vacuum cleaner to a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter, it probably won't do the trick. To reduce the dust a vacuum releases back into the air, I think you need a HEPA filter.

My Miele was expensive and I choked a little at first, but it sure does a number on the cat hair and I assume the dander as well. Many fewer stuffy noses is the result. And I do plan to keep the vacuum (and hopefully the cat) for many years, so I like to think it was worth saving for.

There are two kinds of vacuum bags - those that trap the dust and those that don't. You vacuum pounds of dirt, dust and contaminants from your home during each use. Next time you vacuum, open your bag compartment. Take note of the filth that has accumulated in-and-around the vacuum bag. What good is a vacuum bag if it is not trapping the dust?

Most vacuums come equipped with one-ply generic paper bags which have relatively large pores that allow fine dust to escape, lowering indoor air quality, increasing health risks and the need for dusting and more vacuuming. To compare, the Miele’s vacuum bags are not made of paper but rather high filtration cheese cloth with protective foil layering the inside. They are also self-sealing with great density and capture far more fine dust. You will not see the filth built-up around vacuum bag compartment in a Miele. The vacuum gets all the dust, pet hair, sand, tiny allergens, and the floor will stay cleaner longer because next to nothing is left behind.

Through a particulate analysis on YouTube, I show how well the Miele vacuum works and truly traps the dust. My findings prove that the Miele Vacuum is completely sealed and really is HEPA.

YouTube Miele Vacuum Video – As seen on ABC 7

You can see from this video that the Miele will trap all of the particles in a cloth like bag that self-seals on its way out and you are actually purifying the air in your house by vacuuming! The filtration is 99.95% effective at 0.3 microns which is amazing. Thanks to its HEPA filter and super intensive clean bags the vacuum is able to achieve this kind of filtration.

Also check-out my blog called Consumer Reporter - a vehicle to educate consumers about the vacuum and air purification market.

If you appreciate the information I provide on Miele vacuum cleaners via You Tube and my blog, please support my on-line store, KillDirt.You’ll get free shipping and no tax (as long as you do not live in New Jersey). We will be sure to make your shopping experience a pleasant one.