Vacuum cleaners

Vacuum cleaners were one appliance category, covering uprights, canisters, and later stick machines. The brushroll is what separates a carpet cleaner from a hard-floor suction tool.

An upright puts the motor and the bag or bin over the brush. It is the straightforward carpet machine. A canister pulls the motor behind you on a hose, which is easier on stairs and under furniture, and the powerhead at the end of the wand is still what beats the carpet. A stick vacuum trades bin size and runtime for weight. It is a daily hard-floor tool until the battery or the small bin fills.

Bags, bins, and filters

Bagged machines lose suction more slowly as they fill, because the bag is the filter. Bagless bins need the pre-filter washed or the cyclones clog and the motor bakes dust. A HEPA claim only describes the air leaving the machine if the filter is on the exhaust side and the housing is sealed around it. A HEPA sheet sitting loosely over a dusty bin does not clean the exhaust. Height adjustment on the brush matters on carpet: too low and the belt smells, too high and the beater never touches the pile.