There are things about this vacuum that I LOVE and HATE! It is heavy but luckily I have a single story home so no upstairs. The suction is GREAT! You are going to read other reviews about this vacuum not filtering well. To me, that''s the best thing about this vacuum. The filtration is excellent if you use the machine properly! I read others saying that you have a mess to dump out at the end and have to go outside or dump it down the toilet with a strainer etc. I don''t have any of these problems because I change the water FREQUENTLY and just dump it down the sink when it looks like dirty mop water.When I first got the Rainbow, I had to change it about 5 times vacuuming my 1400 sq ft house with wall to wall carpet, now I can vacuum the whole house on one fill of water without having to change the water so often. If you continue vacuuming with a basin full of "MUD", this is when you are going to run into problems like water has to be taken outside and dumped because it''s too thick to dump down the sink or in toilet, the dirt that you''re vacuuming up will bounce right off the mud, go into the hepa filter or back out into the air (if your model doesn''t have a hepa). It is an added inconvenience to stop and dump the water down the sink every 10 min''s or so, but hey, you can dump it down the sink and don''t have this pot of mud to deal with, put fresh clean water in and continue vacuuming. I know there is controversy regarding water capturing dirt. I say water does capture the dirt and very well! If it didn''t, I would have a NASTY hepa filter after three years and the thing is still snow white on BOTH sides. I''ve never seen any other vacuum cleaner''s hepa filter stay clean that long. No, you can''t vacuum non wettable dirt like talc powder or fireplace ashes or drywall dust (those materials are not wettable) and will go straight onto the hepa, but most household dirt doesn''t contain these materials. Drywall dust is TERRIBLE for ANY VACUUM!!
The machine still smells fantastic! I''ve taken care of it though. It also works as a blower. I cleaned the refridge coils and the design of the coils were such that they couldn''t be reached even with the smallest attachment. So I turned the hose around to the blow and placed the Rainbow so that when I blew the dust out, the Rainbow intake would capture it. It worked! It also has an air cleaner though I''m not completely sold on the low speed air cleaning feature. It doesn''t seem to move much air. I also am not crazy about the power nozzle. It looks nice but something about the way it''s designed seems to choke off some of the airflow. I think there are a couple of better power nozzles on the market that will fit the Rainbow that are much better, though this one still works decently, just not overly impressed by it. There is an optional 14 foot wet/dry hose you can purchase and this thing is WONDERFUL. I have high ceilings and I can get on a step ladder in my house and get way up on the kitchen cabinets, ceiling fans, and any other high areas that collect dust while the rainbow sits on the floor. You can''t do this with the standard six foot wet/dry hose that comes with it. The wands are stainless steel and will not rust inside. You can buy essential oil scented and put a couple of drops in it and it smells AWESOME while cleaning. Even though you''re changing the water often these bottles of scented oil last FOREVER it seems. You can also put these drops of oil in a regular vacuum bag but it just doesn''t smell as good to me. Something about the dust in the bag mixing with the smell of the oil isn''t the greatest.
Conclusion: Would I pay 1700 dollars for this vacuum brand new? NO! Do I recommend this vacuum? YES!!! If you think you are the type of person that can deal with the extra maintenance, then I say get on refurbished from a REPUTABLE vacuum shop ONLINE or LOCALLY for much less money! I wouldn''t buy one from someone "just selling" their Rainbow because if that''s the case, it hasn''t been cleaned and refurbished. There are even vacuum shops on the internet that recondition Rainbows with original Rexair parts. Other vacuums may work good and are more convenient, but there''s no other clean like using this machine if used properly.
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The only way you can truly judge the effectiveness of any vacuum is to use it in your own home.I''ve owned a Rainbow E Series vacuum for the last 12 years. Vacuumed dirt gets trapped in the water basin and it''s true there is no dust of any kind that comes out of the exhaust. I''ve always felt suction was ok because it would pick up anything off hard floors and there would always be carpet filth after vacuuming the carpet.
A friend of mine recently bought a Dyson DC07 Absolute so I borrowed it to compare to my Rainbow.
NO COMPARISON!
The Dyson suction was so tremendous I had to empty the canister 9 times just from vacuuming the carpet! I couldn''t believe the amount of filth the Dyson pulled out and the Rainbow was leaving behind.
I will say the Dyson suction may be a little too powerful. If you have older carpet, like I do, it tends to rip out carpet that may have been hanging on by a thread.
The Rainbow is easier to clean up. I pour the canister contents down the storm drain and hose out the inside. The Dyson has fine dust clinging to the inside of the canister. This had to be dusted off over the trash can. I''m very allergic to dust so I had to make sure not to kick up any dust when cleaning. I found using a Swiffer Duster did the job well.
The Dyson as constructed can not reach under furniture less than 9 inches above the floor without using hose attachments. The Rainbow''s reach was about 4 inches.
I paid $1200 new for my Rainbow and the Dyson sells around $600. Overall I think the Dyson is a much better value and would replace my Rainbow for a Dyson.
Read Best Reviews of Rainbow E2 Series Vacuum. Brand New in a Box Here
Allergies: I bought a new Rainbow in 1985 (a D4C, I believe) because I developed a dust allergy after quitting smoking that made it impossible to use a regular vacuum (I would be extremely nauseous and have a wicked headache for 2-4 hours afterwards if I tried). At first, I hired someone to clean and left the house for several hours to avoid breathing the fine dust particles that were inevitably airborne from the regular vacuum cleaner''s exhaust). When I heard about the Rainbow, I thought it was worth a try.Suction: The suction demonstration was impressive I had just vacuumed, but a surprising amount of dirt was removed from my carpet. In the years since, my oriental rugs and (earlier) carpets were all cleaned well, as were my hardwood floors, and cat hairs are gone. If it isn''t cleaning well, something is wrong. Some have mentioned other vacuums with more suction power this one has plenty, and doesn''t tear up your carpets.
Oriental rugs: The tassels can get caught in the power nozzle (carpet attachment), which will stall the attachment and require you to open the bottom (screws hold it), then put the rubber ring back on the "carpet beater", because it invariably flips off when it gets stalled tedious process. Eventually, you get used to going over tassles quickly or avoiding them with the power brush altogether (just using the floor contraption).
Air: The air in the house is noticeably cleaner visually and smells fresh instead of dusty. In addition, the fact that it has lasted 25 years (and I''m hard on such things), with only a cracked water basin, makes this ultimately more affordable. Fragrances can be just a few drops of essential oils of your choice.
Steamer: I also bought the carpet steamer, which attaches to the kitchen sink faucet. I haven''t used this much it''s not as deep of a cleaning as the heavy machines that can be rented, but it''s much easier and lighter to use.
HEPA filters vs. waterl: The best thing abut Rainbows is that they are the only vacuums that I can use without feeling sick. I''ve tried vacuums with HEPA filters, but they still release dust into the air (mine is an older Rainbow that doesn''t have a HEPA filter, but it''s not really needed the water precipitates the dust).
Some issues that others have raised:
It''s heavy true; this didn''t bother me much for a long time, but I''m now in my late 60''s with lots of arthritis, and I don''t take it upstairs often because of this (I would if it were a little lighter). Swiffers help keep this area clean. However, the complaints about it being heavy to carry around on one story puzzle me if you have it on the dolly (an essential accessory), you just roll it around, only lifting if you have noticeably different heights from room to room. The water basin itself isn''t heavy with water in it it''s only about one quart full.
It''s cumbersome to store true I converted the bottom of a tall cabinet into a storage place. It wouldn''t be as cumbersome if you didn''t have the carpet beater, but if you have carpets or rugs, you will want this. You can and should get an attachment caddy, which holds four attachments. The water basin sits on top of the vacuum.
It''s messy to clean out the basin in some respects, it is gratifying and/or horrifying to see all of the dirt and hair in the basin it gives you a pretty clear idea of how clean your place was! I always scoop out the scoopable stuff (mats of cat hair, for example), and put it in the garbage, then toss the dirty water either outside or in the toilet, rinsing it a time or two. The flower pot solution was a good one, though. Of course you can''t leave this dirty water sitting in the basin, unless you want to grow something ugly in your spare time (you can''t leave coffee or tea, either without it getting moldy). It IS a little cumbersome to clean, but so is changing a vacuum bag or cleaning out a bagless vacuum, and both of these typically get dust in your face.
It''s expensive yes, it is however, I can''t recall what I spent, but if it was $1500, this amounts to only $60/year over the 25 years I have owned this (I don''t sell Rainbows, either). Used ones are much more reasonable.
Overall, it has been well worth it, but try using it to see if any of these objections are strong ones for you for me, the lack of dust in the air makes it worth the $$$.
Update: The weight was getting to me (you lift it to put the "screener" for dirt on, then onto the water basin, and I have area rugs and open floor, so there I lift there as well)
and so were the Dyson ads, so I bought the DC24 animal (the smaller, lightweight one, good for animal hair), hoping to have a compact vacuum that I could easily bring upstairs and that would store more easily. Dyson''s suction was impressive, but the air was noticeably dusty afterward (which made it hard for me to breathe). My dust allergy is still a problem, even with the Dyson''s HEPA filter so I had to bring out the Rainbow to clear it. I decided that my objections were minor compared to the value of clean air, so I''m cheerfully back to using the Rainbow.
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Pros:-When you use a conventional vacuum cleaner, you see dust blown all over especially if you look with the sun rays streaming through your window. You see a much big difference using this vac. One of our sons have bad allergies and this helps a lot.
-You not only see the difference, you also feel that you are breathing much cleaner air.
-No expensive bags to buy
Cons:
-It is heavy as a bulldozer. Imagine hauling it up and down the stairs. This is the reason we use this vac not as often as our regular vac. My wife has to call me to help tugging it along.
-Price too much! We got it half price, but probably we still paid too much.
-Maneuverability. Annoying and it really needs some muscle to work with it.
-You also need to clean the vacuum every single time you use it. No, you cannot wait until the bag is full there is no bag. It has a canister that you fill halfway with water and if you do not clean after each use, it grows bacteria and smells like a dead skunk. Believe me, we have done that.
-It is a hassle to use. Need assembly every time you use it.
-So loud
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