Vacuum Reviews

This thing is GREAT! I've read that people have problems getting bags to seal, etc., but when I followed the instructions, I was a champ right away! I would have rated this a 5 star purchase except for this one thing: I wish is that the unit had a bag roll storage within itself. I know that other more expensive models do have that feature and it would be a huge space saver! I find that the Black and Decker bag rolls (cheapest at Walmart) work just as well as the Foodsaver rolls AND save money (always a good thing). I've sealed all sorts of frozen meats (per the instructions it works best that way) and baked goods. I've also taken frozen veggies and transferred them to the vacuum bags, keeping the freezer burn at bay for quite a long time. I recommend this product to singles who want to buy bulk, families who HAVE to buy bulk and anyone who doesn't want to spend another second cleaning freezer burned stuff out of the back of their freezer once a year ever again. I can't speak highly enough of the convenience this has brought to my family!

This item easily pays for itself--I live alone & can buy in bulk without worry about waste--Bags should not be re-used if they have previously been used to seal raw meats (the juices, doncha know) so I do pre-freeze meats before sealing, but weeks & months later they come out of the freezer just as red & juicy as when I brought them home from the market--Summer's fresh veggies can be enjoyed inexpensively all winter when blanched, sealed, & frozen--Great for cooking in quantity & freezing single portions which can be boiled in the bag for us working singles, as well-- A set of canisters (cheapest at Target) & jar sealers & some Mason jars are good investments, too--I bought a case each of quart, pint, & half-pint jars & now my cupboards are neatly filled with jars of pasta & sugars (which don't get solid) & popcorn & such which all stay fresh & bug-free & are easy to find when I need them--Raisins & coconut stay moist & fresh when sealed, too-- In the fridge, sour cream, when transferred to a jar & sealed, will last at least twice as long--I can pre-shred cheese (I don't like the store-bought pre-shredded stuff) & store it in a canister & it will last almost forever, as will crumbled bleu or feta cheese in a sealed mason jar-- I even sealed the soup ladle for my silver, which doesn't fit in the silver chest so it stays clean & shiny!--All-in-all, the FoodSaver is well worth whatever one pays for it--

I've had my vac 800 since January,04. We love the unit and have become fanatical in sealing most every food product in either bags, cannisters or mason jars.

However, we've had a couple of problems that could not be 'trouble shooted' by Tilia's customer service....
1. the pump on our unit recently broke....called the company customer service and confirmed it was defective. All of a sudden, it stopped to automatically turn off and didn't go into "low gear". Hopefully, this is not a sign of more problems to come.

2. can't seem to seal the smallest Mason jars. Again, I trouble shot this with Tilia and can't get it to work. Shame....really nice to have the option of using small jars for stuff.

Other than this, the unit is great and worth buying and worth using!

All Tilia's products are overpriced, but I have not seen a better vacuum sealer on the market. My neighbor across the street bought a Rival, and after using that for a week and then trying mine, return the Rival and traded up to a Tilia. The product has a powerful vacuum and is well-designed. Tilia's profit-business model depends on you buying accessories and bags, and charging you a premium too. Well, the accessories are very well made, I'll say that. As far as the bags go, don't buy them, you are paying for convenience. Buy the rolls. Even better, buy the rolls made by Rival as they work just as well, are thicker, and much cheaper!

The FoodSaver Pro II does a wonderful, powerful, & amazingly easy job of vacuum sealing appropriate items. I have nothing but praise for its design & operation, and I am usually hyper-critical of home appliances. The bags are strong & durable, & the containers come in a wide range of sizes. People who criticize the need to pre-freeze some foods or wrap others before sealing them (having apparently been misled by a TV infomercial) are expecting the impossible. Bread, for example, is filled with air holes-that is what causes it to rise. If you vacuum-pack unfrozen bread, you'll end up with a cracker - but that's not the fault of the machine, it's an indication of its power! Most of the pre-freezing requirements are either to prevent crushing or to prevent liquids being sucked into the machine, & all of them can be avoided by using vacuum containers instead of bags. Ditto for powdery or sharp items, although I've packed all kinds of grains directly in the bags with no punctures. Although the containers are initially expensive, (& only certain ones are freezer-safe), you can re-use them indefinitely. The supplies (bags & containers) are expensive & it's hard to find them discounted, although you can if you search hard enough. Overall, a superb product for those with real-world expectations.

I HAVE OWNED THE ORIGINAL PRO II MODEL SINCE 1985 AND IT IS STILL WORKING GREAT. THE MACHINE HAS WORKED PERFECT ALL THOSE YEARS. I WOULD RECOMEND THIS PRODUCT TO ANYBODY THAT WANTS TO SAVE ALOT OF MONEY. I USE IT EVERYDAY AND WOULD BE LOST WITHOUT IT. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. PS I JUST ORDERED ANOTHER PRO II TO USE IN MY KITCHEN AND GOING TO USE THE ORIGINAL IN MY DOWNSTAIRS KITCHEN

This product consists of a passive brush the size of a chalkboard eraser, a spray and a vacuum. Because the brush neither rotates nor vibrates, it can't deep scrub carpeting. Indeed, the product is so lightweight, the brush just really laps at the surface of the carpet, at best lifting off any surface dirt, but little else. Saying that this device has "6 rows of powerful cross-action brushes" is a meaningless term that reflects the fact that the bristles in the eraser-sized brush come in 6 rows. But there is no power to the brush, and there is nothing "cross-action" about it. It's just a soft brush that sits there doing nothing.

So in addition to the fact that the bristles aren't capable of releasing embedded dirt, the vacuum filled up after I covered a 4x5 foot area. My floor is wet, and not discernably cleaner than the portion that I hadn't cleaned. With a little more elbow grease, I should have saved myself nearly $70 and bought myself a bottle of Resolve and a new laundry brush. Spend more money and get something with a rotating brush, a bigger tank, and preferably heavy enough to actually put pressure on the brush; or spend less and do spot-treatment by hand. The Bissell 19603, which would take impossibly long to clean my 15x18 foot room (the only room I have with carpeting), and which would do so poorly, is not a happy medium between those two extremes.

I just purchased the Bissell Quicksteamer Plus at Target on January 21, 2003. I had priced other models, but they were quite expensive. I opened the box and thought, "How is this going to get my carpet clean - it's so small and light!" Well, I tried it, and was amazed. It got my carpet clean and smelling wonderful. It is surprisingly powerful. The best thing is that it's easy to refill, clean and store because the design is so simple. Having two small dogs, we need a good carpet cleaner. I also have a Bissell vacuum cleaner and Little Green Steam Machine - they all work wonderfully. Don't let the size or price fool you - this thing really works!!!

"We Mean Clean" is Bissell's motto, and they live up to it in this lightweight beauty.
For small areas, and carpets that do not need a heavy-duty machine, this is ideal. I was horrified at how nasty the liquid in the "Dirty Water Tank" was the first time I used it, and amazed at how soft my rugs were after only one cleaning. I have almost wall-to-wall Persian rugs (I filled the "Clean Water Tank" with warm instead of hot water for them), with terrific results. A "rug expert" might scream "carpet abuse" at using a Bissell on Persians, but these are tough old Iranian tribal rugs, and seem to be very happy in their immaculate, fresh-smelling state, and have never looked better, with a velvety texture and lustrous colors. It also works wonders with the less than ideal carpeting under my rugs, that came with the apartment.

It is very simple to assemble; all you will need is a Phillips head screwdriver and about 5 minutes. The components are easily removed from the body of the machine to fill, empty and clean, and the only thing I would give a word of caution to, is that if you want to empty the "Clean Water Tank", not to unscrew the opening at the bottom, but use the filling hole, with its "Formula Measuring Cap", instead. The bottom opening, which has the nozzle that sends the water into the cleaning aparatus, is hard to screw back on, and if not done correctly, will cause a leak.

As someone who likes everything spiffy-spotless, and lives with two four-pawed friends that manage to cough up at least a couple of hair-balls each a week, this is one of the best purchases I have ever made. I also like walking barefoot, and love the clean, soft feel under my toes.

However debris-free our kitchen floor may be in the morning, it is, by the end of the night, usually covered in a fine layer of crushed Cheerios. What's to be done? Picking up stuff with a broom and dustpan is laborious. Hauling out the regular vacuum cleaner is too much to ask. And much as I love the Swiffer--and I do love the Swiffer--its forte is dust clean-up, not picking up crumbs.

Enter the Eureka Boss Lite Upright Cordless, probably the best product I bought last year. It's light. It holds its charge long enough to do everything I've ever wanted to do with it. It slips on and off its recharging holder thing easily. And it does a good job, thank you very much--by which I mean that I have pretty much abandoned the aforementioned regular vacuum cleaner (in every room, not just the kitchen) because I just don't need it anymore. And of course the big advantage is that because of its great ease of use one can more easily and more often clean one's floor. On an average day I probably take this thing out two or three times.

Another reviewer mentioned the desirability of having a hose attachment for getting into corners. I would like this too, if (and only if) it could be added to the machine without making it (the machine) any more cumbersome or complicated. At any rate, a delightful vacuum cleaner that has made life easier around here. I highly recommend it.

My niece kept telling me about this vacuum. She said it was the greatest, most useful purchase she has made. I thought she was overcome with taking care of her toddler and baby and did not pay much attention. I was visiting her one day and she started telling me about this Eureka Boss cordless vacuum again and gave me a demo. She likes it so much she has one for each floor of her house! I was amazed, and went home and ordered one online from Target. It is fantastic! I can clean a whole floor in minutes, including cat hair and kitty litter! I needed a little practice emptying the dust cup, but have developed a good techique so I don't get it all over. I usually put off cleaning because I have to drag out the heavy cumbersome vacuum. Now I actually enjoy cleaning with this light and adaptable machine. Life is so much easier and cleaner. Thanks!

This is a great vacuum for hardwood, linoleum, and tile. I don't recommend it for carpet. This isn't what we bought it for, though. Great buy, don't know how you couldn't like it, unless you use it for carpet.

After having this machine for less than two years, it had an electrical problem and I sent it back to the company and for $65 they sent me a new unit. Unfortunately it did not work and customer service after stating we must have a bad electical outlet, sent us another one. It didn't work either and this time I plugged it into my computer plug which is fine as is our kitchen outlet. To get my money back I had to talk to a supervisor, but he didn't call me back. Three phone calls later they finally sent my money back, but still no supervisor called us. I wrote to Mr. Kramm and complained about the shoddy treatment I received from customer service and from the broken units from the repair service. NO RESPONSE from a company that is supposed to depend on word of mouth to buy their very expensive product. Shame on them.

This is a fine, easy to use, machine that I'm really enjoying having in my kitchen. I had never used a milk-steamer before, and found the idea a little intimidating. But the process is really quite painless, and now I'm wondering why I did without it so long (even my java-phobic bride is enjoying homemade hot chocolate thanks to the steamer).

Anyone who enjoys having a pot of coffee on-call throughout a morning should avoid glass pots like a cliché and instead use a thermal carafe like this one. Not only does it keep coffee steaming hot without constant re-heating, but the wide top and easy-off lid make for easy clean up when you're done.

The coffeemaker is elegantly designed, seems relatively sturdy, and looks nice on a countertop. Plus, it's fast, fairly quiet, and -- as I said -- easy to clean.

For someone like me who just wants to enjoy coffee without trying to become a home barista ('professional maker of complex espresso drinks'), this is as much machine as I think I'll need ... at least until the one with the built-in burr grinder arrives.

I've been impressed with the well-thought out products coming from this relatively small company in the small appliance industry. Their Swiss designers have the leading edge technology in coffee makers and the CoffeeTEC is the latest innovation. Coffee is brewed 10 cups in under 8 minutes, and that's fast. The idea is to have the fresh coffee exposed to hot water for the minimum amount of time, so flavor is extracted without extracting the bitter parts of coffee flavor. CoffeeTEC does this really well. A special 3-5 cup brewing selector makes it possible to brew a perfect small pot of coffee. The coffee goes directly into a stainless steel vacuum carafe, and after removing and sealing the pot the coffee stays hot for hours but never gets heated over and over again as in a traditional hot plate coffee maker. The Auto Cappuccino feature is a genuine plus for those of us who want some frothy milk with our coffee, it turns cold milk into hot milk and froth in seconds. Since all the works are outside of the coffee maker, it's easy to clean and to remove the milk container for refrigerator storage. This is a winner in the category of latest coffee technology.

I purchased this vacuum after much research. It was heavy, but worked great, even along baseboards, for the first few months. Then I moved, stored it for a few months and when I began to use it again -- just a few days after the one-year warranty expired, it broke. Cost me more than $90 to repair it at a Eureka authorized dealer. It broke again almost immediately. I fixed it again. This vacuum was not abused and overused [it's been suggested by some smart-aleck friends that it died from LACK of use!]. I live in small quarters -- always less than 1000sf and have a 50-50 mix of tile and carpeted floors. Also, if you have vaulted ceilings, it's a real stretch to reach that high with the attachments; even getting the cobwebs from a regular height ceiling isn't easy. I still have this two-year-old vac, but would be afraid to purchase it again. I sure miss my [very] old eletrolux that never broke, but I admit I wonder if I didn't just get a lemon with this one.

My wife and I have used this vacuum for about 3 months now, and we're astonished at how well it functions. We had been using a mid-80s well-known brand before purchasing this one, and thought we'd give the new Eureka a test. We vacuumed with our other vac, and then vacuumed with our new Eureka. We had to change one bag for every 800 square feet of carpet covered -- that's how much stuff the new Eureka picked up, that our old vac missed. And the house even smelled cleaner afterwards. I had expected lower quality due to other reviewer complaints but found most of them to be baseless: 1) "Hose too short." Yeah, it's too short. I'll concede that one. I need to buy an extension. However, there's no way the mfgr could put on a longer hose without making the vac unweildy. 2) "It's plasticy." Yes, it's largely made of plastic. It's a solid vacuum and I don't have the impression that it's flimsy in any way. 3) "It's too heavy." It is somewhat heavier than less powerful models; it has a big engine. Doesn't bother us a bit; as easy to use as our previous, much lighter vac. (We are not frail; if we were, we might want a lighter vac. I prefer the power.) 4) "Bag's hard to put in." That's a non-issue. The first time maybe. There's a latch that keeps the bag from slipping, you gotta use it. 5) "Belt comes off or burns." Haven't had that happen. Have inspected the belt often and see no signs of belt wear. 6) "It clogs up." When the bag is full, yeah. No fault of the vac's. Change the bag and you're back in business. Using the hose tools have given us zero problems. I'm not the kinda guy who normally gets excited about housewares or writes reviews but this vac deserved it.

I'll admit that I'm one of the worst when it comes to sweeping the floor with a broom. No matter how hard I try, there always seems to be some elusive dustbunny that resists all efforts to corral it in the dustpan. So, when my wife and I went shopping for a vacuum cleaner, we zeroed in on models that were capable of vacuuming the acres of wall-to-wall carpeting in our home and sweeping the tile and vinyl that make up the rest of our floors. A HEPA filter and disposable dust bags were necessities because of her allergies (your allergist will tell you that bagless cleaners are an exercise in futility unless you take the cleaner completely out of the house and shut the door behind you when emptying the dirt container).

After we pared down the list, we consulted the leading consumer reporting magazine and bought the highest rated model we could afford. And that's how we came to own this cleaner.

I vaguely remember reading that Eureka's engineers cobbled together the prototype for The Boss SmartVac series by actually mounting a classic "torpedo" canister cleaner and its motorized carpet brush on a wheeled rig with a handle. Once they determined that it COULD be done, they refined the design into a unit that really does combine the suction power of a canister with the carpet cleaning ability and easy mobility of an upright, with the added convenience of having the cleaning tools along for the ride. You can see the "canister cleaner on wheels" inspiration in the large photo here on Amazon.com.

In operation, the cleaner is surprisingly quiet, producing a breathy drone that still permits conversation. Though not self-propelled, the cleaner's brush roller turns so rapidly, it almost propels the cleaner for you. A headlight helps you spot obstacles in the cleaner's path.

The 15-inch wide cleaning path shortens your vacuuming time and offers right-up-to-the-baseboard edge cleaning ability. For more difficult debris, you can put together the extension wand and attach the crevice tool. The upholstery tool does an admirable job on carpeting under, say, a bed that can't be moved. One notable feature: When the handle is returned to the fully upright position, as when cleaning with tools, the brush roller stops, preventing worn spots on your carpet. A brush roller switch lets you turn off the brush roller at other times for sweeping bare floors.

After vacuuming the carpet in the master bedroom and some of the living room, we already noticed a measurable level of dirt in the first bag, an indication of the dirt left behind by our aging Hoover Decade 80 upright. We expect bags in the future to last a tad longer.

I have three types of flooring; vinyl, sealed wood and tile. This steamer does a fantastic job on all of them. Some people note a dulling of the surface of shiny vinyl; this is true, but since I have cats and their litter box in the laundry room with the vinyl floor, cleanliness is better than shine, any day. The steamer works well on tile, very well. The floors seem to stay cleaner than if wet-mopped. I also like the fact I can wash the cover (the "magic cloth" waffle weave cloth that fits over the bottom.) Some people note that the cloths wear out; hint--don't bother to throw the washed cover in the dryer. It will fit better over the mop and last longer.

Points off for the cloths being expensive and a bit hard to find, if you want spares. And a point off for it needing refilling, at least on large expanses of floors. Other than that, this is a great way to clean and sanitize the floors. I like it a lot.

I hate to clean, especially the floors in my bathroom and kitchen. The mop, the buckets, the dragging around from room to room: yuck! But I absolutely like clean floors and can't convince any one else to do them for me. My hairdresser was using this one day on her cutting room floor and I was amazed at how clean the floor was and effortless it was to use the steamer. I shopped around for comparison, but this is the only of its kind on the market now at an affordable price. I highly recommend it and am even considering the smaller one for counters and such. It cleans both my bath and kitchen in under five minutes and they dry immediately.

I detested cleaning the kitchen floor. I have tried numerous mops and sweepers and they have all failed me. They are messy and ultimately just end up pushing dirty water around the kitchen floor. After giving up on mops, I tried the old fashioned way of scrubbing on my hands and knees. This got the floor clean, but it took forever and was hard on my knees. I would also immediately dry each section I had scrubbed with paper towels. I used an entire roll everytime I cleaned the floors. I did this for years.
About four months ago I purchased the Eureka Enviro Steamer. I was a bit skeptical, after all, clean with just water and no detergent? It looked a bit like an electric mop..I hate mops!! I decided to take leap of faith and try it anyway, after all, if I didn't like it I could always return it.
I must say it is remarkable. It gets my floor fabulously clean, even in most hard to reach spots and yes, just using water (very little water at that). You still need to thoroughly sweep your floor first, but you have to do that before washing the floor anyway. What used to take me nearly an hour and a half (kitchen, laundry room and hallway)is now done in about 20 minutes. No mess, no paper towels, no detergent, no sore knees, no wasted time. Just wonderfully clean floors!!
I have tried alot of cleaning gadgets and products and this one definately rates among the top three I still own (...). I like this steamer so much I am now looking into a handheld steamer for cleaning the bathroom, windows, blinds and upholstered furniture. I am now a steam/vapor cleaning convert and will never go back to traditional cleaing methods again.

I purchased this vaccum and waited 10 days for it to arrive. As other reviews have indicated it took 2 screws to attach the handle and I was ready to go. I went around the house using it and noticed immediately that it was picking up tons of dirt. I loved the self propelled feature( the machine is quite heavy and without it would be tough to vacuum). It is a heavy machine when you are transporting it from room to room ( such as first floor to second floor) The instructions say you shouldn't really be dragging the machine by the handle when moving it. But what else should you use to move it when you are trying to carry it upstairs? It is way too bulky to carry the body of it. I set the machine in manual ( which you are always supposed to do when rolling or carrying the vacuum so you don't ruin the self propelled feature) and still use the handle to carry upstairs. I did notice right away that my dirt alert light never came on. I knew I had very dirty floors(you should have seen what was in the canister!) but the light never came on. I called eureka and got some service rep who was more interested in selling me filters then helping me out with my problem. She thought if I bought all new filters that would help solve the problem ( hello? this was a brand new vaccum! Why would I need new filters?) Since she didn't succeed at selling me any new items she finally suggested I take it to a Eureka service center. Luckily for me, there is one in town and I plan to take it there this weekend. If there wasn't, I would have had to ship the vaccum to the nearest service center -shipping costs not reimbursed) Needless to say I am disappointed it needs serviced already! I have used it in the meantime and love the amount of dirt it picks up. It shows how poorly my old vaccum ( a Hoover Windtunnel) did. I also love that the accessories are stored on the machine. None of them fall off like they did on my previous machine. I agree that the long cord gets in the way when you are vacuuming and you need to hold it up and away so you don't roll and vacuum over it. And as I said before a handle to carry it would solve dragging it upstairs by the thin handle. Overall I am glad I got this vacuum. It does the job. I am upset that it needs serviced and even considered sending it back to Amazon but did not want to wait another 2 weeks for another vaccum. Apparently the dirt alert feature has worked for other reviewers and I was one of the unlucky ones that got a machine that had a faulty one.
edited to add. after 4 weeks at the service center I did get my vacuum back. Now the light never goes out. But I am sure it is working as my carpets are very dirty! I love how much dirt this vaccum picks up :O).. apparently, according to the service center i went to, the dirt alert feature is a problem for this vaccum and it has been known to break down.. Besides that I live it!

I just purchased this machine and used it at home immediately. The assembly was very simple. I had vacuumed my carpet earlier with my old cleaner. After I used my new Eureka, I couldn't believe it. It picked up so much dirt, and pet hair. The extension wands are great, and the True HEPA filter works great. The machine glides across the carpet due to the self propulsion feature. Plus, Consumer Reports magazine had this machine rated higher than any other vacuum they reviewed. I would definitely recommend this vacuum to anyone who is in the market for a new vacuum cleaner.

My vacuum finally arrived! (It took a month from the time I placed the order and the box looked pretty beat up from shipping.) It came out of the box, and with one screw it was ready to go! But wait! Isn't this supposed to be self-propelled? I can already tell from the dirt cup accumulation that this vacuum will do a great job, but I'm going to have a right arm like Popeye after he eats his spinach if I have to push this thing! So... I call the Eureka hot-line... "do this, do that... I'm sorry but it looks like you'll need service on the machine" NO! I decided to take a quick look "under the hood" and saw the cable that was in the handle extending into an ominous black box. Two screws...can't hurt to look (with the machine unplugged, of course), so I pop off the cover and, alas, the snap-on cable connection to the power supply is dangling. It must have come loose in shipping! THAT'S IT! The vacuum works just fine now! And yes, this is THE BEST vacuum I ever owned! Talk about instant gratification -- the see through dirt cup tells you how much your efforts are paying off. Even my college age son has taken to vacuuming his room! (He was determined to make the dirt sensor light go off!) Even after a bumpy start and a considerable wait for delivery, it was all worth it! This is an EXCELLENT product and a real deal from Amazon! If you need a vacuum, I say GO FOR IT!

I bought this model in December of 2002 and it immediately had a problem with a broken valve that required service at a local authorized service center that was covered by the warranty. It worked well after that but now, after the warranty has run out, another valve has broken on the clean water tank and I am having trouble finding a replacement...although it looks like when I do find the part it will cost about $50. It seems that the valves that control the input and output of water from the tanks are just made too cheaply out of weak plastic and they are going to continue to fail.

We got this steamer because we had an 8 week old puppy join our family and she did not know where the bathroom was. Decidedly so she made it our carpet! I used it in the house, our lobby, our elevators, the staircase, you name it, she pee'd on it and we steamed it up. Our neighbors could not be happier because we made the common area that much cleaner!

I would suggest buying the carpet cleaning solution either at costco or elsewhere. The Hoover one can get really expensive and it is gone after one use. However, we got the one from Bissel and it works just fine with the unit.

We did notice that sometimes if used exactly like the manuel tells you to then you can over-saturate the carpet and it takes forever to dry no matter how many times you go over it to suck up the water. However, if you just scrub it through once and then dry run it a couple of times, it works great and in less than 30 minutes you'll have clean carpet!

I couldn't be happier with the unit. The only thing I guess is that when you take the bottom unit out (the part that holds all the dirty water) to empty, it leaks water so be careful! Remember to take it apart somewhere you can wipe it up. I learned the hard way.

I have to say, I am pleasantly surprised with this machine. My wife and I have been researching deep cleaning machines for a while, and we have gone back and forth on a few different models. We have 2 very crazy dogs, both under a year old, and we have a very wet backyard. So, with spring (mud season) coming, we finally decided to stop comparing and just purchase something. We went to Home Depot, bought the cleaner for a whopping 300 bucks, and I must admit, being a pessimist, I was fully expecting the product to work just "okay". After some very easy assembly and reading of directions, we were ready to go. We started in our family room, which has a deep blue small pile carpet, and was just vaccumed about 2 hours before. There were 2 stains from dogs urinating on the carpet, where the previous cleaning attempts didn't work too well. We followed the directions to the letter, and about 15 minutes later the entire room (15x24) was completely clean. The carpet was back to it's original deep blue, the week-old urine stains were totally gone, and the water in the waste chanber was utterly disgusting (almost black). I was totally surprised that it cleaned as deeply as it did. The carpet was a little wet, but with a few extra passes, it got dry enough to walk on. About 4 hours later, it was completely dry to the touch. After the family room, we went to our bedroom, which has a very plush, thick pile khaki-colored carpet. It had multiple doggy vomit stains as well as one very nasty doggy diarrhea stain that just would not come out. Neither myself or my wife figured it would work all that well, but we gave it a shot. The 5 vomit stains, some about 4 weeks old and repeatedly worked over with a sponge, came out in 7-10 slow passes. The diarrhea stain came out after about 15-20 slow passes. Now, this used a ton of water, but all the stains came out completely. I was shocked. This product really works, if you give it time for deep stains. We have paid $150 for Stanley Steemer to do our carpets a few times, and I have to admit, I think the Hoover did a better job. We have only had it for a few weeks, but we have been totally satisfied. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 for two reasons. The first is that you have to change the clean water, dirty water, and detergent tanks alot. When we were cleaning the family room, I think we had to change both the clean water and dirty water tanks 3 times, for a 15x24 room. The detergent tank (16 oz.) was empty at the end of cleaning the room. The second reason is that the Hoover does no better than a $5 mop for hard floors. We have both tile and hardwood floors, and we tried it on both. I was very unimpressed. DO NOT buy this product if want to clean your hard floors. ABSOLUTELY BUY THIS PRODUCT if you want extremely clean carpets, and total ease of use. It is fantastic.

I had a lower end foodsaver sealer for 7 seven years, till the heat sealer bar went. Bought this one and love it. Read the review from people in Denver who had problems with the alitutde there, I lived at 10,120 feet above sealevel and mine works great(St.Mary Glacier CO.) We used it to put meats up, like wild game, to seal potato chips bags, and lunch meats, and meals. Don't have a problem with liquids either, if you hold the bag below the sealer(like on the side of the countertop), and keep the liquids in the bottom of the bag, if seals fine. Also on not sealing, I notice my husband has problems, he usually doesn't seal the 1st side of bag right, and has a air hole, which allows air in. I double seal the 1st side. A great product, with so many uses. I use mine everyday, and can't see life without it

This is one of those pleasant times that you find that the hype meets expectation! Here in Oregon, fishing and hunting are dominant activities and making the most of one's bounty is critical. I shopped on-line with all of the major stores for this midrange model and Amazon provided the best price and free shipping! The shopping experience was excellent! This device extends the freshness of your catch, whether you wish to eat fresh, smoke your game, or freeze it. I use it hand-in-hand with canning, smoking, or otherwise preserving meat and it performs its duties flawlessly. It is much like this was designed especially for the fisherman! This particular model had the features that I was looking for such as a Vac Channel for moisture dispersal, an adjustable time switch on the sealer, and a Manual Seal button. The mason jar sealer works extremely well and is an efficient method of keeping foods fresher longer. I would recommend this particular model to anyone interested in long term, efficient, food storage, (without having to pay up to twice as much for the Professional Model).

The FoodSaver Vac1050 is my second vacuum sealer unit from Tilia. An earlier model just wore out from constant use. The unit works flawlessly and will pay for itself many times over. My freezer is full of foods bought in bulk and separated in vac bags for individual meals. I especially love the ability to seal foods in canning jars. Coffee, brown sugar, rice and flour are just a few of the dry items that will retain their freshness in these containers. I like to make large meals such as lasagne and stuffed shells, divide them into individual servings and freeze the portions in the resealable bags for lunches. And the bags are reusable even when used to store poultry. A little dish soap mixed with a few drops of bleach will kill any bacteria that may have formed. One suggestion on bags: Cut the bags much larger than you need. In this way, you can reuse them many times and just throw away the part that you have cut away when you open the bag.

This is an absolute 'must have' for a family. You can purchase food in bulk and never have to worry about spoilage or freezer burn. It will be one of your most used kitchen appliances and you will wonder how you ever got along without it!