Is it possible to vacuum frieze WITHOUT damaging it?

[mistyr75]

I am so terribly frustrated right now. A couple of months ago, we put frieze carpet throughout entire house (minus kitchen, dining, bath). I still like the way it looks and feels, but I am having a FIT trying to find a vacuum that will work on it.

So far, I've taken the following steps (with little success):

- researched online 'til my eyes crossed
- called the company we purchased the carpet from
- called the manufacturer of the carpet (Shaw)
- researched the CRI website
- purchased an Oreck Halo, based on info from the CRI website and recommendations from carpet manufacturer.


Here's my problem:
The lady at Shaw said I needed a vacuum that had a manually adjustable brush bar, and that it should lightly touch the carpet.

I ordered the Oreck Halo b/c it is the only Oreck upright with a manually adjustable bar. (It's Bronze level at the CRI.) If I use it on "high", it doesn't pick up effectively. If I use it on "medium-high", it is damaging ("fuzzing") my carpet.

I conducted a test recommended by the CRI lady-- I vacuumed a remnant 200 times (100 front and back). She said if I could detect fuzzing, it's damaging my carpet. I can DEFINITELY detect fuzzing.

I'm at my wit's end here, and I really hope one of you knowledgable folks will help me... Can someone recommend a vacuum that will clean frieze effectively without damaging it?

If it matters, I have Shaw carpet. It's called Open House, and it's 3/4" tall. I think these are the warranty specs for it:

EverTouch® Nylon:
Lifetime: Stain, Soil, Pet Urine Stains.
15-Year: Texture Retention, Abrasive Wear Quality Assurance, SoftBac® Platinum.
30 Day Customer Satisfaction (labor excluded).
Recyclable*

Anyone.... please?

[Tandy Reeves]

You need a vacuum that has no brushes. The brushes are combing the tufts and making them fuzz. Go to a vacuum specialty store and get one that is height adjustable and no brushes. Also, one with at least 50 lbs water lift (they should know what that is), it is the vacuum suction power, the amount of air moving under the vacuum head. The more air movement the greater amount of debris will be moved into the vacuum bag. Hope this makes sense.

[mistyr75]

Thank you so much for taking the time to give me some advice. I will head to a vacuum store as soon as I can. In your opinion, will a vacuum with no brush truly clean the carpet?

[Tandy Reeves]

Yes it will if the vacuum has enough power (water lift). Stay away from the ones with a lot of bells and whistles, those that have amps and volts.and make a lot of noise. Just a good simple disposable bag unit that can take a hepa filters. You may want to look at the Kenmore Upright if you can get one without a brush on the beater bar. It had the best water lift of any I tested about three years ago.

[Jim McClain]

mistyr75 said Thank you so much for taking the time to give me some advice. I will head to a vacuum store as soon as I can. In your opinion, will a vacuum with no brush truly clean the carpet?

Tandy was referring to a vacuum that has a beater bar, but no bristle brushes on the bar. The beater bar usually looks like it kind of spirals around the bar and turns just like the brushes, but vibrates the carpet, not brushes it. Vibrating the carpet will loosen dirt caught in the fibers to allow them to be sucked up.

Unfortunately, vacuum sales people may have been stereo or shoe sales people last week. The sad fact is, many retail operations do not take product knowledge seriously these days - and job applicants may "enhance" their qualifications too. Your best bet is to take as big a sample of your carpet to the store and try it out.

I haven't spent any real time looking at the vacuum recommendations on the CRI site. Anyone have a link? Any comments regarding them?

Jim

[Bill Watson]

I found this...


Vacuums

[Jim McClain]

Couldn't find a list of vacuums. I thought I saw one there a couple years ago. Something kinda bothers me about "seal of approval" programs though. It's about the money changing hands thing - not that there's anything unethical going on, but that the potential is there.

Jim

[Peter Kodner]

Jim, my understanding is the testing is free but the manufacturers have to submit their vacuums. I know Carey Mitchell at Shaw has been very involved in developing the protocols for both vacuums and the cleaning equipment. He is the most straight arrow man I have ever met in the business (and I have known him close to 20 years)- I do not believe for an instant any funny biz occurs.

I find it interesting whose units have not been tested...

I have also found soft brushes do not destroy texture like the hard nylon ones.

The issue I have seen with Orecks is they are so lightweight they tend to bounce and even though they have excellent lift, the "seal" to the carpet is interrupted to easily and they do not clean very well.

The idea of bringing a sample top the store is excellent!

On the CRI site, use the search box on the upper right. You have to drop at least the top two menus and select before hitting search, i.e. "vacuums" and "upright" or "canister"

[mistyr75]

Thanks so much for the feedback! I feel ignorant saying this, but I didn't even know it was possible to have a beater bar with no brush!

Also, the Oreck Halo is not one of the lightweight ones... it's 17 lbs. (Not that that really matters, I'm just sayin'...)

Here's the link to the CRI household vacuums: Seal of Approval / Green Label Vacuum - Certified Vacuums

Not a lot to choose from there...

Thanks again for your help.

Anyway, I'll head to the vacuum store this weekend (hopefully) with a remnant and see what I can find out. I hope that a model with a suction powerful enough to do the job without a brush won't be too difficult to push across the carpet.

It's hard to believe that out of everyone in WWW land, I'm the only person who is struggling with finding a vacuum for frieze carpet. I did find a couple of other people with the same problem, but no solutions (other than just using a shop vac... um, no.) Is this a really poor quality carpet? (I thought it was on the higher end.)

[Peter Kodner]

Misty, I believe part of the issue is what today is even called a frieze. when I joined the industry in the early 70s, friezes were pretty much confined to commercial styles and the tufts were quite short. They looked more like very thin macaroni noodles the the very long tufts lengths common today residential grades. With shorter nap, there simply wasn't enough yarn to become "carded" or combed by a vacuum.

[mistyr75]

Ah, okay... It's very confusing, especially to a regular old homeowner, like me.

If it helps at all, these are the specs on my carpet:

Open House (B) by Shaw - Philadelphia - 00122 Pale Oak
Brand Shaw - Philadelphia
Construction BCF
Fiber Nylon
Fiber Content 100% BCF Anso EB Caress Nylon
Manufacturing Style Number M4846
Total Weight ozs/yd2 30
Type Frieze
Width(ft) 12

I also tried to attach a photo of what it looks like... not sure if it worked though.

Thanks again for all of the help.

[Peter Kodner]

To make it even more confusing, there has been a major change (about 25 years ago is when it first started showing up in carpet)in the way yarn is made from fiber that contributes to the condition. Who knows what I am referring to?

[stullis]

There are some upright vacuums that the beater bar can be turned off.

[mistyr75]

stullis said There are some upright vacuums that the beater bar can be turned off.

Yes, but the ones I've tried don't pick anything up with the beater bar turned off.



Obviously I'm not trying the right vacuums... I am going to a vacuum store as soon as I can, but does anyone have any specific models or brands to suggest?

Thanks again, y'all!

[stullis]

I am NOT in Amway but they had a very good vacuum that the beater bar could be turned off.

Not sure but I also think Kirby has a unit that might work for you.

Professional Vacuum store should be able to help you find something that will work.

Suction only units should work but they will be more work than uprights with beater bars