Kenmore Upright 31140 vs Kenmore 8161 600 Series

It's heavy like a typical Kenmore but it's not that bad and it cleans really well like you'd expect now. I'm surprised because the Bushell underneath ...

Besides using the vacuum for normal floor cleaning, you can easily clean the edges and corners of your room with the Kenmore 81614 canister vacuum cleaner. This Kenmore canister vac combines the affordable price, quality and performance in a unit that are design for all-surfaces cleaning including the pet hair This is a 2-motor system that comes with powerful suction power (12 amps) and you can use it to clean all types of floors including bare floors, carpets and dog hairs. The vacuum cleaner is provided with adjustable suction power and can be used according to the type of material or surface being cleaned. You can reduce the power for delicate carpets, furniture and so on

We have discovered if you vacuum in one direction, the exhaust--with almost near-precision--creates walls of hair to suck up easily with the incredibly short hose. See #4. #4 Crazy. Short

We just got it, the second one, identical, i took a brush and used it with old vacuum, it works awesome so far! So a[ardently, brash alone was a problem, we should start from replacing it, instead of a handle. We used the first one for one year in total, even though with constant troubles, but it is so cheap, that i thought to give it another chance, maybe the other one will last longer, if not- i will look for something else, because buying it once a year will be costly overtime. Update: I noticed that the first vacuum (exactly identical 200 series Kenmore) had telescopic expandable pipe, this new one, ordered in 2019, does not, and it is so short that with my height on 5’1” I can not use it! It’s too inconvenient. The other issue with new vacuum: bare floor attachment has too thin brush, which is too soft, like it is not even there, so entire brush just sucked to floor, that you can’t even move it around! Same about upholstery brush -too flimsy

However, this vacuum doesn't come with a extension hose which is necessary for the vacuum to be more efficient. This is a grave omission since the unit itself is really great. The suction is strong, and handles cat hair and litter on hardwood floors. The pet hair attatchment is a plus for furniture, but is difficult to use since there isn't an extension hose

I was able to follow the instructions for putting it together. Overall it seems intuitive to use and has excellent suction, especially on rugs and carpet. The switch for hardwood, carpet and power on the handle work as intended but seem flimsy. It’s easy to hit the carpet setting on hardwood

There is a cloth pre-motor filter at the top of the dust bin that needs to be washed and one (the exhaust filter) in a tray on the bottom of the canister itself that needs to be changed when it gets dirty. Like with all vacuum cleaners with spinning brushes, definitely keep that clean as well. Also, a lot of the dust bin is meant to be disassembled by the user in case it gets too dirty. The manual would tell you how to do all of this

It does a good job picking up dust and dirt from both. But Cons: - The air filter cover pops off. There's a single sliding latch that is supposed to keep the cover on, but it pops off frequently when the vacuum is stood on end. The design would have been better off if Kenmore had put on two opposing latches to release the cover

Kenmore top load direct drive 70-80 series. Oldies but are solid and if they do go, they are really easy to work on. Anyone can do it tbh

I have a 10 year old Miele swivel upright vacuum, which I love (sadly, it'I believe they stop making them longer & replaced with a few worthless battery corded stick vacuums) and a Sebo Flexi swivel upright. My uprights have a swivel heads which makes moving them about from room to room a breeze, plus there's isn't a long hose to push while dragging the heavy canister behind you (that crashes into everything).

Because of that, you need to wash the pre-motor filter and wipe the inside of the bag compartment every so often. That is one thing I wish Kenmore would fix. If you do not mind that, it is a good unit.

It tips over & the hose gets tangled & the hepa-filter falls off all of the time. This vacuum has actually come between my husband & I..

It is much better than a Shark or Bissell, though. The build quality is superior and the cyclonic setup traps more fine dirt keeping the pre-motor filter cleaner for longer than a Bissell or Shark. The Kenmore also comes with a dedicated hard floor tool. Do keep in mind that you need to wash that filter and replace the exhaust filter every so often

Poorly made, the back filter door pops off continually and filter falls out. And it's July and the filter is NOT washable and you have to duct tape the filter door. Worst piece of junk I ever bought

Although the Kenmore has best in class suction power and carpet beater, it's just a PITA to use and manuever around. Also, the removable hose for the attachments is painfully short, and a lot of people have griped about it. So, when the Vacuum Wars guy said that although this vacuum has best suction power, they used the Shark almost all the time in their house cleaning business because it was just much easier to use AND it had good enough suction power. Actually, better than good enough, but excellent

Out of curiosity, considering the old one is shot, I took apart the wand and discovered the problem. It used to be that the power cord was on the outside of a tube that never extended or retracted. Now, the extendable wand has its wiring inside, in the form of a ribbon wire, that when repeatedly extended and retracted (as much as one can in the 4 months we have had it using it occasionally) the wire snaps at the one connection end. This is a serious design flaw

The Kenmore is a bit more powerful than the Kirby in general; being a much more modern design. It would certainly do a better job on your hard floors and perhaps even your carpet.

I have some floor attachments, brushes, and long-reach wands that fit other vacuums, but they won't work with this Kenmore because of it's design. I was able to fashion an adapter that gets around this problem, but there's some risk the adapter may damage the hose. Kenmore should make their vacuums to use standard attachments, so customers don't lose their investment in specialized attachments. Third, the only attachment with a brush for effectively vacuuming bare floors is only 9 inches wide instead of the standard 14 inch width of most floor attachments