Many of the existing opinions are about the sales pitch rather than the machine itself and since I was given mine I thought an opinion unbiased by the feelings of having spent an inordinate amount of money on a vacuum cleaner might be useful.

The Kirby was passed on to me by my ageing Aunt who found it impossible to use because of the weight. Having no demo by which to judge performance, I just switched on and tried it out. Of course, (Murphy's Law) the height was set at the lowest possible. The test piece, a rug, almost disappeared into the Kirby complete with the cat sleeping at the other end in blissful ignorance of what was about to befall him. I swear the carpet underneath the rug (a fitted carpet) lifted from the floor as well. The power was like nothing I had ever experienced - past cleaners had always been cheap and cheerful. When the last one had finally ‘died’, I had dreamed of being able to buy a Dyson. However, I was endowed with a Kirby, the performance of which was seemingly quite brilliant. The manoeuvrability was like trying to drive a hippopotamus around the furniture but even so, suction was supreme!

Two days later, I discovered the first disadvantage. Merely trying to carry the machine upstairs is a nightmare. The sheer weight is extraordinary. It’s not that it is impossible to carry upstairs but it’s not actually conducive to doing the housework and believe me I need all the incentives I can get! Seriously, though, I can understand why said elderly Aunt had not used the Kirby and was happy to part with it. I don’t generally like to admit to needing a man to do anything but this needs a level of strength and physical fitness I don’t even aspire to. My guess is that it was deliberately designed by men trying to convince themselves that women still needed them to get by.

Nonetheless, I continued to use the Kirby (less so upstairs than down). A large house with large expanses of carpe
t made the Kirby seem rather useful. However, as time passed warp threads were appearing in doorways where carpets were joined and at the edges by the skirting boards. It took some to realise that the Kirby was responsible – the second disadvantage.

The third and final problem I have is that they are so well made that I don’t think it will ever wear out. It’s just been serviced – at a cost of £70. It looks like any part is replaceable and it seems unlikely that I’ll ever see the back of it and be able to justify buying an alternative.

We have now moved to a smaller house and the problems manoeuvring the Kirby around furniture and carrying it up and down stairs far outweigh any advantages of the powerful cleaning performance. I am glad that I didn’t spend a huge amount of money on buying it in the first place but whilst it still functions I guess I stuck with it.

My advice would be don’t buy one. It’s efficient but at a price and just think how many times you could pay someone to clean your carpets for the difference in price.