The all singing all dancing Kirby (Kirby GSix Vacuum)

Member Name: Caradawn

Product:	Kirby GSix Vacuum
Date:	02/09/02 (4100 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cleans excellently, comes with shapooer

Disadvantages: Quite heavy, a bit noisy

I worked as a demonstrator for Kirby for a short time, demonstrating the G5 and the G6 when it came out. It was certainly not the nicest job I've ever done, but that's another story entirely. At the time I had a Dyson and after comparing it to that I decided I would have to save up for a Kirby of my own. I was lucky enough acquire a lightly used second hand one recently for £300.

The Kirby has extra attachments the main one being the shampooer which you will more than likely get with the vacuum cleaner when you buy it. I'll tell you more about that later though. Then there is a sander attachment, which tends to come separate to the main machine. I have not yet had the opportunity to use the sander attachment yet so I can not comment on the effectiveness of it. My parents have used theirs though and haven't made any complaints, so I guess that's a good sign. You can also get a floor polisher for the Kirby, which is for wooden flooring. Oddly enough I have never actually seen this attachment, so unfortunately I can not comment on it.

The vacuum cleaner can be used in a variety of ways. As a cylinder cleaner it can be used to suck or blow (no I'm not trying to be rude!). On the front of the main body of the cleaner is the inlet and the outlet is on the side. To use the suction you attach the hose to the inlet on the front and the bag to the outlet. To convert the cleaner to blow, you simply remove the hose from the front inlet and put it on the outlet where the bag usually goes. You then place a cover (which is provided) over the inlet to stop anything that might get caught up in it. The suction on the Kirby is quite powerful and we often demonstrated it against other vacuum cleaners. The best cleaning power, however, comes from the upright. To convert it from the cylinder to the upright cleaner you have to unhook the hose from the front of the machine and replace it with the main head. Before attaching the main head you
have a kind of lever at the front which you need to wind to lift the drive belt up off the brush. Then when the head has been attached to the front of the machine you wind the lever back down to place the belt on the drive spindle which activates the vibration and turns brush. If you want to use the cleaner on suction only, say for wooden or linoleum floors, you would simply wind the belt off. The main head of the upright cleans through suction and vibration, the idea being that it loosens any imbedded dirt as it cleans. You can actually see the dirt jumping around the head of the cleaner from the vibrations. It is very effective and leaves the carpet looking fluffier and newer. It is a bit noisy though and you can feel the vibrations through your feet if the floor under the carpet is wooden.

The tools which come with the Kirby are a crevice tool, an anti static dusting brush attachment, an upholstery/drapery attachment and two extension hoses. There is also a deep cleaning attachment for upholstery and stairs, which works in a similar way to the main head, but isn't as bulky. All of the tools and attachments are for use with the cylinder cleaner and come with a storage case. They are all made of a durable plastic and the cylinder hose is strong and flexible enough to twist into knots and be trod on without damage being caused. A sharp object will pierce it though as it would any vacuum hose. In addition to the vacuum cleaner tools you get a shampoo foaming/spray tool which attaches to the vacuum hose. You fill the reservoir with water and carpet shampoo and when you pull the trigger it sprays out a foam. This is designed for use on upholstery and stairs, where you can't use the full size shampooer.

There were two demonstrations we did with the Kirby which were guaranteed to amaze people and often got us a sale. The first was to pour sand on the floor and get the client to vacuum it up with their own cleaner. When they thought they had got
it all up we would run over it with the Kirby and suck up more about half of what we originally put down. The other great demonstration was on the mattress. We would vacuum their mattress and then show them what had come out. It was a grey powder, which we would then explain (truthfully) that it was dead skin, sweat, dust mites and dust mite faeces. If you are squeamish you might be loathe to sleep in your bed after seeing some of the muck we got out of some mattresses.

The outer bag on the Kirby is made from Micron Magic filtration, which is a very fine filtration system. Which makes it great for asthma and allergy sufferers. I can personally vouch for the efficiancy of the bag because I got a split in one of the disposable (non Kirby) bags and didn't even realise until I opened the outer bag to check whether it needed emptying. The disposable bag can be easily removed and disposed of without get dust everywhere, unlike my Dyson which was bag less and I ended up breathing a lot of dust in whilst emptying it. It is also quite a large bag and can take months to fill. I use my vacuum cleaner a lot and a bag lasts me well over six months.

The machine is quite heavy, but it has a drive system, which makes it easy to push around, when it?s switched on. The woman I got it from had started having back trouble which was the reason why she sold it. If you?re not fit and healthy then lugging it up and down stairs can be rather awkward.

The only real complaint I have about the Kirby is that you have to remove the main head and fit the hose in order to get to the edges of the carpet and any hard to reach places which the main head can't clean. With my Dyson I just needed to unclip the hose from the back.

The shampooer attachment is a godsend for me. Particularly as I have a toddler and a partner who likes to walk oily and muddy footpaths through the house. It attaches to the front of the machine in the same way as the main vacuum he
ad. It works by mixing the carpet shampoo and water into a foam, leaving the carpet merely damp and not soaked. It has an optional carpet fluffing bar which you can attach (basically just a strip of plastic), but I have personally never bothered using it as it does an excellent job without it. I have only ever used the Kirby shampoo in it because it has always worked so well for me. I even managed to clean a spillage of paint off the carpet, saving me from having to buy a new one. It was water-based paint though and I don't plan to see if it will do the same for oil based paint!

The price of a Kirby from a sales person would be £1600. I would not recommend you to accept this price though as you can get the sales person to knock at least £600 off this price. It merely means that the sales person has a cut in their commission.

The Kirby is overall a very good vacuum cleaner and I would recommend it to anyone who can afford it. You only get the standard three year warranty, but the Kirby is built to last and if serviced regularly will practically last a lifetime. All of the moving parts, eg drive belts etc. are quite hard wearing and I have not heard of belts snapping.



xx Caradawn xx

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