Vax Big Bubble bagless (Vax VS 18)

Member Name: Brant

Product:	Vax VS 18
Date:	21/04/04 (1732 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lightwight & bagless, Works well, Inexpensive

Disadvantages: Hose could be longer

Our ageing Panasonic cleaner was gradually giving up the ghost after many years of reliable service and we were on the verge of playing safe and getting another one when my wife suggested ‘going bagless’. Sounded a bit risky to me but I’m all for new experiences so we started looking around.

In the event the decision was quite easy - a Dyson was out of the running straight away; they are (in my humble opinion) overpriced, over-hyped, huge, ugly, heavy, noisy, unreliable and cumbersome. All the others makes we looked at shared the same two problems - they were too big to fit into our narrow (270mm) storage cupboard and were a lot heavier than our old machine.

We had just about given up and were about to get another Panasonic when we saw the Vax Big Bubble stood next to it in the showroom. This looked much simpler and smaller than most of the other bagless wonders and was actually lighter than the Panny! It was still too wide for our cupboard but we noticed that, with the dust canister removed, the simplicity of the design meant that there wasn’t much of it left and it would fit in easily. The final clincher was the fact that it actually cost less than just about any other upright on show, bagged or bagless. (it is currently available for £58 from Comet or Tesco).

It comes in quite a small box because you are expected to do some of the assembly yourself. This is quite easy though and only takes 4 screws and 10 minutes.
I wasn’t expecting much in the way of performance, given the price, but was amazed and horrified when a quick run over the hall carpet produced nearly an inch of muck in the bottom of the canister! You could actually see the carpet lifting slightly as the machine passed over it. 10/10 for suction, then. . There is no height adjustment but this does not seem to affect performance; it performed equally well on laminate flooring - the brush is lifted just clear of the surface so there is no ri
sk of damage.

It’s noisy, but no more so than most others, it’s very light, making it easy to manoeuvre and carry and emptying the dust canister is a doddle. The removable long-life filter needs to be cleaned regularly by tapping it against the side of your dustbin, but should never need replacing. It comes with a basic set of tools and the hose will only reach halfway up a standard staircase. Extension hoses do not appear to be available. The hose is a bit fiddly to attach but the outlet is towards the bottom of the machine so it doesn’t fall over when you pull on it - hurrah! (the Panasonic was terrible for this). The power cable is of adequate length and the on/off switch is foot operated. Construction of the machine is almost entirely plastic and is a bit flimsy compared to more expensive models but should last ok if treated reasonably. I can’t comment on long term reliability because we’ve only had ours a few weeks, but so far we are very pleased. It’s not perfect, but if you are looking for a simple, lightweight, effective and inexpensive cleaner, this is a good buy.

Summary: