Bagging Bagless Vacuums – Filtered Bags vs. Bagless Filters

The first vacuum cleaners were designed to be bagless. They used a common cloth or fabric material which needed frequent cleaning to collect the dust and dirt.

In the 1940's the first vacuums using lined paper bags appeared. They were superior to the fabric “dump out” cloth or fabric material because the dirt was easily disposed of. Rather than clean the cloth or fabric, the user simply replaced a disposable bag with a new one. This prevented unhealthy dust cloud poofs and eliminated the task of taking the fabric outer bag outside to empty or beat against a tree to remove the dust from the cloth or fabric material. The cost of these paper bags averaged a nominal $3-5 per year.

The first bagless vacuum cleaners appeared in the early 1980s. Bagless vacuums continue to use filters alone to trap dirt in a container, cup, or receptacle instead of lined paper vacuum bags. Bagless vacuums are frequently but falsely marketed as superior to vacuum cleaners that use bags. The cost of bagless vacuum filters averages $20-80 per year.

Many consumers think bagless vacuums are more advanced than vacuum cleaners that use bags. This is simply not true. Today's high-quality bagged vacuums offer advanced layered bag materials combined with advanced and improved filters. Bagged vacuums offer a far higher level of dust retention than bagless vacuum cleaners at a lower annual cost. Replacement bags and filters are less expensive yearly than filters alone for most brands of bagless vacuums. Bagged vacuums also generally last longer than bagless because each time the bag is replaced the motor runs cooler and more efficiently. Many consumers do not even know their bagless vacuum requires regular filter maintenance and replacement.

Often vacuum motors have to over work to pull air through clogged filters that should have been replaced months or even years ago. Bagged vacuums tend to run cleaner, last longer, and are less expensive to operate. The cost for today's high-quality layered bag/filter combinations ranges from $20-70 per year. Bagged vacuum cleaners have always been superior to bagless. Ask any real vacuum expert, like the professionals you find at your local Bank's Vacuum Superstores.

01/2020