Riccar owners have high expectations for vacuums and cleaning. Nowhere is this more apparent than when we’re in a summer vacation rental. Being just steps from the beach is wonderful – until your bare feet can’t tell the difference between the beach and your living room floor.

Here are our top four annoyances with typical vacation rental vacuums:

1. The Other Guy's Dirt

Typically we find bagless vacuums in rental units. They’re convenient because no one has to remember to check or change a bag. However, a bagless vacuum leaves us exposed to the last renter’s skin cells, hair, and dust.
While you may be on the fence about bagged vacuums, when it comes to vacuum hygiene, bags are better. A bagless vacuum is little competition against a Riccar vacuum with a HEPA media bag that seals the bag closed when the bag is removed.

2.   “Snowplow” Effect

A snowplow pushes snow out of the way. That’s what happens when a vacuum isn’t designed to vent the front of the baseplate -- it pushes debris. A vacuum may have great suction and airflow at the front of the nozzle, but it might not pull objects into the nozzle. Food crumbs like cereal get pushed around, despite multiple passes and multiple angles. If you need a broom to sweep up the big stuff, it’s a vacuum fail.

3.   Too-Short Cord

If you don’t have a cordless vacuum, then having a long cord is ideal. It’s hard enough cleaning around furniture and rugs you’re not familiar with, but also it’s frustrating trying to locate outlets, moving furniture to reach outlets, and unplugging everyone’s phone chargers, appliances and lamps just to vacuum. That’s work, not play! Riccar Cordless SupraLite owners know the freedom of vacuuming without having to stop to change outlets. And short of that, a 35- or 40-foot cord almost makes you forget where the vacuum is plugged in.

4.   Tool Disappointment

The hose, wand, and tools should be easy to figure out and long enough to be useful and have powerful suction. Vacation rental vacuums are often like a puzzle with missing pieces. You might pull out the hose only to realize there’s no wand or handle, the tools don’t fit, or a piece is missing. If the hose is too short, you can’t even reach the dirt, using tools. And if the vacuum isn’t cleaning well, who wants to fish around inside the vacuum to check for a clog?