Kirby Generation 4
by Sue C. Stoehr
(Graham, WA )
I have owned a G-4 model for 14 years. My parents had a Kirby also so I have essentially grown up with one. I have pretty bad allergies so I felt owning a Kirby would be best for removing all the dust, etc.
The bags fill up fast with an amazing amount of dirt and dust, so you know it's cleaning so much more thoroughly than other vacs. I also use the shampoo attachment and love it for cleaning the carpets in my house. I have to pull out the instruction manual to make sure I set the parts up right, but once it's set up, it's easy to use and goes quickly.
It does not leave the carpets sopping wet for hours like so many commercial rug cleaners do. And because the dirt in the rugs is regularly cleaned by the Kirby, there's no muddy residue building up under your carpets like what usually happens with inferior vacs and traditional carpet cleaning.
Sometimes the stubborn stains in rugs need scrubbing by hand (I usually do it after I've cleaned the carpet already and it's still damp.) Then you go over the carpets again with regular vacuuming, wait a few hours for the carpets to dry, and wah-lah, you have clean, fresh carpets!
The down side to this is that sometimes blackish stripes end up on the carpet while shampooing. It seems to come from the vac, I'm guessing the wheel, but am not sure. I just scrub them out by hand if I notice them.
I also rinse all the parts out in the tub afterwards, otherwise all the wet dirt and debris end up drying on the some of the parts restricting air flow a bit and cleaning ability later, or leave some additional stains on the moist carpeting.
What I really like is that I can clean my carpets much more often and use environmentally safe and unscented cleaners for the shampooing. It also has an attachment for carpeted stairs which is helpful.
I also do most of my house dusting with the attachments, it does a much better job at getting into crevices, etc. than using a cloth and just spreading dust around.
I also have used attachments for cleaning inside my car, using it to clean leaves off the driveway (so quick once it's set up) and for blowing up large inflatable items. (Directions for these are in the manual provided).
My husband and I were probably a bit naive when we bought the Kirby G4 vacuum years ago, not realizing the price could be negotiated. We paid about $1600 for it, but it has certainly paid for itself in all the carpet cleaning alone it has done.
