Rainbow E Series Vacuum Review

I grew up with a Rainbow in our home. My parents didn't have a lot of money so they bought the model that the guy used for demos. My mother still has it.

This always impressed me; despite the fact that as a kid I hated the vacuum because I was the one that got the impressive job of emptying out the water bin. As an adult I have asked to use her Rainbow many times.....particularly when the $200 vacuum we bought a few months prior just quit sucking.

So when a friend asked me if I was interested in sitting through a Rainbow demo, I jumped at the chance! Of course, I had an idea of how much it cost and neglected to tell me husband that detail. I wanted him to see what we were dealing with here. The man that did the in-home was not someone that I clicked with at all; however, what he had to show us amazed even me! The demonstration involves using your regular vacuum alongside the Rainbow as well as the use of black clothes to see how much each machine was picking up. After vacuuming with ours, we re-vacuumed with his. By far, the Rainbow picked up so much more junk, it was embarrassing. I could believe how filthy even my walls were! After a few nights of urging my husband (after all, we had just spent ANOTHER $200 on ANOTHER vacuum) I talked my husband into it. (Key thing here was the fact that we were going to spend the money every couple of years anyway and my mother had spent the money all at once, over twenty years prior.)

We now have a Rainbow, as well as the carpet cleaning attachment (this was a free bonus for referring friends). Although it can be a pain to haul out and put together (it does involve many attachments) I do feel that my house is much cleaner than it was before. My oldest is asthmatic and it seems that since we have started using the Rainbow, his allergies have diminished...which equates to less attacks. Also, we have moved from the States to Guam in the past year. The regular vacuum attachment is only used on the rugs, but the vacuum is still invaluable in that it will get up the tiniest speaks of dust off of our ceramic tiled floors.

Now, for the disadvantages. The vacuum still requires the dreaded water dish. This is the power behind the sucking action. There are no bags to refill, but the water has to be dumped each time you use it and the dish must be cleaned. The first couple of uses it is cool to find what all the vacuum sucked up into the water...but soon it is just disgusting. I have since relegated the task to my husband. =) Another disadvantage is that the thing is bulky. Although they have worked on the weight of the model since I was a kid and it is no longer so heavy, it is still a large instrument and not as convenient as some other forms of vacuums to carry up and down stairs. The last issue that I have with it is that there are so many attachments. I think this is more my personal laziness than anything else. But it is not easy to move from one task to the other. And the attachments are all housed on the main machine itself, so they can fall off, which is a little annoying.

For the disadvantages listed, however, I would never give up my machine. It was a pretty penny (over $1000) but I know that I will not be buying another vacuum for at least the next 15/20 years. I also know that when I do, it will be another Rainbow.