how often do you change your vacuum bag?

[NicaG]

My old vacuum died, and I just bought a new bagged vacuum. I've never owned a bagged vacuum before and I'm wondering....how often do you change the bags? Just wondering if I signed on for a huge expense I wasn't aware of. Tia!

[EricaDoula]

Depends on how much you vaccumm, and if you have pet hair, etc. I can go 6 months without changing the bag in mine.

[vm9799]

we have a bagged miele canister vacuum. we have a cat and a dog (and 2 kids) and a house with mainly hardwood/tile floors. i average about 3 months with ours before i need to change......vacuuming several times per week. there's an indicator on our vacuum that shows when it's full.......but i can tell by the 'suction' while i'm vacuuming. our bags come 5 in a box and they run about $15 or so......not a huge expense per year.

[Pinoikoi]

My old vacuum used bags.

If the carpet is new it can take weeks for the loose "fibers" to come out of the carpet- you can fill a bag twice just going over a new carpet one time. Really.

[Tizzy]

I have a very old dusty/dirty house with a hairy dog, two young kids and a dirty husband. No really, he drags a lot of stuff in from the barn, garage etc.

I end up changing mine every 3 months or so. I vacuum 2-3x/week to stay on top of everything. It's $9/3pk for bags for my $100 canister vacuum.

[cristeen]

My machine will tell us when it needs a new bag... but with all hardwood, 2 cats and me (I shed a LOT), it really depends. We filled the bag in a single pass over our one carpeted room when we first bought it, but that carpet had gone unvacuumed for years. Since then, we've had the vacuum 4 months, and the light is just starting to blink. Our bags are 5/$15 IIRC, and that comes out to less than $15/year. Considering the HEPA filtration on it, it's worth it to me... DH was vacuuming the other night, and babe and I were sitting right behind the airflow for the vacuum, and not a speck of dust was being kicked up.

[vm9799]

Originally Posted by cristeen

My machine will tell us when it needs a new bag... but with all hardwood, 2 cats and me (I shed a LOT), it really depends. We filled the bag in a single pass over our one carpeted room when we first bought it, but that carpet had gone unvacuumed for years. Since then, we've had the vacuum 4 months, and the light is just starting to blink. Our bags are 5/$15 IIRC, and that comes out to less than $15/year. Considering the HEPA filtration on it, it's worth it to me... DH was vacuuming the other night, and babe and I were sitting right behind the airflow for the vacuum, and not a speck of dust was being kicked up.

this is exactly how our miele is! love the hepa filtration on it and love the fact that there is no dust or dirt blown around anywhere.

also i ditto the fact that carpet will definitely fill the bag faster. in our downstairs we only have one large, room-sized wool oriental area rug with the rest being hardwood/tile. our entire upstairs is our master bedroom and while carpeted, it's a very low pile carpet.

we are huge allergy sufferers in my household and this little machine has changed our living environment! bagged is definitely the way to go in that respect.

[Denvergirlie]

I haven't had a bag vacum in years, but I remember that there was a "fill line" on my bag. When it got to that fill line, it was time to change the bag.

Have you looked at the bag itself to see what is writen on it? There should also be an owners manual that came with your vacume that should be able to tell you all the when's, why's and what's.

The biggest issue is that the holes in the bag will get clogged before the bag is totally full. If the holes in the bags are clogged then it's hard for air to move thru the machine, thus you lose suction.

[nd_deadhead]

I don't have a lot of carpet/rugs in the house, and I don't vacuum as often as I should, and I still can fill up a bag in a month or so (my dog sheds a LOT).

If new vacuum bags seem to be costing a lot of money, you can shake the dirt out of a full bag and reuse it. It's kinda gross, but you can cut your expense in half at least.

[littleplum]

Whenever it got half full, I'd empty it out and reuse until it was in danger of falling apart.

I switched to a bagless vacuum 6 years ago. So much better. I empty the canister every time I vacuum now (so, daily).

[es1967]

Originally Posted by vm9799

this is exactly how our miele is! love the hepa filtration on it and love the fact that there is no dust or dirt blown around anywhere.

also i ditto the fact that carpet will definitely fill the bag faster. in our downstairs we only have one large, room-sized wool oriental area rug with the rest being hardwood/tile. our entire upstairs is our master bedroom and while carpeted, it's a very low pile carpet.

we are huge allergy sufferers in my household and this little machine has changed our living environment! bagged is definitely the way to go in that respect.

I have a Miele too but find I go thru the bags alot faster. I have a small condo, small non shedding dog but I manage to fill those bags fast. I vacuum about 5 times per week. Its all tile. Maybe I'm changing them to often. The air out of the back tends to smell kinda doggy too. So is the Hepa Filter really worth it? I think I need to buy it.
Think I went thru a box of bags in 6 months. Love the vacuum though.

[vm9799]

Originally Posted by es1967

I have a Miele too but find I go thru the bags alot faster. I have a small condo, small non shedding dog but I manage to fill those bags fast. I vacuum about 5 times per week. Its all tile. Maybe I'm changing them to often. The air out of the back tends to smell kinda doggy too. So is the Hepa Filter really worth it? I think I need to buy it.
Think I went thru a box of bags in 6 months. Love the vacuum though.

holy cow! 6 months? a box of bags lasts us a year. the hepa filter is definitely worth it for us! i wait to change my bags until they are full, and the suction is obviously not what it should be. not sure why you would be going through them so fast. i vacuum about every other day or so, so i don't think there's much time for anything to 'pile up' on the floors....other than our kitchen as it's our main entryway from our garage for our family.

[es1967]

Originally Posted by vm9799

holy cow! 6 months? a box of bags lasts us a year. the hepa filter is definitely worth it for us! i wait to change my bags until they are full, and the suction is obviously not what it should be. not sure why you would be going through them so fast. i vacuum about every other day or so, so i don't think there's much time for anything to 'pile up' on the floors....other than our kitchen as it's our main entryway from our garage for our family.

Thanks for the info. I probably am changing the bags too often. My place is only 1000 sq ft so its pretty small. I think I read online that you cannot always go by thing that tells you to change it. It doesn't read accurately. So I was just looking at the bag to see how full it was. Gonna fill them up all the way now.

[Pinoikoi]

Originally Posted by es1967

I think I read online that you cannot always go by thing that tells you to change it. It doesn't read accurately. So I was just looking at the bag to see how full it was. Gonna fill them up all the way now.

I think the biggest difference is the quality of carpet.. I get a LOT of carpet fuzzies in mine..

My carpet is only about a year old, but we didn't get to select the quality that went in, just the color.. I am pretty sure it is one on the bottom end of the scale.