Rainbow E-Series E2

I had seen a Rainbow demonstration many years ago and was very impressed but unfortunately I was not able to afford one. Over the years I used Just about every kind of vacuum cleaner there was. None of them… could clean like the Rainbow!! After my parents passed away, I "inherited" their Rainbow which was about 20 years old. I loved the way it would still clean after all those years. My husband bought a new Kirby in 2001 because he had always heard they were superior vacuum cleaners. I HATED that Kirby!! It was heavy and hard to use and the bag caused it to stink up the house every time I turned it on. Then, my dream came true when I was able to purchase a new Rainbow E2! I used my mother's older Rainbow as a trad-in for the new one. The older Rainbow had been a faithful machine for well over 25 years and had only had one minor repair in all that time. The Rainbow cleans better than any other vacuum I've ever used, especially that HEAVY Kirby monster! I find it easy to use. It rolls along very well on carpet or hard floors. It has so many other uses besides just regular vacuuming. It cleans and scents the air. It will act as a vaporizer/humidifier and the eucalyptus fragrance in wonderful for cold and flu season. I use it to clean my vinyl floor in the kitchen and the floor is just a little damp when I'm finished. Those cleaning features are just a few as others have mentioned. Yes, I have to empty dirty water when I'm finished cleaning. But, it is no where as messy as emptying a filthy vacuum cleaner bag or a nasty dirt cup and spewing all that stinky dust right back on surfaces and in the air I breathe! I will never use any other vacuum in my house unless it's a newer Rainbow. Maybe in another 20 years or so I will need to get a newer one. Then I'm sure I will pass the one I have now on to one of my grandchildren because it will most likely be in as good a condition as Mother's Rainbow was after more than 25 years of use! P.S. I knew someone who found one of the old silver Rainbow vacuum cleaners in the basement of an apartment building where it had been left for many years. He cleaned it up and tried it out and it worked perfectly! It was over 35 years old!!

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I did not plan to spend so much money on a vacuum. The most I had ever spent before this purchase was $500 for a Miele upright. It lasted five years, but the plastic that held the hose broke and the vacuum… was not performing well. It would stink my house up every time I ran it, even with a brand new bag. Yuck. I went ahead with the rainbow demonstration because I would get a free two day hotel stay for just listening. After the presentation both me and my husband (usually prudent with his purchases) HAD to have the vacuum. It was amazing to see how well this vacuum picked up dust. After the decision was made and the check was signed I felt almost an immediate sticker shock. What had I done? So I set about using it. Because my Miele was getting so nasty to use I had not used it except for traffic areas. With two indoor pets, both heavy shedders, and a dirt driveway we have a LOT of dust in our home. So much it almost feels like a futile effort to dust. So I decided to completely vacuum and dust my whole bedroom (severely neglected) with the rainbow as a first test. I put some deodorizer into the water and started to work. I vacuumed the whole room, I vacuumed the blinds, windows, dressers walls, ceiling fan and floorboards using the duster tool. There was so much dust in some areas I was really embarrassed. But as I vacuumed I could feel the air get cleaner. When I was almost through with the room the sun beamed in the window and my jaw dropped. In that sunbeam there was not ONE spec of dust. And the room smelled WONDERFUL. When I dumped the water (which to me is very easy and worth the effort) I was amazed at what the Rainbow picked up. Oh my lord! It was unreal. My husband came in and he was amazed as well. The air *looked* cleaner. The Rainbow came with a bag that I can use to suck the air out of my cushions, then reverse the air flow and fluff them back up. I did that to my whole couch and then completely vacuumed all pillows and cushions. The dirt it pulled from my couch was amazing! And my cushions looked as fluffy as when I first bought them. My area rug gets a little lighter every time I vacuum. Very amazing. I also am amazed at how dust free my house now feels. The dust doesn't just collect again an hour after I dust, it stays gone for days! For me the biggest bonus of this vacuum is the smell removal. I've never walked into my ultra sealed house and not thought, "It smells funky in here." It always did...until now. Now I walk in and it smells fantastic. I love that I can put scents in the water basin, run the vacuum, and have the house smell like I just baked an apple pie or sprayed a great air freshener. I've read complaints about how heavy this is. I live on a single level house and it's very easy for me to just pull this thing along. Hardly any effort required. I am able to dust my high ceilings and fans easily. I also love that it will basically lay flat and get right under my couches, beds, and coffee tables with no moving them. Awesome! If this vacuum lasts I would gladly give it five stars. The four is for the cost, which is very high and the fact that I found there was play room in the cost by reading online AFTER the salesman left. I feel like I paid more because I didn't realize I was supposed to "haggle" the cost down. Oh well. My salesman was courteous and friendly and I think he'll make good on service problems if they arise. All in all I am in love with this vacuum. Dumping a water canister after vacuuming is a small price to pay for a dust free and clean smelling environment. If you have a friend with one ask them to borrow it and have them help you use it before you buy.

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There are things about this vacuum that I LOVE and HATE! It is heavy but luckily I have a single story home so no upstairs. The suction is GREAT! You are going to read other reviews about this vacuum not… filtering well. To me, that's the best thing about this vacuum. The filtration is excellent if you use the machine properly! I read others saying that you have a mess to dump out at the end and have to go outside or dump it down the toilet with a strainer etc. I don't have any of these problems because I change the water FREQUENTLY and just dump it down the sink when it looks like dirty mop water. When I first got the Rainbow, I had to change it about 5 times vacuuming my 1400 sq ft house with wall to wall carpet, now I can vacuum the whole house on one fill of water without having to change the water so often. If you continue vacuuming with a basin full of "MUD", this is when you are going to run into problems like water has to be taken outside and dumped because it's too thick to dump down the sink or in toilet, the dirt that you're vacuuming up will bounce right off the mud, go into the hepa filter or back out into the air (if your model doesn't have a hepa). It is an added inconvenience to stop and dump the water down the sink every 10 min's or so, but hey, you can dump it down the sink and don't have this pot of mud to deal with, put fresh clean water in and continue vacuuming. I know there is controversy regarding water capturing dirt. I say water does capture the dirt and very well! If it didn't, I would have a NASTY hepa filter after three years and the thing is still snow white on BOTH sides. I've never seen any other vacuum cleaner's hepa filter stay clean that long. No, you can't vacuum non wettable dirt like talc powder or fireplace ashes or drywall dust (those materials are not wettable) and will go straight onto the hepa, but most household dirt doesn't contain these materials. Drywall dust is TERRIBLE for ANY VACUUM!! The machine still smells fantastic! I've taken care of it though. It also works as a blower. I cleaned the refridge coils and the design of the coils were such that they couldn't be reached even with the smallest attachment. So I turned the hose around to the blow and placed the Rainbow so that when I blew the dust out, the Rainbow intake would capture it. It worked! It also has an air cleaner though I'm not completely sold on the low speed air cleaning feature. It doesn't seem to move much air. I also am not crazy about the power nozzle. It looks nice but something about the way it's designed seems to choke off some of the airflow. I think there are a couple of better power nozzles on the market that will fit the Rainbow that are much better, though this one still works decently, just not overly impressed by it. There is an optional 14 foot wet/dry hose you can purchase and this thing is WONDERFUL. I have high ceilings and I can get on a step ladder in my house and get way up on the kitchen cabinets, ceiling fans, and any other high areas that collect dust while the rainbow sits on the floor. You can't do this with the standard six foot wet/dry hose that comes with it. The wands are stainless steel and will not rust inside. You can buy essential oil scented and put a couple of drops in it and it smells AWESOME while cleaning. Even though you're changing the water often these bottles of scented oil last FOREVER it seems. You can also put these drops of oil in a regular vacuum bag but it just doesn't smell as good to me. Something about the dust in the bag mixing with the smell of the oil isn't the greatest. Conclusion: Would I pay 1700 dollars for this vacuum brand new? NO! Do I recommend this vacuum? YES!!! If you think you are the type of person that can deal with the extra maintenance, then I say get on refurbished from a REPUTABLE vacuum shop ONLINE or LOCALLY for much less money! I wouldn't buy one from someone "just selling" their Rainbow because if that's the case, it hasn't been cleaned and refurbished. There are even vacuum shops on the internet that recondition Rainbows with original Rexair parts. Other vacuums may work good and are more convenient, but there's no other clean like using this machine if used properly.

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Getting this was a mistake from day one. I have lots of dogs and live out in the country so I have to vacuum a lot. I find that I am so sick of emptying the water tank and cleaning the thing out twice a day… that I hardly ever vacuum. Then When I do I have to empty it 6 times to clean my whole house. In the winter I have to dump it down the toilet or I have to bundle up to dump it outside in the snowstorm. It makes my toilet need a lot more cleaning and then I get the bathtub dirty when I try to clean the scum off the sides of it. So every time I vacuum I also have to clean the bathroom. Other people can't seem to use it without training. My house sitters and house cleaners that I have from time to time don't like it at all, have left water in it to rot, and usually bring there own now. The company did not fallow through an any promises either. I was supposed to get a free shampooer, hard floor cleaner, and something else (Value $400) for giving them 6 friends names. They never called my friends, will not return my phone calls, and verily answer the e-mails. Other problems: -The loudest vacuum I have ever had -The suction is good but not that good -Poor job on hard floors -Attachments fall off the attachment holder and get lost -It is very heavy -He said it would go up stairs unless they are very narrow, but it will not without a mess -Spilt kitty litter hits the water and becomes a yucky mess

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This system takes so much time and effort to set-up and then to clean once you are finished that you do not want to vacuum your house unless you are going to do the whole house. You have to fill with water,… add sanitizer, and also a fragrance. After complete you have to empty the water container (very gross) and clean all dirt out and then remove a bolt and take the fan blade piece off and scrub with a tiny brush. Then leave everything out until it dries. It also says you can't store the unit with the water container in it. I also noticed that dirt was getting into the motor after a only couple of uses, another thing to clean... I think I only people that recommend these units are the people selling them, pocketing mass amounts of cash. (see ebay if you really want one). Also their return policy gives you only 3 days... Their sales people must be the best in the business! They convinced my wife that she had to have one even though we didn't have the money. Not worth the money! I am angry every time I see the pile of components that make up the system. Anybody else that I have spoke with also hates these vacuums... I would have stopped using the unit but my wife traded in our current vacuum and now we have no money to go buy a reasonable vacuum.

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