Vacuum Cleaner Reviews - Best Lightweight Models

written March 04, 2007

The Simplicity Freedom is the best lightweight upright vacuum cleaner on the market. The Freedom weighs approximately 8 pounds. Simplicity claims that it out cleans the nearest competitor by thirty three percent. In my observation and experience, I would agree with this claims as I am an authorized Simplicity dealer and I have sold the competitor model they are referring to as well.

Since it is truly a lightweight vacuum cleaner, there are no onboard tools or attachments. When you buy a lightweight vacuum, you should also by a small canister vacuum to use for hard sufaces and areas an upright vacuum can not access.

The Simplicity Freedom vacuum can only be purchased throught authorized Simplicity dealers. They are not available for sale on the internet as per company policy. If you live near an authorized Riccar dealer, the Riccar SupraLite series is equivalent to the Freedom series.

The Oreck XL2 series lighweight vacuum is my second choice. Oreck has been around for a long time. While I don't feel their lightweight vacuum is a strong as the Freedom, the availability of Oreck vacuum cleaner and Oreck replacement parts holds a significant advantage over the Freedom. I encounter customers who only want to purchase a brand of vacuum they are familiar with. With this being the said, overall I think the Oreck XL is a very close second as far as lightweight vacuum cleaners are concerned.

Lightweight vacuum cleaner are not usually as strong as a regular sized vacuum cleaner in the same price range in my experience. Lighweight vacuum cleaners are however an excellent alternative if a consumer has back problems, arthritis, or some kind of condition that is aggravated by pushing or carrying a heavy vacuum. In my opinion,if you decide on purchasing a lightweight vacuum cleaner, Oreck and Simplicity / Riccar are the only really choice you have in terms of quality. If you choose to buy another brand, I would recommend you buy one as inexpensive as possible so that you minimize an investment in something that probably will not last very long or perform particularly well.