Oreck Commercial Upright Corded Vacuum Cleaner, Bagged

I refrain from spending time writing reviews for Amazon (or anyone else) when a product has almost 3,000 reviews. What more can be added or said that hasn’t already been stated? But due to my experience, I decided to write a review for the Oreck Commercial XL Upright Vacuum Cleaner, XL2100RHS. And I hope my review helps!

I’m an older woman, in my very early 60s, who has lived in many houses/apartments/condos, always with a few dogs, a couple of cats and a messy husband. In my lifetime, without exaggeration I can say I’ve owned (and discarded) nearly a dozen or more vacuums including $500 Dyson Animal Vacuums (x 3), Hoover Vacs, Bissell Vacs, Shark Vacs, Dirt Devil Vacs, Eureka Vacs, Black ‘n Decker Vacs…my husband even has a very old Rainbow Vacuum unit, which has been serviced a few times over the years. After finally losing it with my last Shark Bagless Canister Upright, I decided I had enough.

After managing with a HORRIBLE Shark Rocket for months, I finally returned to Oreck after reading reviews about their basic, upright, bagged Commercial Vacuum. Since my purchase of this Commercial Oreck, ALL MY VACUUMING ANNOYANCES AND STRUGGLES are gone. Gone are the following: 1) clogged & complex hoses & connections, 2) continual loss of suction, 3) trapped hair/debris in awkward canisters and other impossible to reach places, 4) continually clogged filters that require cleaning, 5) messy canisters & dirty filters/filter holders/caps/canisters, etc, all requiring cleaning, 6) top-heavy units toppling over due to uneven weight, 7) upright vacuums that weigh a TON and are impossible to push, also prone to toppling over, 8) clogged rollers, 8) multiple useless tools and gadgets. For me, ALL of these nuisances are gone with this simple, basic, commercial Oreck…GONE. I am currently one happy camper.

I previously owned an Oreck Upright Home Canister Vacuum, which didn’t work well at all…lost suction. I believe the home-based model I discarded has been discontinued. So, the discontinued canister Oreck failed on me, too. However, in 1985…my past life…I owned a basic, bagged Oreck upright and I recall that thing lasting a very long time and working like a dream.

I’ve come to realize I DETEST canister vacuums. The crazy design of the top-heavy “cordless” canister vacs is laughable, as is the WEIGHT of the canister uprights. The numerous, useless attachments are just that…useless…and usually end up lost, misplaced, broken, or in the trash. The never-ending mess associated with emptying the canister is down-right nasty. The cleaning of NUMEROUS, “hard-to-remember-and-reassemble” parts is mind-boggling. And the list goes on. It doesn’t matter who makes the claims. IMHO, upright canister vacs are a FAIL!

This Commercial Oreck is what I need to vacuum my large area rugs and hardwood floors. A heavy-duty motor, heavy-duty suctioning, heavy-duty rollers, four heavy-duty wheels, a debris receptacle, an on-off switch and a handle. Done. This vacuum maneuvers well, is extremely light-weight and lifts dust/dirt/dog hair/debris like none other.

I’ll use my little upright Shark Rocket for small, hand-held type jobs…the thing is a NIGHTMARE to use on large area rugs…it skips around like a rabbit and cannot maintain suction on any rug. Anyhow, I’ll use that thing with its innumerable attachments for other stuff, I suppose (stairs??). Otherwise, I’ll return to this basic Commercial Oreck until the end of my vacuuming days here on earth! Thanks to everyone for the awesome reviews! Thanks, Oreck for not changing this product design! Please don’t ever depart from this timeless design & function!

I purchased this vaccuum approximately 2.5 years ago. It is used daily in a house with 2 large dogs that shed profusely and constantly track in sand in the winter. I have a 3,000 sq ft house with every flooring type. regular carpet, shag carpet, indoor/outdoor carpet, hardwood, concrete, tile, linoleum. Absolutely excellent performance on hard floors- most other uprights I’ve ever tried on hard floors shoot gravel etc around. This one rules. I use it in every room. This vacuum does it all, and it’s lightweight to carry up the stairs. Bagged style is so convenient. Do not let the bag get full and support the bottom of it when removing. As you probably know, there are no attachments to this vacuum, therefore, if you want to be able to vacuum high areas like curtains etc, you will need something else. I actually pick the whole machine up and run it over my couch. We bought this because of ease of use. My old cannister had a lot of features but was a pain in the ass to use and lug around. This one is a breeze. Couple tips for you, especially for large carpeted areas.
1. Because it is really lightweight, there is no massive motor that does all the work for you. This means there is a bit of an adjustment and it may feel hard to push at first. The trick is to line your pushing elbow up with your hip and don’t overextend your arm. Walk forward 1-2 steps, then back. Don’t extend your arm and push it way out far ahead of yourself.
2. If the time comes that you DO suddenly think it feels hard to push, like it’s taking undue effort- it needs a belt change. We have used this daily for 2 years before changing the belt for the first time. Because it’s easy to use and works on every surface in my home, it gets used a LOT. Way better than a heavy “does everything” machine that you dread using.

I bought this vacuum 13 months ago now and I figured it’s time for a short review.

I’ll start with the pros:
1) this thing is lightweight, about as much as a gallon of milk. My previous vacuum was a cheapo (by cheap I mean about the same price as this) dirt devil and it easily weighed 20 pounds.

2) the vacuum is easy to work on if you ever have to. You can have it apart in 10 or 15 minutes with nothing more than a #2 phillips, swapping the motor shouldn’t be more than a 20 minute job but judging by the size of the thing it should last a while, the carbon brushes are also huge so I don’t expect to have to shell out the $75 to replace those any time this decade.

3) it’s powerful, the aforementioned beefy motor sucks up everything just fine, from stale cereal my 1 year old hid behind the couch for later to my wife’s forgotten hair ties to every single cord I forget to get out of the way before I start vacuuming. I expect the belt would give out before the motor would if she ever jams up.
I see folks talking about not being able to pick up stuff against the walls but if you go in front ways instead of sideways it’ll suck it up good.

4) swapping the bags is easy, just hold on each side of the hole on the stiff cardboard part and push straight toward the port.

5) it’s cheap! You don’t get a lot of features but it’s a vacuum for crying out loud! You get a lot of suck for the dollar.

Cons:
1) No attachments but you should know that already. It’s a vacuum and that’s it.

2) loud as hell, but it isn’t like you have to listen to it all day every day (unless you do, then get some earplugs)

3) those belts are a pain to swap but you only gotta do it once or twice a year, just swapped my first one today after 13 months of use. Be prepared to manhandle your vacuum to get the brush reseated once the belt is on it.

In conclusion, you get what you pay for, Oreck compromises on features to give you a good vacuum for the price.