Wow, the hand held vacuum has come a long way since the first introduction of the Dust Buster back in 1979. To think that the Black & Decker Dust Buster was a by product of the Apollo space mission and here we are decades later still talking about these products. Today the hand held vacuums are amazing how they have become smaller, more powerful, lighter and packed with features. Speaking of that let’s jump in and take a look at the Black & Decker Stick Vacuum Review.
Black & Decker Stick Vacuum Review Overview
Before I go on I want to make it clear that this stick vacuum is no competition against your upright Dyson. After we released the review of the Black & Decker SmartTech Vacuum, I received an email from someone saying it was crazy why I gave it high remarks when his Dyson blows away the SmartTech.
Look at it this way. Your upright vacuum is like a pickup truck. The upright is designed for the whole house, big jobs. It’s heavy, bulky and you have to fight a cord. The stick vacuum is like a sports car. It’s for quick jobs, no cords, no hassle. Just get the work done quickly.
We have two boys, 7 and 9. As you guess they are always making messes around the house. So for us and people like us, the stick vacuums are awesome and a necessity for our household.
These types of vacuums are so convenient where we just turn it on and go. No bulky vacuum, no plug, no heavy lifting.
Black & Decker Stick Vacuum Review Features
There are three main pieces to this vacuum. The main unit which is the hand held vacuum which has the motor and stores the debris. There is a handle and a floor attachment.
The vacuum is a 4 in 1 which means you can use this in 4 different ways
- Upright Vacuum
- Hand Held
- Stair (Hand Held with floor attachments)
- High Places (Hand Held with handle)
The hand held is where the on/off slide switch is located. So if you use that as an upright, you will either have to bend down or lift the unit up to turn it on or off.
To empty the canister, there is a button that will release the front end of the vacuum. This way you can dump the dirt plus access the filter.
The canister is very easy to take off and put back on. The filter is washable which means you’re not stuck buying extra filters.
The floor attachment is pretty nice. There isn’t a brush but there are nice smooth rollers which are great for hard surfaces. Plus the head pivots which makes it nice when going around furniture.
The vacuum uses a rechargeable battery that will last up to 12 minutes on a single charge. Just plug it in and you will be charging.
Black & Decker Stick Vacuum Review Performance
When looking at the performance there are two things that are important to me. The suction and the versatility. I understand this is a stick vacuum and I am not going to do deep cleaning, but I still want something that can get the job done.
First, is versatility. I really don’t know another vacuum that has the versatility as this. Sure there are other vacuums where you can clean high, clean the stairs and the floors. However, with a lot of those you still have a heavy hose, you still have to deal with a power cord and you still have the bulkiness. With the Black & Decker Stick Vacuum, that’s all gone. So for versatility, this vacuum rocks.
Number two on the list is suction. This is what you would expect from a hand held vac. For me, this is great for light clean up such as on wood or tile floors. Yes, it will work on a rug or carpet. On a hard surface floor, I thought the suction was awesome and always picked up what I threw at it. On a rug or carpet, it was a different story. The vacuum still did a great job, but there were sometimes it just wouldn’t pick up certain things such as a small piece of string that was embedded into the carpet.
Again, not a big deal because I understand this is designed for the quick pick ups. With that being said, I am happy with the suction.
The run time was more than enough. I know Black & Decker states a 12 minute run time. I never had it die on me while I was using it. Primarily because it’s designed for quick jobs and that was all I used it for.
Black & Decker Stick Vacuum Review Value
What would you be willing to pay for a vacuum that is lightweight, versatile and makes your life easier? How about $40? Yes, this only cost $40 which I think is a steal considering you can use this for floors, stairs, up high or just as a hand held vac.
It is so nice to just grab a lightweight vac and not mess around with a cord to pick up small messes. I have to admit, before these stick vacs, there were a ton of times I would just leave the mess on the floor. I never wanted to grab the vacuum, plug it in and then put it all away for a couple of crumbs. With the stick vac, I am no longer lazy.
Black & Decker Stick Vacuum Final Thoughts
All in all, this is a nice little vacuum for quick jobs. While it doesn’t perform deep cleaning, it’s perfect for those quick spills and quick clean ups. In fact, I have my kids using this all the time to clean up around the dinner table after we eat. In the end, this is a great tool to have around the house I love the fact you can use this to clean the floors, clean up high or just clean the stairs, the versatility is great. For the price, you can’t go wrong.
