Dirt Devil BD20040 Bagless Stick Vacuum

My vacuuming needs are small as I have mostly wood floors and little carpet. Over the years, I've settled on cordless, bagless lightweight vacuums like this Dirt Devil Stick Vacuum. This is my third vacuum of this type (you can see my earlier reviews), but my first Dirt Devil. My last vac started making an awful noise and did not seem to take a charge well, so it felt like time to start over with a new one.

Bright red

One feature that adds nothing to the cleaning value but pleases my aesthetic sense is the Dirt Devil's bright red color. That's smart from a marketing perspective considering the company's name. Since cleaning is not fun for me, anything to cheer the process is welcome.

The vacuum came in about three parts and was easily assembled following the clear directions provided. I plugged in the adapter and charged it overnight before trying to use it as recommended.

Once the vac is charged, you can expect to get about 30 minutes of vacuuming time. That's enough for my needs, but would not work for a large house.

Adequate vacuum power for me

The "on" button has two positions, one for smooth floors (think wood or tile) and the other for rugs. I can't really tell any difference in the operation regardless of the switch's position and am no longer sure which one is for what. It doesn't seem to matter, as whatever dirt, hair, and other small debris is on the floor gets picked up. Like most vacs, the Dirt Devil doesn't like picking up pieces of thread, but otherwise, its performance is good. The Dirt Devil Stick Vacuum can be angled easily into a flat or almost flat position, enabling the user to vac under beds, sofas, and other furniture.

One nice feature of the Dirt Devil Stick Vacuum that my earlier vacs did not have is a clear plastic dirt cup. This lets you see how much dirt has accumulated, reducing the risk that you will overfill it. An overfilled dirt cup can lead to lower suction or even burning out the motor if the dirt intrudes into it.

The Dirt Devil has another protection against dirt going where it should not: a two part filter. When you remove the dirt cup to dump it, first you take out the small top filter and then you take out a larger, main filter. With this system, it is hard to imagine anything sizable intruding on the motor. The dirt cup is easy to empty (and being bagless, there's no extra expense for bags). It can be a little tricky putting the cup back in place. You will know you've done it correctly when you hear a satisfying click. My hands didn't get very dirty emptying the cup. It is also necessary to remove hair and stringy things from the beater bar at the base by hand periodically.


Light housekeepers, this is for you

If you've got dogs and cats shedding hair everywhere or want to clean a space larger than 2,000 square feet, the Dirt Devil Stick Vacuum is probably not what you need. For people who just track in a bit of dirt and sand like I do, it's a great machine. It was reasonably priced at $35. I expect it to last for about three years unless I mistakenly feed it a piece of metal. I'm glad I bought this Red Devil Stick Vacuum.