Hoover Empower Widepath U5260-900

The Hoover EmPower Widepath vacuum cleaner is an excellent vacuum from one of the most trusted names in the industry. From the way it is designed to its power and ability to pick up most anything, I am very impressed with this Hoover. It retails for @ $100, so it is not some bottom of the line product. If you have pets at home, I highly recommend this vacuum cleaner.

My parents are both retired and love to go camping in their 30-something foot long RV. This means they are out of town often weeks at a time, and somebody has to come check on their pets. For the past 12 years, they have owned white German shepherd dogs. The problem is they have aquamarine colored carpet that flaunts white dog hair like a rapper with a new grill. Almost every time I go over to their house to make sure the dog is fed, I run the vacuum over the carpet. This thing does an amazing job of picking up thick layers of pet hair, especially in the areas where the dog likes to lay.

My experience with other cheaper vacuums is that they make a lot of noise and require you to run over an area several times before it picks up everything. This takes more time and effort and makes the housecleaning chores that much more frustrating. Some vacuum cleaners do a good job at sucking up the trash while other vacuums just suck. This vacuum is efficient enough that it only takes a few minutes to pick up the pet hair in my parent’s large 500+ square foot living room.

Besides all the pet hair, this vacuum does a great job of picking up dust and any other junk on the floor. Last night, for example, the dog decided to shred some mail that had been left on a table. I don’t know why he did it, but the result was a bunch of little wet pieces of paper all over the carpet. I picked up the bigger pieces, then used the vacuum to scoop up the rest. Every piece was picked up on the first sweep and nothing got hung up in the rollers. This thing’s little 12 amp motor packs a punch. There’s even a Power Boost button on the handle that lets you get a little extra ‘oomph’ when you need it.

This particular model (U5260-900) is housed in a silver plastic case with bright blue trim. The detachable bagless canister easily pops off with the press of a button. It uses a cylindrical HEPA filter to catch dust and other particles, but it can get clogged pretty easily if you have a lot of dust. It also comes with the standard attachments like a hose extension and brush. The handle also folds into the body, but I found that feature to be sort of useless. In the closet where it is stored, it doesn’t need the extra room.

One design feature I really like about this vacuum is the very low profile front end that makes it easy to get up under furniture. Most vacuums are so high in the front that you’re lucky to get more than an inch underneath dressers or beds, but this one gives you twice the normal amount of coverage. It may not be a big improvement, but it is enough to catch the dust where people will see it.

WARNING: Do not empty the canister inside your house.

I cannot find the words to express to you how important it is that you not even take the canister off while inside. If you do, you will kick up all kinds of dust, especially if you have pet hair clogged up in there. To clean the filter, you gently tap it against something to shake the chunks of dust out, but do not do this inside. I have dust allergies pretty bad, so emptying the canister can be painful sometimes. This is one of the downfalls of nearly all bagless vacuums.

All in all, I am very impressed with this vacuum. I have used it many times to vacuum my parent’s entire two-story home which the pets freely roam. Compared to the other cheaper vacuums I’ve used in the past, this Hoover EmPower Widepath does an awesome job.