Time for a new vacuum. Which is better, bag or bagless?

A good bagless would be my choice. Of course, I dearly love my little robot vacuum cleaner. It goes under the furniture and goes places I can't get to and gets all the cat hair. I finally got rid of all the carpet downstairs, so that's all I use down here.

I fought against bagless because of allergies but it's awesome! So much cheaper than buying bags. I have dogs and lots of hair all over so we'd go through a lot. I also have a great cheap vacuum that surpasses all the super expensive ones and it's really quiet.

Forgive my stupidity, but how does a bagless vacuum work? Where does the dirt/dust/hair go?

I've used both styles of cleaners (with and without bags) but definitely prefer ones with bags .... whether upright vacuums or cylinder types.

I like these bags :-

As air passes through the HEPA inner bag, it captures at least 99.97% of particles at .3 microns from that air, which includes the following: pollen, house dust, smoke, animal dander and mold spores
Easy to install - just insert into bag dock & snap closed
Saniseal automatic closing dust seal keeps dust in the bag
Bags hold up to 8 quarts

I find the bag-less cleaners much messier to empty. Some of the dirt always escapes into the air no matter how careful I am.

oldbroad, it just goes into the canister without a bag. You dump it straight into the garbage. I am highly allergic to dust, and never once had an issue except when I touched my eye before washing hands after dumping.

We really like our bagless vacuum. It seems to do a better job than the vacuums we've had that required bags. But I do find it messy to empty. And despite not needing bags, there are filters that need to be replaced periodically, but not as often as bags.

Thanks Ana. That's kind of what I thought. It does sound messier. I guess a bag is my preference.

Sparkle, my vacuum filters are all washable. I haven't had to buy anything since I bought the vacuum a few years ago.

oldbroad, I spent a fortune on hepa filter bags because regular bags always let dust out so this has literally saved me hundreds of dollars. I have a lot of dogs in and out of my house and I vacuum a few times a week. I fill the canister every time!

Wow !! I have never spent such huge amounts on hepa filter bags, BrownEyedTiger, and with two Great Danes in the house I had to vacuum every day because the amount of hair they shed between them was unbelievable

I suppose, like everything else, which type of cleaner you prefer is a personal decision but dust and muck going straight into a sealed bag and then the garbage without any bit at all escaping (seen or unseen) is certainly my own preference

Mad, My wholesale costs averaged 5 dollars a bag. By the end of the year, I could have purchased a new vacuum!

Easy disposal of the bag does seem like a cleaner option. But if considering which option allows more dust to be released into the air while vacuuming, I don't think the bags necessarily provide better filtration unless, like Ana, you buy special HEPA bags that are more costly than the standard bags. Just a thought.

P.S. To Ana. I'll have to check to see if my filters are washable. I know for sure there are more than one. Just got my bagless recently.

Good Grief, BrownEyedTigre !!

Yes, Sparkle. I buy Hepa bags. And they are expensive. But they do hold a lot more than a standard bag and a great deal more than a canister.

(The escaping dust I was mentioning, btw, was when emptying the canister of a bag-less machine. And wasn't anything to do with when actually vacuuming.)