Kenmore 81414 400 Series Pet Friendly Lightweight Bagged Canister Vacuum with Extended Telescoping Wand, HEPA, Retractable Cord, and 4 Cleaning Tools-Red

Growing up, my family had a Kenmore canister vacuum cleaner that just wouldn't die. It must have lasted for more than 30 years. To this day, I still have and use the floor cleaning attachment. After years of using short-lived upright vacuum cleaners, including a series of somewhat weak battery-powered vacuums, I broke down and purchased this Kenmore 400 series canister vacuum cleaner. I've had it for several months and I’ve used it a number of times, so I now feel knowledgeable enough to give it a thorough review. What do I like about the Kenmore 400 series vacuum cleaner? First of all, it is an extremely powerful vacuum cleaner, with plenty of suction. The suction level is adjustable to facilitate vacuuming more delicate things such as curtains. However, for floors and most of my other uses, I keep the vacuum suction level on maximum. I really like that the vacuum cleaner has an automatic shut off of the rotating brush when it encounters rug fringe and other items that could tear and get jammed in the rotating head. We have wooden floors throughout our house and lots of area rugs with fringe. (Many are missing fringe because of previous vacuums that would voraciously attack the fringe and not release it voluntarily.) This shutoff function activates extremely quickly and usually before any damage is done! Simply turn the vacuum cleaner off and then back on to resume using the rotating head. I like that the wand can be extended as it enables one to find just the right wand length for their particular height. That feature is a back saver! I also love the controls located on the wand handle. Very convenient! What don’t I like about the vacuum cleaner? Well, I find it difficult to pull the cleaner easily and on a straight line using the hose. The canister has two large wheels in the back, each with rubber treads, and one small rotating wheel in the front. However, it simply does not pull easily, and it rarely pulls in a straight line, probably because I’m pulling it by the hose. I would like for it to be a little easier to pull, so that I can exert less energy moving it from one location to another. It also gets a little tiring having to frequently redirect the device from pieces of furniture, door jambs, and anything else that it can find to get stuck on. Another thing that I don’t particularly care for is the attachment holder that attaches to the wand itself. I have a tendency to knock the whole assembly off when I change hand positions, and the hose attachments occasionally fall off too. I would much prefer something that’s permanently mounted, preferably on the vacuum cleaner itself, rather than being on the wand. The other thing that’s a minor annoyance is that the small floor attachment doesn’t really lock into position in its designated cubby on the vacuum cleaner. So, it occasionally falls out when I carry the vacuum by its handle. Overall, however, I really like the vacuum cleaner, and especially it’s powerful suction, powerful, rotating head, and the fact that it gets my floors cleaner than they’ve ever been with any other vacuum cleaner. So, I can overlook some of the vacuum cleaner's quirks to enjoy the level of cleanliness the vacuum provides.

I ordered the Kenmore 81714 Ultra Plush and it came in today. I gave it quite a workout as I've been vacuuming since it's arrival. The kids and I named it Kenny. This thing is so fun. I started out on the hard floors and it handled it just fine. I wish there was a separate power head with a fluffy brush roll to dust the floors, but I do think the suction on this Kenmore is amazing enough to not need it. This is my first canister and I felt a bit clumsy and clanked it everywhere. I think there's a bit of a learning curve to it, but Kenny followed me wherever I needed to go. Then I switched out the power head for the powered pet brush for the stairs. I do not own pets, but I bought this vacuum specifically for this attachment. My old Shark couldn't suck up the sand out of the carpet that the kids track it. I think the Kenmore handled it like a champ. It was a quite a workout using this attachment as I wanted the suction as high as it would go. There's a place on the handle to adjust the suction level. This would make it easier to maneuver on the stairs, but I didn't want to sacrifice suction. I needed a deep clean after using my Shark for years. Again I was a bit clumsy and knocked Kenny down the stairs, but he held on tightly. The hose took quite a yank, but didn't break. The motor didn't skip a beat. Kenny's wheel popped off but it snapped right back on. I decided to take him for a whirl on the upstairs carpet. We have medium pile carpet. I kept the height level on the lowest one to try to get deeper into the carpet. It didn't make it difficult to push, but I could hear all the dirt and dust that my Shark was missing all these years. I took my time with him. I did have to clean hair, thread, and yarn out of the brush roll. This is not an anti-cutting brush roll like my Shark. I feel like if you take the time to clean out the roll each time you use it (we have 4 girls with long hair), then it won't get too bad. After running Kenny for HOURS on my hard floors, stairs, and carpet we needed a break. He was getting pretty hot. I never smelled anything burning or funny smells, but with how hot the unit was getting, I felt he needed to cool down a bit. Finally, I took him around and used the different attachments for dusting. The machine dusted quite well. The suction on Kenny is AMAZING. I was able to use the dusting tool for the windows, wall, ceiling, baseboards, paneled doors, etc. Then I followed around the perimeter of the rooms with the crevice tool. I'm highly impressed with this vacuum. I'm so glad I bought it. I just hope it lasts and doesn't break on me. I bought the protection plan just in case because things just aren't made like they used to be. At the end of the day, Kenny pulled up an ENTIRE bag of dirt, dust, and sand from deep in my carpets that my Shark was neglecting for the past 4.5 years even with daily vacuuming. Gross. Also, really cool to see that Kenny is performing like I had hoped. I have 2 complaints. #1 how hot Kenny got. I was a little worried for him. I understand it's a 12 amp motor and will put out some heat, but it was hot to the touch and could burn skin. I worry about one of my kids touching or the motor overheating and catching fire or melting plastics. He started getting hot on the stairs so I hadn't been running him that long before I noticed the heat. The hot air blowing from the vacuum made a spot on my leg red because I had to wedge him with my leg so he didn't fall down the stairs again. He's a champ, though. #2 I wish the opening for the crevice tool was slightly larger. I had to keep going over the same areas where the baseboard meets the carpet. I may try to find a larger crevice tool to use instead.

Caveat: I have only used this vacuum once. But it's a huge leap forward from the upright vacuum it replaced. The power head is lightweight, and it cleans equally well from the front and the sides. The motor is quiet (I used to use earplugs with the old vacuum; seems unnecessary with this one.). The suction is powerful. The on/suction/power brush switch is right there at the grip. The wand removes from the power head via a foot lever, so there's no bending over to release or re-attach it. Wand attachments are on board with the wand. Somebody really thought through the work flow and the ergonomics. So why 4 stars? 1) The lint brush bristles get sucked up into the tube by the powerful vacuum. 2) The hose is too short to prevent the need to carry the canister onto my stairs. 3) The balance of the wand in the power head is a bit precarious when in the upright and locked position; the tube can pull it over if you're not careful. Otherwise I love it so far, and am glad I didn't shell out the bucks for a more expensive brand.

I’m nearly 50 and this is my first canister vacuum ever. I’ve owned upright vacuums made by Dyson, Oreck, Shark, and Hoover for the most part over the years. Dyson seems to put more money into marketing than performance these days. Shark is great until they lose suction which happens within a year or so for me. And Oreck is wonderful but overpriced. So, I did a lot of reading. I knew I wanted a canister to be more maneuverable than an upright. I knew I wanted a bagged vacuum because bagless, while convenient, ends up with a filthy machine and dirt flying when emptying it. I knew I wanted a power roller. And I knew I didn’t want to spend an absolute fortune. So, this Kenmore fit the bill. When I received it, I vacuumed with my existing Shark Rotator Professional. Then I put the Kenmore to action to see what it picked up. The Kenmore picked up about another half a bag of dust. For reference my house is a little under 1800 sq ft. As of yet I haven’t noticed any loss of power or suction as the bag fills up. I love that you can switch from hard floor to carpet/rugs with the slide of a button on the handle and also change the suction strength in the same spot. I have all sorts of flooring from tile to hardwood to deep shag rugs and it handled them all with ease. The hose length is plenty long enough to reach my ceilings and the onboard tools are easily accessible. The self-retracting cord is a nice feature too. I estimate that a bag should last me about a month and there are plenty of third party bags on Amazon that are far less expensive than the OEM ones. My one minor complaint is that the handle is top-heavy and has a tendency to fall over if you’re not very careful about how you store it. Otherwise I’m very happy with my purchase

My opinion on this vacuum after a couple weeks: I've come from using a Dyson DC17 for a long time. I kind of hate my Dyson, so I wanted a change, and I couldn't justify buying a Miele. This Kenmore vacuum is supposedly about as good as "budget" canister vacuums get. The small brush attachment is literally useless. The brush hairs are long and flimsy, so they collapse into the attachment due to the suction and nothing else can get sucked into it. The floor attachment works alright, but the edges have brushes that block air flow, so only the center part of it action has any suction. You also have to clip it into place on the end of the hose for some reason (which is annoying), instead of just a friction-fit. The narrow head attachment works fine. The vacuum works well, at least when new. It has tons of suction and the power head leaves the carpet feeling very clean and fluffy. That's also a downside, though, as it probably is causing a lot of wear to the carpet. The vacuum is also much quieter than my old Dyson DC17. I also like that I can fit it under beds and our couch pretty easily to vacuum in places the Dyson could never come close to fitting. I like using vacuum bags again. I got tired of the bagless Dyson spewing nasty air into the room. When using the Kenmore, the air stays pretty clean. I'm having to adjust to using a canister vacuum. Navigating with the canister/hose in play can be a bit challenging when you aren't used to it. You have to kind of start in the corner with the power outlet, and radiate out so that you can kind of pull the canister forward with you. You do not want to have to double-back, since the canister will get in the way. It feels fairly cheap. Much of the plastic feels very light and flimsy. This includes the stuff that you push on, like the height adjustment, the hose release, the power head angle release, the on/off slider, the power slide, etc. All feel VERY flimsy, like they will be the first things to break. Even the power plug feels very lightweight. I'm being particularly careful with all of these parts. Despite the Dyson having an overall design I do not like, nothing on it has broken and I've had it for something like 15 years now. I doubt the Kenmore will last that long. The Kenmore's canister, hose, body plastic, etc. feel a bit more robust. The power cord unrolls pretty easily, and the automatic cord retraction works okay, but sometimes clogs up, where you have to pull the cable back out a bit and then press the button again. It's also easy to accidentally put the canister upright (instead of flat), but if you run it like that it will immediately start overheating, since the exhaust gets pressed up against the ground. Despite much of the unit being flimsy, it's quite heavy. The power-head is heavy as well, and pushing it around on a carpet is not really any easier than the Dyson upright vacuum, in part due to the strong suction. I usually have it set to medium-height on my carpet, which does make a big difference in movement difficulty. It also hasn't tripped my breaker, which my Dyson would often do on power-up. The Dyson would draw so much power that the cord heated up significantly, while the Kenmore only gets slightly warm to the touch. This could be due in part to age and wear. Finally, the Kenmore takes significantly more room to store. It is very awkward to store, and probably has about twice the footprint of the Dyson upright. I probably should have gone for a good bagged upright vacuum, despite the various advantages of canisters. However, I've used it too much to really return it, so I'll just deal with it until it inevitably breaks. At least it was pretty affordable. I don't like to be wasteful, but again, even a refurbed Miele with a power-head can cost $800-900. Update about a month later: I've removed a star. The small metal pin on the "wand" that mounts everything from the power head to the floor adapter, is held on by a small, thin piece of metal that functions as a spring and is permanently riveted to the wand. If you use this vacuum for years, attaching and removing attachments, or if you press too hard on that pin, you will bend it inward and the wand will no longer secure to the power head. I accidentally put an accessory on wrong and had to push the pin in hard to remove it, and afterward the wand largely stopped attaching to the power head. I had to very carefully try to bend the pin back into place, which is difficult. The wand release on the power head is also badly designed. It flaps around in the breeze when it should be held out by a large spring, to keep the release from pressing on the pin. This design flaw also caused the wand to disconnect more easily from the power head. This vacuum is clearly designed to fail in multiple ways. At a bare minimum, if the small thin piece of metal holding the pin in place/acting as a spring was removable in some way (and not riveted in) it could potentially add years to the vacuum's/wand's life. Even if it does not bend out of place, the fact that the entire mounting of a heavy power head is dependent on a small pin does not bode well to the vacuum's longevity. If something else doesn't fail first, I'll probably have to improvise some sort of fix in a couple years to keep it working. UPDATE 3 years later: I took another star off. The electrical contacts in the handle that go to the extending tube were misaligned, presumably at the factory, so that they don't make reliable contact. Thus, likely almost since I got the vacuum, it fails to work on the backstroke (where the handle slightly pulls apart and stops making electrical contact). It was annoying but I could deal with it. I took the handle apart a few days ago and realized that not only is it not making reliable contact, it is causing heat and causing electrical arcing. Thus, the contacts on both sides are corroded and the plastic housing holding the contacts in place has been melting. This is a fire hazard. I cleaned up the contacts on both sides by scraping the corrosion off, held the whole thing tightly together, and taped the handle to the tube/arm very thoroughly with high-quality duct tape. It's ugly and won't last forever, but now it works on the forward and back stroke and will likely stop corroding/heating up now that the electrical contact seems to be made good. Overall, the vacuum has good suction and is relatively inexpensive, but clearly has some bad design decisions, corner-cutting and really bad quality control.

I grew up helping my mom clean houses and this is literally the best vacuum I've ever used. Mind you, I've used them all from cheapy to expensive and THIS is the one you want. It makes my semi-monthly big cleans (ceilings to floors) SO much quicker. I am able to get wood blinds, fan blades, air vents, and baseboards dusted so much faster. And mind you we have ten foot ceilings so every bit of extension/telescoping features this has I absolutely gain from. You can make so many adjustments to fit you and your cleaning needs. Between a telescoping wand on the handle, adjustable suction, carpet to tile, and with as many accessories as you get and a built it storage within the canister you really are getting the most bang for buck. You're not having to buy wall units or storage caddies to be able to store all the accessories because IT'S DESIGNED TO BE AN EFFICIENT/COHESIVE TOOL. It's all literally at your fingertips and tool swaps are quick. and the retractable cord feature is just a chefs kiss. Like yes I'm exhausted after cleaning all day and not having to wind up a cord is so damn nice. Kenmore has been around for a long time. We've got 30 year old washer/dryer sets that are still going strong. One of my old clients had the same Kenmore vac for over twenty years and it still worked better than a lot of the more modern vacs. ESPECIALLY the bagless and cordless . Trust me. This is worth the money. This is so much better performance and design-wise than a Dyson. Just after one use, this vacuum did a way better job than the Dyson pet vac we had and it still continues to do so. And in a house with dogs, a man that buzzes his head and trims a long beard, and one long curly-haired woman that means a lot!

Sucks up all the dirt and dust. Very happy with this purchase. Very easy to assemble and has very strong suction. All the attachements are easy to connect and it went from box to cleaning my carpet within 5 minutes. I'd definitely recommend.

First of all, this is my first canister vacuum, so not what I am used to using. I bought it to help with vacuuming under beds and furniture, as well as walls, ceilings, upholstery and curtains. I am a 73 year old woman with average physical strength for my age. This vacuum very heavy and very hard to maneuver. The vacuum head doesn't swivel nearly enough, therefore getting under furniture is extremely difficult as the head wont lay over flat. The attachments are cheap, small and practically useless. To put this vacuum to the test, I vacuumed three bedrooms and 1 living area rug extremely well. I took a very long time making sure I didn't miss anything. Afterwards, I vacuumed the same carpets with my Shark Rotator upright. There was a considerable amount of dust this canister had not picked up. It had not done a very good job. I would not recommend this particular canister unless you have money to throw away. Some needy college student may be gifted their first vacuum cleaner.

J'ai beaucoup hesite avant d'acheter cette balayeuse a cause du prix. Mais je ne regrette pas du tout mon achat au contraire! Cette balayeuse a une suction extraordinaire. Elle me fait beaucoup penser a l'electrolux de ma mere, avec les meme accessoires et certains autres en mieux, comme la brosse pour le ventillateur. L'attachement pour les poils d'animaux a sauve la couverture sur laquelle mon chat aime dormir et qui etait pleine de poils. Le pouvoir d'aspiration de cet attachement est vraiment intense. Jadore l'option de pouvoir passer du tapis au plancher simplement en poussant une pedale avec le pied. Et il se remet facilement dans le moteur pour tapis. En fait, tous les accessoires, rallonges, etc, sont faciles a ajouter et a enlever pour avoir la configuration que vous desirez selon l'endroit que vous balayez. Le morceau en long pour les coins difficiles est accroche sur le manche et apres l'avoir enleve pour l'utiliser, j'ai du faire quelques exercices mentaux pour finalement comprendre qu'on le reattache en le tournant sur le cote. Je ne suis pas la plus forte des personnes, j'ai 60 ans. Il y a des moments ou j'ai du prendre une pause, les bras en l'air pour le ventilateur ou pour lutter contre la suction du petit moteur pour tapis et poils d'animaux. Ce n'est pas le plus leger des aspirateurs. Tous les accessoires sont dans le couvercle, mais en meme temps j'adore avoir tout a portee de la main. Il suit facilement, comme tous les aspirateurs traineaux, vous devez surveiller qu'il n'accroche rien sur son passage. Le couvercle ou l'on range les accessoires me semble fragile, je me promet de le manipuler gentiment, mais c'est la seule piece qui me fait peur. Le fil est facile a faire enrouler dans l'appareil grace a un bouton sur le dessus. L'aspirateur se range facilement, vous pouvez inserer le tuyau sur un bouton integre a votre aspirateur, il y a des explications plus claires sur le pamphlet ou regardez la video :). En gros, je suis tres impressionnee par cet aspirateur. J'espere qu'il me durera longtemps. Bemol, les sacs sont chers mais il me semble que vous pouvez au moins faire un mois avec chacun si vous en faites un usage normal. Il faut aussi changer le filtre HEPA de temps en temps. Je suis allergique a la poussiere et j'ai vraiment senti une difference dans l'air. Pour ce que ca vaut sur ce commentaire a la compagnie, la livraison avec Amazon c'est passee sans incident et a temps. Preparez vous a monter une grosse boite si vous ete seul(e) et pas jeune jeune lol... En resume, si vous n'etes pas une personne tres frele, je recommende absolument cet aspirateur, il est fantastique!

I've purchased and used a lot of much cheaper machines from Walmart and other stores. All of them performed just okay when new but none of them lasted very long due to poor quality plastics and pieces breaking. I remembered my mom's Kenmore WhisperTone that she has had for 25 years and it is still running great and looks great too. Here in Canada, Kenmore was available at Sears but there are no longer any Sears stores in Canada. I looked at the Kenmore site and found that I had to buy it on Amazon to avoid paying duty charges. I chose the Series 700 Ultra Plush for its features such as the HEPA bags and filter, the powerhead that steers and does carpets and hardfloors and has a LED light, the tools all fit inside the canister, it has a bag-full LED, an extending wand (that locks at 4" increments), and it comes with the small powerhead that is good for stairs and car floors and it fits inside the canister too. The bare-floor tool and the small brush tool have horse-hair bristles, not plastic. The machine looks very classy with the shiny champagne color. It has tons of suction without being too loud. The rear wheels are big so the whole thing rolls pretty easily. A word about the hose, where it plugs into the canister, it has a nice swivel joint. If you see photos or videos of older machines, the joint often is seen having an elbow, like a 45 degree bend in it and you can tell that it swivels. The photos of this newer version show the joint is straight so I was concerned that it did not swivel which I thought would be stressful on the hose. I'm happy to report that there is still a swivel joint so the hose will not tangle if you walk around the machine. The entire machine and the tools are built well and I expect that this machine will last for many years. Thank you Kenmore!

Good Machine all be it for few minor quirks. Good suction easy to use. A tad heavy but not bad. Carrying it up 3 flights of stairs is a bit much but not bad. Lights are great for dark spaces. Tool changing is easy all be it at times not so easy maybe I am still learning. Now for the cons....cord rewinder sucks it is slow and only rewinds a few feet at a time. Also the power brush will disengage and disconnect when you use it under wide objects. Since you have to go under furniture with the handle angled because the brush will not go flat staright in is stays slightly raised if you go in straight and not on angle. Then when the handle is engled the brush release will disengage and your brush is stuck under the funrniture and the farthest point from you. Otherwise so far it is performing well and worth the money. Will be curious oof it longevity. It relaced a 35 year old Kenmore my parents purchased. Will be curious to see how long this Kenmore lasts.

Just got it today, and it doesn’t work!!!!! I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS BULL!!! Oh I am so angry and frustrated I’m actually crying!!! Because I bought a Kenmore upright and the thing was junk (I’ve always been a fan of canisters) but I missed the return window and now this? There’s a massive short in the power head. I plugged it all in and the power head wouldn’t turn on at all (and yes I kno how to use it) I’ve owned kenmore canisters my whole life! I kept trying to push the head on the carpet with the handle in different angles and it would power on for a second then power off, then on, then off then wouldn’t budge at all! So $550 plus dollars, and I have a lemon that doesn’t work AT ALL! And no vehicle to return it! But believe me I’m doing everything in my Power to return this hunk of junk! I’ve lost enough darn money on here I’m not being scammed anymore. Too bad it looked nice (although right from the hop there were things that disappointed me anyway. Like the button for height adjust is flimsy, and the power head is light and flimsy, not like my other kenmore series. I needed a vacuum for the upper floor so I don’t have to lug one up and down all the stairs cuz I have a bad back, and sciatica and pinched nerves, and tight hip flexors, and here I am with no vacuum still! Need to stop making and selling junk, it’s getting ridiculous! Things were built strong and to last back in the day, and now everything is like playschool toy junk.

Lightweight powerful suction. Good power head. Would recommend.