Henry Allergy HVA 160-11 Bagged Cylinder Vacuum Cleaner, Summer Blue

Product Information

The cleaner also comes with a bunch of tools and add-ons: including smaller brushes, a thin crevice tool and different sized steel tubes. There’s no supplied bag or space in/around Henry to put them, though. Regardless, they’re a tight fit, without the need for suction clips or the like, and didn’t slip off during testing. Henry Hoover review: Verdict Hetty smiles just as much as Henry, and in terms of performance is just as able. Hetty has a highly efficient motor, a 10 metre cable and rewind storage system, and comes with a host of useful accessories. British manufacturer Numatic International has expanded the Henry Hoover range over the years to provide their first vacuum cleaner with some much needed company. There’s now fourteen different products in the Henry range, including a number of different Henry Hoover names which make up the Henry Hoover family. There’s Hetty, who’s also known as the female Henry Hoover, as well as James, Harry, George and Charles, the latter two which are wet and dry vacuums. There is an allergy seal around the tank that traps in 99.9% of dust and allergens, which combined with the serious suction leaves you with a ridiculously clean house. The body also lifts out so that you can vacuum any stairs or high corners with the hose for a full house clean. A thing to note is that this vacuum cleaner may not be suitable if you want an appliance to vacuum your home and car. It is a bulky vacuum cleaner and, again, it is corded so unless you have a driveway or a guaranteed parking space outside your home, the Henry Pet may not be the vacuum cleaner for you.

Hardwood floorhead – a handy feature for homeowners with a wooden floor (comes with Henry XL Plus, Henry Allergy HVA 160-11 and Henry Xtra HVX200) Henry Allergy has just one power setting but you can adjust the suction to some degree by swivelling a valve on the head of the suction tube. But here’s the rub… While the valve helps dial down the suction, there’s still way too much of it when used on a carpet, even with the bristles raised. It’s not terrible but it just takes extra effort to push and pull it across the carpet. Put another way, it doesn’t glide across carpet like a Dyson or a Shark. Henry is the model that started it all – although he’s had a number of upgrades over the years. With a charming exterior and simple design, you could be forgiven for thinking it can’t compete with more expensive models. As we found in our Henry Hoover review, however, this is far from the case.As well as Enjoying talking about himself in the third person the Appliance Hunter also likes to be able to breathe properly. So as an Asthma sufferer a HEPA vacuum is a must. However, Charles is quite a bit lighter than George and doesn’t come with as many accessories as his older brother. The main thing missing with Charles when compared to George is the extra carpet / upholstery cleaner. If this is something you require, then you’d be better off going for George, but if it’s something you don’t feel you need, then Charles is the man for you as he’s generally cheaper than George and lighter.

The Philips Expert does it all if you are a pet owner. It is so powerful that it claims to remove up to 40% more dust than its peers. This is welcome news if you are one of those pet owners that have allergies to pet hair or dander. Allergens are not only trapped in your carpets but on just about any surface. To make sure your entire house is allergen-free after vacuuming you may need some specialized attachments. A good upholstery brush, for example. If you have pets, a turbo brush to clean your sofa and pet beds is essential. This is optional, but if you’re looking to make your house smell extra fresh after vacuuming, simply pop an air freshener (the car ones will do) in the main body of your Henry, on the bottom and below the bag. Yellow in colour, James has a slightly smaller bag capacity – eight litres rather than nine – than that of the Henry 200-11, his more famous family member. But in terms of performance there is no noticeable difference with the same motor size as Henry and Hetty; it’s once again a very capable machine built by Numatic International. The only downside is the canister when emptying. You will still have to be very careful when emptying the bagless canister to avoid undoing all the work the filters have done.

It’s also quiet for a vacuum cleaner which is great for a house with pets in it, it’s 66bd which is quieter than a dishwasher which typically runs at 70db. But louder than normal speech which is about 60db. So it still sounds like a vacuum but it doesn’t sound like a jet is taking off in your living room.

A HEPA filter must be tested and the minimum accepted range is the previously mentioned 99.97% of microns trapped.Well, more like a high pitched sound that comes from the unit rather than a dedicated alarm, but enough to alert you to an underperforming filter. If it happens you just need to empty the bin to remove the debris. It might seem more expensive than other canister vacuums but you can’t argue with 20-years worth of quality. I love Shark vacuums, they come up time and time again across all my articles because they offer superb suction and great value for money. The latest Dyson is probably “better” but the prices are getting out of control so in my mind they aren’t as worth the money.

The good news is that the lower suction is partly counteracted by the EcoBrush tool – at least for smaller cleaning jobs. This is a small tool with a brush for agitating hairs and dirt from carpets, which improves cleaning performance. It’s not suitable for cleaning large areas though. If you have a big home, messy occupants, or want to save time, this is the Henry model to go for in our opinion. Its design features will keep you cleaning without pause, and it’ll cope admirably with all the dust, debris, and fur you need to remove from your home or car. In our review Lindsey gave it top marks for cleaning power and versatility, but bear in mind that it's heavy to lug up the stairs.

Henry may be a British icon, but does the classic vacuum cleaner still suck today?

But even if you’re not an allergy sufferer a HEPA vacuum can be a good idea to help purify the air in your home keeping it fresher.