Kenmore 81214 200 Series Pet Friendly Lightweight Bagged Canister Vacuum with HEPA, 2 Motor System, and 3 Cleaning Tools-Orange

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 just received it yesterday and used it once. My last vacuum cleaner was 30 years old (a Hoover canister). My husband broke the collar on it, not knowing how to use it and being impatient. I tried finding the part he broke and was unsuccessful. I guess it was too old, but it still worked, but the hose had a big tear on it, fixed with duct tape. So, it was time to lay it to rest. I purchased the 2 year extended warranty, as well. I just hope it lasts as long as my Hoover did!

I first bought this model in 2021. It worked fine and performed as I expected a Kenmore vacuum would until it didn't. After about two years the power head for carpets stopped working. The warranty was up so I ordered an off brand replacement for the power head from Amazon. That didn't work either. I retired this vacuum to the basement where there are no carpets. The vacuum with a hard floor attachment has been picking up kitty litter and dryer lint with no problems for the last three years. In 2025, still not happy with my cleaning options for my one living room rug and delighted to see that the price of the Kenmore was over $200 less than it had been, I decided to give the vacuum a second try. this time, though, I purchase an extended warranty. Turns out, I didn't need that because the power head on the second Kenmore stopped working after only six months, within the coverage of the manufacturer's warranty. Thus started my sad saga of getting Kenmore to make me whole. I submitted a warranty claim via Amazon and was contacted by a representative from Gardner, a company that handles warranty claims for Kenmore. I submitted videos to him showing what my problem was. (The first problem was that the power head would not stay attached to the wand, That problem resolved itself, but no power ever returned to the power head.) The representative and I had a long conversation with many experiments. I brought up my old Kenmore from the basement and tried switching various parts to determine what exactly was wrong. I sent him videos--a trial for a person who hates her smart phone. Eventually, the rep thought the problem was in the wiring of the wand and said he would send a replacement part. After several weeks the part arrived, but the problem persisted. I called Gardner again. The next representative told me that wrong part was sent and that she would send the right part when it was in stock again. After several more weeks, the other part arrived, but, no surprise, it did not resolve the issue. Also, while I was waiting for the part, I found it was available via the Sears parts website. I called Gardner again. This time the rep said he would send me a new vacuum! And he did! I have several issues with this experience. I was told that I couldn't get my money back through Kenmore. I had to contact Amazon. My contact with Gardner could only be by phone, not email or snail mail. I have no written record of these phone calls other than my own and Gardner's notes. I will say that the representatives from Gardner were very friendly and I think trying to help me. It was a lot of hassle though and took 4 months. So now I have a new Kenmore that will probably disappoint in the future. And, no, I probably will not go through this process again and will just take the loss.

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

I bought a Kenmore canister vacuum at Sears about 20 years ago. After about ten years ago I replaced it with this one. I didnt need to replace it yet but my son moved into his first apartment so I gave him my old one. We have dogs and a big yard and its impossible getting everyone to take their shoes off when they come in. I put a lot of miles on these vacuums and they are workhorses. My only complaint is the cost of the replacement bags. I end up getting generic ones that are way too long but still fit okay I guess. Anyway, I highly recommend this vac. It has exceeded my expectations.

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.

I’ve only had this vacuum for 4 months and the motor has already died after using it very lightly and only a handful of times. The carpet nozzle is too aggressive, even on the lowest setting, and would constantly shut off and need to be reset. It is heavy and cumbersome, and the plastic is poorly assembled; definitely a disappointment considering the cost.

For years I owned various Dirt Devil and Shark vacuums. I had uprights and bagless models. But I started noticing that they were all failing after just a few years, which I really disliked because fixing them was very expensive or impossible (not to mention annoying). The other thing I didn’t like with the bagless models was the POOF! of grossness that flew into my face and the air when I emptied the containers into the garbage. I did some research and found out that some allergists actually recommend against bagless vacuums because of this very reason. No surprise there. I started searching online for bag vacuums and could hardly find any. The one I did find that was well-rated was this Kenmore. I remembered that my aunt has owned nearly the same model for 20+ years and loves it, so I decided to give it a shot even though I dislike canister vacuums. What I found particularly appealing was that the bags themselves provide HEPA filtration! Here’s where things get disturbing: We had just vacuumed carpets in the house with our aging Shark vacuum a couple days before receiving the Kenmore. We decided to try the Kenmore anyway and were horrified by how much it picked up. It quickly became evident that our Shark vacuum had only been skimming the surface of our carpets. I’m not a germaphobe but I was seriously grossed out by how much filth we had been living in. No wonder we were having low-level sinus problems! We vacuumed a couple more times that week and ended up needing to order replacement bags right away because the included bag was already full in days. Having a canister is a little annoying, but who cares if it’s actually vacuuming properly? The one thing I regret with this purchase, though, is not having gone with the longer hose. Having an extra foot or two would be really nice for maneuverability. Once the hose gets old, I’ll definitely choose a longer one when we replace it. As for the sturdiness and overall quality of the vacuum, wow. This thing is built to last. The hose is THICK. I haven’t seen such a high-quality hose since the 90s. I didn’t even think they existed anymore. And the head is just a beast, but in a good way. It’s made with metal to easily survive all the hits you’ll give it over the years. Yes, this makes the whole system a bit heavier, but the lighter vacuums fail so often. I’m tired of handing over money every few years and adding to landfills. Long story short, this vacuum is worth its weight in gold and I wound definitely recommend it to anyone with pets (we have two cats) and/or chronic sinus issues. Going back to old-fashioned bags is the best thing we ever did, and you can’t beat Kenmore quality.