The Rainbow uses water as its filtration. It does not actually deposit water onto the carpet.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rainbow

I have heard that rainbow is very bad for mold allergies, because the mold etc grow in the wet envoirnment.
I know a couple of people who had one and got rid do it within a year.
Linda C

FWIW, the current Consumer Reports issue rates the Rainbow as #19 out of 22 canisters. Its price ($1900) is ridiculous. I wouldn't pay that much for a vacuum even if it were #1. The top 6 canisters retail for $250 - $600. We have some allergy issues (not too serious) and two small dogs, so we purchased a Kenmore canister about a year ago for around $350 that was highly rated for dealing with pet hair. It also has a HEPA bag. We have no complaints about its performance, other than it's a bit too noisy for our liking. I suppose a "quiet vacuum" is an oxymoron. Anyway, there are a number of excellent canisters that should meet your needs and at a reasonable price, too. Good luck!

I was thinking about looking at a Kenmore canister. QVC just had an electrolux on and the reviews were pretty bad. I lot of these just quit working after 1 year. And parts were breaking. So maybe Kenmore will be good.

I can't affort a Rainbow and I just want something easy to run. I hate vacuuming so the easier the better. Thanks Olympiceagle.

I have had my rainbow for nearly 20 years. I love it and don't know how it could cause mold. You fill the canister with water when you use it and empty and dry the canister after using. It doesn't sit with water in it. I think they are good for allergies because dust doesn't go in the air when vacuuming, it is trapped in the water. Sometimes I take off the hose and just let it run for about 15 minutes in a room to make it smell so fresh.

They are expensive but considering the cost per year it may not be as expensive as the cheaper vacuums that only last a year.

Having had allergies all my life, vacuuming under the bed is not going to make much difference to your son so I would not spend $1,900. Dust is everywhere.
If you have hardwood, try a damp mop instead. If carpet, move the bed every once and while and vacuum under it with your Dyson.

Myclementine;

There is no need to get rid of your vacuum cleaner. The Dyson will filter well, but make sure anyone with allergies, to the dust, does not empty it. All you would have to do is purchase a rug & floor attachment to attach to the end of the wand. Then all you do is vacuum under the beds. You can purchase the dyson attachment or purchase a generic attachment, but the generic is dependent upon which model you have. If you just have hard flooring, then all you would need it a floor brush.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dyson Floor Tool

I had a Rainbow back in the sixties and really liked it, but I was careless back then and left the motor sitting atop the dirty water pan too often. I would take good care of it today in my old age. :) You put fresh water into a container then set the top of the vacuum on and hook the sides. Then vacuum. The dirt and filth goes into the water basis and you then pour out the water into the toilet, rinse and voila you are finished. No filters. The amount of dirt and stuff will surprise you at first. I think this machine is good for allergies. It was expensive back then but we could afford it. Now, at the exorbitant prices quoted above, I would just stick with my Miele, would never pay that much again.

Yes, $1900 is a lot of money, didn't know they were that expensive now.

I would think, though, that a Rainbow is good for allergies. I know they were over 35 years ago. My youngest son had allergies. The doctors never bothered to check, and I was too dumb, and an older neighbor who had a Rainbow insisted I take hers and use it because it would help my sons 'colds'. It really did.

There were no good filters back in those days, so maybe a filtered one would work as well.

I, too, am confused how the Rainbow would cause any mold, however.

I have a Rainbow! MOLD??? That is ridiculous. It is an AWESOME vacuum cleaner! However, it is not worth the huge price tag! I will definitely agree to that. It is a chore to use BUT when I use my Kenmore canister (with the cloth bag) I notice a difference in the level of dust, say, three days later as opposed to having used the Rainbow it seems it takes longer for the house to get dusty so it's sort of a give and take with the thing. You drag it out and clean really good with it BUT you don't have to clean as often. I recommend getting one refurbished on Ebay from someone with good feedback that deals strictly in vacuums or from a local vacuum shop.

: ) I would also go used - if I wasn't such a total klutz with a multi-story home, I'd have one to go with my Dyson.

any mold is caused by human stupidity, not inherent in the design - you fill it, you use it, you empty it, you rinse it out, done.

Dyson does make attachments to make under the bed easier - we have cats and allergies, so we use the little upholstry brush (the one that gave the 'animal' its name) - but the 'lo profile' floor attachment clips in to the wand just fine, and can get under just about anything :)

Smell is dust right? A friend of mine swears by his rainbow for that purpose. He has dogs and if he uses a regular vac, bagged or bagless, the odor is horrendous. With the Rainbow you dont get that odor. I was skeptical until he showed me one day how bad of an odor a regular vac puts out when he vacuums with it. Yet I didnt smell anything while he was using the Rainbow.

Another thing about the Rainbow: If you vacuum with it and stop after about 20 min, dump the water and put fresh in does a better job. If you let the water get thick the dust going in just skips over the thick crud and that will cause the performance to be "not so good". This vacuum is a PAIN to use but I still think it does a great job and smells GREAT with a couple drops of lemon or orange oil. I've had it three years and the hepa filter on it is still SNOW WHITE, which makes me wonder about those stories of dust escaping the water and going right onto the filter. Don't think so :) If you just wanna get the vacuum out to do a quick run through, that's when I don't bother getting the Rainbow out and using the regular canister. I'm STILL beating myself up for not getting a used one on EBAY. I bought the thing new. What a dumb *** I am :) I still wouldn't wanna be without it though. It does to good of a job.

Sorry in advance for reviving this once dead thread yet again, but I feel the need to vent. We bought a new Rainbow almost one year ago now and I have very mixed feelings about it.

On the plus side, I feel it does a great job cleaning. We have a large, long hair dog, crappy carpet that sheds everywhere, and lots of just "natural" dust that comes from living in a desert. Every time we use this thing I'm amazed as the amount of crud it picks us, especially that really fine dust that is just everywhere. Both my daughter and I suffer from allergies to just about everything, so this was a significant selling point to me.

My issues, in order of increasing frustration:
Power nozzle
This is what they call the attachment for carpets. It has no light. I know not everyone requires this, but I've never had a vacuum without a light on the carpet attachment. It would be REALLY useful when vacuuming under the kids beds!
Hose length
It's not long enough (either of them, see next item). We have horizontal window blinds that need to be cleaned regularly. I prefer to vacuum these, but with the short hose on the rainbow I need to hold the vacuum in one had and the dusting nozzle in the other, all while standing on a step ladder. And I hate ladders in the first place.
Hose/wand/attachment interoperability
The power nozzle comes with an electrified hose and wand (solid part between hose and motorized carpet head). You can easily detach the hose from the wand, but you can't detach the wand from the carpet head. With my last vacuum, moving from carpet to wood floor was as easy as depressing a lever on the carpet head (with my foot nonetheless - no bending over), then attach the bare floor attachment to the wand. Or I could detach the carpet head and throw on a dusting attachment to clean the baseboards in a room. With the Rainbow I need to detach the hose from the canister, retrieve the other hose + wand + bare floor tool (usually from another room), and attach the retrieved hose to the canister. Then repeat the detach->retrieve->attach process when I move back to a carpeted floor. I could vacuum all the carpet first and then all the bare floors, but with nearly 4000 square feet over two floors, that would require a lot of backtracking. Either way means a lot of extra work since all the bedrooms are carpet, but and the hallways and bathrooms are either wood or tile.
Cost/Sales pitch
Others have stated how expensive these are, so I won't dwell on that too much in this post. But no one has mentioned the high-pressure sales pitch when you have the in-home demo. I initially refused to buy it because the guy was so pushy and I knew NOTHING about them (Rainbows, that is). But my wife wanted it, so I spent that evening reading reviews and testimonials and felt that it would really alleviate my and DD's allergy issues. My wife called the guy back the next day and we were $1600 in the hole (at least it was 0% for a year). I should have spent more time looking at reviews, because I would've learned about the significantly cheaper resale market for these.
Convenience
This is the biggest issue I have with the Rainbow. As mentioned above we have a large dog. We also have three young kids (all under 7). Add to that two working parents and we've got some messy floors. Ideally we'd clean the whole house at least once a week, but realistically we average about every two weeks (we've set a goal of doing at least one level of the house/week - even that is hard sometimes). In between those pre-planned cleanings there are several times where it would be nice to pull out a vacuum to clean up a mess and be done with it. With the rainbow, that's a 15 minute task, minimum. That includes time for getting it and the appropriate hose/wand/attachment out of the closet, filling the basin, cleaning the mess, and emptying the basin and putting it all away. For a 2 minute cleanup, there's a lot of overhead to using the Rainbow.

There are other little things bug me but this post is long enough. In the end I wish I would have pushed to compare the cost of the Rainbow vs. retrofitting a central-vacuum system into the house. I think both would have similar cleaning performance, but a central vacuum systems would have been more convenient, even if costlier. If I could get even 3/4 what we paid for the Rainbow I'd seriously consider parting ways with it in lieu of a central vacuum. But just like others, I'm left kicking myself for paying so much for this machine that cleans great, but makes "cleaning" harder.

Thanks for listening! ;-)

There is an optional, extra long hose for the Rainbow E2 and E series - both in the electrified version (for use with the power nozzle) as well as the standard non-electric hose for wet pick up. When I do use my Rainbows, I tend to use the attachments on the end of the electric hose, and save my non-electric hose for wet pick up (spills, or for use with the AquaMate carpet shampooer attachment).

Rainbows, as well as other vacuum cleaners, may not be for everyone. It is important to do research and "testdrive" the vacuum cleaners. Know what features are important to you. Not every vacuum cleaner is going to have all the features you want it to have. What you have to do is pick the features that are most important to you and go with the vacuum that fits the bill.

The Rainbow is a very good vacuum cleaner, but it is not for everyone. It has been around for many years, so people can attest to the work required to maintain the cleaner. I have mentioned this for many years. What some do is have another vacuum for quick pick ups.

The Rainbow hoses are not short by no means. There is no need to change the hoses unless you plan on not using the power nozzle. Then you could just switch to the nonelectric hose. It is okay to use the electrified hose when cleaning those above-the-floor jobs like furniture, etc.

esoesoy, I do not know how high your windows are, but you could get a very long hose for your Rainbow. They are going to be expensive though. Another suggestion is to connect your extra straight upper wand to the hose-end. If it still is not long enough, purchase another straight wand for length. It will be cheaper than an extra long hose.

I want to respond to esoesoy:

I also have a rainbow. I know, what you mean about just picking up a little bit here or there. I finally resolved that, by using a dust buster.

Meanwhile, here are my tips:

When I dig out my rainbow, I vacuum all floors from the storage closet to the other end of the house with the carpet attachment. Then I haul that back, and get the solid floor attachment. Now, I vacuum everything solid floor and blinds and such on my way back to the storage closet.

Makes for lot less messing back and forth.

I also use the hose from the carpet attachment, and then the other hose attached to this, to reach further, like to the tall ceiling corners to remove spider webs. That way, I can also make the solid wand longer. :)

Hope this helps.

Moni
PS, I don't have any issues with my allergies with this vacuum, and I no longer have to leave it behind (like with the built ins) when I move. That made the price worth it to me. I now own it for 7 years, and went through 4 moves.

Love love love my rainbow vacuum. I have two dogs in the house and very bad allergies!!!! It is awesome. THe best tip is to take the power head ( the one you vacuum with, electrified nozzle) and pick it up and vacuum your chairs out (i.e the ones with cushions). You will not BELIEVE the junk it gets out! I tried the small attachment to get dog fur, but I find just taking the carpet vacuum attachment does much better and only takes a swipe or two!

Best vacuum I have ever had. Yes, it is a pain to set up, but well worth. The most smooth clean hardwood floors ever!

I got my E2 a few years ago with the premise of 'This is the last vacuum cleaner I'll ever need to buy'. They're great for allergies many hospitals use them. I run mine all the time specifically for cleaning the air in my home.

They use a "Newcombe Seperator" to force dust into the water basin. They added a HEPA filter to the back of the newer models to catch the very finest dust. I've had to change the HEPA once.

The separator has to be cleaned after every 10 or so uses because it accumulates a build up of dirt. I use a toothbrush it takes 30 seconds. Also as stated before the motor can't be left on the base. Even if this happens the motor can still be repaired though FYI..

Here is a bit from wikipedia on the newcombe separator

First seen commercially in the 1920s in the form of the Newcombe Separator (later to become the Rexair Rainbow), water filtration vacuum cleaners use water as a filter. It forces the intake air to pass through water before it is exhausted. The idea behind this is that wet dust cannot become airborne. They require the dirty water to be dumped and the machine rinsed out after every use, to prevent unpleasant odors and mold growth.

FWIW They're made in America too..

I could certainly see that if *I* owned a Rainbow, it could have mold issues because I am the sort of person who can get interrupted in the middle of a task and take a week (year?) to get back to it! Using it correctly would not cause mold though, and water will filter better than anything else. My sister let hers sit and run as an air filter after a party left her house smoky and yucky. The price is absolutely crazy though. In many places you could have central vac installed for a similar price. Our central vac certainly cost less than that doing it ourselves in new construction!

Happy 2012 Everyone!

Yea! The 14 foot Non electric hose is fantastic! You can get everywhere with it. Boy let me tell you, I got my Rainbow out yesterday and put the dusting brush on the 14 foot hose & got EVERYWHERE floor to ceiling & I was exhausted when done. I seriously do recommend a Rainbow but let me tell you it's NOT a lazy persons machine! I will say this after owning it for five years. If you get it out, clean EVERYTHING. Cushion, floors, behind tv cords, ceiling fans, under beds.

Once you get all this dust out. It really does take quite a while for it to come back, so you don't really have to do a thorough cleaning as often. I've been using mine a lot more here lately. It's funny how when you get it out & use it more, the learning curve is gone & it doesn't seem to be as much of a pain as it once was. I still can't believe the hepa on mine is STILL clean over five yrs later. I even took it OFF the machine to test the airflow to "make sure" it wasn't really clogged up or anything and I noticed NO noticeable increases in airflow with the hepa off or ON.......That to me is pretty darn amazing. An over five year old hepa still working at peak performance. But I've always changed water frequently & cleaned the grooves of the separator religiously. Perhaps that's why. I sometimes think other Rainbow owners may get tired of using it & not do this. You do sort of have to take a little extra effort to maintain it. But I think they will last decades if you do.

WOW !! So much false information out there. I never understood people who feel the need to comment on everything that they have no knowledge of.

https://www.asthmaandallergyfriendly.com/USA/vacuum-cleaners/vacuum-cleaners-media-based-filtration/rainbow-cleaning-system-detail

The Rainbow Vacuum is wonderful for dust allergies! My son actually got to stop taking taking his allergy shots after we started using the rainbow.. Worth every penny to us.

I was never overly impressed. Grew up with one and it was always a mess and a hassle. I spilled that tank more than once.

They now have an expensive heap filter which they neglect to tell you about as well. That bogs the machine down big time after a while.

And let's be honest, you can get a machine that cleans just as well or even better for a lot less money.

I did like it though when one rolled into the shop for repair though. Dude had a 700 dollar repair that he ok'd with any hesitation. We even recommended against fixing it and he still went ahead lol. People were dropping tons of money to fix those things.

The air freshener is a nice novelty as well.

I don't "dig", "haul", or "drag" my rainbow out. I use it daily! If you're sticking yours in the closet, you're missing out on it's best feature! It's an air cleaner! It puts out water filtered air! All those dust particles floating in the air go in the water! I run mine on low 24/7! Once a day for 30 min to an hour, I kick it up on high with a scent in itif I'm not using it for cleaning purposes that day. I love this thing! Kids taken off allergy meds within a month. Best investment ever. House has never been this clean!

Now it's 2020! My bow is now 16+ years old. I keep everything rainbow related in an area easy to access which makes things much easier. I use it more now than I did. I have a perfectly great upright with a HEPA bag. Last week all week I used my Rainbow for different things....This week I've been using my bagged HEPA. I like it as well...but the atmosphere around the house after cleaning with the bagged vac....It just doesn't smell or feel as clean. Not that my bagged vac smells. It doesn't because I put activated charcoal in the bag.......but still, just doesn't feel as clean to me.... Anyway, earlier this year, my rainbow (gold 2 speed) the control board went bad. I took it to the Rainbow dealer.... this was back when COVID was just getting started. He called me a few days later and he told me it was the control board and he told me the price of a new control board (apparently, Rexair had issues with those control boards from 2005 ish to 2009)..so they now make a much more robust board...he told me he was giving me a discount on the board because he's never seen a rainbow as old as mine that clean. He said the fans didn't even need cleaning...anyway, each time they introduce a new model, I'm so TEMPTED but I don't dare do it because mine is still in perfect condition and serves me well. So far I've been able to IGNORE the new improved models.

Traditional vacuums will ALWAYS kick dirt and dust back into the air for your to breath. The filter even using a hepa filter won't trap all the dust and dirt you are vacuuming up. I have a Rainbow and I will never look back. The fact that people have Rainbows for 30+ years is the best investment ever. If you could pay for one Vaccum that works as a air purifier and house cleaner and never have to replace it wouldn't that be worth it? Before I owned my Rainbow I was going through a Vaccum every year. I was so sick and tired of always using something that didn't clean my home. Yes the Rainbow has a high price tag but it is so worth it. I have BAD allergies and since having my Rainbow my health is the best it has ever been, even with covid. They also have a program you can earn your Rainbow free. I love my Rainbow so much I named it. I have the newest model the Rainbow SRX. and I seriously will never own anything else.