I was going to buy a rainbow years ago. One of the doctors I clean for told not to. He said I could do the same thing by putting water in a shop vacuum.So I tried it-worked great. In my cleaning business I use my Oreck what I love. And My customers said to empty the dirty water each time was a pain. And if you don't stinks to high heaven. Also have to clean filter each time.

This message is for Martytam,
I am a Hyla Rep. If you are needing your parts, please email me at mstacylondon@netzero.com

The health benifits of any of the "super-duper" filtration vacuums are highly over rated. Your house will have several air changes per day minimum(or several air changes per hour if it's an old drafty house). That means all the air that got filtered during the hour that you spent vacuuming is gone in a couple hours at most. Unless you vacuum several times per day, health benifits of the filtering are minimal.
One of thier favorite demonstrations is to vacuum over a previously vacummed area and show how much "extra stuff" thier super vacuum picks up. The truth is a five year old carpet will have several lbs of dirt per sq yard imbeded in it. every time you vacuum you will pick up a little more stuff. Even if you use the same vacuum.
Normal vacuums circulate the air over the hot motor cusing the exhaust to smell a little (heavy?). The water filled units cool that exhaust air and add a little humidity, reducing the odor (making it smell clean?).

A good HEPA air filter for one room will circulate and filter air at a faster rate than your vacuum and must be run continuously 24 hrs/day to be effective. The ideal that an hours vacuuming will have a significant effect is silly.

I see some incorrect info on the Hyla I'd like to correct.

"I was going to buy a rainbow years ago. One of the doctors I clean for told not to. He said I could do the same thing by putting water in a shop vacuum."

Shop vacs don't have a separator to separate the air from the water and kick-out clean air. Besides, the HYLA is more powerful than the Rainbow and has a patented separator that does not have to be cleaned as well as numerous inovations that make it much better than Rainbow.

"In my cleaning business I use my Oreck what (sic) I love."

Regualar vacuums use bags to collect dust. Besides being costly, they're not effective. Why? Becasue 80% of air pollution is smaller than .3 microns, the effective rate of HEPA machines or HEPA vacuum bags. 80% of the dust will go right through the bag and back into the air! What you see in the air represents only about 20% of air pollution. Oreck and HEPA technology cannot remove the 99.99% of pollutants the HYLA can (when used as an air purifier) and when you use it to vacuum, dust will not go back into the air as is the case with bag vacuums.

"And My customers said to empty the dirty water each time was a pain." In the Rainbow, that's true, but not for the HYLA's. The Rainbow's because the separator has to be cleaned. Rainbow's water pan is also much harder to clean. HYLA was developed by ex-Rainbow engineer who improved on several key aspects.

I'll make another post in a sec to correct more incorrect info.

My second post to counter incorrect info:

"The health benifits of any of the "super-duper" filtration vacuums are highly over rated."

May be true of Kirby, Oreck, etc, but not HYLA.

"Your house will have several air changes per day minimum(or several air changes per hour if it's an old drafty house). That means all the air that got filtered during the hour that you spent vacuuming is gone in a couple hours at most."

Most of the dust in the air we breath every day (and yes, indoor air is more polluted than outdoor air) gets kicked up from the carpets and sofas or from us and pets (dead skin) and doesn't get "filtered out" but goes back into the carpet or as a layer of dust on surfaces. If only what you said were true, that would be a wonderful thing. But the fact is that if you don't remove the dust and dead skin, tiny bugs will chow down on it and then poop, causing serious health consequences.

"One of thier favorite demonstrations is to vacuum over a previously vacummed area and show how much "extra stuff" thier super vacuum picks up. The truth is a five year old carpet will have several lbs of dirt per sq yard imbeded in it. every time you vacuum you will pick up a little more stuff. Even if you use the same vacuum."

I know Kirby salesmen vacuum without a bag to improve suction, that's true (as a bag fills, suction goes down) Unless you remove 100% of the dust however, which you can only do with a water based system like HYLA (or Rainbow), and unless you have a water based air cleaner that can even remove smoke and viruses from the air, you're not going to have good indoor air quality. The higher end vacuums do pick up a lot more than the dept. store vacuums by the way.

"Normal vacuums circulate the air over the hot motor cusing the exhaust to smell a little (heavy?). The water filled units cool that exhaust air and add a little humidity, reducing the odor (making it smell clean?)."

Huh? Normal vacuums leak out a lot of fine dust, viruses, molds, ...things that are sub .03 micron in size, dust too small to be contained in the HEPA paper bag. Water based units separate the water from the dust, even ultra find dust such as viruses, molds, and bacteria cannot go into the water and become airborne again. What comes out of the HYLA is clean, dust free air which is also free of odor causing pollutants.

"A good HEPA air filter for one room will circulate and filter air at a faster rate than your vacuum and must be run continuously 24 hrs/day to be effective."

A good HEPA air filter machine cost about $500 and cost over $2000 in filters to operate over 5 years and can only collect 20% of air pollutants in 1 room, and did I mention it can't vacuum? The HYLA cleans the air better than a HEPA machine and can also vacuum, clean your furniture, drapes, hardwood floors, and steam clean (so-to-speak) your carpets. As a matter of fact, over 5 years, the HYLA will save you a considerable amount of money over HEPA machines and vacuums (filters, bags, cost to purchase, etc)

An amazing 50%+ who get HYLA home demo's buy these incredible machines. We have a referral only business as well, we're not a door to door firm (in Las Vegas). This is the most efficient indoor air quality improving product I've ever seen and I was already an IAQ expert with a successful air purifer business before getting into the HYLA business. You can go to http://www.hyla.net/ to learn more or find a rep in your area.

My boyfriend inherited his grandmother's Rainbow vacuum after she passed away. To me, it looks like R2D2, but for being 30+ years old, it works like new, and smells like new when it runs. The power head was a victim of a laundry room flood several years back, so we refurbished it ourselves. (New motor, brush and belt.)

What I've always liked about the Rainbow is that with every use, it leaves no odor. I actually like to dump the basin after using the machine because I can SEE how much dirt was collected.

I don't clean the separator each time, rather I just remove it and dry it with a paper towel as well as the nearby gaskets. You would think that after 30 years of use the vacuum should be showing signs of wear, too. The hose that goes to the power head has a stress fracture in the vinyl at the end, but fortunately everything else is in good shape. We were offered $1,000 trade-in for it by a dealer / service shop towards their latest model. I passed on the offer. I think ours has more style to it and a bit of sentimental value, if you can have that with a vacuum.

I prefer to use this machine over a conventional bag-style vacuum because there is no lingering odor, it's much quieter, is more reliable and is still easy to find supplies for (ie, Belts, additional hoses).

Water filtered vacuums are an exorbitantly priced gimmick door to door. At best, water filtered vacuums get only allergens of 3m and bigger. Not 0.3µm. A decimal point makes all the difference. In fact, they actually stir up more dust in your house by re-emitting allergens back into the air as a fine mist such as cat allergen. I purchased a Hyla awhile back and after about a week returned it due to the fact that the foam diffuser on the exhaust was becoming discolored from smoke in my house and the chemical deodorizer they sell you which is really dilute, perfumed antifreeze. Everything I was told about the effectiveness of this product during my in home demonstration was overstated, misstated or exaggerated. (In my opinion). Their sales tactics contain a lot of loaded questions (like the yes question method) and high pressure sales tactics. Also, their financing is somewhat dubious as the contract I had signed didn't list the terms or the interest rate, but only the payment and principle. My advice:
1. Never buy anything from a door to door salesman.
2. If you want to pay $2600-$3000 (after interest charges) for a mediocre vacuum which is about as effective as a old, single bag type vacuum and ineffective as an air purifier then the Hyla is for you.
3. If you want to spend less money and not get ripped by home solicitors then use only HEPA certified vacuums and air purifiers only.
If you would like to know where I got any of this information on water filtered vacuums then please e-mail me at fauxjo26@hotmail.com put Attention: Hyla Information and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

We just bought a HYLA and we're very pleased with it. It makes our house smell wonderful and clean. We run it for about 45 minutes a day. I don't have to empty out the water for a week unless I vacuum with it or dust. I have allergies and asthma and I was hospitalized a few months ago with pneumonia and my asthma made it so bad I almost died in the hospital. So we were looking for an air purifier and a new vacuum to help clean our air better. We found it. The HYLA is great. And with the years ahead that we will be using it and the health benefits it's well worth it.
I don't believe that the HYLA is the only thing out there that can help purify your air and make your home healthier but it's one of the leading systems out there.

so, for the cost of a used car, you get a vacuum cleaner, a humidifier, and an air filter...as well as several bottles of stuff your website is so proud of that they're unwilling to list the ingredients?

yeah. right. pull the other one.

A true HEPA vacuum is the only EPA approved device allowed to vacuum up asbestos containing materials. It must be rated to filter 99.97% of all materials down to 0.3 micons at a volume of 85 liters per minute. It doesn't matter what anyone else believes, hopes, or states, if it's not certified by the EPA for asbestos removal it's not as good as anything with a true HEPA Filter. On top of that, any vacuum cleaner that uses water as the only filtering medium can never be certified for hazardous materials due to the fact that these units produce a multitude of different sized bubbles in the water--each visible bubble contain air ladened with particulate matter that floats back to the surface and bursts allowing the material it contains to pass through the filtering material (ie. water) and back into the atmosphere. Even the smallest of visible bubbles can contain material 100s of times the size of a micon. Just to put this into perspective, PM10 (Particulate Matter of 10-micons) cannot be seen by the naked eye--and even that is 33-times larger than what a True HEPA Filter is certified to stop. So, if you see bubbles in the water of vacuums like the HYLA, you're seeing the reason it can never be considered anywhere near as good at filtering the dangerous stuff in the air as a True HEPA Filtered vacuum can. Nice try HYLA, but your entire premise is flawed. Rain does not collect dust from the air as it falls from the sky--microscopic condensation that forms on dust particals is what encapsulates the dust and if, and only if it becomes too heavy for the air to hold will it drop to the ground as a rain drop (unless of course the moisture evaperates off the partical of dust before it reaches the ground thus no dust partical are removed from the atmosphere at all). But in all fairness, gravity can do the job with or without water--but even gravity has a hard time competing with the wind when it comes to dust. And therein lies the second flaw--the larger the velocity of air being forced into the water, the greater the size of bubbles it creates; and the greater the size of the bubbles, the greater the size and amount of material that can escape!

Here's another myth about using water as the only filtration material. Water makes the air smell cleaner, like after a rainstorm. It's not the water (rain) that makes the air more refreshing, its the ozone the lightning creates combined with the cooler (thus denser) air that makes the air more refreshing and smell better. There's a simple way to test whether it's the water that does this--just sit in a bathtub and fart and see if the water stops the smell from reaching you :)

In the end, if HYLA was really able to back their claims that their vacuum/air purifier unit was as good as they claim it is, they would get it certified by the United States Environmental Protection Agency for hazardous materials like asbestos--anything less should be used as proof that their product is overpriced crap!!!

I bought a Hyla the end of Feb. 08. DON'T BUY IT!!! You can get the same results from other cheaper vacuums. It does not clean the air as claimed. My 15 month old son was just chasing the dust particles in the air last evening that were floating in the sunbeams. I was told today (4 months after buying the thing) that I am supposed to vacuum every day and then leave the hose unattached and leave it run for another 30 minutes in order to have the clean, dust free air. I have had problems with the power head not wanting to stay on, the brush on the bare floor head won't come down and the plug and cord are hot when I unplug it after use.

It takes me almost 2 hours to vacuum my house by the time I put it all together, vacuum, and clean and dry the inside of the vacuum when done. Cleaning out the water filter is disgusting. My house is 2,500 sq ft but only three rooms have wall to wall carpet most of it has hardwood or ceramic floors which I use my Swiffer cloths on.

I have been trying to return the machine for several months now but have gotten no satisfaction from the local office or the national office in Deerfield, Fl. The salesman actually turned his back on me and hid out in the back of the store until I left the first time I took it in. I spoke with the owner of the local company today after having to wait 18 minutes outside a store that was supposed to be open. (Now that I have contacted the finance company they are willing to call and talk to me) He sat on his desk and twisted the cord around and around itself (the same cord that already gets hot when plugged in) swinging his feet trying to call me a liar and there was nothing he could do about returning the vacuum.

My opinion, If you hear or see the name Hyla turn around and walk away!! I wish I had.

Hi everyone, I just had the HYLA Demo at my home .Because my mother-in-law gave them my name. The salesman asked me how much do you think it cost? Well, this is the first time ever seeing the Hyla so I told him my sister in law use to sell the Rainbow for $750.00 so I jokily said $2,000.Well the joke was on me he told me theat the Hyla cost $2,330.Only if I give up my old Vacuum Cleaner if I keep my old vacuum then the Hyla will cost $3,000. I told him I like the Hyla but I just can't pay that much. The Hyla cost as much as a good used Car.After the four hour Demo from hell.Don't get me wrong the salesman was nice. After he left I went on Ebay and saw they where selling the Hyla from $136.00 to $1,600. So I bought me one on Ebay cheap. So now I can still buy a used car . Because I told the Hyla salesman something all you sillys out there couldn't say THAT'S TOO MUCH!!! bUT THANK -YOU HYLA inc. for the Free Branson motel stay .But I did have the 4 hour Demo from hell to go thru....

I bought a Hyla last June, have never used it except for the demonstration, and have been trying to return it but have not been able to (the attachments and all are still in boxes). The sales person spent nearly 4 hours and would not leave so i finally said OK. My finances were in stable conditon and I just wanted rid of the salesperson. Well, the sales person is now the sales manager and the last attempt returned a definite "NO". I wrote the finance company, but they referred me back to the company. Any one have have any ideas of how I can return this. When I said my finances were OK, at the time I got one year no interest, no payment at all. Well, now that time is coming around and I am not going to be able to make the payments. I was told maybe I could get something for it on craigslist, but don't think i could get enough to reverse my financial problem. I "paid" $2,650 for the whole package. Is there a reputable Hyla person that might help me as the office here is of no assistance. It's not that I don't think it is a good product but I am disabled and cannot operate it. The salesperson said I would be able to, but i cannot.

My advice is don't buy a HYLA. When they came and did the demo it looked amazing, something i couldn't live without. Then they told us the interest rate typically runs around 1%. We couldn't refuse at that rate! However when we got our first bill it was 18.9%. So when we call to ask why they give us some dumb, really long explanation about why it was so much more, then say we can't return it because there's a 3 DAY return policy. THREE DAYS? Is that really enough time to see if you like something? That should have been a warning flag. It took me a couple of months to start missing my old vacuum and shampooer. The HYLA works, but i don't think it was worth the price. Just like the previous post said, there's always going to be dirt embedded in carpet, furniture, etc. I feel like i've been royally ripped off. I would probably sell my HYLA to anyone willing to pay me enough to buy a regular vacuum and shampooer.....

I almost got hooked last night after 5 hours of playing"Lets make a deal" with the salesman in my home and his boss on the phone.But I stood my ground and insisted on sleeping on it and started researching this morning.
Your input on here definately makes a difference.!.I felt like their lowest offer of $2399 and a free shampooer and free chemicals whenever I need them -plus no money down and $200 a month was still over my head FOR CLEAN AIR.!
I ve found a refurb for $300+ on ebay I am considering BUT still wonder if at my older age -with no pets no kids--will i ever really use it on my laminate floors enough to justify the cost.?! Thank you all for your posts. You saved me money BIGTIME.!!

I saw a demo for the Hyla last night. I know I have 3 days to return it if I don't want it. So I started looking on these websites to see what others have experienced. It seems that the ones who like them actually love them. The ones who don't hate them. I am confused as to what to do and I only have 3 days to go back on my purchase. It is expensive but with my allergies etc I thought it would be a good purchase. I wish I had a couple of weeks to try it out but I can see that it won't work. HELP. WHAT SHOULD I DO?

I used to sell Hylas, and for those who have complaints...It not the machine that is incompetent!

When you use a Hyla, you use it throughout your home to pull dust from all areas of the house especially ceiling fans, blinds, and wall decorations.

When I first brought my demo model home, I started with ceiling fan,then my blinds, wall hanging, table then the carpets and floors. I gave whole house a cleaning...after I finished, I put in clean water and the D and A cleaner, and went to the grocery store. When I came back, I could tell the difference in the air in the house.

I still have my Hyla. I demoed over sixty houses, and sold over 40 machines. Only one was returned, and that was because the finance company refused to finance the couple because of their age.

Anytime I did a demo, I conveyed to the people what I had done and how it should be done. They were always satisfied. I even sold this machine to my daughter,and she is the biggest tightwad, but she saw the value in the machine and still has it almost ten years later.

For those of you who want to find a bargain on eBay and other sites, you do not have the Hyla warranty, so if something goes wrong you will probably have a time with replacement parts, but they are available. Most of the parts have a lifetime warranty with normal wear-and-tear, like the wheels, base, etc.

As for me, even though I don't sell them anymore, I think the Hyla Clear Air Machine is one of the greatest inventions since indoor plumbing!

I have a Rainbow 2 speed that is five years old. I'm not a fool and realize these machines are overpriced. That being said, it works fantastically as I'm sure Hyla does as well.

Let me explain. The person above said water is a mediocre filter at best. Really? Then please do explain to me why, after almost five years the hepa filter on my Rainbow is still snow white and smells new? I'm not lying. I took the Hepa filter off (which is pretty big by the way) and shined a light through it on both sides and it's spic and span and even smells fresh. The air is exhausted straight out through the hepa filter. As long as the water is changed regularly during vacuuming and you don't vacuum up things that are not wettable (drywall dust, fireplace ash, flour etc (none of which are good for ANY vacuum cleaner by the way) you should be fine.

I keep reading that Rainbow's and their competitors don't filter well and dust exists out the machine. By all means, please explain to me why, five years later, my hepa filter is not completely coasted with the dirt? I would really like to hear your explanation.

As far as the Rainbow water pan being hard to clean...Really? No it's not. It's a snap. The separator rarely needs cleaning on mine. I clean it on occasion though with a tooth brush. Takes like three minutes

I have a bagged canister that uses a hepa bag, and while it works good, if I go a couple of weeks using it instead of the Rainbow, I can tell. I've always been a total clean freak and have attention to detail when it comes to dust (behind tv cords) on computer, printer etc. I can see a difference.

Would I own a Hyla? Yes. Would I buy it from a door to door person? No! You can get one off Ebay or vacuum shop from a REPUTABLE person who does nothing but recondition and sell vacuums and they offer warranties through their shop. I'm sure Hyla's warranty is better but if the machine is built as well as a Rainbow and is used properly, you're likely not to need it.

These machines take somewhat of a learning curve and can be somewhat of a pain. Once you get in the groove though, it's not that hard at all. Admittedly I get my bagged vacuum out when I need to do it quickly. But no way would I get rid of the Rainbow unless I was desperate and needed money.

I still prefer Rainbow. I think the latest Rainbows are more technologically advanced and remember they are made in the USA. Hyla, Pro Aqua, Ocean Blue, Delphin (all of which are great) are not made in the USA. All of them, including Rainbow, are way over priced. These machines can be had at a fraction of the cost. Just do some searching online or at a local vacuum dealer in your area.

I will say this: I do NOT like the Rainbow Power Nozzle. I think the Power Nozzles offered with Hyla, Pro Aqua Ocean Blue etc are better.

I have to say that I am not a HYLA rep but have owned one for several years. My daughter that had allergies from indoor air contaminants is symptom-free now. We spent $100's on filters for vacuums and air purifiers before purchasing a HYLA and now, spend nothing. I looked at what I spent over the years on allergy meds, air freshners, filters, bags, crappy purifiers, etc.....and honestly, the $2300 price tag paid for itself within 2 years. The warranty is far better than anything I have seen.
As far as Rainbow, there is no doubt that HYLA is similar in several respects. However, Rainbow is not a stand-alone air purifier. Talk to any Rainbow rep and they will tell you up front (if they are honest) that you can't run a Rainbow for more than an hour or two at a time. HYLA is designed to run 24 hours/day. The people who said it overheats, you are full of it. I have ran our HYLA for 2-3 days at a time and besides adding a little more water, NO overheating.
I agree with someones post about the water trapping dirt. Water does trap particles that come into contact with it. If you run the HYLA for a few minutes in your house, you already see it collecting particles. It is actually certified and guaranteed to collect particles far below 1.0 um.
The ingredients actually are listed on every bottle of air freshener oil they sell.
HYLA backs everything they say and sell and is a eco-friendly company. You can't say that about Rainbows.
Lastly, for the person that stated that rain doesn't clean the air. Do you watch the news or have you ever read a book? Think before you post. Pay attention to a smog level alert or pollen level alert just one time. Notice it before a rain and after a rain the same day (or even an hour later). It drops way down after a good rain. I wonder why genius.
Stop with all the statements that have no backing whatsoever. Educate yourself before you decide to post something.

hylalovetexas

I agree Hyla is probably a great machine. Why did you state the Rainbow cannot be rain 24/7? It can. It's a brushless motor. Rainbow can only be ran two hours at a time? Where are you getting that information? Perhaps you're speaking of the previous model Rainbows. I think they are awesome machines as I am sure Hyla is too.

I HATE however that there is such a huge markup on these machines. You and I both know they are. And if someone finances one, forgetaboutit!

It's pretty cool NASA uses them as well as a few Universities in their "clean" rooms. I read where they had contacted Rexair to see if they could use the Rainbow for their clean rooms to test it for a few days to see if it would work for what they wanted it for. It did, so they bought three.

enquire information where to see demonstration of hyla water trap vacuum cleaner, where is distributor who sells it, price. kindly inform 02 9642 1152 elizabeth Lee
P.O. Box 393 Strathfield 2135 nsw.
email: hye216@hotmail.com (sorry my computer is at times
unable to connect, better post postal address or phone
02 9642 1152

My daughter gave me a HYLA NST Vacuum,ser# 117483. it has a broken carousel and no operating instructions.Where can I find parts? Thank You. Russ

Above, some folks said the HYLA is stronger than the Rainbow machines. Do they mean a higher vacuum or a larger volume of air moved in the same period??? Do they mean HYLA is stronger than the newer Hurricane Rainbow motors?
Just don't understand if there is a good way to measure the differences in performances other than subjective tests with no metrics. Anecdotal stuff is fairly useless in making an evaluation. Anyone know how to genuinely know?
I see Rainbow and HYLA on Ebay and will buy something in the next 3 days. Just hoped that someone could be more definitive.
Peace, Bob

Avoid these models by anyone where you get tons of attachments--you will almost never use them, and will pay more than the machine is worth. Go to a regular retail shop, compare statistics, or go to a repair shop which may have used models for sale--no shipping costs.

I have a 1958 Kirby, it has many attachments, and works well, but I got it from my father-in-law, and wouldn't be paid to use a new model.

A few months back while cleaning house we had an unexpected family emergency and had to drop everything and take off. I ended up not comming home for about 3 days and upon my return found the dirty water had soured! I am still smelling it and can't seem to get the smell out? Any one have any suggestions? HELP!!

Well, try adding baking soda, vinegar or a bit of bleach to fresh water....all hints you can find online for removing smells from things, like using baking soda in the fridge.

This forum isn't a place to buy and sell vacuums--check with local sources, or the company itself for that...so can we please stop bringing up this thread?

I have been trying to clean my home for years and have just been relocating the dirt and dust. The HYLA is the only thing I have ever used to evict the dirt ,dog hair and those mystry dust bunnies. Squabble as you guys must, buyers remorse realy grow up. Adults over 21 owning their own home should be able to decied what to buy. So, was their a gun involved. After a demo and using of thie HYLA I wanted one. Currenty I am going to homes to show the system. Now one out of three people buy a HYLA and most of the outher two love the system but cannot afford the high price. MY Distributor does not like the financing of machines it is not reccommended. If people currently have issues with parts and service just call the head quarters in Florida. Its too bad this post is so old I think 2005 posts are not much use. The warranty only works if you transfer it the one time and re-register your unit. Great care is done at my office to do all paper work and track old units. E-bay units could be tranfered if its the first re-homming for that unit. Contact me if you like I love the input.

We have had our Hyla for almost 8 years. My parents have a Rainbow now and we always had a Kirby when I was growing up.

My Wife and I have 6 kids now, live on a farm and everything that entails (horses, dogs, cats, chickens....etc). Granted the barnyard animals don't come in the house.....but the kids track in enough stuff you would think they do.

Plain and simply the Hyla ROCKS!!!!!!! I paid $400 for a brand new setup on Ebay when I bought it and it came with every attachment available and we use them all.

Honestly if Hyla rooked you into their scheme odds are you will not be able to figure out how to use it correctly anyway. Sorry....but it's the truth. It is an awesome machine and does a great job cleaning the carpet and air.

I work in the semiconductor industry and know what clean air is. I borrowed an airborne particulate counter from work and actually monitored the particulate level in various rooms of the house over a two week period when we started using the Hyla. The room (guest room) we used as a standard (kept it closed and un vacuumed) always showed about the same level of particulate. The rest of the house continually dropped.

The Hyla engineers developed a better machine. Salesmen are salesmen and will get you for whatever they think they can get from you. Don't be a Lemming. Do your research. Don't be afraid to kick the salesman out and buy it elsewhere.

FWIW,
Shane

Shane.

You got your Hyla brand new off Ebay for 400 dollars? U got lucky. All I see are used NST's. If I do see a new one, it's well above 400 dollars.

I think water filtration with separator is the way to go if you want clean. I say this because the hepa filter on my rainbow vacuum after over five years is still white on both sides. What other vacuum can have a hepa filter that can go THAT long without getting dirty & I use my Rainbow quite a bit. I took it OFF and ran my Rainbow to see if there was any noticeable increase in airflow to make sure the filter wasn't clogged and there was no noticeable difference.

Here's my question though. Why does Hyla NOT have the certifications Rainbow does? I'm sure it's a great machine & admittedly I'd love to use one & I'm definitely NOT saying it's not a good machine. I'd just think it would get at least some sort of certification from the allergy foundation. I know it has a self cleaning separtor which is cool. That's the KEY to keep these water machines filtering properly. I keep my separator clean. Only takes a couple of min's to clean it.

I do have a bagged canister that I like & I will get out to use occasionally when I'm too lazy to get the Rainbow out because when I get the rainbow out, I can't stop cleaning. I figure- since it's out, I might as well get EVERYTHING. Definitely less dust accumulation after a few days using the bagged vac vs the rainbow. Still - bagged vacs are good & lots of people love them.

My husband bought a HYLA several months before we got married. I wish he had consulted me before spending the money. I don't want to seem ungrateful--he was so proud of his purchase--but I hate, hate, hate vacuuming now. I guess it does everything the salesman said it would do. But it's exhausting. I'm heading to Walmart now to buy me a good cheap easy to use vacuum. I know he could never get his money back out of it. But I wouldn't care if he gave the thing away.

Dear Sir: We have a Hyla Water Trap vacuum Cleaner. It is fantastic. We came to Canada 1 year ago and now, we want to bring it from Europe. Because the electricity voltage there, was 220 V and here is 110/115, tell us please, does our vacuum work here? if not, what can we do? may be need to buy something to transferring the voltage?
thank you very much. best regards.

My wife and I got our Hyla GST last Thursday. I will spare you with all the details but after a day of negotiation I got it for a price I couldn't pass on as it was less then what I found them used on eBay with no factory warranty and mine was brand new with the warranty card in my possession. And I didn't even have to trade my pro clean in either! ;)

I enjoyed the demo from my salesman (Merle George, he's in the st.louis area). He was extremely friendly and knew his product. Being in sales myself it was very nice to experience another pro doing his business. As salesman you wouldn't be doing your job if you didn't ask for the sale. There's a difference between being pushy/high pressure and being dishonest about your wares and someone that's confident their product does what it's advertised to do and has the ability to back those up with facts or showing you right I'm front of your eyes. Sure, it was a bit goofy but their demo is hard to argue with, believe me I tried!

I personally think that you get what you put into it with this product. Sure the water isn't the most convenient thing to change but it is what it is. It also depends on how humid your house is/stays, as after you run it for a week or so and get those humidity levels above the Death Valley levels its probably at you won't need to add as much water when air filtering. Of course you should change it every time you vacuum with it, otherwise that'd be gross and you'll have a stinky machine on your hands!

Here's what I know to be true on the H.E.P.A. Filter thing. That there is NO regulatory body that controls who/what can label their product with that term (its actually only legit being used as an acronym), use it in advertising/marketing, how its presented (ie hepa material filter, hepa type, hepa like, whatever the think of but not H.E.P.A.) or even oversees that something labeled as such actually complies with that one standard set way back when they made fat man and little boy.

Now on the fancy certifications the Hyla doesn't have. I'm good with that. Look at the previous example, H.E.P.A. Filters that truly carry that acronym MAY and I say may filter 97% of particulates down to 3 microns at 85 cubic ft/m flow rate but that is only a few products and you can bet that's not a cheap feature to have. Hepa in 98% of the cases is a joke and being used falsely only to sell you something that won't get the job done. I think rainbow sold out by adding that filter but I have never held their cartridge in my hand, hopefully it's a true one. If it is and meets the standard, great. If not then shame in them for adding something it doesn't need anyway.

There are a couple things I'm not sure about that hopefully someone can shed some light on for me.

Does glycol really sanitize the air that passes through the machine by killing bacteria/mold/pollen/viruses for real?

How about putting some Epsom salt in the water bucket during air cleansing? That may give you better air quality???

What's the best way to wet vac drink spills/food stains/pet ignorance on carpet? Dumping scalding water in the carpet can't get everything and plus I wouldn't think the best for the carpet/padding/sub flooring after time and time again doing this.

Also, anyone know where to snag the long/er hose, micro hand held electro guy or the other smaller hand held device w/o going through the local shop? I gotta think they'd have to be somewhere for cheaper.

Fill me in please?

I use Epsom Salt in mine sometimes. As long as what you add doesn't "foam" up, you are fine. I add essential oils and even a dash of pine sol to mine when cleaning. I am curious about the Glycol as well, but I can tell you this, once I filled a fresh tank, added some fragrance but not the glycol, vacuumed and forgot to dump it. 2 days later it smelled like a dead body. I have 2 dogs. I have forgotten before to dump the water, but had the glycol added and the water was dirty, but not funky. ~ Hope this helps.

Will this thread ever die? 9 years running...

...and running...

The rainbow hepa is massive and takes forever to get dirty. The exhausted air goes straight out that filter. I used mine 5 years and finally cut into it and there was a very small amount of dirt, but nothing bad.....I think Hyla's look cool too and I'd like to have one...

I currently have a Hyla System. My husband is the toughest most hard-to-convince person to sell a product to. We had someone who did a demonstration in our home. We were astonished at how poorly-performing our current vacuum was. It is expensive. However, I enjoy cleaning my house even more and I know that I am getting dirt out of my air and off of my floors and upholstery effectively. I have shown this system (actually demonstrated it) to a few of my local business associates who own day care centers. They loved it! Because of my passion for the product and the fact that the product sells itself, it has more than paid for itself. I recommend this system for anyone who wants qualitative and quantitative proof during every cleaning session that they are removing dirt and allergens from their environment.

Thanks to everyone above that has reviewed. I've found this thread very useful in helping with my decision between Rainbow and Hyla and thought I would add my input. I own a 10yr old Hyla NST and love it. Bought from a sales guy back in 2005, showed him the door when he said $2000 but bought when the demo model was offered for $1000. Some plastic parts and seals needed some help from glue/tape after 10yrs but never had any major issues requiring service. I can't stand dirty canisters or bags so love that after rinsing the dirty water tank you are always storing and starting with new clean vacuum. Plus the ability to pick up liquids is a big plus on water-vacs over other vacuums.

I just don't understand why these companies don't legitimately sell their products in stores at a reasonable price rather than by door salesman tactics at outrages prices. I guess they are money hungry and make a killing ripping off people for years so why start now?

Anyway, I was considering upgrading after 10yrs and had a Rainbow Sales do a demo of the new new Rainbow E2 Black against my Hyla NST. Sales tricks are always amazing to prove their system is awesome and your current vacuum is awful, however preforming the demo backwards (vacuuming with the Hyla after the rainbow) the Hyla can be made to appear better than the new Rainbow. (As would any vacuum being ran after another.) So after many of my own test comparing side by side performance was too close to tell so it comes down to other features. For me the deciding factor was the larger Hyla tank mostly because it is much easier to empty and clean since it is wide open. The Rainbow tank necks down to a small opening just large enough to fit your hand inside which makes it harder to wipe clean if you start to get. It is smaller and lighter but that means it requires to be emptied more often and/or refilled more often for evaporation when using it as an air purifier. Rainbow does sell a larger volume tank which deepens the bottom but still has the same small opening at the top. Also because of the larger Hyla tank it holds more dirt/hair before the water will stop mixing with the air and not need emptying as often. (or filling as often if just using as an air purifier)

The new Rainbow Power Brush had the neat side rotating brushes but didn't preform as well as I thought. (it would take about 10 swipes to work the side dirt into the path of the main brush) So easier just to use the bare hose against any baseboards. The instant on/off trigger was nice but because of the nice carpet guard it didn't suck up carpets as easy as my Hyla Power Brush however the Hyla is wider and seems more powerful. I don't use all the other fancy attachments so I can't give insight on them. If I were to upgrade it would be to the Hyla GST. They made the tank even easier to detach and lift with a new handle and also added the LEDs and second low speed on the unit but I don't see a big enough difference to replace my NST especially at the price they are asking for these. If someone needs one now I would recommend a good vacuum repair store that offers their own warranty. (several can be found on ebay)

HOUZZ: THIS IS A 10 YEAR OLD THREAD THAT KEEPS BEING BROUGHT UP BY SHILLS FOR THE HYLA WATER TRAP COMPANY. PLEASE MAKE IT GO AWAY!!!!

My mom just had someone to come do a demo. He told her ,her health ins would help to pay for this vac. Plus told her it sold for $3000. But I found it on the internet for less than $1500. Its the same thing as a rainbow vac, it's just prettier. Lol. He also said he made $150,000 a year selling these to old people with health problems. This guy was a joke. Praying on old people. I told him NO 27 times in a hour. And I told him my mother had no money so he told her she wouldn't have to pay for it til 2017. Tried to make it sound like she would die without it because she was old. Oh they gave for a Hilton motel room for 3 days for 2. But only a husband and wife can use it. Her husband has been dead for over 15 years. So it can't be used.

I'm a past owner of the RAINBOW, had it for 20 years (1980-1999). Eventually it broke and due to finances resorted to a HEPA bagged vacuum. Fast forward to 2016, we had another in-home demo. Suddenly my love for that dearly departed RAINBOW came back! Husband's allergies are at least 75% better and if he didn't go outside I'm certain he'd be symptom free. We leave it on low 24/7. Very quiet on that setting. The satisfying feeling when you're vacuuming and aren't being suffocated with exhausted dust and that nasty "vacuum smell". Seeing that black thick water as you dump the vacuum water down the toilet! I vacuum my walls, my furniture, floors, nic-nacs, cupboards, curtains EVERYTHING. Welcome home Rainbow!

Why is this in the Old House Forum????

It's being ongoing since 2005. Back and forth between people who got ripped of and shills that come on and pontificate the benefits. If you google Hyla or Rainbow vacuums, this thread keeps coming up on top of the search. At this point it's become a joke on how long it lasts. I was hoping one of the Houzz admins would delete it...

I'm no shill. Simply a mom who loves my Rainbow. As if no one likes their Rainbow machines?

I just got a Hyla NST from a friend at a yard sale. OH happy day! I have all concrete floors with some area rugs. NOT carpet. I could not believe what this Hyla pulled out of my area rug! I love how well it did in my stained concrete. I hope I can fiND someone who is willing to sell their wet floor accessories, since ce I have the older model. Anyone???

We've had our Hyla GST for 3 months. When demonstrated to us I was amazed at the suction. Now, after being used twice, it has less than 1/4 the suction of our Shark Rotator. Am I missing something when I clean it? The hose is not clogged, the low suction is at the unit.

The Hyla only has a 7.5 amp motor but because water is the filter and water doesn’t clog up u have plenty of air flow to get an amazing clean! Dry vacuum cleaners have stronger suction because it’s got to pull air threw all the clogged filters. When filters clog your cleaning efficiency drops.

People spend thousands of dollars on their home and furnishings. People with asthma and allergies can spend the price of a Hyla at the emergency room trying to breathe.

Why do most of u people on this thread want to spend pennies to protect your health and the investment you’ve made in your home and furnishings.

QUALITY ALWAYS COSTS MORE UPRONT but is more economical in the long run.

Spend your money on a cheap used car so u have a way to get to the hospital when your child with asthma can’t breathe because u bought a cheap dust blowing vacuum.

When I was in college in the late 90's, I used a Rainbow at one of the houses I cleaned on the side. I LOVED it and knew one day I wanted a water vac. (*NERD ALERT) In 2008, I bought a Hyla. My then husband nearly fell over when I told the salesman I would take it. I think I spent around $1500-2000 with the carpet cleaner attachment and all the bells and whistles. In 2009, we had a house fire. I made sure the Hyla was safe when we exited. She survived just fine. In 2010, I used my Hyla while cleaning various residential properties for remodel. In 2012, we adopted another pet or two which means more fur. In 2018, I took the hose into the local vacuum repairman. He is an odd dude. He made negative comments about Hyla and was reluctant to help me. Apparently, it was a towel stuck in the hose, which he removed for a hefty fee. I believe he doesn't like Hyla because if everyone had them, he would lose business. The 2 repairs I've had to make in 12 years have been minimal and mainly due to user wear and tear. Our Hyla gets used A LOT. Fast forward to 2020. I still have my dearest Hyla, but not the dearest husband. I chose well! She always picks up after herself. She cleans like a champ. I can't stand the way a regular vacuum feels like you just push dust around the house. I am very attached to this vacuum and have always been happy that I purchased it. I pray she lives forever, but if her time comes to an end, I will 100% buy another! I write this review now, after 12 years of having this vacuum because I hate reading reviews and wondering if a product held up but not knowing because the review was written so soon after purchase. I'm here to tell you, if they still sell Hylas, I would 10/10 recommend. PS: I'm not a paid reviewer, I just love the hell outta my Hyla!

We bought a Hyla 2 years ago. It is difficult for my husband and I to pull around. I kick myself every day at the price we paid. This is the first time in 80 years that we succumbed to a salesman and it makes us so mad at ourselves. The cost is outrageous! When, within the three days, we tried to return it (according to the law) they said that there would be a $900 return fee. Say WHAT!!!!! After spending $2500, we were mad!! Don't fall for this scheme.