Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

My Grandma had one in the 80s. In 2006, I bought one brand new from Rainbow. Oddly enough, I just went to the Rainbow dealer and bought one. They never contacted me about selling me one (LOL). I just knew I wanted one when I could afford it so I just went and got one. I do not have the black Rainbow but I do have the Gold 2 speed. I want to touch on things I think people who own these machine should know. 1) when you use your Rainbow, I don't think a lot of people understand that you need to (depending on how dirty your house is) change the water before it gets too gross. Don't keep vacuuming with a basin full of thick crud. 2) If you have been vacuuming and need to stop and take a break, I don't turn my machine completely off, I turn it to air clean mode while I'm stopping for a bit because I don't want a basin full of dirty water evaporating into the motor. 2) The separator that's underneath needs to be cleaned periodically . It's super easy. Those little grooves you see in the separator will collect dirt after a while, so use a toothbrush to keep it clean. It takes seconds. 3) When done with cleaning, store the rainbow WITHOUT the water basin or it will ruin the motor. All these things are so simple. The Rainbow is heavy, but it's easy to use and does a fantastic job, but you gotta clean your house top to bottom with it. I don't think this machine is for everyone though. I think you need to be a certain type of person to appreciate one (no offense to anyone), I'm just a neat freak and I can tell that when I use this thing on cleaning day cleaning my house from top to bottom, you can tell the difference in the level of clean. And it takes longer for the house to get dirty/dusty had you used a regular bagged or bagless vacuum. You just don't need to clean as often so the extra maintenance isn't an issue (for me) I will say that even though I'm a neat freak/clean freak, I don't enjoy cleaning at all! In fact, I hate it. But if you drag this thing out to clean top to bottom, you know you're not wasting your time. After about five years, I decided to replace my hepa so I bought a generic one off ebay that fits perfectly and looks no different from the original. I cut into the one that was five years old just to see how dirty it really was, and I was shocked and how it had some discoloration and dirty, but it wasn't bad at all., In fact, I think it had lots of life left in it. The hepa filter in my bagged vacuum looks worse after 2 weeks than this hepa filter did after five years. Crazy! This is why it's important to do the things I mentioned above if you own one of these machines. Your operating costs will be very very small. An 18 dollar hepa filter every five years (for me) and an super clean house. I really wish these units weren't as expensive as they are. But they are so very well made. I guess everyone in the Rexair/Rainbow chain has to get their cut of the money so that's why these ultimately end of costing so much, but you can see the detail in how they are made and it's definitely a quality product and it's made in the USA too :D