Euro-Pro NV31 Infinity Upright Cleaner

The Shark Euro-Pro “Infinity with Pet Care System” vacuum cleaner is the worst vacuum that I have ever purchased and used. This even tops the manual 1970’s push broomstick style cleaner, which doesn’t require electricity at all; you just push it along as the bristles flick dirt into a holding chamber.

The Infinity is a truly complicated design. Though the manufacturer claims that it is simple to use and requires no filters, this machine is difficult to lug up stairs and push across a carpeted floor, and does in fact require one type of HEPA filter replacement. The machine’s filtration system consists of a foam chunk, which you remove to clean. Sure, you are saving money by not having to buy new filters, but now you are hand washing a dirty octagon shaped piece of foam, which takes at least 24 hours to dry out entirely before you can use it again. The capacity of the dirt holding cylinder is incredibly small too, it will only allow for about a square 10 foot section worth of floor to be vacuumed before it needs to be dumped out.

The claim that this vacuum is “designed for pet lovers for superior pet hair clean-up,” is utter nonsense. I am a pet lover, I have animals that shed hair, I purchased this vacuum purposely for this claim and tried to use it for my pet hair needs, and have found this vacuum to be a total waste of time and money. It would take me less time to use one of those hand-held lint rollers to clean my entire carpet or any of my upholstered furniture.

Euro-Pro’s patent pending 24 cyclones that they claim to “never lose suction” can surely be debated. The only thing that this machine never loses suction from is the money that you’ve spent on it, which is a hefty $250. I find it less than amusing when I walk behind the vacuum and see the runway style rows of dirt that are not picked up after a pass over the area. It takes 3 times the effort to clean the same sized section than a “normal” vacuum cleaner would. Add in the time that it takes for you to disassemble the dirt holding chamber to empty it, and the time that it takes to fit all the pieces back together in puzzle fashion, and you’re more than tripling the time it takes to complete this one simple household task.

While some consumer reports give you bits and pieces keeping their “honest” opinions to themselves, here’s my honest opinion of the Shark Euro-Pro “Infinity with Pet Care System”: This vacuum cleaner’s claims are totally fictitious, it is very complicated to use, it is not capable of easy disassembly and reassembly, it is heavy to carry up a flight of stairs, it does not provide any benefits towards removing pet hair and other dirt, it is very costly, and it performs less than poorly,

Bottom line is that I wouldn’t recommend this product to anyone.

By the way, I’m going back to my $50, 6+ year old, broken down vacuum cleaner that works only half of the time. It’s sad to say, but I am honestly getting better results with the old busted one, than with the Infinity vacuum that costs $250.

Overall the NV31 is an excellent value with many features and good performance. Many reviews marvel at how this vacuum will suck up debris that your previous vacuum did not. ...My experience proved to be exactly that. Great suction!!

My one complaint is that the vacuum integrates a lot of plastic into its design. Some of it appears to be chintzy, but luckily nothing has broken yet.

...I'm looking forward to using the vacuum for several years.