Kirby health-focused demo
A Kirby salesman came to my apartment yesterday to give me a demo. He was trying to sell me a floor-rolling unit for about $3,000.
For the demo, he used a special attachment that collected the sucked dust on an adhesive white paper disc. He used about 30 discs, demonstrating the dust that he could collect from drapes, furniture, stuffed animals, pillows. At one point he used it a new, white t-shirt that was fresh out of the dryer after being washed, after having been worn only once. Even with that, the white disc showed what appeared to be lots of black pieces of dust. The main message of the sales pitch (aside from the fact the the Kirby has such a good warranty and lasts so long that you end up saving money in the long run) was the idea that it's all about your family's health -- that all of these dangerous germs were on pillows, stuffed animals, even clothes right out of the washer.
My questions:
The whole thing felt like a magic show. I felt like there was some smoke and mirrors, like maybe that white paper is going to show black specks no matter what. Granted, it certainly showed more dust when used on dusty areas, so I know it was showing actual dust. But it's hard to believe that the t-shirt had a lot of dust on it. Like maybe it sucks in a lot of loose fibers and they show as black on the adhesive disc?
Are Kirby vacuums that much stronger that other vacuums like a Shark or Electrolux? Or for that matter a cheaper vacuum? If I hooked one of those up with the same type of adhesive disc dust catcher, would I get about the same results?
This is more a health question than a vacuum question, but is household dust actually dangerous? I understand it might be a good idea for certain people with allergies or respiratory problems to avoid dusty environments. But is everyday dust a health issue? I actually have some longstanding medical issues and I've never had a doctor recommend that I try to live in a more dust-free environment or buy a fancy vacuum. I'm sure some kinds of dust can contain toxins, but is the everyday dust dangerous?