BLOOMINGTON, Ill.—IBR, an independent testing lab in Grass Lake, Mich., recently tested three top-selling bagless upright vacuums for dirt particle retention. IBR used the ASTM standard test 1977 to test vacuums made by Royal, Hoover and Eureka.

IBR initially ran tests of the Dirt Devil Vision, the Hoover Windtunnel and the Eureka WhirlWind without introducing particles into the air stream. In the second test, IBR introduced salt particles into a chamber and measured how many particles escaped from each vacuum.

According to IBR data, the least amount of particles escaped from the Eureka Whirlwind on both tests. All of the vacuums captured ragwood-sized pollen and dust mites.

According to Eureka, over 30 percent of consumers buying upright vacuums are buying bagless models.