So what'srage in the vacuum world?

[Deleted]

I need a new one stat.

My current one is on its last life. It's been cleaned up, scrubbed up, parts checked and it's just not cleaning as well as it used to. It's almost 10 years old. One of the first Sharks. With the amount of vacuuming and weird things I suck up it's had a good run. For $200.00 I can't complain.

So what do you have and love? What do you want? Suggestions?

I need something with good suction and decent but basic attachments. I'm not real sure I'm willing to shell out for a Dyson (are those still the IT vacs?) but I could by persuaded.

[SusanBAnthony]

I have a 7.5 year old dyson. The basic one. It was very good for dog hair. I loved it the first few years. Now I feel like it doesn't suck stuff up very well. I have to go over and over and over the same spot.

If it had lasted longer I would be happier with it. But for 400$ I feel like it should last longer. I know most appliances don't last all that long anymore though.

I think it is on its last legs, though, based on the sad whines it has been making. I need to know what kind I should buy next, too.

[emoflamingo]

I have a Dyson that I've had for almost 6 years, the animal one, but I am still in love with it. I don't use it as often now since we have hardwood, but I still love using it on the baby's rug.

[stephm0188]

I hate my Dyson. It's a piece of junk. If you were happy with your Shark, I'd get another.

[susieq]

I have a Dyson. It is just ok. I actually think that my little blue canister vac from Sears did a better job at cleaning.

[Deleted]

Mar 13, 2013 21:01:20 GMT -5 stephm0188 said:

I hate my Dyson. It's a piece of junk. If you were happy with your Shark, I'd get another.

This is what I'm thinking actually. Either that or a Kenmore Progressive. My mom loves hers.

[sierramist03]

I was going to say the kenmore progressive while I love my bissell I wish I would have bought the kenmore instead

[mrs.jacinthe]

I'm with stephm0188 on this one .. Dysons are not worth it. Get another shark.

[house]

This post me got me thinking about how long I have had mine. 11 yrs. I have an Eureka TheBoss Smartvac. I love it and will use it till it's dead. We have hardwood floors now but only my son's room and the stairs are carpeted. So now it won't get as much use anymore. But it's not as impressive as my mom's Kirby G4. She's had hers for ..IDK 20 yrs now(?) Still runs like a champ. I'd recommend a Kirby but that's pretty expensive.

[Deleted]

We just replaced our Dyson with the Shark Lift-away professional. Love the Shark, especially the attachment for hardwood.

[TBM]

I don't get the Shark love. I have tried Shark many times over the years (vacuum, other floor care, steamer, etc.)and every one was cheap and did a lousy job. One actually did a pretty good job, but broke after a few months. I don't know anyone irl who has had good luck with them, although I know someone who has had three or four Shark vacuums in the same amount of time I have had one Dyson.

I love our Dyson. We have had no problems with it at all, (We've had it at least 6 years)it does a great job, and it shows no sign of dying.

[pamela]

I'm regretting my purchase of the large canister dyson. I wish I had gotten the mini one when it was still available because the large one doesn't travel well around my small house. It does suck up so much more than whatever professional grade one my cleaning lady brings with her though.

[imojoebunny]

Which ever one you get, I also recommend my eureka quick up. It is about $30 and great for vacuuming without having to get out the regular one. I use it way more often than my Hoover bag less. I only get the big one out about once a month, but use the eureka several times a week. It is also great on stairs, and under furniture. Being super light, even my 3 year old can use it and get a carpet clean. It has a battery and a hardwood vs carpet setting.

[MrsMB]

My sweet DH surprised me with a bad a$$ Shark at Christmas. I love, love, love this thing and it's lots of handy attachments. I can dance with this sucker....and it sucks quite well.

[Marmee]

I had a Kenmore Progressive for years & it worked great. I abused the crap out of it & eventually I killed the part that turns the carpet brush. I am sure it just needs a belt but I just left it & use it upstairs where there is no carpet. I now have a Miele as my main vacuum & it's great.

[Susie]

I have a Dyson Animal and a Shark, and I prefer the Shark.

This is the one I have: www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=40446646

[mountainsound]

I was like you and was hesitant to shell out the money for a Dyson, but I am so glad I caved a year ago. I have had a Dyson Animal for a year now and I love it. Even DH comments on how much he enjoys using it. It is fabulous.

[countthestars]

I hate my Dyson too. It's not an animal, and my hair gets so caught around it that I have to cut it out pretty much every other use. I see on the commercials that they are making new ones with different bristles.

[TBM]

Mar 13, 2013 20:36:10 GMT -5 SusanBAnthony said:

I have a 7.5 year old dyson. The basic one. It was very good for dog hair. I loved it the first few years. Now I feel like it doesn't suck stuff up very well. I have to go over and over and over the same spot.

If it had lasted longer I would be happier with it. But for 400$ I feel like it should last longer. I know most appliances don't last all that long anymore though.

I think it is on its last legs, though, based on the sad whines it has been making. I need to know what kind I should buy next, too.

Have you tried cleaning your dyson?

askannamoseley.com/2011/02/how-to-clean-your-dyson/


DH cleaned ours and it was like new after.  He had started to take it apart to look for something that had gotten sucked up and shouldn't have, and started reading about cleaning it.....and one thing leads to another.lol

[FoxInFiji]

I'm glad you posted this. We have an animal ball Dyson and we love it but we just tore out almost all of the wall to wall carpet in our home and I feel like I need something lighter for quick cleanings. IDK do people use their big Dysons for cleaning HW floors?

[TBM]

Mar 14, 2013 10:40:48 GMT -5 FoxInFiji said:

I'm glad you posted this. We have an animal ball Dyson and we love it but we just tore out almost all of the wall to wall carpet in our home and I feel like I need something lighter for quick cleanings. IDK do people use their big Dysons for cleaning HW floors?

I have considered getting the new cordless dyson for the new house, since we are putting in cork floors and vacuuming is the recommended cleaning method for cork.  I figured with the cordless one I would use it a lot more often than I do the big one. 

I do use our big dyson now, since we have the hard floor attachment, but not as often as I could.  It always seems to be upstairs when I want it downstairs, and vice versa.

[SusanBAnthony]

I always used our dyson for the wood floors in our old house.

Now I am in the habit of just sweeping the floors every night after dinner, though. A small cordless one would be great but I hate to spend the money on yet another gadget, when really, how much faster is it than sweeping?

[Deleted]

Mar 14, 2013 9:53:02 GMT -5 @crackhabit said:

I wouldn't be above contacting Shark and telling them, you say this never loses suction! Look, suction is lost. And see if they feel nice enough to send you a new one.

I may call and see! Really though it is 10 years old and i have abused that thing like crazy. I am not expecting much..lol.

[davescatch]

Another vote for Dyson - my animal is 10 years old and If I wasn't already married, I would be marrying this thing. I am religious about cleaning mine. Still works as good as the day I bought it. But I know it is a huge expense. My bought ours with wedding money back in 2003.

[mrslch]

Mar 14, 2013 10:04:00 GMT -5 FormerlyRR said:

Hoover Windtunnel. With bags. I despise bag less vacuums.

This.  It's also top rated by Consumer Reports.

[demandypants]

Mar 14, 2013 11:23:37 GMT -5 davescatch said:

Another vote for Dyson - my animal is 10 years old and If I wasn't already married, I would be marrying this thing. I am religious about cleaning mine. Still works as good as the day I bought it. But I know it is a huge expense. My bought ours with wedding money back in 2003.

this was what we did, and it would still be functional after 9 years had my H not dropped it down the stairs more than once and broke the clip that held the wand in. (after me telling him more than once not to vacuum the stairs with the vacuum upstairs).  It wasn't a replaceable part. My sister got us a replacement when we moved into our new house.

[mrs.jacinthe]

Mar 14, 2013 10:40:48 GMT -5 FoxInFiji said:

I'm glad you posted this. We have an animal ball Dyson and we love it but we just tore out almost all of the wall to wall carpet in our home and I feel like I need something lighter for quick cleanings. IDK do people use their big Dysons for cleaning HW floors?

My Dyson is useless on hard surfaces, even with the beater turned off.  It just flings things around instead of sucking them up.   ROYAL PITA.

I just spent $50 and bought a Bissell PowerEdge Pet - www.bissell.com/poweredge-pet-hard-floor-vacuum/ - best $50 I've ever spent.  It's like night and day from the big Dyson.  Plus, there's a 10% off with free shipping coupon code out, so it actually came to $45 - and they make a $5 donation to a pet-related charity.  

It does take some getting used to, with the weird vacuum head shape.  But I am used to it now and it's fantastic.

[downtoearth]

I think the board swallowed my last post...synopsis was...I'm cheap, bought a Bissel bagless for about $75 almsot 8 years ago and it was still kicking when I broke it by sucking up a raggy towel on the floor. We usually cleaned the filters (washed and air dry) 2 times per year. We just bought another Bissell on sale for $65 after Christmas and it's almost the same. I use them on hardwood most of the time, but have rugs and carpet around. I use the vacuum about 5 times per week on the whole house (includind kitchen floor sometimes). It sucks really well - funny sentence.

Oh and again, I'm cheap, so if $70ish vacuums that work for 7+ years, it's going to take me 7 of my vacuums to reach the cost of a Dyson or about 49 years.  Damn I hope I'm not still vacuuming then!

[pitterwoo]

I have the Hoover Windtunnel too and have been happy with it. About 5 years now. My mom got a miele and it's really nice, but in a whole other category.

[Deleted]

 I have a Miele and love it.  I was needing a new vacuum as DD went in for environmental allergy testing and tested positive for EVERYTHING.  I did a ton of research and found out way more than I ever wanted to know about vacuums.  So, here you go:

By law, any company can slap a HEPA filter on the side of a vac and call it HEPA filtered.

If a HEPA filter is not 100% sealed, what runs through the filter is still thrown back into the air.

No bag-less vac is sealed.  

Check out this video that shows how Dyson actually increases the dust particles in the air vs. a Miele.  www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zVua6jrTm8

Dyson is not the only vac that never looses suction.  To boil down the loss of suction, some vac use the power of the suction to move the heads while higher end models use a separate power source.  

When a vac states that it removes 100% of dust mites, it really isn't a big deal.  What causes allergies is the dust mite poop so you need something that will filter a fraction of the size of a dust mite.

Look into the particle size of filtration.  The Miele filters as small as lice and scabbies (if you have kids you will want this)

Riccar offers some 100% sealed HEPAs and I have heard good things about them also.

ETA:  My Miele came with a 20 year warranty (from the store) and the mom and pop shop I bought it from offers free cleaning of the interior of the vac and all attachments once a year.  I was buying a new vac every couple years at $100-200 a $600 vac w/ a warranty was worth it.

Also, this vac has literally cut my dusting by at least half if not more.