Comments on: Ask the Audience: Vacuum Recommendations

By: Amanda

Amanda — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 22:32:12 +0000

I have two miracle vacs… a must with a dog, cat, husband and child… Hardwood floors and rugs.

First it's HANDS FREE Vacuuming with My Roomba- Pet Series (LOVE IT!) I use Roomba every other day to manage the hair balls, pet dander(YUCK), dirt and dust. Then I use my awesome Dyson Stowaway Canister Vac for the deep weekly vacuuming.

Roomba is the Best purchase I've made for cleaning. Keep the rollers free of hair and the canister clean and you will be amazed at all it picks up all by itself — while you are doing other chores!!! YEAH! My floors look great!

By: HeatherSolos

HeatherSolos — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 15:53:07 +0000

Jan, I use the hardfloor attachment for my wood floors, in that mode it is more like a cannister vac, but I like that the handle is tall enough for comfortable use. I'm 6' and that becomes important to me very quickly.

By: Jan

Jan — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 07:25:18 +0000

I was a loyal Hoover buyer but the last few ones I had lasted a year and that was it —belts continually breaking, motors eventually breaking from some small item getting sucked in. I loved the pickup on them and didn't mind buying bags. Now I have a Dyson regular Vac and although it has great suction, the tool wand is not good and it doesn't vacuum at all along the floorboards. You can see the dirt on my carpet all along every wall. The wand has too short of a flexible hose and you can't angle it properly to vacuum small spaces so I have a lot of dirt left behind on my carpet because of the hassle of having to go back over every area with the wand along the wall and spending twice as long to vacuum up what the regular vacuum always misses. Also Dyson is not that great on wood/vynl flooring as it blows the dirt around more than picking it up.

By: vacuum equipment

vacuum equipment — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 09:30:13 +0000

I have the Dyson Ball, it is lightweight and easy to lug around. I have an animal as well but it needs service, it lost it's suck last year. I have had the animal for 6 years and the ball for about a year.

By: shadow460

shadow460 — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:44:18 +0000

Yes, I have a vacuum cleaner that's the best thing since sliced bread. It's not a traditional floor/carpet vacuum, though. It is a DeWalt DC500 shop vac. It runs from either wall power or batteries from DeWalt power tools. Some old Black & Decker batteries will run it also.

It's great for cleaning out the car, blowing (or sucking) dust and small debris off the porch, cleaning up spills of any size, and it works very well on the job, too. I can't count how many times I've needed to clean up a small puddle of water after a plumbing job, and this vacuum is right there.

A number of attachments can be had for it. There are several that can do floors and even carpet, but they don't do it quite as fast as a standard upright vacuum would.

The catch? Price. For the vacuum, two 18 volt NiCd batteries, a charger, a couple of extension poles, a spare (washable) filter, and a couple of accessories, you're looking at $300 to $350. Also if the filters get wet, they will clog until they are dry.

If you are looking for a second vacuum to use in the car or garage, though, without the need to drag a heavy upright and a cord, and you can get by the price, this is the perfect thing. It'll never replace an upright, but it does so much stuff that an upright cannot or isn't practical for.

By: La Rêveuse

La Rêveuse — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:22:28 +0000

We got a Bissell designed for Animal homes, and love it. It's a non-bag model, has great tools, and the middle pulls out to go up stairs, which is very handy. There's also a hand tool with the rotating brush, so you can really clean stairs and upholstery, which I love. The filters are easy to clean, and it really sucks! If it had a retractable cord, it'd be perfect. Plus, it's about 80% cheaper than a Dyson. Here's a link. http://www.amazon.com/Bissell-37604-Lift-Off-Revo...

By: Caroline

Caroline — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:16:15 +0000

I have a Miele that i really like. I don't vacumn that often as I have a bi-weekly cleaning lady and usually all that is required is touch-ups with the dirt-devil cone. Usually milk-bone crumbs and leaves that my greyhounds leave behind. But i had company this week so I went over the 'public' areas with the miele and it worked great. Only downside is it is heavy, and when you're dragging it aroudn the plug will pop out of the wall fairly easily if you reach the end of the cord.

By: Lucy

Lucy — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:42:59 +0000

We have 3 dogs and a cat that go in and out, plus a horse farm and we and customers tromp in and out. Our floors are covered with assorted hair, sand, mud, bits of maure, wood shavings, hay and straw. I go through once with a Shop-Vac to get the big stuff and then again with an ancient Hoover Decade. The Hoover can't go first or it gags on the big stuff and has to be taken apart and unclogged, but it does get the in-between bits I miss with the Shop-Vac and leaves those nice lines on the carpet that give the impression the whole house is much cleaner than it actually is.

By: Eugene Mah

Eugene Mah — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:12:25 +0000

a replacement brush from dyson.com will run you around $20 i believe. It could be that the worn brush isn't moving things around as well as it used to and contributes to the perception that the vacuum has lost a it's sucking power. The new brush will definitely help with that. I noticed much improvement with my Dyson after I replaced the brush on it.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 04:08:46 +0000

I clean houses (plus our own) and for me it's either a Dyson or an Oreck. In no particular order!