Do you love your vacuum cleaner? Tell me about it

JAileen

I was just vacuuming and it broke. The part where the wand locks into the handle broke. It is a Hoover canister type, around 20 or 25 years old. It was good on our wood floors. We have some rugs, but no carpet.

Do your love your vacuum cleaner? Would you buy it again? I need a new one PDQ. Please advise.

8 years ago

Off Topic

24 replies

Latest reply was from texstyle

Eliza

Veteran

Do you want a canister vac or an upright? A few years ago, I purchased an Oreck lightweight upright to replace my heavier one. Went from about 21 lbs. to 7 or 8 lbs. Winning as up and down stairs is easy now. Instead of attachments, there is a separate lightweight shoulder sling machine that works separately. I love it. Has HEPA features for allergies, too.

Good luck!

8 years ago

JAileen

Veteran

Eliza, I would have said canister, mainly because uprights have beaters for carpet, which I've heard can scratch the finish on wood. Does yours have beaters? Maybe it doesn't and that helps with the weight? I'll look into it, thank you.

8 years ago

deb

Veteran

I just purchased a shark. It is light weight, and the beater bar can be turned off for floors. This was also the case with my upright Hoover that i left at the old house. I bought the new one because it is much lighter.

8 years ago

Anonymous

Five years ago I bought a Miele Polaris canister vac and absolutely love it. I have hardwood floors, tiled floors in the kitchen, bathrooms, and laundry room, with area rugs and runners throughout the house. Therefore my vac does not have a beater bar, but the suction is great. It is also lightweight so it is easy to use on the stairs and when I need to vacuum the drapes.

I already told my DH that when this one dies, I am getting another one. He had an Electrolux from way back when (over 30 yrs now) that is still going strong, but they don't make them like that anymore. I do use the Electrolux at times, but much prefer the Miele because it is better at sucking up the dust.

8 years ago

JAileen

Veteran

Thanks, deb. The last upright we had didn't have the turn off feature. That makes a huge difference. Where did you get it? We're going to Costco tonight to see what they have. I'm leaning toward Dyson. Two friends have Dyson that they love. One of them, emphatically!

8 years ago

JAileen

Veteran

Thanks, Lara. That's a pretty good endorsement!

My mom had an Electrolux from the 50s. I was really mad when she gave it away because I wanted it. It was all metal.

8 years ago

elpgal

Veteran

We had a Miele canister and it is great on our rugs and wood floors. Bags are expensive but I use it daily just because it is so easy to handle.

8 years ago

JAileen

Veteran

Elpgal, do you have pets? Is that why you vacuum daily? I love having a clean house, but I don't like cleaning it, and we have two filthy terriers. How expensive are the bags? For my current broken machine, everyone stopped carrying the bags except Walmart. I was hoping to avoid bags.

We went to Costco tonight and there weren't any cannister vacuums. They have several on the website. So even though we didn't buy a vacuum, we still spent nearly $300 on stuff I didn't know we needed.

8 years ago

Jeanie

Veteran

I just adore my Dyson upright and would buy it again in a heartbeat! It has a switch for carpet or bare floors. It doesn't use bags and is super easy to empty. It has a hepa filter which you just wash every 6 months so there is nothing extra to buy. Mine is 15 years old and still works very well. I bet the new ones are even better. The best way I've found to see if you like a brand is to ask your friends and family to use their vac!

8 years ago

Diana

Veteran

I have a roomba and I love it! Now they just need to make bathroom cleaning robots....

Anyway, I was skeptical at first but it does a really good job! It's larger and has more capacity than I expected, and the path finding technology is pretty good. The only thing is that it needs a certain clearance to go under or around things, so if you have a lot of small items or cords or things on the floor it might be problematic. I have to move my dining chairs out of the room when I use the roomba there, as it can't get between all the legs, but it's fine with most everything else.

I also have a little DustBuster type handheld one (dirt devil brand) that I use to get corners etc where the roomba can't go. And a Hoover upright canister vac that hasn't been used since we got the roomba... But even before we got it, I hated the Hoover bc I found it heavy and unwieldy. (Seriously I used to vacuum the entire apartment w/the handheld vac rather than deal with the clunky Hoover.)

8 years ago

Helen11

Veteran

I love my Dyson, too. It must be close to 10 years old, no problems at all. I much prefer the bagless system. It means (embarrassingly ) I retrieve bits of Lego and hair clips. It's not an upright. If I was doing quick daily vacuuming I think I'd look at the new ones that are hand held and rechargeable.

8 years ago

Gail

Veteran

I have had a central vac for years and while convenient I never felt like it did a great job. It broke and I bought a Shark Rotator. All I can say is wow. I was completely horrified after vacuuming to see what it sucked up. Boy did it do a good job. I have had it for about 18months and so far no problems. It is mostly plastic materials so who knows how long it will last but it does a good job and I like it.

8 years ago

cheryle (Dianthus)

(website)

Veteran

I had central vac too and when the motor died, I bought a dyson. I really like the dyson for its great suction and because I can use it on all surfaces. It is a bit heavy for up and down stairs but I have a bungalow so it isn't a big deal and when we combine houses, I can have one on each floor. I like that it doesn't have bags, has great suction, and is easy to empty. If you get a dyson, make sure it is one that has the shallow head so it fits under furniture more readily.

I also have a roomba. I call him Hymie (Get Smart) and set him loose to keep the dust level under control. It works very well but occasionally doesn't recognize the stair edge and stops at the precipice looking down the stairs like a fool. Like Diana, I was skeptical but that little robot does a very good job of getting into corners and under the bed.

8 years ago

JAileen

Veteran

Jeanie, thank you for sharing your Dyson experience. A close friend LOVES hers. I didn't know they had a switch. That makes an upright possibly doable.

Diana, you have a Roomba?! I saw them at Costco last night. I would love something like that. But we have two terriers who turn their toys into things like this (see picture). I've seen the cat videos on youtube where they ride it around. Actually one would probably be afraid of it, and the other would try to bite it. Mainly, we do have cords and table legs. Where do you put your dining chairs? Upside down on the table like at restaurants? Do you run it all the time or once a week or something else? I love the idea of it. I want a robot bathroom cleaner too. I really hate cleaning.

Helen, thank you for sharing. Another Dyson fan. Well, they're at Costco for a reason.

Thank you, Gail, for sharing. I saw a Shark at Costco and it was very lightweight as Deb mentioned. A friend has a central vac system and I envied her, but maybe it's not that great?

Cheryle, another Dyson AND Roomba fan. Thank you for sharing. We don't have stairs so going up and down isn't an issue for us.

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8 years ago

Anonymous

JAileen, I know you asked elpgal, but since I also have a Miele I pay around $20 for a 4pk of bags which includes a motor and air filter. One bag last me around 4 months. But I do everything with it. If you are strictly looking to only vacuum rugs and floors, you may want a less expensive option. I love the Miele because in addition to the floors and carpet, it comes with a dust, crevice, and upholstery tool. I also bought a long flexible crevice tool so I can vacuum under the furniture, behind the cabinets, washer and dryer and can even vacuum the internal dryer vent.

So essentially I use this one vacuum to do everything in the house; floors, rugs, stairs, drapes, window sills, doors, baseboard, furniture, frames, fireplace, etc. Unfortunately, I think my particular model has been discontinued. The other nice thing about the Miele is that you can buy HEPA filters if needed for those who have allergies. Best thing to do is to find a store that deals strictly with vacuums and get their suggestions. They usually have display models in the store that you can try out. They even give you loaners if your unit is on the fritz and getting fixed. Luckily, I have a sewing and vac place near me which serviced my old Electrolux and got me a new power head for the unit.

8 years ago

JAileen

Veteran

Lara, thank you for sharing. Your Miele sounds great. I wish I had thought about the vac store offering a loaner. We wouldn't have felt such urgency. With two dogs I was very anxious to get a new vac, and I wanted a bagless one, due to problems getting bags for my old one.

So, we bought a new vac:
A Dyson canister. We had gone to Costco and Sears, and finally found it at Best Buy. It's kind of funny looking, but has great suction. We got to play with the floor model at Sears, and liked it. We didn't like the Kenmore bagless model that was top rated by Consumer Reports. We would have bought the Dyson at Sears but they couldn't find one new in box. So we ended up at Best Buy, where it was on sale.

Thank you everyone for your advice and experience. I still hate cleaning the house!

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8 years ago

JAileen

Veteran

OMG! I just vacuumed an 8 x 10 rug in the family room. I vacuumed it yesterday with the old vac. This is how much dirt and dog hair came up today! I'm surprised this guy still has hair.

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8 years ago

Diana

Veteran

I just put the chairs in the adjacent hallway or the living room while we run the roomba. I probably do each room about once a week and the dining/kitchen more often - I hate food crumbs; it squicks me out to step on them. The nice thing is that I use it way more often than I would a regular vacuum as there's no effort involved, so even if it's maybe not as powerful the increased frequency more than makes up for it. I hate cleaning and am lazy about it! I have wood floors in all but one tiny room. I love that it goes under the bed; it also goes under one of my couches (but not the other).

I have no pets though, although I know pet owners who swear by it.

8 years ago

Helen11

Veteran

Yay! I hope you love your Dyson as much as I love mine. It's embarrassing how much better a new model works. Maybe your old one had been on the way out for a while. The new model looks so slick. I love the ball it moves on.....mine doesn't have that!

8 years ago

JAileen

Veteran

Diana, it sounds like a dream come true - no vacuuming. I will say, though, we never have crumbs. The dogs go searching for them daily!

Helen, it's pretty shocking, isn't it? Also, the Dyson is much easier to drag around than the old one.

8 years ago

elpgal

Veteran

No pets but a very messy child. Dry leaves, mulch, sand are a constant in our house. I shed a lot of hair too, so I guess I am a good pseudo pet. Lara is right about the cost of bags. I like it because it has several attachments, is lightweight, has a HEPA filter and a retractable hose. It is $$ but I have been very happy with it.

ETA: I see you went with the Dyson, hope you love it. That is a crazy amount of hair it pulled out!

8 years ago

JAileen

Veteran

Elpgal, it's kind of disgusting, isn't it?

8 years ago

Aico

Member

Hello JAileen, yes I like the vacuum I have, which is a Eureka 3670G Mighty Mite. It is pretty light to take up and down stairs. I learnt about this on this page http://www.reviewswise.com/ind.....airs-2015/ . On that page is a cordless vaccuum that it says can clean stair carpets well. Let me know what you think of it.

7 years ago

texstyle

(website)

Veteran

One more
Dyson and Roomba owner - the Roomba is so nice we bought a second so we could have one upstairs and one down! We rarely get the Dyson out of the closet now. We have hardwood floors and don't have a lot of stuff on the floor level (and most of our furniture allows it to pass under) and it does go over the wool rug without any issues at all.

7 years ago

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