Any suggestions on a vacuum cleaner?

[Curmudgeoness]

One that will work well on pet hair? One that can be used on stairs and furniture as well as floors?

This is one of those emergency situations, where I have not even considered getting a new vacuum....until I was using mine today and all of a sudden there was a strange noise, and I look and smoke was pouring out of it. Needless to say, I no longer have a vacuum.

I have always had a canister for the ability to do furniture and stairs because I don't see how it is possible to do these things with an upright....and I spend more time on things besides floors than I do on the floors.

Any help will be appreciated.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. One of the rare occasions when one is looking for something that *does* suck.

I've had fair luck with a pet hair attachment to an ordinary, rather inexpensive canister vac.

[NYC_SKP]

3. I like Oreck. Got one yesterday at the Capitola flea market $20.

Hotel model. Also bought a new Oreck commercial model last year. Needed a second one for beach house, both are great and sturdy and the bar and I see used in hotels almost exclusively.

[Curmudgeoness]

7. Aren't they rather expensive?

I have not looked, but thought that Oreck was really high priced. Are they canisters? Or are they easy to use on stairs and with attachments?

[pscot]

9. We used to have a long haired dachsie

Hair everywhere. We found a fairly cheap Hoover upright at Amazon that really sucked it up. It also had a hose attachment, but that wasn't worth much.

[Curmudgeoness]

11. Wouldn't you need a hose attachment

to vacuum the furniture and stairs? That would be rather important, unless there is an alternative????

[NYC_SKP]

10. They are upright, really straightforward design.

And I've had a LOT of vacuum cleaners, including the famous Rainbow (uses water as a filter) and Compact/Universal (very powerful canister).

Girlfriend had a basic Oreck XL that she loaned to me and I loved it.

I had to order the commercial Oreck, (red model) $199 on sale, new. They make more expensive HEPA filter models but, their workhorse is the XL.

I got lucky yesterday with the $20 slightly used unit.

Just always remember to change bags before they get too full!

[Curmudgeoness]

12. Ah, yes, the Rainbow.

I had a friend who had one of those, and I found it totally disgusting to see all the crap in water. For some reason, it seems better to have that crap dry.

[Curmudgeoness]

6. I know what you mean

about an inexpensive canister. The one that just died was just a generic Sears Kenmore canister, and it did a good job....until today. But to be fair, it is about 20 years old, so it did hold up. But there were things that I hated about it too.

[Sherman A1]

2. We have been happy with

our upright Dyson purchased probably 8-10 years ago. I think they have one specifically for pets as well, we just have the regular Dyson Ball model. The one point I really don't like about it is the tube to use on stairs, hard to reach places, etc. It is a bit short and rather inflexible.

We also have a Red Devil upright that we acquired recently. I think you can find them at Target for about $40.00 on sale. Seems like a nice light weight cleaner with a good range of attachments and decent power. Cord is a bit short to do more than one room, but again it's a pretty cheap unit.

[Curmudgeoness]

8. With what you said about the Dyson

I can say that it would not be what I would buy. If you don't like it on the stairs and hard to reach places, and that is most of my work, I can't see it as an option. I did look at one of the ball models once, and it seemed that it was too big to easily get under the bed and other furniture. And I am lazy enough that I might just stop doing those areas if it isn't easy.

[Sherman A1]

15. I understand.

That feature really makes me often dislike as it is much less able to do what I want, but it is what my Wife wanted at the time and it was her bonus money. Our previous Kirby upright was too heavy for her to use and she wanted something new. I would have preferred to keep the old machine but it was her choice. Now instead of sharing the vacuum duties as we did, I now do it all due to her health issues. She uses a Swiffer duster to get under things doing the bedroom floors on the weekends and I vacuum later.

The little Red Devil is a really good unit thus far, being both light and easy to use. I have found it to be great in that I don't have to lug the Dyson (which while still light, is much heavier than the Red Devil) to our basement to use, giving us one on each floor.

Just my 2 cents, hope you find something that works best for you!

[LiberalEsto]

4. I bought an Electrolux Ergospace canister vacuum last year and love it

It's quiet, lightweight,and has an extra-long hose so you don't need to unplug and keep moving it from place to place. The best thing is that it has extra filtration so it doesn't spit out dust in the exhaust. I got it because we have a lot of allergies. We have two dogs and two cats.


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0040QQYOG/ref=pe_385040_30332190_pe_175190_21431760_M3T1_ST1_dp_1

[Curmudgeoness]

5. I didn't realize that Electrolux was still around.

They always had an excellent reputation. Not cheap, but not as high as some of the vacuums I have seen online tonight.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[PrincelyBindle]

24. I am having a Electrolux Canister Vacuum

Even I am using Electrolux Canister Vacuum and I am happy with its performance.

[Adsos Letter]

13. We love our Miele...with one important exception...

The replacement bags are expensive. We have three dogs, so we go through those bags relatively quickly.

Cleans great, though.

[Curmudgeoness]

18. Aren't Miele vacuums very expensive?

Is it a canister or upright? Is it one of the lower end priced ones, or higher.....the higher prices are beyond me.

[stopbush]

14. We are still using the Sears Kenmore upright vacuum we bought in 1996.

I've changed the drive belt for the brush many times, and it just keeps on running. Motor is in great shape. It has all the attachments to do furniture, stairs, etc. Sears still offers all the parts one needs for such a machine, and they're inexpensive. Every couple of years I'll take it out to the garage and do a thorough cleaning of any dirt collecting in the nooks and crannies.

[Curmudgeoness]

19. My dead one was a Sears Kenmore cannister.

It did last a long time...at least 20 years. So I guess it wasn't a bad choice. I don't know what happened, I just assume that the motor burned out. I also have changed a lot of belts, enough that I still have at least one on hand just in case. But this was not a belt this time.

[PADemD]

16. Vacuum cleaners

Before you buy Oreck, you might want to read these articles:

https://www.google.com/search?q=oreck+bankruptcy&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US fficial&client=firefox-a&channel=np&source=hp

I had a great Sears Kenmore bagged canister that lasted for over 20 years until the motor burned out, but it was heavy.

I have a bag-less Fantom Cyclone that will not even last one room before shutting off due to overheating.

I have a little bag-less Kenmore canister that works great but it is too small for a whole house. I use it on the stairs.

I much prefer bag to bag-less. When dumping the dirt from a bag-less, the dust flies in the air.

One method I use to pick up cat hair is to use a wet shammy. Thank you, Kim and Aggie! It picks up pet hair better than a vacuum.

I guess you can tell I'm still searching for the perfect vacuum cleaner.

[Curmudgeoness]

17. Yes, I can see you are still on the fence.

The one I just killed was a Sears Kenmore bagged canister, and I also have had it about 20 years. I am assuming that the motor burned out, from all the smoke pouring out of it. Thank goodness that it was a beautiful day and I was able to open all the doors and windows to air out all the smoke. But I am not opposed to getting another one if there are no better alternatives. It was a good vacuum.

I do use a wet sponge to remove the majority of the cat hair, and to clean the furniture between cleaning days, and yes, it does work well. But there is nothing like vacuuming the furniture to make me feel like it is really clean.

[raccoon]

20. I have a Hoover cordless Lynx I've been real happy with. It's very light and easy to maneuver.

However, because it's cordless, it has a rechargeable battery, so it doesn't go too long before the battery has to be recharged.

IME, about 15-20 minutes.

[Curmudgeoness]

21. Cordless sounds really cool.

So does light and easy. Fifteen minutes, not so much. I hate cleaning enough without having to split it up into parts of rooms done at one time. Thanks though.....I do have a cordless lawn mower that rocks, so I know how great it is to be unplugged.

[politicat]

22. I'm happy with our canister.

It's an Eureka 3670G Mighty Mite Canister Vacuum.

We have a Siamese who sheds like her lost fur is the only thing holding closed an interdimensional portal that opens onto an army of demonic tentacled zombie cyborgs.

I also suck at vacuuming. I get to it sometimes, but when I do, the vac seems to get up all of the fur.

Before this one, we had a Dyson pet schmancy thing. I actually bought the little canister because a) the Dyson was in the shop, and b) I figured it would be nice to be able to vacuum out the car from time to time. The Dyson turned out to be not-revivable, and so the canister has been it for the last 2 years. I like the canister because it has a bag -- much easier to clean out. And it handles both carpet and hard surface easily. As well as being easy to get to ceiling fan blades and spider webs.

Also, it was $60 at amazon. Even if it quits tomorrow (unlikely), I totally got my money's worth.

[Curmudgeoness]

23. I ended up getting a Sears canister

since they had the most selection of canisters...which were hard to find. The one I got is a bagless, and it isn't hard to dump, but I had to dump it at least 10 times the first time I vacuumed. There is something to be said for a new vacuum and how it sucks. I think I lost half of my old carpet. This one also has a pet attachment that really works wonders on the furniture---no fighting to get the fur cleaned up.

But I didn't get as good a deal as you got. Wow! You are right, even if it dies, it doesn't break the bank.