Vacuum Recommendations

[Sunshine2Me]

My vacuum died. I'm pretty sure it choked on pet hair. As I know most of the peeps on this board probably have an abundance of pet hair in their homes, along with shavings, dirt, sand, etc., I'm curious what your recommendations for vacuums are. Are the Dysons really worth the money? Thoughts and suggestions? TIA!!

[StraightForward]

I like Dysons. I bought a refurbished Animal about 12 years ago and still keep it around for dirtier jobs. I bought another refurb about five years ago for like $200, and it is going strong. The more basic Dysons aren't really that expensive, they just keep adding more bells and whistles to justify a higher price. The attachments on the Animal were nice when we still had two long hair cats and a 80# white shedding machine of a dog. Now we're down to just one dog that doesn't shed so copiously, so I don't use the attachments as much as I used to, but they do fit on the newer vacuum, so that's nice.

[Sunshine2Me]

I like Dysons. I bought a refurbished Animal about 12 years ago and still keep it around for dirtier jobs. I bought another refurb about five years ago for like $200, and it is going strong. The more basic Dysons aren't really that expensive, they just keep adding more bells and whistles to justify a higher price. The attachments on the Animal were nice when we still had two long hair cats and a 80# white shedding machine of a dog. Now we're down to just one dog that doesn't shed so copiously, so I don't use the attachments as much as I used to, but they do fit on the newer vacuum, so that's nice.

I didn't know refurbished was an option! Where do you find those?

[StraightForward]

IIRC, I got the first one from Overstock.com and the second one on Woot! (don't know if they're still around but it was one of those 24hr daily deal type sites).

[Fatcat]

I like our Miele dog & cat model a lot .

[Tabby]

I am also looking for a new vacuum. I looked at the Dysons but I find them to be very heavy. Are there any decent vacuums out there that don't weigh a ton? I have a lot of stairs.

[Quelah]

I have an Animal and I don't think its heavy. To me it would be easy carry up stairs I don't know how good it would be at vacuuming stairs. I think I'd rather heve a canister vac and long hose for stairs, JMO

[Tabby]

I do prefer the canister vacs all around. Dyson has one, but again it's quite heavy. I may just go for a cheap one again. My old one lasted a long time. No matter how well a vacuum performs, none of them will reduce the frequency in which I have to vacuum. My cat doesn't stop shedding just because the floor is clean.

[Imperini]

My parents have an older Dyson that I really liked, and I have one of the slim cordless ones that I also really like just for convenience and it's quite powerful for being so small. They're crazy expensive but also really nice.

[heddylamar]

We have a sears/kenmore canister. My parents are finally on their second. The first survived 20+ years with a steady fur population of 3-5 cats, 2-3 dogs (including golden retrievers), plus barn dirt.

[myleetlepony]

I have a Shark...I think it's the pet model (it's a dark maroon). I love that all of the filters are washable and cutting any long hair or strings from the roller is super easy.

My only gripe is the canister is small, but I just carry a supermarket plastic bag from room to room and empty as needed. It does a fantastic job with pet hair, both dog and cat, on carpet. You can use it as a roller or use the hardwood floor attachment on any hard floors, and it breaks down easily to a mid or short handheld for stairs. It's super lightweight and versatile...makes a dreadful chore bearable.

[Suzon]

I have a Dyson Animal and I'm really not that impressed. It's streaky and you have to go back and forth over the same area many times...and it's been like that since it was new. It gets clogged pretty easily and I've taken it apart a lot. the hose...oy. It has so much recoil you have to really develop a technique to deal with it. Don't expect to leave the body in one place and pull the hose away from it. The recoil will just bring the body to you (usually tipped over).

[Kyra's Mom]

I have a Miele and a Shark. I prefer the Shark. LIght and ridiculously easy to empty. The Shark I have is only for floors so no tools on board so if I need to baseboards, I pull out the Miele. The Shark has 2 heads and the one for hard floors dusts and polishes. My house is 80% laminate so it works a dream.

There was a discussion on TOB and Sharks were winners over there.

Susan

[Code3]

We have a Riccar we've been happy with. It handles lots of dog hair - three large, shedding dogs.

[piedmontfields]

I'm another fan of Miehles. I have hard surfaces throughout my home and two shedding English Pointers. Works great!