For the floors, we use our central vac and a large dust mop with Windex. The vac does a great job.

For the carpets, I have the best at picking up dog hair. It's a Eureka The Boss Smartvac. First vacuum that I have not had to replace every two years. We have had it for 5 and it still picks up like it was new.

I have the Miele Solaris ElectroPlus and I love it. I've had it for 6 yrs and my husband almost croaked when I paid $800 for it, but since we have both carpet and smooth surfaces it's really great. It's a canister and has a dial that lets you choose about 5 different suction amounts and shows you what each one is for. You have both a hardwood floor/tile non-electric brush and a beater bar brush for carpets. The on board tools come in really handy and it has a hepa filter. I would get this again if mine ever konks out.

The only thing that made me give up my Dyson was my central vac. BUT, you don't want a Dyson for hardwood floors - it is overkill.

My vaccum SUCKS! Its a Dyson and I really love it. In facat hubby and I are always threatening to send it over to one of several neighbours that have cleaners come to their homes. Most of them have these old looking vaccums. We would love to have them try out ours after they have had their cleaned by so called professionals. Seeing is really believing in the case of this baby.

We have a Kirby and I've never been nuts about it (helpmeet bought it!). It's awfully loud (I wear the hearing protectors I use when mowing the lawn). And it's really heavy. That's a (literal) drag when it's time to carry it up or down the staircase. I also don't like the attachment for floors, but could probably find something I like better if I spent some time looking!

But it works like a charm. We have had NO trouble with it in the years we've owned it. We have the attachment for shampooing rugs and that's a nice feature.

Another happy Dyson owner here. We have three kids, two basset hounds and two australian shepherds. The Dyson deals with anything they can dole out.

I have a Dyson and I love it. I love how much it picks up, I love how easy it is to empty, I literely used to wrestle my old hoover to change the bag. I also love that you can see when to empty it. I have talked a lot of friends and relatives into getting one and they all love theirs too. I had a hoover windtunnel that didn't last 3 years....replaced it with the dyson.

I replaced an Electrolux with a Miele Red Velvet and love it!!! Being in a city, I immediately noticed how much less dusting is needed because the Miele does such a good job. I bought mine brand new on eBay two years ago.

I LOVE my Dyson. Found it on ebay for 1/2 price. It sucks up all the pet hair with no problems...and 2 large labs shed a ton. All my other vacums broke from the pet hair. Not the Dyson. My sister has the Dyson as well. I waited a couple years to get one, and wish I had bought it sooner. Its amazing.

Can I ask all you Dyson owners which model you own. I have 2 Bassets that shed alot of coarse undercoat hair that seems to embed in everything. How is the pet model different from the regular model?

I have the Dyson "all floors" since I have laminate floor with rugs. I have an Australian Shepherd who sheds enough to knit another dog a week. The Dyson is the first vacuum I have ever found that takes care of his tumbleweeds.

Sigh..I have to be different on this one. Happy Sebo owner here, times 2. One for upstairs and one for down. The upstairs Sebo is an upright. The brush raises and lowers automatically for any pile height or hard surface, and does NOT throw dust around.

Downstairs is a Sebo canister type. I bought the powerhead for the carpeting and use the parquet brush on hard floors. Love 'em both.

Last week the upright ate a headphone cord. (It really sucks!) I popped out the brush roller (love that German engineering), unwound the cord, put the brush roller back in and continued vacuuming. That would have fried the belt on my old upright vacuum, no question.

We have a variety of flooring - wall-to-wall carpeting, large and small area rugs, hardwoods, ceramic, vinyl...my Sebo's take care of all. And the animals don't even get up with I turn on either vacuum. That was an unplanned bonus!

Klb9596 .. I also have two Bassets, plus two Aussies. So we run the gamut of different types of dog hair here, plus both breeds shed copious amounts. I have the Dyson Animal and it works great. We have wood floors down stairs, with area rugs, it works equally well on both.

klb9596, i just have the basic Dyson (yellow, least expensive). Our lab sheds so much that I wonder why she's not bald. The Dyson gets it all.

She rubs against the front edge of the sofa. I just used the end of the hose to vacuum that, though there is an attachment for doing it.

Our other vacuum got the hair up ok but what it didn't get was all the fine dirt and dander that sifted down into the weave of the rug. The other vacuum got the rug looking clean but the Dyson gets it looking NEW.

KLB95 - There are three types of Dyson uprights, plus the new slimline. The DC7, 14 and 15 are all the same machine and motor with some differences. The DC7 was the first one out. The DC14 made it easier to access the wand, and the DC15 has a ball head.

The Animal version of any on the above Dysons simply includes a furniture cleaning attachment to help you pick up pet hair. I have the DC7 and it is great for getting dog hair out of carpeting. The 3 attachments that come with it worked so well that I never bothered getting the Animal attachment. You could get the DC7 and then buy the Animal attachment separately.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dyson comparison

I was going to tell you the exact same thing as graywings about just buying the animal attachment.
I have the basic yellow Dyson that we bought about 3-4 years ago (I think it was the only model then). We have 2 cats so we bought the animal attachment....a must! It works super. Our cats would sit on the cushions of our window seat and they would be covered in fur in no time. Just whip out the animal attachment and the fur would be gone in a few quick flicks of the wrist. Plus, the Dyson's attachments are engineered so they don't suck and hang on to something (don't know if you know what I mean).

From this forum, I have learned that supposedly Sebo is the best upright and Miele is the best canister.

I will be purchasing a Sebo in the next couple of weeks.

You might want to look at Consumer Guide also. I noticed that one of the Dyson (the slim line I think) did not get a good rating.

I've not seen Sebo around here either, I need to check that out.

tina

Tinam - you are right, Consumer Reports has consistently given the Dyson less than great ratings. And yet so many people love that vacuum - myself included.

Consumer Reports has found in its testing that other machines are more efficient at sucking up dirt. But as a consumer, I will give up some possible cleaning efficiency for the Dyson's clear cannister that allows me to see what it is picking up and its ease in emptying. Consumer Reports seems biased against bagless machines for the dust created in the emptying process, while not taking into account the advantages of bagless vacs, particularly the Dyson.

Graywings, I didn't realize that. I only saw that specific vac (I'm thinking maybe it is newer?)rated. Didn't know they were biased against the Dysons. I do like to read their reports.

I like that too about the Rainbow, you see what you get up. But I am wanting something easier to use, lighter weight and something that cleans really well, hopefully with good suction. (I DO want something that is efficent at picking up dirt.)

I don't think anyone mentioned an Oreck (or if so, I missed it) and that is funny because my MIL swears that she has the best vac ever mad. LOL

She has much more carpet than me tho, and different vacs for better for different flooring.

tina

Another Dyson fan here. Bought it at Sears.

We have a Lab and a Basset Hound, and as mentioned above, they shed enough each week to create new dogs. Blech.

It was mentioned upthread that a Dyson is overkill on hard wood floors, but I disagree. The suction is so powerful I can actually see the fur, hair, dander, dust, etc, being pulled in while I vacuum. I can vacuum a single path, but the Dyson will suck in everything next to where I'm vacuuming. Great for the pet hair.

As for the dust that escapes when you empty the cannister, I just empty it into our large dumpster outside. Or I'll take a trashbag out to the front porch or something.

We've had ours a few years, and we're *hard* on it. We've never had a problem with any repairs.

I am the OP and I actually have an Oreck right now. It is about 15 years old and still works. As I have been looking into vacuums though, I am hearing that Orecks really don't pick up anything other than surface dirt. I don't have pets, so I have always thought it was fine. Now I am starting to freak out that there is all kinds of dirt deep down in my carpet! Hard to tell what is true and what is someone trying to sell you a new vacuum - that's why I posted here. The Orecks are VERY lightweight and easy to manuver, so it will be a change for me when I go to something else.

Thanks to everyone for all the posts...nice to hear so many people actually like their vacuums!

I have a Dyson and a child with severe seasonal allergies. I wish I had put hardwood in every room of this house instead of carpet in the bedrooms. Love my Dyson and since purchasing it I have almost stopped using my central vac. This thing is the most amazing vacuum I have ever owned, although I sometimes wonder if it is hard on my carpet.

Love the swiffer max for my hardwood floors. I use both sides of the cleaning cloths to save $$$.

red lover (formerly blsdgal)

I also have a Dyson and love it! It works great on pet hair. It's never been used on hardwoods though so I can't comment on that.

I have the dyson ball one, and what I love about it, other than how well it works, is how easy it is to steer. I have arthritis in my hands and vacuming used to make them ache but the dyson ball makes vacuming effortless now.

We have the Dyson DC14 (I tried the DC7 at Sears and the wand was horrible). We got it simply because the dog hair made our bag vacuum stink! My mom has an Oreck (has to buy expensive bags and has had to have the belt replaced more times than I can count). I brought my Dyson over and vacuumed after she finished with her Oreck and I picked up nothing with my Dyson. So, her Oreck worked just as well as my Dyson and was a lot lighter to roll around.

If you are happy with your Oreck and don't have pet smells to deal with, I would just stick with what you have.

De

What to do, what to do. I love my Rainbow for the pet smell thing as it has the water container and you empty and clean and get rid of the odor that way but I found it is a one-note Nellie. Maybe I just need an Oreck and a Rainbow (new ones). My Rainbow is about 10+ years old and the Oreck is about 5 years old. I am going to look at the Miele and Dyson before deciding.

klb9596- you asked about models. If I recall the animal is just the version that comes with the special floor attachment. You can order the attachments for the other models.

Not to say that Dyson is better than any other but regarding the issue of it being too hard or sucking too hard. I actually feel that because you have to make fewer passes it is actually less harmful than other brands. As for the cannister being dusty when dumping. I dump my debris into a garbage bag over a section that has not been cleaned yet, and also directly into outside can. The only thing I can say about this being a dusty issue is that (correct me if my facts are a little off) in England they have lots of allergy problems due to the climate, etc. The Dyson is or at least was the only vacuum that was certified by their big institute for allergies due to the filter system. I do not think there was anything about the institute complaining about the emptying situation being bad for you.

One thing I like about any cannister brand is that if you suck up a lego or tiny toy you can see it spinning in the cannister. To punish your wee one for leaving toys on ground, you can make them beg you to let their little toy be free. Seriously, it is nice to see in there.

When my doggy passed we were looking for a little clump of fur to save. First place I looked was in my Dyson. Sounds corney but since dh had cleaned they house after puppy passed there was no signs of fur left on the carpet.

I currently have two vacuums in house. I love my 5 yr old Aerus Electrolux canister. Easy to use, picks up everything and the attachments are readily at hand. I had never had a canister vacuum before and it's a little different to lug around if you're used to an upright, but it works great on laminate, carpet & stairs.

I also recently acquired a Dyson (son's girlfriend purchased it but then moved overseas & I could use it if I store it). It's a great upright vacuum, and really sucks up the dust--superior in that regard. In my opinion it has two downfalls: 1) I don't care for the hose/attachment setup, it's not user friendly and 2) if you have larger chunks of things on the floor (ie puffed cereal) it just pushes it along because the vacuum sits so close to the floor and it really doesn't "tip" back to pick things up so then I have to use the non-user-friendly hose. I don't have an owner's manual and didn't have anyone to show me how to use it so maybe I'm not doing something right. It's a good enough vacuum & I like it enough that I'll probably keep it & just buy her a new one.

Hilltop: Dyson - and most other companies - provide on-line owners' manuals. I don't think there is much you can do about the machine pushing puffed cereal along, but make sure you know about washing the two HEPA filters.

(Not to rant, but this is another reason I think Consumer Reports doesn't fairly rate the Dyson - it never mentions the savings from not having to buy replacement HEPA filters.)

Here is a link that might be useful: Dyson manuals on line

hilltop---i just tip my Dyson back to get stuff that won't fit under it. The only things that cause trouble are stringy stuff and foam peanuts. Strings get wound up on the beater bar and peanuts get wedged in the canister and stuff piles up behind them and you get a clog.

I have 2 Filter Queens. They are worth every penny! My sister has a Dyson and a rainbow and mine is the better vacuum- could not live with out it!

I also have a Dyson and really like it. I have the Animal model and appropriately enough it does a good job on dog fur. I love not having bags. I also like the long attachment with brush for going along baseboards and underneath cabinets where the vacuum is too large to use. It does a great job with carpet and I just switch the setting to use on hardwoods.

However, for hardwoods and tile, my favorite little gadget is my Swiffer Sweep/Vac. I use it on a daily basis. I keep it charged up and can just run around to do a quick sweep up of dog hair, etc. THe little filter has to be cleaned often because I have a shedder, but it's quick and easy. It's great to keep things under control between times I vacuum. The charge doesn't last too long so I just move FAST if I want to do my whole house.

I have the yellow dyson, the DC07. I did buy the hardwood attachment as we have 1800 sqft of hardwood. Even withouut the attachment the Dyson is wonderful for hardwood. My two labs shed so much its crazy and the Dyson sucks it all up without clogging. And its wundeful on the stairs too.
The only thing I wish for is a retractable cord :-)

Yes, I do love my vacuum! I just replaced my Oreck with the upper model (half off), good for 21 years. It's quieter, light, walks, is hypoallergenic, and seems to do a great job. I think this one is more powerful than the regular two-speed model I had previously. Not the best for hardwood floors, I don't think. Leaves scuff marks, too. I prefer a soft floor brush attachment on hardwoods.

We purchased the Dyson Animal a couple years back when selling the house up north. The woman who bought my house has cat allergies, and she didn't even realize we have cats until her second showing, lol! If you knew my Miicoh (mostly white, and sheds like you wouldn't believe...no other pet I've owned sheds like this cat) you'd know how well this thing has to work for that statement to be true. We're still very happy with it. XHubby bought a Kirby while we were still together, and well...he still has it! It was too heavy for me.

Nat

Here is a link that might be useful:

That's a cute cat, Acoreana!

I have a Hoover Wind Tunnel cannister and it's alright, but I want something that's a little better on the wood floors. I have never had to replace anything on the Wind Tunnel, though the plastic clip for the electrical plug on the beater attachment did break. I grew up using uprights and I'd much prefer, now, to have an upright. AND the Wind Tunnel is heavy and unwieldy.

I do not believe that Consumer Reports is unbiased - I don't care what they say about their own publication.

I really don't like my very old Hoover and have been reading this thread in the hopes of replacing it, but I almost forgot about my sweeper-vac that I do love! We use it for the hardwoods and tile (is really NOT good on rugs or carpet, but it's so lightweight, quick to grab and good on the hard floors that it's ok with me) and it does a fantastic job with pet hair and kitty litter. It's the red Electrolux Pronto. It's really cool because it has an on board "dust buster" that you can easily take off to get in tight spots and the head swivels so it's really easy to maneuver. It's fairly quiet and yet pretty powerful for a little vacuum and the beater brush is very soft so it's okay for hardwoods, plus it's rechargeable. We use it daily. I read about it on one of the forums here and almost everyone that had one loved it. I got it at "A" for $75 plus free shipping, but DH saw it in the paper recently for $50 (but I can't remember where -- if I find out, I'll post it).

Had an upright RIccar with the most suck of any vacuum I ever had right after tuneup. But it did seem to need tuneups. But then I tend to suck up stuff I should just pick up:)
Had a canister Hoover for under the bed and such. Seemed to work fine over the years.
Now have a 2001 Kirby I bought used. Like if fine. But the hose assembly for any drape/furniture/lamp shade vacuuming seems a bit too complicated.
Have used Dyson's at work and don't think any of them have maintained much suck.
Have an old Dirt Devil hand vac I like but the hose thing is hard.
Bought a new one with an easy hose attachment set up but the vacuum part is worthless and I hate having to buy filters.
FWIW
P.S. Consumer Reports does vacuum tests - I don't always agree with their results and recommendations but certainly they can be a guideline. Avail at the library

I have the red and purple Dyson DC14 low-reach (mostly red with some purple in the handle), it also has the telescopic reaching hose (I think that's what they call it). Love it, don't find it particularly heavy but then again I had a Kirby before my Dyson and THAT was a heavy vacuum! We are a major allergy family and the Dyson works great for us. We do not have pets. It always amazes me that when I vacuum 1-2x weekly the canister is full of dust, it really sucks (and by that I mean it literally SUCKS the dust up!) :)

It's kind of 'cheap' feeling to me though, just because it's so plastic. But then again so are most of the 'mainstream vacuums' you buy at Sears or any major retailer.

I love that the attachments are onboard and easily accessible. Also love that you can go from carpet to hardwood with an easy flick of the lever at the bottom. Love having no bags, the filter is dishwasher safe. Have owned it about 2 1/2 years and no problems as of yet.

Without reading all the posts, I'll just give you my opinion on what we have. Canister Electrolux, 10 years old and still going strong but I hate pulling it around. I use it mostly when I'm doing more thorough cleaning and need the attachments. When we're not using the Electrolux, I also use an Oreck, have one upstairs and one downstairs, they have good suction but wish the baseboard cleaner was a little bit stronger but they have had a lot of usage with our two Golden Retrievers and have held up without any problems for over 12 years....ssshhhh, keep that part quiet as this is when whatever I say comes back to bite me in the a$$.

I have a Miele at our shore home. It gets a lot of workout between the sand and the dogs' visits and has held up extremely well. It is also very quiet and lightweight. My next vacuum, when I should need one, will be another Miele or an upright Electrolux. HTH ;)

I am trying to decide between the Miele and Sebo cannisters. We have a mix of carpets and tile floors.I do want one that will easily vacuum the carpets. I wonder if there is much difference in the price of bags, filters, etc.? Would appreciate any input.

You all have me almost sold on a Dyson. I have 4 vacuums now! One for each floor and one that only the hose works on. I use that to clean the silly paper filter on my Hoover! My other three are Bissels and they seem to pick up the cat hair pretty well, but I have to clean the filters practically after every room!

I am lazy! What kind of filter maintaince are we talking about with the Dysons?

I am buying my grandmother a Dyson this week. I'll let her be the guinea pig. If I like it, I'm going to buy one for myself. LOL

tina

We just got our new Dyson last week and we are all in love. It's not a vacuum, it's The Dyson :) We bought the slim, with ball and low reach attachment. It's so easy to clean our floors now - we have lots of tile, laminate, and carpet. Best is the easy pull out hose; I can clean corners and edges, dust cushions and eliminate spider webs so easily now! Or maybe the best is that my 3 boys and hubby love to use it - it looks cool, like a smart and manly tool :)

We have central vac and love it. DH insisted on it when we built and I didn't think I'd really care one way or another. Now after using it, I do love it. We bought two hoses, one to keep upstairs and one for downstairs, each with its respective attachements.

Hi all. If anyone reads this, I wanted to let you know that I bit the bullet and bought a Miele. I really like it. I think it makes my carpet look great (makes it stand up and look fresh), and it is great on the hardwoods. The horse hair brush for the hardwoods just glides over them. I will say that after only using an upright my whole life, it is a little different getting used to the canister. You have to learn how to maneuver so as to not get tangled up in the hose and cord! But after figuring that out, it is fine, and I like how the heads maneuver and fit under more things than my upright. My favorite part about the whole thing is that the Miele is so quiet I can vacuum when the kids are sleeping - and I love that! Just wanted to share FYI...

I also love my Dyson. I've had the yellow one for about 4 years with no problems. The filter is easy to clean- you merely rinse it out. I have a dog and a cat and this cleaner just sucks up tons of hair. And I love taking the canister right out to my garbage can and with one flick of a finger, dumping all that dirt and hair away. No more bags! --Sophie

I'm late, I know, but I also love the Miele I have. It's an older one, a blue S314, I think. It's a big improvement over my previous one. Hope you're as happy with it as we've been.

I'm obviously going to be the oddball here but I have to say how much I love my Roomba. It's the newest one out that you can buy online I believe it's a 514 scheduler. The lower versions didn't pick up as much, so I read. I have 2 dogs and two 3 year olds, Roomba has become another love of my life. I turn that thing on every day and I must say I was vacuuming everyday with my regular vacuum that I thought I loved but Roomba is the best. My kitchen/dining room is tile and my living room and hall are hardwood now the there's a big area rug in the living room and they bedrooms are carpeted. It cleans great! My house is cleaner now it seems. Just fyi for tile and hardwood floor people, I also bought a Shark steam mop and it is great also. Both products have made my cleaning so simplified as far as cleaning floors go.