There’s nothing better than a Friday night with big plans. ‘Cause we’ve got some big ones…
We’re going to buy a new vacuum cleaner.
I know, we’re crazy around here. Try not to be jealous.
Here’s the thing – we’ve had our current vacuum cleaner for thirteen years, and now it’s dead, and so I’m wondering if the year thirteen will bring us more bad luck. We own Roombas – two in fact – but we’ve repaired them in the past, replaced parts, and just haven’t gotten around to repairing them again. I love them (loved them) and I know that our house was much cleaner when those things ran all day long, but they don’t have any attachments, so we still require some type of vacuum cleaner to clean the crazy amount of stairs that we have in our house (all open, and with tons of exposed, dust collecting pieces), and we also like an attachment that dusts baseboards and trim – something that extends. I have no idea where to start.
So I thought I’d ask you if you have a fierce love for a particular vacuum cleaner so that we could make an easy purchase and get on with our Friday night high life. Here’s the wish list:
- Reasonably quiet – if that’s possible – we currently have a vacuum so loud we wear ear protection while we use it. I’m not kidding.
- Easy to maneuver on hardwood floors – this is a big one – we almost certainly need casters for easy pivoting, and not scratching / denting the floors.
- Easy to maneuver on stairs – not too heavy, and with attachments that make it somewhat easier to vacuum in all the nooks and crannies on the stairs.
- Long attachments to get the dust bunnies under beds – the thing the Roombas were best at, and my personal vacuuming pet peeve.
- M wants a bag, not a canister, because he claims he’s the only one who cleans it and he hates cleaning out the vortex of hair that is mostly mine. If you haven’t met me in person, I have a ridiculous amount of hair, and yes, it clogs up vacuum cleaners (which explains the Roomba woes). I told him that rather than complaining about the ridiculous amount of hair that I have he should be happy that I have it and that I’m not bald. He says I will never be bald because he will just pull the hair out of the vacuum cleaner and put it back on my head and no one will be the wiser. #maritalbliss
- And… I don’t want to have to take out a second mortgage to purchase it – I’ve got curtains to buy, you know.
Thoughts?
I’ve had my eye on a Miele.
We got the Dyson animal because we have two animals. It is possible that Mac hair + Cooper hair = volume of Kristin hair. I love the Dyson and have been known to vacuum with it AFTER running Rosie the Roomba because Tyson the Dyson picks up a lot of stuff Rosie misses (naming vacuums is totally normal, btw). I did not want to spend the money on it, but I’ve never regretted it and we’ve had it for almost 6 years now and it’s still got suction, just like the commercials say. Ours is old school–not with the fancy ball–but it’s great for going from carpet to wood floors. We don’t have stairs so I can’t speak to that but it is kind of heavy. Although I know they make much lighter models. It doesn’t have a bag, but I wanted a canister because I hate having to buy bags. Cleaning out the canister is easy because you just pull a lever over the trash can and the bottom drops open and the dust and copious amounts of dog hair fall out easily.
David’s grandma has a Kirby that must be 30 years old and she is the tidiest person I know, so it obviously works well. Very heavy though. The Kirby, not Grandma.
We have owned a Miele for 10.5 years. It is a stick vacuum (http://www.mieleusa.com/products/models.asp?cat=1&subcat=29&menu_id=7&oT=117&active=Our%20Products&subm=Vacuum%20Cleaners&thirdL=Stick%20Vacuums). As you know, we have hardwood floors with some area rugs. The vacuum work extremely well on hardwood floors, as well as our area rugs. It is easy to use on the stairs. This is the only vacuum we use, it works for the whole house. We have never replaced any parts or needed to repair the vacuum in 10.5 years, until last month. Last month I noticed the cord, where it enters into the vacuum at the top of the main compartment, was loose. I continued to use it but if I pulled to hard on the cord it would short out until I pushed the cord back in. One day it started to spark/smoke b/c of the cord issue ~ I know I should have not been using it with this loose cord! Anyway, it died (or I thought it had died). I was so sad and started to research a new vacuum until I remembered Dr. Tom Vacuum in my neighborhood. They replaced the cord for $45 and luckily there was no other damage. He also cleaned out the whole vacuum and shined up the outside. The guys at the shop were so impressed with this vacuum and asked me a ton of questions about it. He said it has the most suction power he has ever seen. I love this vacuum and I highly recommend it! We purchased it from William-Sonoma (with some of our wedding money we received). William-Sonoma may not sell the stick version anymore, but likely it could be purchased somewhere in the US.
I have to second the Dyson Animal option. While it does kind of suck to go upstairs with (as it is a bit bulky), it’s pretty amazing all said and done. The fact that I can take pretty much every piece out for cleaning is amazing, and the filters are fantastic. I think that was the biggest sell for me – just just how easy it is to clean the vacuum itself (We have 2 toddlers, 1-3 animals whenever my sister visits, and a small house..). So being able to remove the canister & vacuum head to remove debris and clean is great.