Unexpected Dyson Vacuum Endorsement

[SwampYankee]

I'll be the first to say I'm not exactly the housekeeper in the family, in fact I'm kind of a slob. We've had a decent Sears vacuum for 5-7 years now. I clean it out regularly and replaced the beater brush bar once. It sure seemed to have good suction. As you would imagine with four kids and two dogs in and out of the house all day the carpet takes a beating (carpet is slated for removal as soon as we can afford to have the wood floors finished downstairs-we figured we'd have the carpet until the youngest was an adept walker). Admittedly it could probably stand a daily vacuuming but it's usually every other day by the time the Mrs. or I get around to it. My wife and 75% of my kids have allergy (dust and some pollen, not pets) or illness induced asthma (not severe, just very annoying) so we try to do it regularly even though it doesn't really look dirty. The Mrs. has pined for a Dyson for a while now but we've just never had the extra cash for one. Especially since I had our old one working so well.

Well, my mother decided that we needed a Dyson after she bought one for herself to replace the 25 yo Hoover she's had forever. My SIL bought one of the lesser Dyson models a few months ago and liked to rave about it to my wife just to stick it to her (they "only" have two kids and insist on buying lots of things to keep up with their friends and neighbors). So mom and my wife went to Kohl's to pick one up on sale and bought us whatever their one below the top of the line upright models, whichever one is in the $500 range (they ran $350-600).

Let me just say I was horrified by the amount of "stuff" that came out of the carpets that had received fairly regular vacuuming. Our living room is about 18'x12' and the Dyson about filled 1/2 of it's see-through canister with fine "stuff" that our seemingly well working Sears managed to miss. I wasn't overly excited at the prospect of dropping $500 on a freaking vacuum, there are lots of other things we could use the money for right now. But since mom was buying I wasn't going to get in the way and I'm glad I didn't.

I still think it's a lot of money however if you're in the market for a new one and if you or any family members suffer from allergies they might be worth checking out. We've only had it a week now so I can't speak for any reduction in allergic reactions but I can't see how taking an additional liter volumes-worth out of a "clean" carpet couldn't be helpful.

[Jordan G]

All my coworkers rave about these things too. Never used one myself.

Our household is rockin' an old Rainbow (the kind with a water canister)....and I can resonate with the disgustingness of it all. Emptying out that dirty water is quite a task.

And that's a glorious thing - YOUR mother did something that made your wife happy. I wonder what that feels like

[raymr]

I saw the TV ad for the new model that rolls on a giant ball. My first reaction was how do you get that device underneath chairs and furniture??

[Chad300tdt]

I was intrigued by the commercials, but I only have one room with carpet in my house.

I have a DirtDevil 12 amp bagless upright vacuum. I like it OK, but dumping the canister and tapping the filter clean is a messy job that needs to be done outdoors so the dust clouds can drift away. I try to do this with my arm inside a big trash bag to try and contain it all.

[SwampYankee]

Originally Posted by Jordan G

And that's a glorious thing - YOUR mother did something that made your wife happy. I wonder what that feels like

I'm sure she's setting us up for something.

[SwampYankee]

Originally Posted by raymr

I saw the TV ad for the new model that rolls on a giant ball. My first reaction was how do you get that device underneath chairs and furniture??

That's not the model we got but I wouldn't imagine that it's any more or less able to get underneath furniture than our model or even the Sears we got retired. The incorporated nose/nozzle does extend 16' with about 10 different attachments so you can probably get to wherever you need to with it.

[aklim]

I've seen a Kirby pick up stuff that Dyson missed

[Brian Carlton]

I recently found a brand new Electrolux Oxygen on E-bay for $180. It's not anywhere near as durable as the original steel versions, but, it's quite well designed and has a massive brush for the carpets.

My answer to those who can manage to obtain the last grain of dust with a more costly machine is........"so what". How clean does it need to be? In my case, the Electrolux is more than sufficient.

[aklim]

Originally Posted by Brian Carlton

My answer to those who can manage to obtain the last grain of dust with a more costly machine is........"so what". How clean does it need to be? In my case, the Electrolux is more than sufficient.

Depends on your health. Some people are way more sensitive to dust and what not than others. But for most people, you might be right.

[Brian Carlton]

Originally Posted by aklim

Depends on your health. Some people are way more sensitive to dust and what not than others. But for most people, you might be right.

I'll bet that any of them with the HEPA filters will do a perfectly adequate job on dust or any of the other allergens.

Like many appliances, the prices have climbed dramatically for very few additional features. Who would have figured that they could pry $500. from your wallet for a vacuum cleaner...........it's a GD motor and a filter.........

[SwampYankee]

Originally Posted by Chad300tdt

I was intrigued by the commercials, but I only have one room with carpet in my house.

I have a DirtDevil 12 amp bagless upright vacuum. I like it OK, but dumping the canister and tapping the filter clean is a messy job that needs to be done outdoors so the dust clouds can drift away. I try to do this with my arm inside a big trash bag to try and contain it all.

I soon hope to have no rooms with carpet, maybe some area rugs. Our hallways and kitchen are uncarpeted and the thing works great on bare floors, too. It really sucks!

[Chad300tdt]

Originally Posted by SwampYankee

I soon hope to have no rooms with carpet, maybe some area rugs. Our hallways and kitchen are uncarpeted and the thing works great on bare floors, too. It really sucks!

That's a good thing to know.

I got the DirtDevil because it has a self adjusting height control. It goes over area rugs, hardwood, tile and linoleum well. I still use a wet swiffer to do the final cleaning. There is always fine dirt that seems to be stuck/ground in to the hard floors that nothing but a wet mop will remove.

I thought about getting one of those Roomba Scuba floor cleaner/washers. We have a Roomba Red that is cool for hands-free cleaning on the hard floors but is cr@p for rugs.

[SwampYankee]

Originally Posted by Brian Carlton

I recently found a brand new Electrolux Oxygen on E-bay for $180. It's not anywhere near as durable as the original steel versions, but, it's quite well designed and has a massive brush for the carpets.

My answer to those who can manage to obtain the last grain of dust with a more costly machine is........"so what". How clean does it need to be? In my case, the Electrolux is more than sufficient.

If it were just me a broom would be more than sufficient and the Shop Vac for bigger messes. With a bunch of kids and wife sensitive to dust and allergens I can't see how it could be a bad thing.

[Chad300tdt]

Originally Posted by Jordan G

Our household is rockin' an old Rainbow (the kind with a water canister)....and I can resonate with the disgustingness of it all. Emptying out that dirty water is quite a task.

My mom had a Rainbow with the water filter. She was an intense user. She vacuumed every day and would also vacuum ALL the pillows in the house by putting them inside a bag and sucking them flat with the Rainbow.

I think she was addicted to seeing the amount of dirt she could extract.

[Dee8go]

I have heard several people say that the Dyson is almost all hype. The pitch on TV is certainly compelling, but then so are a lot of others. If you REALLY want clean carpets, get a Kirby. Of course that will set you back a considerable chunk of change. They pay those sales people schlepping them around house-to-house pretty well for their trouble, I think.