Vacuum Question

i have 4 dogs and kids and i swear by my Dyson "animal"
very pricy but so worth it... tough machine but you can take it all apart and fix it and put it back together!!!
plus it comes with all kinds of cool attachments to clean everything
best
I.

Kirby is a good one. A bit on the expensive side, but will last forever. We have a golden retriever and a black lab and it gets it all.(I've had it for 5 years - never had a problem) My mom has had hers for over 20 years and always had 2 dogs. Hope that helps.

I have and would recommend the Dyson Animal. It is built to handle dog hair. I bought it back when I had my American Eskimo (very long white hair), and it works great. There are no filters to replace, you do need to take it out every 3 - 6 months and wash it though. My other vaccuum cleaner would leave dog hair on the carpet, but not the Dyson. Luckily though they have come down in price since I bought mine about 3-4 years ago.

Hi M.,
I am going to add my vote in for the Electrolux! I have the canister style, so tossing the bag out is like a reward that your house is all clean! When I met my husband he had a Kenmore upright and I went behind his vacuum with my Eletrolux vacuuming up what his left behind. We have a German Shepard who sheds daily and twin 1 year old girls! I vacuum every day at nap time, have had the machine since Sept. 1994 and it still works like a charm. The price tag on it then was 549.95 so as you can see it's well worth the money.
Hope this help with you decision,
L.

I've had electrolux, miele, and kirby. All good but my Dyson animal is the best! I was aamazed at what it picked up after my $1500 Kirby. Now the Kirby is relegated to the lightly used 3rd floor and my light (compared to the Kirby) Dyson handles all surfaces in the heavily used rooms in my house. Ive got dogs and cats, great for rugs and furniture.

Hi! Go for the Dyson...I have one and love it...worth every penny!

I recently bought a bissell at walmart it was about 42.00. I do not have pets so I can not tell you how it would be with the pet hair but I love this vaccuum!

I have the Bissell Healthy Home vacuum and I think it works great. I have 2 dogs who shed A LOT,so I am constantly vacuuming and I have no problem picking up all the fur with this vacuum on both carpet and hard floors.

We have two cats, a dog, and a pre-schooler. We have a Dyson and we couldn't be happier. Like others have said, it is a bit expensive, but worth every penny. When we got ours, we decided to run a little test (to try to validate our purchase). We vacuumed with our old faithful Kenmore canister vac. Our living room looked clean and great. Then, we took our new Dyson and vacuumed again. Honestly, we could not believe our eyes as we watched the Dyson fill with pet hair (that we couldn't even see on the carpet). Dyson is an investment worth making. Good luck!

LOVE LOVE LOVE my kenmore vac. I have a few friends who have housecleaning businesses and this is their choice, as well.

I too have a black lab and hardwood/carpeted floors and the only thing we use is the Dyson Pet Vacuum (the purple one). It's pricey, but well worth the money. I use it everywhere and I can't recommend this vacuum enough!

I have 5 dogs (inside) 2 black labs, 2 english setters & a wirehair. My dyson works incredibly well! I have carpet in my office and wood in the kitchen & bath & ceramic tile in the hall/living room. Just remember to empty the canister frequently as the hair piles up quickly. My husband has commented on how well the Dyson works. I've had Electrolux, Hoover and Sears vacuums previously. I picked up my Dyson at Sam's Club 2 years ago. Good luck, L.

I would highly recommend a Miele with a hepa filter. I have had one now for 8 years and it's the best vaccuum I've ever owned!

They are little pricey, I think I paid 600 for mine eight years ago, but worth every penny! It's true what they say, "you get what you pay for"!

Good luck.

Hello M.,

I've tried different brands w/o success over the last year and we just found something that is OK and for a competitive price at BJ's: http://www.dyson.com/store/product.asp?product=DC18-ALLFL...
I picked this model because I was looking for a light-weight vac, though you may want to get the next model up, meant for pet hair. Good luck!

I bought the Kenmore canister (based on consumerreports.org). The problem with the upright type is that the hair gets stuck in the cylinder and is difficult to get out, so the canister type with bag may be best. Although you have to purchase the bags, at least when you empty the vacuum the pet hair goes into the rubbish rather than sticking in the cylinder.

I would recommend kenmore canister vacuums. there's a big price range, but the things that might be important for you include this Pet Powermate thing that's an extra attachment with a smaller brush-wheel for furniture and curtains. I'm sure the person at your store (we used Sears) will go into the differences.

Hi M.. I'm not sure about hard wood floors but I've been seeing the bissell pet eraser vaccuum being advertsied a lot. I don't have so I don't know how they are I just have a plain old vaccuum but the type of dogs I have don't shed. Good luck I hope you find one that works. I know all that hair is pain the cat I used to have shed everywhere.

Hi, I personally have the Dyson Animal, and we love it. We have 3 dogs and they SHED DAILY. We have had the Dyson for 3 1/2 years and love it. It is still as good today as the day we bought it, has not lost suction. It is pricey but tis' the season for gift cards; a few will help knock down the cost. Personally I would buy it again, it is that good, good luck.

Hello. I have a Kenmore vacuum that I bought at Sears. It does both carpet and bare floors with a simple push button switch and it picks up dog hair - No problem. I have a Siberian Husky who sheds tons of fur and up until a month ago we also had our German shepherd who also shed alot. We have owned this vacuum for almost 3 years and never had a problem. It cost us $99.99 at Sears. I don't know the name of it but it is dark red in color and is a Kenmore and sold at Sears. Hope this helps, good luck.

We have two dogs with long thick hair and braved getting a irobot on the suggestion of someone with two St. Bernards who had success with it!

It is wonderful. She picks up everything. We just set a timer for when we'll be out and when we come home, she's done her job. There are different levels, we have one that's about mid-range. You don't need to get one for every floor as salesmen may push, just move the base up or down when needed.

electrolux. It is amazing. Lasts forever too.

I also have a Lab that sheds constantly and never found a vaccum that really got it all up. We finally got the Dyson animal last year and LOVE IT! It has very powerful suction and is made to pick up pet hair. they are pricy, mine was around $500 I think but worth every bit!

I've had my canister style Hoover for over 20 years now. I thought it was on its last legs too. I replaced the filter that is in between the bag and the motor. I'll be darned, it's like I have a whole new machine again! You don't mention what style vacuum you have. If the motor is still running good, is it possible that taking yours apart would yield the same results and save some money for a while longer?

Hi

I am a second generation Rainbow lover. It is what I grew up with and won't use anything else. I'll tell you now, it is pricy up front, $1200.00 and don't let teh sales person sell it to you for anything more. That is the only down side to teh machine!!!

Pros: runs on water, never buy a bag a gain or anythign else for it for that matter. It lasts forever!!! My mother has had hers for over 30 years. It does everything; carpet hard wood and even picks up liquid. If ther eare any alergies in the house, this will help with them. I coluld go on forever abouth them. Please see a demo. Well worththe time! ###-###-#### is the local dealer.

Good luck. let us know how yo made out!
M.

I was just on the vaccum hunt not to long ago myself. I'm sure that the Dyson's are nice but I just couldn't justify spending that much money on a vac since we only have three small rugs in our whole house everything else is hardwood. We have a long hair coon cat who constantly sheds, so we did need a vac that could stand up to all that hair(we have gone through a bunch of vacs that kept losing suction and were tired of it.) We finally decided on an Infinity. We bought it at Bed Bath and Beyond(200.00ish)and I love it. It has a pet grooming system that has a bunch of different tools to help get all the hair from everywhere. It also never loses suction... there are ways to clean it out every now and again so that it is always at full power. It also has a switch for hardwood floors so that you can switch from wood to carpet with the touch of a button. It was worth every penny without breaking the bank.

If it is a possibility with your existing house structure. put in a central vaccum system. It is the BEST for dogs, kids, etc! You can vaccum anything, anywhere!! Well worth the money!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We also have a black lab and the Dyson works great. I also have a Shark hand held vacuum (especially for pets) for the sofas and stairs (Dyson works on the stairs too with a 17 foot wand, but I like using the hand vac to be quicker).

I guess it depends how much you want to spend...I have two dogs as well and one is a lab so the hair problem I understand 100% and so far the only vac that I have found that can handle it is the Dyson. It was only 350-I know its kind of a lot-but it was worth it! IT does the hardwood and rugs and is easy to operate I Would most certainly suggest it! The Dyson also comes with a warranty so if something goes wrong they can replace it-I think its five years! And its actually meant for animals its the purple Dyson for animals...good luck!

I love the Oreck! They have a newer one that does both carpet and hard wood/tile floors. Our Oreck only does rugs but you get the canister vac free!! I love it!!

I know how you feel we had a dog [she recently passed] and a cat. The Bissell Pet Hair Eraser is awesome. Has settings for both hardwood [which i have 98% of] and carpeting [area rugs] has an attachment for furniture. It states that you may even be able to vacumm the pet, but I never tried this. It is only about $150.00 maybe on sale for less. I love this vacuum