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I'm looking to treat myself to a new vacuum instead of the cheap ones I usually buy with my tax refund.
So far I tried the Dyson Animal. It's great - if you have a lot of carpets. I have hardwood floors with a lot of area and throw rugs (which my cats seem to think is short for 'throw up on rugs"). I found it difficult to use with the throw rugs as it wanted to suck them up. Also, to do under the couch, bed, tables, etc - I had to employ the use of the attachment wand as the vacuum doesn't flatten enough to get under that stuff. So I'm thinking Dyson just isn't the vacuum for me.
So, I'm back on the market. I want a canister vac, as I just find the uprights cumbersome, but didn't realize that until I tried out the Dyson. My current vac, which is now mostly duct tape, is a canister. I need a heavy duty, bagless canister vac under $400 that is great on pet hair. My house is hardwood and linoleum floors with the aforementioned throw rugs and area rugs. Furniture tools are a must, because in my house if you want the best seat in the house -you have to move the cat! Any suggestions?
I'm not sure they're available in the US, but the Miele (German brand) make a pet vacuum that gets rave reviews and I know owners of them swear they would never buy a different brand again. (Not sure on the bagless issue there though). I've got a Black & Decker pet one - it is bagless ... it's of the cheap and cheerful variety. I wasn't prepared to shell out for the Dyson due to us still moving around. I think I paid about $100 for it. It's very good on floors, and as long as you really clean the filter, it does the job in a 3 cat, 3 dogs household.
I would suggest a large canister type with a bag. You can buy a nice stainless steel one for under $70. Something nice and large like a 30 gallon model. Available at Lowes or Home Depot.
I'm not sure they're available in the US, but the Miele (German brand) make a pet vacuum that gets rave reviews and I know owners of them swear they would never buy a different brand again. (Not sure on the bagless issue there though). I've got a Black & Decker pet one - it is bagless ... it's of the cheap and cheerful variety. I wasn't prepared to shell out for the Dyson due to us still moving around. I think I paid about $100 for it. It's very good on floors, and as long as you really clean the filter, it does the job in a 3 cat, 3 dogs household.
Thanks.
Black & Decker upright or canister?
I currently have a Shark Europro canister, got it at Target. It's fine, but not so great on the throw rugs and the hose is coming apart. I use my vacuum daily, if not two or three times a day.
And that bird dander is a pain, isn't it? (Two parrots.)
My B&D is a canister and quite a small one (which I needed because there's not a lot of room). It's got the pet "turbo brush" but I found that the regular attachment (with carpet or floor option, floor option has the little broom thingy at the front... what a technical description! ) worked best. The turbo brush just seemed to blow the hair around making it harder to vacuum up. I use it a lot too and it's quite forgiving about getting bashed about.... or put it like this: it hasn't quit on me yet!
As I say, the secret is learning the trick of cleaning the filter (needs to be done outside). They way I looked at it was that if I got to use it and abuse it for a year or so and it did a decent to good job along the way, I'd have gotten my money's worth. It's over a year now and it's still here, so I'd say I did get my money's worth.
Actually, that just reminded me - LG. I had an LG bagless that was SUPER on floors. That wasn't here either, but I must look into that to see if they're available here. I had a Dyson canister... but it also wasn't here in the US. For reasons I don't understand, Dyson doesn't seem to make canisters for the US market and upright Dyson's are unheard of outside the US market. Very odd. I adored my Dyson.
As you can tell, vacuums are near and dear to my heart.
Edit to add: LG was a canister too. I don't like uprights.
We bought a DYSON...it's InCREDIBLE. Expensive, but we've had it about 2 years so far and it's never been anything other than perfect..
I bought the Dyson and tried it, but didn't find that it worked for me so I'm returning it. I like the canister style better than an upright, and Dyson doen't have that in the US. Granted, for the price the Dyson had to be just about perfect or I was not going to like it. For my budget, that is a lot of money to spend and I have to be really thrilled with it for that price or it goes back.
I agree with the whole price vs. "I'm madly in love with my vacuum" theme. For what it is and for the price it was (and I just can't leave out the cute little cat and dog drawing on the top).... +/- $100 for the B&D isn't a bad deal. Would I run away with it like I would have with my Dyson? No, but it's not in the same league... it would be sort of like comparing some local team of a sport to the national champions I guess.
I have a Rainbow. A lot of people don't like the fact that it is a "water pot" but I love it. It is a canister type vacumm that has a pot that holds water. The dirt or whatever gets stuck in the water and clean air blows back out. I have used a lot of different types of vacuums but this one is the one I have had the best luck with for everything.
It comes with a floor attachment, an electrical head with a beater brush for carpets and some other thingys for things like blinds and a shampooer. We have hardwood floors and area carpets (we have a historical old house) and this one does it all for us. Two dogs, one cat and one African Grey parrot... it gets it all!
AND... if you have a small spill, you can use it to pick up fluids.
and you can put scented oil in the water to scent your air.
I'll never have anything else.
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(Two parrots.)
) worked best. The turbo brush just seemed to blow the hair around making it harder to vacuum up. I use it a lot too and it's quite forgiving about getting bashed about.... or put it like this: it hasn't quit on me yet! 
