Vacuum cleaners

Hi everyone,

I am in desperate need of a new vac but don't know which one to get.
I need one that picks up pet hair - I have a german shepherd and a border collie both of which are inside most of the time. The one I have has a power head but the cord that runs to it is constantly disconnecting or tangling up. We have timber and carpet so need something that does both.

Can anyone recommend a good vac?

Thanks for any replies.

i have a dyson and i bought it to pick up dog hair from my carpet. I think it is the most fantastic vaccum ever. i have the upright which i love

I was actually looking at a Dyson upright but as I have only ever had barrel's I wasn't sure what they were like. Which model do you have? Do uprights allow you to get under things like tables and beds?

I went on to the dyson website and it recommended the DC24 for my needs. It's a compact upright.

Thanks for the reply.

I have a dyson barrel where as my sis has an upright.
She finds it great for storage but a pain doing say the car.
Whereas mine I can do the car and under everything easy enough.

I prefer the versatility of the barrels!

I have an upright Dyson which I've had for 3yrs and I love it. Although yes it is a pain for the car so we use the old vacuum for the car.

I have a Dyson barrel and absolutely love it... Its called a DC20 Stowaway..

Make sure u get one with a motor head on it for the fur.. and im pretty sure mine came with a attachment for hard floors (i have timber floors and tiles).. we may have bought the hard floor head.. but i cant remember!!!

My dyson has a rap around hose so it is very compact and easy for storage..

I have a dyson, my brother has a dyson, my sister has a upright dyson and mum has just bought a 3rd dyson!!! Everyone from my family are very happy with theirs!!! LOL...

If u buy a dyson, u will not be disappointed!!!

have a look at the range online... dyson website
[Edited on 08/05/2009]

mine is 4 years old upright with the hepa filter thingy in it i don't have a problem using it in the car or under beds etc because it comes apart easily to allow you to get in the car etc. An i love my attachments i have the mini turbo head attachment with i use for the car it got the dog hair out no probs and all the little bits of fluff 'crumbs etc.

Hi again,

I have been looking around this past week at vac's and am now more confused then ever.

A question for the Dyson owners: Are the filters a pain in the bum to clean and how often do they need cleaning?

I went to Retravision and they were saying that the filters on a Dyson require constant cleaning and some are hard to remove from the machine. They were recommending the Miele Cat & Dog which only comes with a Turbo Head. I then went to another store and they said that the Miele works best on hard floors.

After numerous net searching and recommendations from the lovely people on Huggies land I had it down to purchasing a Dyson DC23 Motorhead but now I'm totally confused. Don't you hate that!

I have a dyson barrel also, best thing I ever bought! And it is so good with pet hair. You do need a cupboard to store it though, I always have it stored with it plugged in ready to go - takes about 15 minutes to vacuum my house with a live in dog!

To be honest, I have never cleaned the filters! I just empty it every couple of runs.
[Edited on 15/05/2009]

I would tell your Retravision ppl to go pound sand......

I have the turbine head.

Let me tell you about my vaccum cleaner smile

-I've had it for over 1yr, have only 'cleaned' the filter once
(that was a pull out and bang... It is reccomended to rinse it and let it dry in the sun and this particular model is very easy)
-It has done double duty at my house and my brothers.
(and if you ever saw their place it deserves a medal!)
-I have had everything from pet hair to broken glass go through that thing and the only thing that gets stuck is my hair because it is soooo long it wraps around the 'roller' in the head.
-I have both carpet and hard floors. it's easy to swap heads and sometimes for a quick clean i'll just use the hardwood attachment on carpet. But the crap you will suck out of the carpet will shock you! The first time I did our bedroom (very old carpet) i got halfway through and had to empty it!!

If you are in doubt I would go and say I want to see how you pull it out to clean the filter. But (only coz I'm playing with mine now I have to remember which side it's on first) you twist the big blue knob, lift the 'wheel cover' pull out the filter, rinse under running water, allow to dry throughly in sun, then return to the vacumm cleaner. Seems pretty easy to me!

I bet these places get a bigger kickback from some companies more than others and that's why they push certain brands. That would make sense cause the Dyson I was looking at was around $950 and the Miele he was pushing was $699 but he said he would sell it for $600.

Am off to Bing Lee and The Good Guys over the weekend for another look and hopefully a good deal.

Hi there,
I was dead set going to buy a dyson, but after an "accidental" conversation with a couple of professional cleaners, I found the perfect cleaner...LOL
It's a VAX pro and is so good!! (and even better, nowhere near the price of a dyson)
Not the "prettiest" vac on the market, but I reckon it would have to be the best!!
Good luck with whatever you buy smile