Lets talk about Vacuum's...

[*Ang*]

I need a new vacuum cleaner and am after your recommendations - good or bad.

I need power, give me power, nothing like a strong suction to make me happy! I have both carpets and floating wood floorboards. No indoor pets. Am happy to spend quite a bit on a new vacuum, especially now that there are a lot of sales on. Bags or bagless, not fussed as have had both before.

In the past I have had a dyson - we got it as a wedding present 11 years ago. That lasted around 5 years before we moved to a country town with a lot of red dirt and we just felt it wasn't as effective as we would have liked. So we upgraded to a super duper expensive Wertheim brand vacuum with a power head which I loved! Only problem is we have had quite a few problems with it - the rod has snapped twice, had a problem with the motor and also the connection down to the powerhead. BUT it sucks fantastically!

Sooo now I don't know what to do - do I go back to a Dyson again, there seem to a lot of different models to choose from, or is there another brand that people love?

Hit me with your suggestions!

TIA.

[Trillian]

I have a Vax and would go with one again purely because I can wash carpets and suck up vomit with it

[LionsandBears]

I have a Miele which has lasted 10 years and still going strong. I like the idea of something that can suck up water though, given my tendency to flood carpets. I'm kind of hoping the Miele breaks down soon so I can get a new vac.

N2L recently had a thread on this subject.

[onthefly]

I got a Miele on L&B's recommendation and am very happy with it /it totally sucks.

[foreva*your*mummy]

I have an electorlux have had it a couple of years ( its a light blue one) and Im really happy with it. Its the fist expensive one I have brought. It has the power head.

[Porsche]

I have a Kirby G6. There has been an new model come out since I bought mine. I've had mine for almost 10 years. I got it just before DD1 was born.

They are an all metal machine and all parts including any parts of the motor are replaceable. It has a power head and also a hose and attachments for just about everything. Crevis tool. Upholstry brush. A power upholstry brush. plus many more I can't think off the top of my head.It has a carpet cleaner as well.

Being an all metal machine they are a bit heavy. So if your doing heaps of stairs can be tiring.

I've not had too much trouble sourcing parts for it. I've only replaced the hose and the poles in the almost 10 years I've owned it. These machines are expensive and not available in stores. But highly worth it IMO. These are the machines that Electro Dry use before they clean your carpets. I *think* from memory I paid about $2500 for it.

They have a bag and have hepa filtration. I do my mattress with the power head even with the doona on when I'm feeling lazy haha. I use the power head on my carpets as we have a really long pile and it's crappy carpet so everything just sticks to it. I use my hose and normal head on the tiles. I can use the normal head on the carpet but the carpet is really bad.

The soft brush is made from horse hair so is nice and soft with long bristles. The crevis tool has a scrubbing brush type attachment which is terrific for window tracks.

You can use it as an upright (with power head) or as a normal barrel vacuum with the hose and normal head.