Tell me about your vacuum cleaner?

[Snacks]

I am sick to death of mine and need a new one.
Having never actually bought one before (mine came with DH, LOL!) I am not sure what's good.
I don't have loads of cash, want a simple machine but one that sucks, baby. And ours comes apart in like, 3 different places (when you give the hose a tug). So frustrating when you're trying to pull it around a room! So not sure if we can get around that issue or not.
Are the bagless ones the best?
And I'm not the sort of person who vacuums the ceiling or vacuums the vacuum cleaner either... that may influence the advice you give me: if it has to be cleaned after every use for e.g... probably not for me.
Thanks so much for any help anyone can give.

[Tinks]

I have hated every vacuum I have ever had! Last year we invested in a ducted vacuum system....It is the BEST THING EVER!

It didn't cost us too much, I got the vac off ebay for $200 and just had to buy the pipes etc which cost about $150 and DH installed it.

[helle]

I have a Dyson upright. It's bagless, the filter needs to be cleaned every three months though (according to it) but I clean it on average once a year and it still sucks fine ^^;
I think they're around $799 mark though, but if you keep an eye out sometimes you can pick them up on special... we got ours for $500. Best thing about it though is that it's upright, so you're not lugging the whole hose and machine bit around the house, it's all infront of you.
I love it though, it's a sucking machine (literally) and we have a german shepherd indoors, and it gets through his malting dog hair no problems.

GL! xx

[*charmalea*]

ok , my mum bought me a nilfisk vacum with a bag and a thingy that connects to the pole to suck up the dirt , so mininal stuuf goes into the bag .so you have a tube you have to empty when you fininsh and you dont need to change the bag , only every 6 mths or yearly if you please ..

i chucked a wobbly at mum for buying a naff vacum , as DH drummed it into me that bagless was better ...

so she took me to godfreys and got the man to explain the good and bad of each type of vacum ..
he adviesd me against bagless ones ..

so after a few years my vacum is still going strong ( but i feel its time to update )

i really want a dyson but they are $$$$ and im not sure they are worth it ..

i reckon about $350 will get you a good long lasting vacum and get it from godfrey ( my mum has an awseome one with a vibrating plate that brings even more dirt out !) and it lasted her aaages . same with my MIL


advice - take it or leave it . but dont buy one from Kmart or the like , yes they are cheap , but you get what you pay for ... buying cheap will only mean you have to replace it sooner than you'd like

i know this because DH bought a cheap bagless one ($99, it camw with a steam mop , it broke too !!) and it broke with in 3 mths of usuing it , not worth it ... aim for the mid price range and you cant go wrong

[~clover~]

I'd love a good vac. The one I have now is ok. Sucks better than mum & dad's Vax (don't tell dad that ), but the head cracked around the pipe with in the first few weeks, so it comes off as it pleases, & the extender bit on the pipe stuffed up & wouldn't hold not long after that.
IME as long as you clean out all the filters regularly they will go forever (something MIL taught me, I notice the difference every time!). I probably do mine every month or two. When ever I notice the suction isn't so great.

[*EJ*]

I have a dyson (not an upright though) and it's great. Bagless and supposedly doesn't loose suction as the comparment fills with 'muck' (as other vacumes with bags do). Horrible site to see how much 'muck' is actually removed each time you vacume. Reccommended for allergy suffers and people with animals inside. Also reccommends to clean the filter every 6 months and it's as simple as removing this circle pad and giving it a good rinse and then letting it dry out. They are pricey but we got ours on interest free

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

I also have a dyson bagless, it's not the upright but is very light and easy to move around.
They can cost a bit and i always said i had NO IDEA why people would spend that much on a vac but it really is worth it,especially as our DD gets eczema and chances are might end up with Asthma.

If you keep an eye out on e-bay or even goodguys etc sometimes you can get the basic model for a decent price.

The proof is in the testing though, when DP bought it for me (how nice of him ) i did a run over of the lounge with our old vac, everything LOOKED clean, then i went over it with the dyson.. i nearly threw up... the stuff this thing picked out of the ALREADY VAC'd carpet made me sick!

It's coming up to x-mas, if anyone asks what you want maybe just say some cash to put towards a nice shiny new powerful sucker! lol... maybe explain you want a new vac! the oldies might have a heart attack!

HTH.. good luck, in my experience now the amount of cheapies i have bought over the years have probably added up to the cost of my dyson which i will have for many more years to come.

[helle]

The proof is in the testing though, when DP bought it for me (how nice of him ) i did a run over of the lounge with our old vac, everything LOOKED clean, then i went over it with the dyson.. i nearly threw up... the stuff this thing picked out of the ALREADY VAC'd carpet made me sick!

.

We did this too! We have one of those shaggy rugs in our loungeroom... the amount of dog hair it got out that we couldn't even see... DH almost evicted poor puppy ^^;
You gotta love how it all swirls around in there too, yum yum XD

[Lenny]

I love my Vacuum cleaner.
It is a Dyson DY 19. It cost us $400 + an extra $70 for a 'turbo head'. We bought it just over a year ago. Did i mention that I love it?
It would not be so good without the turbo head - it gets the dog hair out of the carpet.
Did i mention that I love my Dyson?
It is a barrel one - I think the upright ones mean that you end up pushing the whole thing back and forth with every stroke - which seems like extra work.
It's nice and easy to empty. (I do empty it after every vacuum i.e. when I have done the whole house). And I love it.
The cord could be longer - but I am lazy and want to vacuum the whole house without moving the plug
I haven't recently vacuumed the ceiling or the vacuum cleaner either!!
I love my dyson. When we first bought it we were a bit disgusted at the amount of dust that it sucked up - but after we used it a couple of times, that has stopped. It proved our old one was not so good.

Have you checked out what they say on Choice, or Product Review?

[sunshine_sieben]

I have a Wertheim (from Godfrey's) which I love, love, love!
It was expensive (about $1,200 from memory). But honestly, I really think it was worth it. It does have bags which i actually prefer. I had a bagless one before and it was such a pain to clean it and the filter out after every use. It was kinda gross. Having said that, I bought the little clear attachment that goes onto the pole that you often see in their store demos. So most of the dirt ends up in their rather than goin into the bag. So the bags last forever. This thing is easy to take off and empty into the bin.
It has a powerhead which vibrates the carpet and shakes out the dirt. This is really effective.
With repairs, they often have parts in the store, so if you need service, it's not a biggie. I had the pole replaced (it had seized and couldn't be extended for some unknown reason) on the spot.
It has a really strong body (the material that they make bumper bars out of apparently), which was important to me with little kids that might jump on it.
Oh, and this might sound ridiculous, but it has a really really long power lead. Sounds not worth mentioning, but it is so great that I can basically do the whole house without having to unplug and replug the thing. especially with childproof plates on all powerpoints. if i also want to do the ensuite, i do have to use a different powerpoint, but still much better than 3 or 4 powerpoints I had to use with my old ($200) vaccuum.

Dysons do seem to have a good rep, too.

And Miele are great Vaccuums.

Oh, by the way, I was also told by various vac sales people that bagless is not THAT great. yes, you might save on bags, but you have to replace the expensive filters more often.

Basically, I think you get what you pay for. You won't get a great vac for $100. ut you mgiht get by with that for a while. Until you get a better one and see all the dirt your old one left behind.... gross.

or, you could rip out the carpet and replace with floorboards. The you can get away with a cheaper vac...

Of course you don't need to go to quite the length that i went to. i reckon yu can get a decent machine from about $500.

Sasa