[2015] Best all around vacuum cleaner

[MichaelColey]

We have a Dyson DC28 that works great for us.

 

[geekette]

The reason refurbished models are available is likely because the machines are pricey enough originally to make it worthwhile. Most of the cheaper brands end up in the landfill, rather than being fixed up and re-sold.

I know Dyson recently had a trade in offer where they would give you a some money off on a new model when you brought in a old vacuum. They do upgrade their models periodically, so I'm sure there are some people who want the latest one.

Thank you for this!!! I would like to upgrade my Dyson to a pet hair model.

 

[Glynda]

Dyson /Miele

For two houses, I have an upright Dyson and two Miele canister vacuums. The Dyson probably does a very good job but it just kills my back. I can't use it for more than five minutes. I have a newer lightweight Miele that I can use throughout the house without resulting pain as long as I'm not getting very low to get under furniture. It's shorter cord is a bit frustrating though. Also have a heavier 15 year old Red Velvet Miele that does a great job but I can't use it very long without ending up in pain either. Longer than the Dyson though!

 

[MuranoJo]

Vacuuming in general is supposed to be one of the hardest chores for low-back issues. Not sure why the Dyson would cause more issues--ours is lightweight and the handle is at a comfortable level. (But, yes, vacuuming bothers my lower back as well, but I don't think it's necessarily due to the Dyson model.)

 

[jimf41]

The best vacuum is central vac.

 

[rhonda]

So there are only 2 of us that dislike their Dyson? How interesting.

I retired my Bissel vacuum and purchased a Dyson Ball w/ Multi-floor about 3 months ago. I hate the darn thing.

• I find it HEAVY.
• It can't lie flat to vacuum under furniture.
• It only carries two attachments on the unit (one of which often pops off). I'm forced to run back and forth to the closet to grab each attachment when needed ... or run multiple passes through the house each for a separate tasks.
• The wand is ridiculously difficult to use. Its design is too long -- always causing a crease in the line somewhere during use.
• It is difficult to "lock" into upright standing mode and often falls over.
• Removing the canister is easy ... getting it back into place is a royal pain.
• I hate the pushbuttons above the canister for on/off (I'd prefer a power switch up near the handle, please) and the roller on/off. There must be a better design for both.

In short, I really HATE this stupid vac and feel it was designed by cave men.

 

[WinniWoman]

LOL! I just might stick with my dust mop for awhile. They just don't make things like they used to I guess.

 

[mrsstats]

I have a Dyson upright animal. I hate it. It is hard to push. Doesn't pick up the dry dog food off the rug unless you lift the thing and put it right on top of the food. It does a good job of picking up dog hair but I wish it would die so I would have to buy a new one.

 

[MuranoJo]

LOL. I guess if it weren't for different opinions, there wouldn't be so many brands out there trying to differentiate themselves.

 

[WinniWoman]

I remember when there were just Electrolux and Hoover. Electrolux the winner hands down, but the Hoover uprights were good back in the day.

 

[Glynda]

Upright

Vacuuming in general is supposed to be one of the hardest chores for low-back issues. Not sure why the Dyson would cause more issues--ours is lightweight and the handle is at a comfortable level. (But, yes, vacuuming bothers my lower back as well, but I don't think it's necessarily due to the Dyson model.)

I think it's that upright vacuums in general are harder on my back. I can't remember which model Dyson we have. It's not the Animal. It's very heavy though. But even the heavier of the two Miele canisters we own hurts me though not like the Dyson. The lightweight Miele has fewer features thus a lighter handle, less cord and weight to drag around. Central vac would be a lot better but not possible in our old house. So the best thing I could do for myself would be to hire help cleaning the house!!! I think that's a grand idea!

 

[vacationhopeful]

.... So the best thing I could do for myself would be to hire help cleaning the house!!! I think that's a grand idea!

Until your stuff disappears AND/OR gets broken - furniture has chips in it, under the bed has dust balls, your bathtub finish peels, jewelry vanishes, underwear drawer gets tossed and the service forgets to come the day before your catered party as their car broke down. And every 6 months, they raise their fee ... as their expenses go up.

And if they are subcontractors to YOUR service ... and they "hurt" their back, be sure you home owners insurance will pay all their "expenses" - so ALWAYS only pay by check to the agency YOU investigated and hired. No Christmas tips, no extra service added on, no vacation dollars, no "loans" ...and lock your purse in YOUR car & carry the keys ON you.

PS Their promised 4 hours of cleaning by a crew of 3 people ... that includes their travel time, mid-day break AND a meal break plus several smoke breaks... after all, they HAVE RIGHTS. And 3 sometimes means 2 ...so decide if you want to let them in.... promises of "we will make it up to you".

 

[Glynda]

Scary

Until your stuff disappears AND/OR gets broken - furniture has chips in it, under the bed has dust balls, your bathtub finish peels, jewelry vanishes, underwear drawer gets tossed and the service forgets to come the day before your catered party as their car broke down. And every 6 months, they raise their fee ... as their expenses go up.

And if they are subcontractors to YOUR service ... and they "hurt" their back, be sure you home owners insurance will pay all their "expenses" - so ALWAYS only pay by check to the agency YOU investigated and hired. No Christmas tips, no extra service added on, no vacation dollars, no "loans" ...and lock your purse in YOUR car & carry the keys ON you.

PS Their promised 4 hours of cleaning by a crew of 3 people ... that includes their travel time, mid-day break AND a meal break plus several smoke breaks... after all, they HAVE RIGHTS. And 3 sometimes means 2 ...so decide if you want to let them in.... promises of "we will make it up to you".

Scary! I'm sorry if you've had those experiences. That would be frustrating to say the least. It would be difficult to know who to trust and how to go about finding them. Yet there comes a time as we age, and/or decline, in health when we have to relinquish some control and do the best we can to find the help we need, in whatever form that is, and take some precautions before they arrive. For now, I have to use a light weight canister vacuum, clean less often, break up areas I do on a given day, and call on hubby for some help. Gone are "cleaning Friday's" when the whole house was gleaming by the time he got home from work.

 

[clifffaith]

Anything new someone wants to add regarding a favorite vacuum? We are "battling" our cleaning ladies over the vacuum situation. We have a light weight Dirt Devil I got for free based on accumulating catalog points with one of my vendors, and a Eureka upright purchased a few years ago. No matter what we do, how much we cajole, lecture, explain --- every 6 months or so I get both of them using a vac at the same time at the back of the house and they blow the power. Last time they did it the security system blew too.

Earlier this week we had the Dirt Devil out ourselves (a rarity, we don't use the vac unless we've had a mishap with the sugar bowl or something) and it did not work on either the area rug or the hardwood floor where we were trying to clean. Turned it upside down and inside out, snapped canister on and off, basically no suction. Great, now we don't have the two vacs on at the same time issue! It was actually downstairs in the back of the car along with some old paint cans and electronics ready to go to hazmat when the ladies came asking for it today. They insisted it did work on the wood floors, not the carpets. OK, fine, as long as my floor is clean when they're done I don't care.

Anyway, I see the three models listed in Consumer Reports noted above, and that many of you like the Dyson ball model. I've given myself the task of trying our Eureka on an area rug and the DD on the kitty litter in the bathroom for a few minutes each next week when we are at the half way point between cleaning visits. The one woman has cleaned for me for over thirty years (and now hires her own assistant) but I still can't get her to be proactive with warning me about equipment failures or dwindling cleaning supplies, and while I don't want to spend money on a new vac if the old seem to be working, I don't want to suddenly find myself with no vac if they are on their last legs. I'd say they easily spend half of their time on the floors which are a combination of bare wood, wood with area rugs and then Mexican pavers in the two bathrooms. So that's four woman hours on floors. They dry swiffer and vacuum and then damp or wet mop where needed. We all agreed that the Bona liquid was actually making the floors dull and they worked diligently to get the last vestiges of Bona residue off and just use plain water now except if they find a sticky spot that needs extra help. Floors look great, but I can't help but wonder if our vacs are inferior and they are working so long on the floors because of it.

 

[VacationForever]

First choice: Dyson lightweight model
Second choice: Dyson Lightweight model
Third choice: Dyson Lightweight model
....

You are getting the idea...

 

[taterhed]

We have Dyson Ball, Miele and Kenmore progressive. (top, main, basement--too cumbersome, damaging, heavy to carry on stairs etc..)

Dyson has unbeatable suction. Really. But, it is very very hard on walls furniture and anything the cleaners bang it into. Hose and attachments ditto above posts.
Miele is well made, easy and relatively light; but broke cord reel to the tune of $138 bucks, looses suction without very frequent bag/filter changes.
Kenmore has very similar features to Miele (and similar performance) but is made cheaper and attachments are somewhat less effective unless you buy up to premium model. Still, less than 1/2 the cost of Miele or Dyson on sale.

If I had cleaners in the house, I would NOT let them use upright vacuum. Too hard on walls and furniture etc... Canister from Costco (Warranty) or Sears with extended warranty.

IMHO

 

[ride2slide]

Dyson Animal is my favorite, also. I have hardwood, carpet, tile & marble floors. It works well on all.

 

[WinniWoman]

Wood floors you should not use water on. Water is a killer of wood floors no matter how well sealed. You should use a dry mop- like a microfiber one- with a spray cleaner made specifically for wood floors.

 

[Luanne]

I have a Kenmore canister. But the cleaning crew that comes in every three weeks brings their own vacuum. I also have brick floors throughout most of the house.

 

[clifffaith]

We have Dyson Ball, Miele and Kenmore progressive. (top, main, basement--too cumbersome, damaging, heavy to carry on stairs etc..)

If I had cleaners in the house, I would NOT let them use upright vacuum. Too hard on walls and furniture etc... Canister from Costco (Warranty) or Sears with extended warranty.

IMHO

Our experience has been that canister is more harmful to walls. We let the gal go who was cleaning for Cliff when we met 34 years ago. She'd try to whip the canister around corners; the day she took a huge chunk out of the wall was her last with us.

 

[easyrider]

I bought my wife a cordless Dyson V8 for Christmas. It is very light weight and very powerful. We both like it.

We still have our Easy Flo central vac but its rarely ever used.

 

[Passepartout]

The housekeeper prefers a Dyson. We have a Hoover. So it goes. (Shrug)

 

[Glynda]

The Dyson upright we had was just too heavy and awkward for me. Now we have two Miele canisters. One for downstairs and one for up, though I rarely vacuum now that I have housekeepers and try to avoid back pain.
But when I have to, I much prefer the lightweight Miele. The only downside is the short cord that has to be moved often. That's one of the ways they keep it lightweight.

 

[bogey21]

I bought a used Oreck XL some 6 or 7 years ago for $75. It is still doing the job for me.

George

 

[1st Class]

I've had a Neato Botvac Pet Model for about a year. The best thing about it is it cleans so I don't have to. Just turn it on and when finished finds its way back to the charger. We have carpet, tile and wood floors and it does a better job than I ever did! We have pets and cleaning up pet hair was becoming a full time job. I was skeptical about the size of the dirt bin, but it is surprisingly adequate, although for us it needs to be emptied weekly. There is an auto feature where you can set it to start automatically to clean when not home or overnight, but I've not used it so can't comment on that. Shockingly, battery life is still like new. I compared reviews with the Roomba and am very happy with the Neato.