# Vacuum cleaner?



## mw22 (Aug 15, 2005)

Need a new vacuum cleaner, anyone got any good suggestions?

Whats best to look at, the normal wattage, or the "Air watts suction" value thats on some sites. Or anything else.

After an upright, plenty of power to get rid of pet hairs, but don't really want to pay for something that has so much ooomph that I can use the nozel as a tractor-beam on the cat 

So if you can suggest any good makes, or even particular models, I'd be very gratefull....

Thanks

Mike


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## kmpowell (May 6, 2002)

A Dyson, no question. For those that bash Dyson I suspect they have never owned one, but 99.9% of Dyson owners swear by them.

If you don't have pets or any allergy problems, then a normal one will do, but if you have allergy's or pets then the 'Animal' and 'Allergy' versions are amazing. I suffer from terrible hayfever and dust allergy problems, so 2 years ago I bought a 'Allergy' DC14 with the HEPA & Bactisafe which is hospital-level HEPA filtration and bacteria killing screen. Touch wood so far I have not had any hayfever or dust reactions since purchase. If you go for the 'Animal' it also has (on top of the 'Allergy' spec) Mini turbine heads which picks up pet hair from confined spaces.

Couple that with the amount it picks up (it's mind blowing the amount a Dyson will pick up over a standard cleaner!), and I don't think I could get anything better for the money.

There are loads of deals out there too, so once you have decided on the model is best go hunting. I got mine from Amazon in the end where at the time it was Â£289 in the shops, but I picked it up for Â£197 delivered.

HTH


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## mw22 (Aug 15, 2005)

Cheers, KMP.

Yeah, recently added a furball moggy to the family, and I now live, breathe and sleep cat hair (I thought the thing was sposed to go wandering outside!!!), which is the reason for wanting to upgrade.

Current cleaner works fine on the hard floor stuff, just doesn't have the power for carpets.

Alternatively, I'm just gonna shave the cat 

Mike


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## kmpowell (May 6, 2002)

....short of Shaving the cat, I think an 'Animal' Dyson is your best bet!

There are two upright types and it looks (just did a quick search around the usual places) like Amazon are still the cheapest:

DC14 - Upright

DC15 - Upright 'Ball'

If you're not fussed about zooming round as fast as possible the DC14 is perfect. But as with cars, I do find myself wanting to upgrade to a DC15 with the 'Ball', just for the hell of it!


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## HighTT (Feb 14, 2004)

Anything from the NUMATIC range; domestic models such as 'Henry' 'Charles' etc.

Very cheap at Costco and will last a lifetime - most of the contract cleaning companies use nothing else but Numatic, and you should see how some of their staff treat the machines


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## bec21tt (Feb 27, 2003)

Owned two dyson's & two Miele, & I'd def go for the Miele.

At the moment we've got the cat & dog one with HEPA filters, not thatwe've got a cat or dog, but at the time there was an offer for the best one at the same price as the cheaper one, so went for the best.

Now I just have to turn the suction down a bit, otherwise I can't move it!! :lol:


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## Kell (May 28, 2002)

HAve to say I bought into the whole Dyson design thing and found it to be pants in use.

I think ours is a DC04 (not sure as it's now in the loft) but we replaced it with a Henry, which wouldn't suit you as it's not an upright. I can't help thinking it's no coincidence that most opffice cleaning firms use Henrys and Georges though.

Very happy with that,


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## mw22 (Aug 15, 2005)

It's the Mrs that wants an upright... no idea why, she's too lazy to use the thing anyway :roll: 
Still - she's paying for it, so who am I to argue.

Interesting that Henry's are getting mentioned, the wattage on them is quite low, so what makes them so good??

Mike


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## kmpowell (May 6, 2002)

Kell said:


> I think ours is a DC04 (not sure as it's now in the loft) but we replaced it with a Henry, which wouldn't suit you as it's not an upright. I can't help thinking it's no coincidence that most opffice cleaning firms use Henrys and Georges though.


The DC04 is a very old model (at least 10 years old), so there have been at least 2 itterations since then and things have moved on in terms of technology.

Henry and Georges may be powerful, but there is no HEPA filtration or Animal speciality models, which if you are like me in the Allergy dept, are essential.

I still maintain that if you have a pet or suffer from allergy's, you can't beat a Dyson.


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## AidenL (Nov 29, 2006)

Dyson Ball Upright - its so good, I do all the hoovering at home - Mrs L is very pleased as a result :wink:

Its actually a pleasure to use - over 10 years, from a DC04 , to the current one, our Dysons haven't missed a beat - and its a thing of wonderment to look at


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## Johnnywb (May 31, 2006)

I heard that Dysons tend to burn their motors out in a short period of time when compared to other cleaners, is there any truth in this?


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## kmpowell (May 6, 2002)

Johnnywb said:


> I heard that Dysons tend to burn their motors out in a short period of time when compared to other cleaners, is there any truth in this?


I've never heard that before. My parents have had a DC04 since 1999, and it gets daily use round a 4 bed house.


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## Neil (May 7, 2002)

kmpowell said:


> it gets daily use


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## AidenL (Nov 29, 2006)

Johnnywb said:


> I heard that Dysons tend to burn their motors out in a short period of time when compared to other cleaners, is there any truth in this?


Not in my experience


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## kmpowell (May 6, 2002)

neil1003 said:


> kmpowell said:
> 
> 
> > it gets daily use


My mum suffers from the same dust allergy problems as I do, so she likes to keep on top of the vacuuming.*



*Cue the cr*p mother & vacuum jokes.


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## AidenL (Nov 29, 2006)

neil1003 said:


> kmpowell said:
> 
> 
> > it gets daily use


 :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## jam225 (Jun 24, 2003)

AidenL said:


> Johnnywb said:
> 
> 
> > I heard that Dysons tend to burn their motors out in a short period of time when compared to other cleaners, is there any truth in this?
> ...


Our trusty DC01 finally gave up the ghost last year, I bought it in '97. We've replaced it with another Dyson (can't remember the model :? ) and it sucks like a pro


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## Dotti (Mar 9, 2003)

Dyson every time - on our 3rd now


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## GRANNY (Jun 18, 2002)

R.I.P your DC01. Still got mine, use it every day, and apart from wearing out a set of wheels, which i got replacements for from Dyson, it has never missed a beat.It is the first vacum that i havent managed to kill, usual life span before the Dyson was 12months.


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## kenny ken (Oct 22, 2006)

Been through 2 Dysons. The 2nd one that died got sent off to Dyson for repair. Piece of sh*t broke again a few months later.

Got a cheapie bagless Samsung from Argos for Â£50, does the job a treat 8)


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## J55TTC (Apr 25, 2005)

Weve had a henry for ages and never needed to consider a replacement. It spends more time in the cupboard than anywhere else so why buy something that looks good?


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## cuTTsy (Jan 31, 2003)

A "henry" and wooden floors is the best to keep the dust down, carpet traps so much rubbish that you cant get up.


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

I have the wonderful combination of Dyson Animal and Roomba Discovery (with scheduler upgrade).

My cleaning lady uses the Dyson every week, mainly to do the stairs and the carpets upstars.

Every day at 9am, my Roomba Discovery jumps into life and trundles around the downstairs of my house (all hard floors, which is nice and easy) picking up all of the animal hair that has dropped in the previous 24 hours from my 2 dalmatians and 3 cats.

It really is the most amazing gadget... :lol:

I couldn't cope with it as my only vacuum, but for the job I want it for, it is excellent. Without it, someone would certainly need to vac on pretty much a daily basis, as dalmatians constantly shed white hair (unlike any other dog) and it collects quite quickly.

When finished, Roomba automatically returns to the charging base and tops up the battery, ready to go again the next day. All I have to do is empty the "bin" every couple of days, and once in a while give it a quick blow through with some compressed air to clean it.


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## jbell (May 15, 2006)

bec21tt said:


> Owned two dyson's & two Miele, & I'd def go for the Miele.
> 
> At the moment we've got the cat & dog one with HEPA filters, not that we've got a cat or dog, but at the time there was an offer for the best one at the same price as the cheaper one, so went for the best.
> 
> Now I just have to turn the suction down a bit, otherwise I can't move it!! :lol:


Got to agree with that, Dyson IMO are crap cheap plastic, burn out motors, wheels fall off etc, bought a Miele in the sale at Dingles 50% off, best Â£120 I spent, awesome, so much suction, excellent on all floors (I have wood, Carpet and tiles) HEPA filter there is so much less dust in my flat now its amazing.


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## BAMTT (Feb 22, 2004)

Kirby no contest, come with a 25 year guarantee but are about Â£700


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## mw22 (Aug 15, 2005)

Â£700 

I've only got a small semi detached, it'd be cheaper to re-carpet once a month 

Mike


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## Hilly10 (Feb 4, 2004)

We have Dyson which is good, but also have Canavac built into the house its fantastic 17 years old works like new.


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

Hilly10 said:


> We have Dyson which is good, but also have Canavac built into the house its fantastic 17 years old works like new.


Have you lived there all that time?


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## Teehee (May 22, 2005)

Dyson Animal for me.

Currys gave me 20% off and a free five year extended warranty as I lost the plot in the showroom.

I have now vowed never to shop at Currys ever again which has so far cost them over Â£8.5 k in four years. Ar$eholes.


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## bilbos (Jan 16, 2004)

We are also on our 3rd Dyson. We've had a DC07, DC11 Animal and now a DC15 "Ball" Animal.

The DC07 burnt its motor out after 7 years which was annoying and the DC11 tools kept breaking (which Dyson replaced free of charge). Saying that, I am a fanatic and wouldn't use anything else.


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

mw22 said:


> Â£700
> 
> I've only got a small semi detached, it'd be cheaper to re-carpet once a month
> 
> Mike


Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.


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