Vacuums

A friend bought a Bissell Pets vacuum (or some such name) after being shell-shocked over the prices on the Dysons. She is so thrilled with the results, she's probably sold at least 5 from her experience.

Dear C. V
I have a Panasonic upright and it does a real good job. I also have an Electrolux which is a great machine, It has better suction but the Tank has to be pulled around with you. But with the cats and with the children,I can see why you would need to vacuum more often.
I use to have light Blue carpet and It was beautiful ,but you could see every step on it. So it almost worked me to death. I have a light Tan now and I really like it , it does ot show where you have walked on it.
Good luck.
Mk

another late response - but hey! Merry Christmas everyone!! We have a dyson and I am working my way thru my third one. It works better for me than any of the others. This reply is not about vacuum cleaners it's about hairy pets. We have 1 long haired kitty and 2 large & small long haired dogs which I keep SHAVED. It has made the most difference of anything. No more cat or shedding dog hairs on anything. You can get clippers that leave about 1/4 of an inch and they all look very "normal". It's been GREAT!! Try it, you'll like it!!

sherry

Hi C.,
I have been out of the loop for a couple of weeks, hopefully it is not too late to respond to your question. I had to write because I also got blue carpeting that I hated when I moved in! I have 3 cats, a dog, 3 kids and all their friends. I started with hard wood floors on the bottom story and just got hard wood floors on my upper story this past week because I could not take it anymore! I thought the carpet would give a softer walk but it turned out to be a pain in the putootie because there were so many accidents and it never felt CLEAN. I love the hard wood floors because with throw rugs it's still cozy and so much easier. Anyway, I just wanted to share that with you;perhaps a thought for the future. I have a good company if you need one and decide to go that route. Best holiday wishes!
J.

I've read reviews that say it is no good. Though I've never had one, they say it is bad at getting edges and corners of rooms. But if you want to use that and then vacuum once in a while on top of that maybe it would do. But read reviews on it online. I subscribe to consumer reports and it says the Roomba 560 at its best was among the worst in tests cleaning edges and corners. You also have to more or less program it with electronic borders and it roves outside of those on occasion according to consumerreports.org.

I know what I'm about to suggest is expensive, but a Kirby system is one of the greatest vacuum cleaning systems out there; it also has its own shampooer ... it will help keep your carpet clean and soft.

Another late response: I know nothing of the Roomba but get that you are hoping to have to vacuum less. I use the Rainbow. It is not actually a vacuum in the usual sense: dust is sent into a WATER container, where it drops, so NONE of the dust escapes back into your air. One reason you have to vacuum so much is that much of the dust you are sucking in gets dispersed back out into the air, where it falls on your furniture, requiring frequent dusting, and where it lands again on your carpet, bedding etc.

I found that once I started using the Rainbow, three things happened: 1) I didn't have to vacuum as often; 2) when I vacuumed I didn't notice that musty smell anymore and didn't have to dust as often; and 3) my husband started REALLY enjoying vacuuming. He usually volunteers when he sees me pulling it out! It doesn't get better than that, ladies.

It is expensive -- I hear you can get one for free by bringing some of your friends to a Rainbow presentation (it is sold through direct marketing), but we never did that, as we saw the value right away.

Also, because there is no bag for the dust to go through, you never lose suction, and the suction is powerful. You can also scent the water with their special water-dispersable scents which leaves a subtle but nice scent in the air, or you can add a disinfectant. There is a HEPA filter in it as well, which is superfluous because nothing escapes the water.

Hope that helps!

I have a Dyson, which I love. My sister in law bought one to fight her dark green carpet and she said she actually can get the carpet looking nice with her Dyson. It really has great suction. We purchased them at Kohl's. Luckily I had a 30% coupon. I have the one that is all floors, works great on hardwood also. Now I love to vaccum. (ha-ha)

A late response- I have all tile and wood downstairs, carpet and laminate upstairs- a Golden Retriever with horrible allergies, 2 cats, 3 kids AND a Dyson. My first Roomba broke after 4 years of use- I loved it for small areas and when I wasn't home. I used to set it loose in the gameroom when everyone was gone at school- it would get under things that I might not get to. I used it in my large master bath every other day- great for hair. Mine wasn't the one that could handle rug fringe so I couldn't use it in some places- but I am hoping Santa and the dog go in together and get me a new one for Christmas. Otherwise- do what I do- IGNORE it. We used to have navy blue carpet- another house and before the dog- and I LOVED it. Now I have just installed dark brown carpet...I figure at least you KNOW when you have vacuumed- everything looks great when you are done. Much more satisfying than vacuuming beige carpet that looks the same no matter what. I do have a friend that used to get her long hair cats shaved- they looked ridiculous but it helped w/ pet hair. Brushing the dog outside daily helps too-and makes the dog happy. Oh! And shoes are not allowed past the entries. That helps alot with outside dirt. We have a cubby area in the kitchen (back door) for kids shoes, otherwise they just get left in a pile by the front door. Even the kid's friends follow this- I frequently see their little shoes piled in the cubbies,too. This also helps w/ not being able to find shoes- they should always be by the door.

We have one and run it only when we're not home - it's loud and distracting (I also have 4 kids so don't need more noise than I already have!) We have mostly all wood or tile floors and it does a nice job. Not a deep, thorough cleaning, but a nice option when you're short on time. It does take quite a while too (depending on room size of course).

I know you have your answer already but I wanted to let you know what I have to do. My son has really bad allergies so I really need to vacuum everyday.The Dr wanted me to pull up the carpet because of my sons allergies, but I don't have the funds to put hardwood floors in the whole house. I use my Roomba downstairs and the vacuum upstairs. What I do before I vacuum is spray a wonderful product that kills dustmites and helps the vacuum to pick up hair and dirt better. My son's allergies are almost a thing of the past and I didn't have to replace my carpet. Please don't take it that I am trying to sell this product I am not, I don't sell anything I just wanted to pass on what has helped my family. If you want to know where you can get this product just e-mail me and I will show you their web-site.

I have a roomba and love it, but have hardwood and short carpet. I enjoy the irobot products so much that for this Christmas I am giving my husband the looj gutter cleaning robot and scooba as well.

I've never heard of the Roomba, but I am convinced that nothing works like a Rainbow. I know they are expensive but I got mine used online and am so thankful. As a mother of 6, I feel like my house is clean when I am done and that is important to me. You wouldn't want to drag that out more than once a day, but you won't need to. :)

I have the scooba and I LOVE it! I turn it on in my kitchen every night and I wake up to clean kitchen floors! I haven't tried the roomba but I know someone who has it and loves it.

I asked for a Roomba for Christmas one year and got it... what a waste of a Christmas present request! First, it went in these weird patterns and didn't get to the whole carpet. It doesn't pick up that great. It doesn't work very well on pet hair. It doesn't get edges or near furniture. And finally, the battery or recharger don't work. After a couple months it wouldn't hold it's charge for more than a minute and that was straight off the charger. I sold it at a garage sale for $5 and felt like I was ripping the people off.

I don't have the Roomba but I do have the Scooba and love that! I am sure the Roomba is just as great! I do own a Dyson(which I love!) but I can see where it would be nice to have the Roomba for daily cleaning. One thing that was mentioned was how loud it is. My Scooba is very loud! It is worth the noise though:)

Hi C. ~
One of the girls I work with has a roomba and loves it.
But, there are like 5 or 6 of us (just on nites) that have the Dyson and we all love it! I bought mine on ebay and found someone that had free shipping. A couple girls bought it at Bed Bath & Beyond, used the 20% off coupon you get in the mail/newspaper all the time and saved a bunch. I have 2 dogs & 3 cats so I bought the Dyson for pets (the purple one) and it gets hair off of everything! It switches to bare floor or carpet, the one attachment actually has a roller in it (most just suck), the attachments & wand are super easy to use - you don't have to do anything to switch over, just pull it out, and it reaches like 20 feet, the canister is the easiest to empty than I have ever seen - no touching anything, just push a button and the bottom opens up!
D.

I've been thinking about one myself. but I think it's made more for hardwood floors. to take the place of a broom or an electric broom. I don't think carpeting is going to work with a Roomba. Because the dirt etc gets embedded and Roomba is more just a surface device.

The Roomba takes FOREVER!!!! if you don't mind it running around all day. the other problem is after about 1 year the rechargable battery does not hold a charge very well and isn't able to do a whole lot of area without self docking to recharge.

I have a roomba and i love it! I have a shedding Akita, a pitt-mix, a minpin, and a cat along with having my own long hair thats all over alot as well. It picks everything up great. I just have to make sure to empty it every so often within its 1-1.5hr battery run. B/c of my large amount of pet hair I cannot let it go not home... not that anything would happen, just that it will stop when its full. Also to make sure to get my own hair off the special dirt detector b/c if it gets wound up too tightly it will stop running until you get it off. My only concern for you is that I have mostly non-carpeted floors. the only carpet it runs over is an area rug in the living room, which looks great all the time, but its not "thick", its pretty flat.

Yes, we had one. It only picks up visible things. We got rid of ours after we got a pet. It might be okay for everyday use, but I suggest using another vacuuming once every week or month.

It all depends on how much you want it to do. if you have a high traffic house, I would not recommend it.

They are not as good at remembering rooms as I thought either. there were usually a few areas of the room that it did not get.

Is that the robotic one? I was at a workshop Saturday, and one of the ladies was saying that the robotic vacuum has changed her life! She said you have to give your rugs a pretty good vacuuming before you start using it, then you let it clean every night after you go to bed. She said there are 2 new ones coming out, probably more expensive - one that is on a timer and one that is geared for pet hair. She is loving hers and her kids do too.

I too have a DYSOn & love it more than any vaccum i have ever owned. They have various models pets etc. I would invest in one it does hardwood floors & carpet. The suction on them is great.

Target runs them various times with a gift card on purchase.I have even seen them on clearance at Target.

Good Luck making your decision.

M.

I loved mine until it stopped working after only a year and a half. I expect much longer if I'm going to spend that type of money. They told me it is broken and the only way to fix it is buy a new one. Not a very good return on investment!

A friend of mine has it and she has good things to say about it.

My daughter has one and loves it, although she has mostly hardwood floors and just a bit of carpet. (She also has a Scooba that she uses on her kitchen floor and loves that even more!)
K

Good question...I've been playing with the idea, too. Problem is I have two dogs and hard floors. I'm anxious to here other's opinions of it...not sure it can handle my group! LOL

~L.

Hello - we actually sell the Roomba as one of our products here at my work. I would say it's good for light cleaning - it isn't made to handle deep down cleaning. The kids would love to watch it work and it does move itself around the room pretty well. BUT - it takes longer than manual vacuuming. If you're looking to just do one room it would be ok- set it to run when you're not home or something. But to do multiple rooms, you'd be done a lot faster with a traditional vacuum. It does clean up our messes here at work pretty well (we like to play with it - LOL!).

Hi C.,
I have a Romba and it works like a charm - I have all hard surfaces though. I did want to tell you that I bought mine from Woot.com. Each day they have a new deal on electronics so you have to watch for what you want, but I got my for a really great deal.

Good luck!