Our secondhand Dirt Devil, which I never really liked anyway, died recently (mother-in-law was helping my wife clean and she sucked up one of my neckties). Not having a spare $500 to throw around, I threw down about $170 for a Hoover Mach 5. I haven’t used it a ton, but so far I’m quite happy. The filters are all cleanable, which means no $20 replacement filters like that damn Dirt Devil. It sucks up dirt and pet hair like a champ, even off the furniture. And, coolest of all I think, it’s very quiet. You can actually hold a conversation while using it. I’ve vacuumed around our sleeping baby, and she didn’t even flinch.
The box had a sticker on it that said, “Cleans carpets better than Dyson!” Not having a Dyson to compare it with, I can’t say if that’s true, but I do know that the carpet actually feels better underfoot after you use it, which is something I’ve never experienced with a vacuum before.
Dyson Animal owner here. We have four indoor-only cats as well. I love that vacuum cleaner so much I may very well marry it and have its baby if Mr. Lisa doesn’t mind.
Funny - most of the Dyson owners I know are unhappy with them, I’ve only ever used a Dyson once myself and it completely sucked, but not in the sense that a vacuum cleaner ought to suck. It was an upright model and the exhaust vent was at the front, facing downwards - I tried to clean up a spillage from a hole punch, but the exhaust from the machine blew it all over the place as I approached.
Bloody useless. I’m sure this flaw has been corrected on more recent models, but I can’t forgive the stupidity now.
We bought a Dyson specifically because we have cats and one of them was a semi-longhair so there was a lot of fur to clean up. Aside from having to empty the cylinder after each room (and two or three times doing the stairs/landing), it wasn’t too bad but nowhere near as impressive as I’d thought it would be.
I also found that having sucked up a load of spilt cat biscuits, they got stuck in the pipe somewhere so I ended up having to take the whole thing apart until I found them, tip them out into a bag and chuck them in the bin.
Also, I find the Dyson quite heavy and awkward to move around the house so given the choice I don’t think I’d buy another one.
As I’ve said in the past, we’ve got a Dyson, and love it. It’s infinitely better than our old vacuum, works beautifully, is lightweight and surprisingly quiet (we can vacuum near the cats, and they don’t get upset). I don’t understand the negative responses on this or the other thread.
I also don’t understand the thread title – the Dyson isn’t a non-vacuum device – it’s a vacuum. My understanding is that it uses the “cyclone effect” inside in order to keep the airway clear without a filter, so the non-settling of the dust is a non-issue.
I have the purple Animal as well, and it works great! I have three dogs, so lots of pet hair. It’s the best vacuum I’ve ever had. No replaceable filters that you can’t find after two years, like my last one.
The only problem I have with it, is when you have the hose turned around for attachments, there’s no easy place to hang the hose. You have to lay it on the floor, or carefully lean/balance it against the machine.
I have a question about the Dyson and other bag-less vacuum cleaners. Presumably you empty them by upturning the container in the garbage, but doesn’t this kick up a lot of the dust back into the air? At least with a conventional Hoover, most of the dust stays in the bag.
The dust chamber detaches from the machine, and it has a trigger-release, hinged door on the bottom of the chamber. You hold it over the garbage bin, pull the trigger and the bottom door opens up, and the dirt falls out. As they say, no fuss, no muss.
I have a Miele White Star, and was pleasantly surprised to find that our dog who’d always been really afraid of our old vacuum wasn’t afraid of the Miele. It’s MUCH quieter than any vac I’ve ever had, and I really like that about it. It’s also light enough that when we need to clean the skylight in the living room, I can hold it up above my head while the DH goes up on the ladder to do the actual vacumming (we have a 20’ ceiling in the living room and the skylight is waaaay up there. I really should buy some extra hose extensions).
I looked briefly at Dysons when I was vacuum shopping, but at the time they only had uprights and there are too many reasons that wouldn’t work well at our house, and the price of the Miele was the same, so I got that instead. It’s got adjustable suction, too, which is great for different surfaces.
I also recently got a Roomba, and that thing is the shiznitt. Now I only need to vaccuum the places the Roomba can’t get. It picks up hair amazingly well.
The Dyson has a three step dust treatment process. The first is the cyclone effect. This removes almost all large particles and particles above a certain size with great efficiency. The second is a foam rubber filter which traps fine lint and dust near the talcom powder consistency. This filter is removable and washable and you can order replacements from the Dyson website. You’re supposed to wash it about every 3-6 months depending on how heavily you use your vacuum. In our household(with five pre-teen children) we wash it fairly frequently. The third stage is a HEPA filter which is built into the base of the vacuum just above the motor housing. This one is claimed to be a lifetime filter which needs no cleaning or replacement.
If you look at the product page on Dyson.com for the DC07 all floors model you’ll see a rundown of features on the left. If you click the “Hygienic and quick to empty” link you’ll get an option on the bottom right to “See a bin emptying animation” which makes this pretty clear. I’ve found emptying the Dyson doesn’t release much dust and dirt into the air, as previous bagless vacuums I had owned did. The best thing to do though is to empty it into a mostly empty trash can so you can make sure any dust which doesn’t settle immediately after being dumped hits the side of the trash can instead of going out over the edge and back onto the floor.
I’m not sure about older models, but the exhaust on the model I own is below the bin and when you recline the vacuum to activate the brush and lower suction the exhaust gets aimed up into the air at a corresponding angle to the angle of the handle. I think the only way this situation could repeat itself with this model would be if you parked the vacuum next to the spillage and turned it on upright intending to use the hose to clean up the spillage.
Our three big, furry dogs killed off 3 previous vacuums (admittedly cheap ones) within a matter of months. So we finally bit the bullet and bought the pretty purple Dyson. I love it! Adore it! Sleep with it at night (well not quite, but I am deeply enamoured)!
I’m very jealous. Not interested inthe Roomba, but I covet the Miele.
Can other people pick up popcorn leavings with their Dyson? - that’s what gets me is running over the same four seeds and six peices of popcorn nine times before it picks up. That and it doesn’t pick up grass at all. With a guinea pig in the house, we have a lot of grass.
Count me in as someone who is quite happy with my Dyson, and I had an Oreck before as well. I would add that, like almost everything, getting the cheapest available model will probably not give you the best experience.
Frankly, the problems Dangerosa mentions are what I have had with other models. The Dyson picks ups well, and certainly doesn’t requires multiple passes over something as large as a popcorn kernel.
I loved our Dyson…until we put it in storage for a year while constructing the new house. Ever since we pulled it out, it doesn’t seem to be working nearly as well as we remember. I need to sit down with the customer service stuff and try and find a local repair place. I suspect that something is gummed or blocked somewhere but damned if I can find it.
