Tell me about your favorite good (cheap!) vacuum?

In My Humble Opinion
1

In about a month, I’ll be moving out into my very own apartment. Yay! Woo! Snoopy Dance! Etc.

Well, except: I’m begining to realize just how much stuff I need and just how much everything is going to cost me. Needless to say, I’m trying to get the biggest bang for my buck.

I’m going to need a vacuum and, looking around, there are a ton of vacuums at a ton of price points. I have no idea what’s good, what’s bad, and what will blow my apartment up.

If it makes any difference: the apartment is 1019 sq ft, the only non-carpeted places are the kitchen and the two bathrooms. So, we’re not talking about a huge carpeted space, but I’m definitely going to need a vacuum that wont break down on me.

Feel free to discuss your fancy schmancy vacuums, too. Not that I can afford such an investment, but a college girl has to have somethin to dream about (oh yes, I’m wild ).

2

There a girl down the street. She’s a cheap suck.

What?

3

Why thank you for spreading the word! Remember: for every referral you send me, you get 10 extra minutes, free of charge!

For every 5 you send my way, you get 5 minutes of Poodle-ballin!

4

Aw score!

You’re SO talking yourself into an omlette and a few dozen skunkings.

5

I had a Dirt Devil upright until recently. I hated it, but it worked ok (I have 4 cats) and it never broke down on me.

I now have an Electralux and it is very nice, but I have no idea how much it cost because my husband got it as a points gift through work.

6

I also have an Electralux. I bought it for $40 at a yard sale and it was one of the best $40 I’ve ever spent. Up until that time, I’d bought a series of cheap assed, worthless POS that would break down and loose suction six months into ownership. The one I had prior to the Electralux was a Hoover I bought brand new, and purchased an extra year’s warrantee with it. It was in the shop more than it was at home being used.

7

We had a hoover that cost about 70$ a few years ago. It did fine, frankly a great vaccum is not something I would go crazy on if money were tight. Good pots and pans (and knives!), however…

If I were going to spend around $200, I would go for a roomba.

8

We bought a Bissell Cleanview PowerTrack Bagless Upright about a year ago, and it works great. 12 amp motor has plenty of power, bagless design for easy emptying, detachable hose for corners and cracks. Great vacuum for $90.

9

I second the Bissell. I got one for Christmas last year, and it really sucks, in a good way. My husband is a very hairy man and every time I vacuum I get enough fuzz to build another Him. And it comes apart easily so you can dump the bin and clean the filters and everything.

10

Shop-Vac with a carpet attachment. Seriously. Very cheap, never breaks down, gets rugs about as clean as anything else.

11

I have an older Bissell (upright, HEPA-quality with bags) that I really like. It’s got the “lift-off” feature where you can remove the motor housing and carry it around for stairs, your car interior, etc. It’s also relatively quiet, and that was one criterion I weighed heavily when I bought it. (I actually listened to the other vacuums to narrow it down to the quieter ones.)

The problem now is finding replacement bags – it seems like the number of retailers carrying them keeps shrinking. If you do get a model requiring bags, you might want to consider buying a few extra early on while they’re still carried in area stores.

12

The only drawback is storage. They are the size of R2D2. Other than that, I havta agree.

13

I have a Eureka Optima. It’s a very powerful vacuum, it’ll suck dust bunnies from a foot or more away. Sounds like a jet engine, but gives you serious bang for your buck. The only drawback is the dust collection. It’s a bagless with a filter, but the high power fan gets the filter jammed up pretty good after a while, and you have to empty it constantly.

I guess I shouldn’t complain about emptying it so much, that stuff could all still be in my rugs.