K&Rs Mom Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 DH is interested but I seem to be stuck with the research. Most of the reviews online rave about their being very effective on pet hair & dust, which doesn't help me much. Our vacuum problem is that we have 3 longhaired girls in this house, so hair gets tangled around the spinny part at the bottom of the vacuum and burns out the motor (even though we cut it off there regularly). I don't think the thing that makes Dysons different is going to solve this, but would love to hear otherwise. I also can't see too much difference between the different levels (looking at uprights only). How do I know which one to get? If we spend this much, I want it to be our last vacuum purchase ever - I don't remember my parents having to get a new vacuum the entire time I lived at home. I almost never use the clip-on tools included with my current vacuum, so probably can get one without those, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 I have never burned out the motor, but I do have issues with my long hair wrapping around the roller. I have to clean it out regularly. The vacuum makes this awful weird noise when too much hair gets tangled in it (and it's set to carpet). So I know when it needs to be cleaned. So, no they have not found a magical cure for that problem. But amazingly the motor never burned out and the rubber band thing never broke in the 7 years I've had the vacuum. I'm very pleased with it. We also have the purple animal version. We have had it at least five years and have never burned out the motor or the rubber band thingy either. I have had five girls, six cats (half long hair) and two dogs (one a Golden). We are talking a whole lot of hair here. I clean the beater bar before I use it everytime and I have never had any problems with it. I have had to do that with everry vacuum I have ever owned though. I really don't see any way around this problem with an upright vacuum. I have had to replace the hose because we stretch it all the way up and down the stairs a lot. I am absolutely amazed at some of the things that this vacuum has picked up. It sucked up one of those metal balls from the Magnetix sets before. Also a small ball from the table top pool set. It is kind of heavy and a pain to lug up and down the stairs so I am looking for a canister to use downstairs on the hardwoods and on the stairs but I would have to be really impressed with another vacuum to get something different when it comes time to replace it. My previous vacuum was an Oreck and I was pretty happy with it until it died. We had it a long time though and I think the motor just finally bit the dust (ha - no pun intended). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Peregrine Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 We were replacing our non-Dyson vacuums about every year. This one is over 6 years old. I have had to replace the hose twice because I also use it like a shop-vac, lol, but I am very happy with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K&Rs Mom Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 I would love for them to come up with a cure for the long hair thing, but it is what it is. I think a retractable brush would be nice (for when you go to clean it). Maybe I should suggest it to them. ;) Or a brush that pops out like a TP roll holder. How hard would that be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Yay! We just bought one and I'm glad to hear all the positive reviews. We bought one of the lower end models, the DC33. We don't have animals and we don't have a large house, and we didn't have a lot of money to spend, either. I hope to have it for many years! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Yeah I have found some crazy things in the vacuum (pencils, metal balls, socks...LOL). I had about 4 cheap vacuums prior and they all broke after a year. So far this one is going strong. I would love for them to come up with a cure for the long hair thing, but it is what it is. I think a retractable brush would be nice (for when you go to clean it). Maybe I should suggest it to them. ;) They have one! It's called a haircut! ;) jk I know the hair thing is annoying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 While I think they are great vacuums, they are heavy. I have no idea what I was thinking when I bought ours. We have only one carpeted room in the house and two small area rugs. :001_huh: I thought I'd be using the attachments on all sorts of things, but not when it weighs that much to cart around. If I had more carpeted rooms, I would absolutely love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K&Rs Mom Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 We bought one of the lower end models, the DC33. Is the canister big enough that you're not emptying it after every room? That's the only bad thing I read about one of the twentysomething models (24 maybe?). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2samlibby Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 While I think they are great vacuums, they are heavy. I have no idea what I was thinking when I bought ours. We have only one carpeted room in the house and two small area rugs. :001_huh: I thought I'd be using the attachments on all sorts of things, but not when it weighs that much to cart around. If I had more carpeted rooms, I would absolutely love it. Heavy??? My dyson is one of the lightest vacuums I've ever owned. I love my Dyson. I have the purple pet one. It works very well. I use it as my primary vacuum. My husband uses our Kirby when he vacuums. Now, that sucker is heavy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Yeah I have found some crazy things in the vacuum (pencils, metal balls, socks...LOL). I had about 4 cheap vacuums prior and they all broke after a year. So far this one is going strong. I would love for them to come up with a cure for the long hair thing, but it is what it is. I think a retractable brush would be nice (for when you go to clean it). Maybe I should suggest it to them. ;) Yeah, the Oreck had a removeable brush but it was a pain to get it aligned with the rubber band thingy when you put it back on so this is actually easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty in Pink Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 We have the DC33 Multifloor. When we had wall to wall I emptied the canister maybe once per week (I vacuum daily). This vacuum has amazing suction. My only complaint is that inside the canister there is the part with all of the little holes all over it (I don't know what it's called) -- the holes clog up with dust causing the vacuum to lose suction power. I really like the telescoping handle. I use it to clean ceiling fans and light fixtures all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Much heavier than any of the canister vacs we have owned. Plus, instead of being able to carry it like a suitcase, I have to lift it from upper abdomen height - which is all upper body/muscle strength, not skeletal like my canister vacs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bambam Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 We bought the ball Dyson. We have a lot of hair from girls in our house. Seriously I wonder why they aren't bald since they shed so much hair. With our former vacuum, I had to cut the hair off the beater brush once a month. Awful job. Our new Dyson, the ball, is set up so you can remove the beater brush and slice all that hair off easily. It still isn't a pleasant job, but it is a lot easier now. Sometimes I think shaving their heads is the real answer to making my life easier. Just think - no more moaning and groaning over their hair not looking good today! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudyionk Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 we have had our purple, ball dyson for about a year now. I am really impressed with it on carpet. but, on my tile and hardwoods, I think it doesn't pick up very well. my last vacuum, I used the "wand" to vacuum the hard flooring. with the dyson, I can't do that, the hose is too short. so I have to stop the brush and just push it like normal over the hard flooring. we live on a ranch, so we have bits of dried manure around. these pieces are very lightweight and the dyson won't pick them up! don't ask me why, I don't know, but it seems to blow things around on the hard floor instead of picking them up. just my two cents Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinkInTheBlue Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 My only complaint is that inside the canister there is the part with all of the little holes all over it (I don't know what it's called) -- the holes clog up with dust causing the vacuum to lose suction power. :iagree: with this. Why doesn't anyone else ever mention this? I have to jam my hand up the canister (upright) every, or every other, vacuum to rub those little holes to get the gunked up dust and such off or the suction plummets immediately. It's awful. The suction power of the vacuum is great except the need to do this just about every time to maintain that power. If my hand weren't really small I don't know how I would clean this out. we have had our purple, ball dyson for about a year now. I am really impressed with it on carpet. but, on my tile and hardwoods, I think it doesn't pick up very well. my last vacuum, I used the "wand" to vacuum the hard flooring. with the dyson, I can't do that, the hose is too short. so I have to stop the brush and just push it like normal over the hard flooring. Yes, I'm extremely unimpressed with its hard floor abilities. Maybe I just own the wrong one. I have the non-ball, non-animal purple upright. I spent A LOT on it and although it's good, it's not worth all that. I wish I had spent that much on some other machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KS_ Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 :iagree: with this. Why doesn't anyone else ever mention this? I have to jam my hand up the canister (upright) every, or every other, vacuum to rub those little holes to get the gunked up dust and such off or the suction plummets immediately. It's awful. The suction power of the vacuum is great except the need to do this just about every time to maintain that power. If my hand weren't really small I don't know how I would clean this out. Doesn't your clear canister come off of the part with all the holes? Mine does and so you can easily clean it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleIzumi Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Yay! We just bought one and I'm glad to hear all the positive reviews. We bought one of the lower end models, the DC33. We don't have animals and we don't have a large house, and we didn't have a lot of money to spend, either. I hope to have it for many years! We had that one and honestly, our cheap little $80 vacuum we got when we were married performed better. I was sad. We ended up returning it and getting the Eureka that's essentially a Dyson clone :lol: and it's much lighter and working fabulously so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinkInTheBlue Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Doesn't your clear canister come off of the part with all the holes? Mine does and so you can easily clean it out. I don't think so but you can bet tonight I'm going to be double certain. That would make a big difference. When I removed the canister from the actual vacuum, the canister and purple top are all connected with access only available from the bottom where it dumps the dirt out. I'm going to check later to see if the outer plastic canister removes from the little holes part. This is one time I sure hope I can say "Duh!" about something I've missed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluegoat Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 My vacuum service guy thinks they are not worth the money, and I would take his advice on anything to do with vacuums - he's very passionate about them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butterflymommy Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Our dyson brush gets hopelessly tangled with hair (we also have long haired girls) and we can only use the hose-- or turn off the brush-- at this point. Even when we try to cut all the hair off the brush, it is so tangled that it's impossible, the whole brush would have to be replaced but it would only get tangled up again. The suction is still good after 3 years though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butterflymommy Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 we have had our purple, ball dyson for about a year now. I am really impressed with it on carpet. but, on my tile and hardwoods, I think it doesn't pick up very well. my last vacuum, I used the "wand" to vacuum the hard flooring. with the dyson, I can't do that, the hose is too short. so I have to stop the brush and just push it like normal over the hard flooring. we live on a ranch, so we have bits of dried manure around. these pieces are very lightweight and the dyson won't pick them up! don't ask me why, I don't know, but it seems to blow things around on the hard floor instead of picking them up. just my two cents I agree, the dyson is not that great on wood/ ceramic floors-- and it scratched our wood floors that we paid a fortune to refinish! We have to use the wand/ brush on the wood floors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KS_ Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 I don't think so but you can bet tonight I'm going to be double certain. That would make a big difference. When I removed the canister from the actual vacuum, the canister and purple top are all connected with access only available from the bottom where it dumps the dirt out. I'm going to check later to see if the outer plastic canister removes from the little holes part. This is one time I sure hope I can say "Duh!" about something I've missed. I don't know if the design has changed - mine is probably 8 years old now - but there's a little tab in front that releases the clear part from the colored part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon H in IL Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Cutting hair off the vacuum's beater bar is what I use my embroidery scissors for. Not much embroidery going on here, so it's really for vacuum maintenance. :D I still keep it with the sewing kit so I know where to find it. Maybe your best bet would be to use your embroidery scissors before every vacuum session? It would be a pain, but once you got into the habit maybe not so bad. It certainly would be cheaper than vacuum repair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Is the canister big enough that you're not emptying it after every room? That's the only bad thing I read about one of the twentysomething models (24 maybe?). Um, yes. I could probably go a couple weeks without emptying it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5kidsforME Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 We were replacing our non-Dyson vacuums about every year. This one is over 6 years old. I have had to replace the hose twice because I also use it like a shop-vac, lol, but I am very happy with it. Like everyone else I have NEVER had a vacuum last this long and work this good. I have had mine for over 8 years and it is still going strong. I will never buy anything other than a dyson again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5kidsforME Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Um, yes. I could probably go a couple weeks without emptying it. I empty mine everytime I vacuum. probably because we have 2 big dogs. It is not a big deal at all though. Better than changing (and buying!) bags for it. {shudder} Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5kidsforME Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 My vacuum service guy thinks they are not worth the money, and I would take his advice on anything to do with vacuums - he's very passionate about them. Maybe because the other brands keep him in business. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5kidsforME Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 We have the DC33 Multifloor. When we had wall to wall I emptied the canister maybe once per week (I vacuum daily). This vacuum has amazing suction. My only complaint is that inside the canister there is the part with all of the little holes all over it (I don't know what it's called) -- the holes clog up with dust causing the vacuum to lose suction power. I really like the telescoping handle. I use it to clean ceiling fans and light fixtures all the time. Yes that inside part is a pain when you have to open it up and to clean it. I always have a heck of a time getting the thing shut. As far as it being heavy, I don't carry it, I push it. The reason I probably would not think it is heavy though is because we live in a ranch house. No up and down stairs with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty in Pink Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Doesn't your clear canister come off of the part with all the holes? Mine does and so you can easily clean it out. Huh. I don't know if I ever seperated the clear canister from the colored part inside of it. I always wondered if there wasn't some part inside of it that I was forgetting to change out or maintain or something. I really hate cleaning out those little holes. Sigh. On the plus side, just emptying the canister itself takes all of two seconds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Element Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 On the DC25 Animal the main spinning brush comes off very easily- you just use a coin to open one screw on the side and the brush slides out of the case. You still have to cut long hair off the brush but at least it's easier than cutting it while it's still in the vacuum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K&Rs Mom Posted February 7, 2012 Author Share Posted February 7, 2012 On the DC25 Animal the main spinning brush comes off very easily- you just use a coin to open one screw on the side and the brush slides out of the case. You still have to cut long hair off the brush but at least it's easier than cutting it while it's still in the vacuum. That's good to know! My current vacuum has the brush behind bars - I started to clean it tonight, and could hardly get to it at all (in the past, dh's done it & I didn't realize how hard it was). I decided to see what's available when we're in town tomorrow, because Target is having a gift card "rebate" with several models, and Costco has a discount online so might in the store too. Thanks, everyone, for your opinions. I guess I just need to make cleaning the brush part of every vacuuming, no matter what kind of machine we have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I don't know if the design has changed - mine is probably 8 years old now - but there's a little tab in front that releases the clear part from the colored part. Yeah, mine is the same although it was not abvious until I really wanted to clean the inside. If only my carpet cleaner were so well designed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I have an upright, non-ball one. I have had it for 4 years now. It is good but not better than my commercial grade Eureka (Sanitaire) line was for 1/2 the price. We got it because the Eureka had no attachments for stairs or adjustments for hardwoods and our then new house had stairs, carpet, wood and tile. If I had it to do over, I would have bought a Miele canister. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*lifeoftheparty* Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I have the DC25 Animal. LOVE it. Best vacuum I have ever owned. I bought it off of Amazon, but it was less than $400, I wanna say $378 (?), brand new... the price on Amazon has definitely gone up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leola Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I have never burned out the motor, but I do have issues with my long hair wrapping around the roller. I have to clean it out regularly. The vacuum makes this awful weird noise when too much hair gets tangled in it (and it's set to carpet). So I know when it needs to be cleaned. So, no they have not found a magical cure for that problem. But amazingly the motor never burned out and the rubber band thing never broke in the 7 years I've had the vacuum. I'm very pleased with it. Same here. Mine is almost 7 years old. And I clean it all the time between hair for me and my girls and threads from sewing. I can tell when vacuuming it's time to clean it. I have burned up other vacuums. I love Dyson! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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