Is this the Shark Pro Navigator Lift-Away you guys all like? I just returned a very heavy (20-lb) Dyson Ball Animal (purple) that sucked so much--literally--that I could not move it, either forward or back, on my polypropylene area rug. Could. Not. Move. It. I ordered it online from Macy's and just returned it to the store. The saleswoman said she's heard they destroy carpets. It was awful.

Your carpet looks great! I had Berber that lasted 20 years and actually still looked great except for stained areas. I didn’t install that carpet but I believe it also was a commercial carpet because that stuff endured everything. No snagging, even with multiple dogs, both large and small. It just wasn’t the most pleasant feel. I used a Riccar commercial model on it. It is an upright and is heavy as heck.

I used to sell vacums at Sears way back in the 90s. At that time the best vac on the market for most of America was the Kenmore canister with the powerhead. It was a really good machine. Then, Sears, tried to sell the Miele vac alongside the Kenmore. The comparison put the Miele at a disadvantage. It did not have a powerhead with a rotating brush for carpet. It seemed so lame alongside the powerful Kenmore canister. If I am remembering wrong and you know differently, please feel free to correct me. But, I do remember it being the Miele vac. It has been some time ago. I know it was a European vac. At that time it was still popular to have wall to wall installed carpet. This was. just before the trend went to eliminating carpet and going to hard floors. In my mind it is one of the best hygienic things that America has done. That carpet is just so very dirty and unsanitary. If you had the hardloors this Meile may have been a good choice. But, it you still had old fashioned carpet, it was not of much use at all. From what I am seeing it appears that Miele now has a powered cleaning head. Back at that time there was no way that it was going to clean up carpet. It is that rotating power brush that lifts debris off of the surface of the carpet, not the suction. People would come in all the time looking for something with a strong suction to clean pet fur from carpet. Suction was not going to do it. It needs to be mechanically lifted from the surface before it can be sucked up into the bag. That is why you have to clean the rotating brush so often, because fibers get wrapped around it. I just use an inexpensive and multipurpose shop vac now for any cleaning need. I only wish that it had a more secure attachment to hold the hose and wands together. I have found that the blower end of the shop vac is immensely helpful when cleaning out the car and garage. You can blow debris from places more easily that you can suck it up and it gets into every small crevice. I will open the door and use it much like one would use a leaf blower to blow the dirt right out the door. I do this in the house, the porch, the car, anywhere where I can get a good aim to direct the debris in one direction. It is, by far, the best way to clean the interior of the car. I don't have any carpet and that makes it so easy to clean. Getting rid of the carpets is the best thing I have done in my house. I don't know anything about Kenmore vacs now. That was some time ago, but I do know that they were pretty darned good machines. I always had one and my daughter has one that is probably about 12 years old and doing just fine. They were/are very versitile

We have more vacuums than is necessary but I guess we like options. We have a similar set up with mainly hardwood floors and wool area rugs. Here are my thoughts given the vacuums we own - *Central vacuum - works beautifully on the hardwood floors and area rugs. I realize not everyone has one installed or wants to spend the money to do so. *Dyson V11 Torque Drive cordless - works great on hardwood floors and will certainly clean the area rugs. However, the brush roll is VERY aggressive and I can tell it pulls out fibers on my area rugs so I typically just use it on wood floors and just for quick clean ups on the wool area rugs. *Miele Marin C3 canister - just like the central vacuum, it does a fantastic job on the hardwood floors and area rugs. Easily the best portable vacuum cleaner I've ever owned but so $$$$. I saved 30% on mine by purchasing an "open box" item from a local vac shop. *Oreck Magnesium RS - works better on rugs and carpeting than the hardwood floors. It's very lightweight but doesn't have tools on board. Our cleaning lady is the only person who uses it.