ilene, I read somewhere before you vacuum furniture beat it a bit to loosen the dust. I like to keep my life simple and I don't fill it up with a lot of specialty items. I use soap and water to clean. Sparkle for my glass things and plain old dust rags and Endust for dusting. No more chemicals than I have to use.

LOL toni_ne... I had the same reaction when we brought home the Animal Dyson. We live in the sticks, with sandy/gravel roads, near a sandy beach, with firewood being brought in all winter, snow, and all the hair a dog, two cats, and long haired me. The dyson gets it all! In fact,it gets more! It sucked the broken edge of a linoleum tile right off the floor (still have to replace the 1940's flooring, but at least I know that I don't have a beach on my floor every day with the new vacuum). I do find though, that with the Dyson, it takes a while for the cord, and the vacuum hose to stretch out a bit, so they aren't so stiff to use. I felt like I'd made a mistake at first with getting the Dyson, because the hose wouldn't stretch as far as I needed it to. A few weeks later, it started to relax, and now it's wonderful. The attachments are nice to have (especially the one for the floors that you can use under tables, couches, and the smaller areas that the "big" part of the main vac can't reach. We also got the box of cleaning products that are included here, and find the products to be AMAZING. The spray on spot remover has removed several set in stains on a couch arm, and the granular carpet product worked like a charm on a carpet that had gotten musty smelling from a leaky roof. All in all, I would highly recommend the Dysons, even though they are VERY pricey. At Sears, we tried all of the Dysons, and found the purplepeopleeater to be the best for us. Kym.. who now has go vacuum Lake Simcoe off her floors! Yayy!

I have the Dyson V6 Motorhead and love it! The 5-7 minutes is only when you set the power on high. Otherwise, it's 20-22 minutes of power between full charges. 2/3 of my house is Saltillo floors. The rest is medium high carpet. I never had to use the high setting even on carpet. It cleans very well and recharges quite quickly. I like the fact that it's a stick which makes it easy to vacuum under low clearance areas. In other words, the dirt/dust bin is not a lower end as with the other brand models. I also have a Dyson upright but haven't had the need to use it since I got the V6. I did a lot of online research and read many reviews before settled for the V6. For someone in a wheelchair like me, the Dyson V6 is most convenient. No cord or vacuum hose to run over or wrap around the wheels. I can move in my wheelchair easily during vacuuming with the V6. I accidentally found out about this model while watching a Korean show. I didn't know that Dyson came out with this cordless model for a few years now. Wish I knew it sooner.

I bought the Dyson 11 in December. There are pros and cons. The pros are that it is amazing on dog fur. It fills up even when you think your rugs are generally clean. It is also great on small grit and things of that nature. I can see it being perfect for my beach cottage. Now the cons: If you formerly had a bag vacuum, than you may be bugged by how often you have to stop and empty the collection chamber. I have three dogs, so it is usually after a couple of rooms. Sometimes less, but more often than I would like. Second con: It really isn't very good about picking up more substantial items, like, a piece of dry dog food, or a small twig, or a whole leaf. My old vacuum was an Electrolux and it picked up everything without pause. The Dyson 11 is far less effective with that. Third con: Occasionally the filter will clog (the sensor display will tell you.) You have to remove it and wash it under the faucet and let it dry 24 hours. Of course this happens when you are only halfway through your cleaning. You can buy a spare, but they aren't cheap. All in all, the Dyson 11 is a great vacuum, but in my opinion, it has annoying limitations.