Intheville mentioned SEBO as being a good brand. When I bought the components for our central vac, the owner of the vacuum store steered me towards the SEBO power head. He did show me several options, but pretty much told me that the SEBO was the one I was going to buy, LOL! One of the other choices had an adjustable handle, so I was leaning towards choosing that instead. Rather than sell me the other brand (no idea what it was), he switched handles so that I had the SEBO power head and an adjustable handle.
I am SO glad he insisted, as it works amazingly well on carpet! It really gets right to the edges! You can turn the beater bar off for hard floors, but I usually switch to the floor brush for those-or assign hard floors to one kid, and carpet to another ;-).
Our previous vacuum was a rainbow, which we used for 18 years-very effective and long lasting, but a nuisance to use. It is still going strong, with the help of some duct tape, etc.-my BIL (the current owner) hauled it along when he sanded and finished our cupboard doors. Paying more for a quality vacuum paid off over the long term for us.

My floor guy recomended a canister with brush attatchments. He said to make sure it had rubber wheels.(plastic will scratch floors) Consumer reports rated Miele the best.(they all have rubber wheels) I tried my girlfriends, great vacum but too heavy for me to carry. I bought a Royal canister at a local vacum dealer. It was priced right, has good suction and is easy for me to lift if need be. I bought the middle one the highest price one had more features and I would have gladly paid for it but it had plastic wheels. I still have to drag out my Kirby upright for my carpets though so it's kind of a pain. I probably should have bought the Miele canister.

i have a siberian husky-need i say more about shedding?

I have my kirby G2 that i use to really clean when i do my area rugs and the carpet in my bedrooms. For everyday, i could not live without my swiffer vacuume. it stays in my laundry room charging. when i use it, i put on a swiffer cloth on the bottom and i get enough run time on one battery charge to do my living room which is 22x20, my kitchen which is 20x12, my foyer that measures about 12x15, and my dining of about 19x15. all of these rooms are hardwood with large area rugs, so i only get the outer wood areas daily with the swiffer. i pull out the kirby about every other day or so.

erikanh: I really really love my Roomba. Chair legs are fine, it just scoots around them. I have one particular chair that has legs that are too close together for the Roomba to get completely underneath, so it will clean outside and around the chair but not underneath it. I usually just flip this one upside down and put it up on the table before I start vacuuming.

Heavy area rugs (carpet etc.) it works fine with, just pops up on them and cleans those too. Small mats that are lightweight it can sometimes bunch up the mat and not be able to get on it to clean. I just pick up the door mats it can't handle before I let it loose. It does have those limitations, so it's not a perfect solution, but the amount of time I spend picking up a couple mats and flipping a chair up onto the table are far less than the amount of time I'd spend vacuuming, so to me it's not a big deal.

We had a Miele canister for many, many years (20-ish). I decided I was tired of lugging the canister around and went vacuum shopping. The Miele was the best vacuum I'd ever had, so I knew I wanted a quality vac. I tested a friend's Dyson. It seemed okay, but would not fit under the edge of my cabs so it was out. The salesguy insisted that the SEBO upright would be an outstanding vacuum. The online research I did supported that. So we got a SEBO X4. It's okay, but it is not a Miele. It just isn't. We've had it 5 years or more now. Even my husband, who is not known for his housekeeping, noticed it. Also, when it exhausts, it carries that typical vacuum smell. The Miele never did. I sometimes have to go over something twice or more. As I learned in my research, being able to suck up a bowling ball isn't the hard thing for a vacuum, it's being able to suck up a piece of thread. The thing I do like about the SEBO is that it self-adjusts from floors to carpet, so I can go through my downstairs and do floors and area rugs and carpet without an issue. But it just doesn't get 'down to it' the way my canister attachment did.

One thing I wonder is if a good cordless vac. just for the kitchen would be a good option. I've forgotten the name of it but there is one a lot of people like with a small head on it that rotates really well and gets in and around table legs, etc. like a breeze.

My entire house has wooden floors, and I have 3 Miele canister vacuums, one for each floor. Heh. I'd be interested in trying out their stick version at some point, but so far the canisters and the many available attachments have been more than sufficient (they have an attachment that cleans the grill of heat registers - priceless!). They do have rubber wheels and rubber bumpers for floor/trim.

I've tried a lot of other brands, including Dyson, but the only machine that's ever come close to the power of my modern Mieles was a 30-year-old steel Electrolux canister, and it was not nearly as clean in terms of exhaust/smell. A Miele with the HEPA filter is really unbeatable. :-)

erikanh,

Have to say I love my central vac (and we just had to replace the old Beam - $$$ - sigh ). We have literally replaced every single piece of it over the past two years, including all the tubing- so it can be done once your house is built... though we did rip down our basement ceilings and I'm getting pretty good at drywall repair...

Having a toekick pan in the kitchen is one of my top favorite things about the reno. I primarily micro-mop the upstairs hardwood, and vacuum maybe once or twice a week. But, I am saving up points (my grocery store has a rewards program) for a Roomba- good to hear that people are happy with it.

Aren't vintage vacs the best? I was finally able to give mine up when I got my Simplicity vac. It's the first one to clean as well as the vintage and is so cute. AND made in the heartland of the USA. It's a canister though, so you might not be interested in that. Can't speak to the uprights. I am very tempted by the Roomba for in-between cleanings.

Also - if you don't have one already, get a Furminator. They're ridiculously overpriced, but woooooah! My b/f just loaned his to me and I can't believe how many fewer kitty tumbleweeds have been spotted around the house.

Erikanh- Thanks for asking this. I've been wondering the same things, as we had our floors refinished and suddenly I'm paranoid about ruining them!

Miele owners - which model do you recommend?

Dyson owners - which model do you recommend?

Rhome: The $100 difference comes from being able to use attachments that need power - like a revolving wand or upholstery brush. The cheaper model doesn't have a "plug" at the end. I think I paid around $300 for the S168, an added plus was that I could buy it at a local store and it's not a "throwaway" - they service what they sell.
I've heard great things about Dyson but can't get over the weight and bulk. My little Miele hangs on a hook in a closet or by the fridge next to the broom. It works best on tile and wood, I think the rotating brush attachment is needed for good carpet cleaning. It's versatile in that you can use it as an upright, the handle can attach to the front to be used as an extension and you can buy loads of attachments for cleaning drapes, moldings, cars, etc. I think all the Miele products work together, so when I move I plan to buy a canister.
FOR THE SMELLY VACS - I have always used this trick: I put one drop of essential oil on a cotton ball and put it in the new bag when I change it. DON"T use too much or you will be sorry! - my DH learned that the hard way when we were over run with lavender!

Sorry to be dumb...Are a 'revolving wand' and 'rotating brush' the same? I only need a vacuum for wood floors, so it sounds like I might not need the power attachments?

We've had the regular Dyson for years and while it does work well, the weight is also the main drawback for me. I want something that is very lightweight and portable, preferably cordless, but works really well - not sure that exists!! I'd use that for the daily or weekly vacuuming and the Dyson for deeper cleaning.

Does anyone else have a problem with a dusty smell with the Dyson? I wanted a bagless vacuum due to the fact that the ones with bags always began to smell fairly quickly, but have found that unless we completely take the Dyson apart and wash every piece, it begins to smell also - probably due to all the pet hair!

As for the Roomba, how loud is it? Our dog hates the vacuum and will run and hide somewhere, usuaully on another level of the house, as far away as possible, so I'd like a vacuum that's not too loud also. She'd totally freak out with the Roomba I'm sure!

I am probably in the minority here, but I have wood in LR, DR and hall, ceramic in kitchen and baths, and carpet in the BRs. I LOVE my Rainbow, especially for the hard floors. It has a wide brush attachment for those floors that has a cut out in the middle so you can catch larger items. What I like most is the suction power, and the fact that it does not scratch my very very sensitive engineered wood floors. I also like the water basin as I can put in some essential oil and have the whole house smelling good. No dust in the exhaust.
Yes it does suction too hard on the very light bath rugs, but I usually shake those out and pop them in the wash before vacuming anyway.

Love my Oreck. It's an upright, has a beater brush, and goes from carpet to HW no problem.

traci29, it's hard to say. It's quieter than my canister vacuum, but I wouldn't call it quiet. My dog, who is also scared of vacuums (not as scared as yours though...she just runs out of the way and onto the couch) is really weird with the Roomba. She doesn't react the same way as with a regular vac. If she's sitting on the floor, she'll let the Roomba get really close to her, sometimes bump into her and then she jumps up and runs away from it. My cats are freaked out by it and generally disappear when it's running.

I use my Floormate about once a week and our Eureka cordless stick broom for daily spot cleaning.

If you really wanted the toe kick vacuum you can do what we did. We bought a RV central vacuum (this on https://www.centralvacuumstores.com/cvs/eureka_cv140.php ) and installed it under the sink and ran it through the floor of the cabinet and out the toe kick. I have to say that it is awesome but it is loud but I think it would suck up my kids if they got too close!

Here is a link that might be useful: rv central vac

I have the Dyson Animal, and yes, I'm amazed by the pet hair and dust it picks up. It doesn't have a "smell" to it, but often the beater bar gets stuck or something if a piece of string, etc, gets caught on it, causing it to make this incredibly loud noise. What I don't like about it: the suction on the rugs (and I only have area rugs, no deep pile carpet)is so strong, that it's a bear to move around. My kids are now of the age where they should be able to do vacuuming as a chore, yet they can't budge this Dyson. It's also very heavy to carry up the stairs, and my expandable wand/nozzle doesn't reach the whole flight of stairs. I wish I didn't spend the $400-$500 I did on it, 'cause now I feel wasteful wanting to buy another vacuum.

I have the Dyson DC25 ball vacuum. It gets under my toe kicks just fine and if there are corners that are hard to get to I just pull the wand out and get the dirt with that. What I especially like about the DC25 is how light it is compared to a regular Dyson. Stairs are no problem.

I'd love to get one of those Roomba scooba's to wash my hardwood floors, but I have so many toe kicks that I need a vacuum that can get the dirt out of them first!

I see donka has already mentioned her Roomba, but I will second it. DH got it for me for Mother's Day and at first I was a little ticked. But after using it a few times, I fell in love :) The best part is DH thinks it's cool and fun so he helps a lot more than he used to.

One negative about my Roomba, it gently bumps into things to change direction and now that my cabinets are painted, I think I will section it off from that area. It comes with these lighthouse beam things that creates an infrared light that Roomba will not cross, so it's very easy to keep it contained just where I want it. For near my cabinets, I'll just keep my Dirt Devil stick charged.

traci29 - my two cats completely freak when I vacuum. For some reason, they could care less when I use Roomba and don't even leave the room if they are sleeping on the furniture. The dog usually leaves the room but doesn't crouch and run away like with my Eureka.

My experience with Roomba after almost 2 years. Love that "it" vacuums while I do laundry or watch soap operas :) However, while I love it on my laminate floors, I don't think it deep cleans my area rugs too well, so I go over those with my regular upright. But, if I am feeling lazy, I will confine Roomba with it's beams and let it do the rug over and over again until it looks clean :)

While we're at it, I also have the Scooba (Roomba's floor washing cousin) and it also rocks. I use it on my hardwood and LOVE it. I think it gets the floor cleaner than I could, since it's always spraying down clean water and immediately sucking up the dirty water; in comparison to usual mopping where you're using semi-dirty water from the bucket. One day, I hope they invent the robot that can do stairs, and wash toilets, and do laundry, and... ;)

They're getting there-now have iRobot Loog gutter cleaner. Love my Roomba too and considering the remote gutter cleaner. Is Scooba ok for hardwood/bamboo-I'd be concerned about the amount of water laid down??

biner, I use it on my wood floors, they're not actually hardwood, they're douglas fir...don't know if that makes a difference really as far as the Scooba is concerned, but the wood is pretty soft. It sucks up the water as it goes, so I don't find it leaves much more water on the floor than if I was mopping them manually. Hasn't hurt my floors yet anyways. The manual says that using it on sealed hardwood is fine. No idea about bamboo though. I imagine if it's sealed it would also be fine, but YMMV.

thx donka,
we have sealed vertical stranded bamboo and although the microfibre mops work great, i'd love to be able to have fleet of irobots. i'll check with the manufacturer.

When I first had my dark wooden floor done a year ago, I jumped at the sale for Romba. After I had turned it on, I watched it clean my floor. It kept going over the same area over & over again-but missed other areas. After trying 2 more times, I returned it.

I also have a cordless electrolux which I have been using for less than a year. I wouldn't recommend it either because it has very poor suction power & it does lose its power very quickly.

I guess miele s168 sounds like a good one to try.

I love my Hoover Flair Stick Vac. The nozzle pivots on the front so it is very maneuverable. I can get under the cabinets in the kitchen without an attachment. It is corded and not extremely noisy. It has one setting for hard surfaces and one for carpet. I use the carpet setting on the area rugs and it does fine. It know it really picks up the little stuff because when I run the Swifter on the hardwood after vacuuming there isn't much there. My full size Eureka is great but it is hard to turn and I always feel like I am bumping into everything. I bought one for my mom and MIL. My 8 year old told me, after using it last night, that she wants to start helping me vacuum (of course for a small fee).

Here is a link that might be useful: Hoover Flair

I wouldn't trade my Miele Aquarius for any other vac! A couple yrs ago, I was in the market for a new vac, and after hours of online research, decided the only one to have was Miele. I went with the Aquarius because it has the better powerhead for the few carpeted areas that I have) and filter (absolutly no smells--even after Asian lady beetles!) But the biggest thing to me is --it is VERY quiet!! If you want, you can even be on the phone; just turn down the suction somewhat. Speaking of suction, that thing will grab a cheerio from 6" away! :) So, Yes, I love my Miele! A friend of mine has had one for 23 yrs!

I had some of my hardwood floors refinished last year. I asked the floor refinishing guy how to keep them looking nice. He said it was important to vacuum regularly and make sure to get up the dust. So, I asked him what to use...and he said the best thing he has found so far is the Swiffer Vac. I bought one for $25 or so and he was right. It works great for doing hardwood floors. The vacuum with the swiffer pad combo works terrific. Picks up chunks, cat hair, sand and dust. It's light and easy to use. It's rechargable so you can just grab it and go. Give it a try before you go out and spend a bundle on a Dyson.

I have a HUGE kitchen with all hardwood --- I have had cordless stick vac and the Shark sweeper -- so done with rechargeable vacs -- they never last. I also have a small cannister vac that works well but I HATE canister vacs.

I got a Dyson DC14 a few months ago. It works well on the hardwood. It does not fit under the toe kicks so I take a broom and sweep the crud out before I vacuum.

My friend has the Dyson hard floor attachment and swears by it. I am considering it but right now my hose is too "tight" and needs to stretch out a bit with use.

I have one of these. My floor installer recommended it for our reclaimed wood floors. It does not work well on the Oriental rugs, but it is the best thing that I have ever used on wood floors and all hard surfaces.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pro Team

I ended up purchasing a Dyson Ball DC25, and I'm very happy with it so far. It has great suction and the bottom part is skinny enough to vac under my toekicks. The hose is really long and will reach all the way up my stairs so I don't have to carry it to vac them. It's much lighter and more manueverable than my former Dyson. I can vac my area rugs without it sucking them up.

Thanks to pluckymama for the recommend!

Erika

how many roombas do i need to cover 7000 sq ft? do they sell them in bulk? ;^))
i think i'm going to have to get one or ten!

I was going to recommend the Dyson Ball DC25 too. I just got mine and I love it! This is the first Dyson I have ever owned or used. Was using the wind tunnel before this one. If I had a second one, it would be the Roomba. My daughter cleans houses and we might split one. She could clean while the Roomba vacuums. :-)

Miele canister with the #SBB 300-3 attachment. We have two shelties and hard floors in most of the rooms. There was a slight learning curve to using a canister because I'd only used uprights, but it has been so worthwhile. I can't go on enough about how easily this attachment swivels and gets into corners and along edges. My previous upright model used to just blow hair about. The Miele vacuums it all up.

Oh, forgot to add that I read to avoid using beating brush heads on hardwoods. The agitation is great for pulling stuff out of carpet, but is hard on the finish of hardwood flooring.

We love our Dyson, or we did love it, until we took out all of the carpet and went to wood. Hauling that dyson up and down five floors sucks, plus it scratches the floors.

I saw my housekeeper once using her vac and wanted one...so when we found the Dyson didn't work we went "commercial" :) We now have a backpack vac which we purchased on ebay (there are only two styles sold there, buy the commercial one). They totally rock! They're way lighter than the dyson, and being on your back you don't notice the little weight at all. They have a great little pocket for your attachment and we can vac anywhere with them because of the long cords. Best thing...under 300 shipped and it arrived in one day! With a multistory house with lots of wood...I'll never go back to a push type vac!

igloochic - the cleaners at my work use them. It was my first time ever seeing one a couple months ago. They look like they'd be awesome! I can't believe it was that cheap, definitely something for me to look into for my other vac...thanks!

Ooh, Igloo...That sounds great! We love our Dyson, too...For the carpets upstairs, but for hauling it downstairs, then attaching the floor tool and dragging both around --not so much. But, there are more than 2 kinds of backpack vacuums on ebay that also say 'commercial.' Can you be more specific about brand and model? Thanks

Kate,
At least 3, probably 4. It depends on your floor plan. I feel Roomba's are set up for 2,000 to 2,500 square foot homes, in very general terms.

I have ~1500 sq ft of brick and then the rest is mostly wood. Only the bedrooms have carpet. My upright was being destroyed by the brick. I purchased a Riccar canister with an optional head that has a roller brush for the carpet....I'm in LOVE!

Yes, please, igloochic, more details about the exact name of the backpack vacuum - it sounds wonderful! I am so sick of hauling that stupid Dyson all over the place, especially up and down stairs. It does a really good job, but the weight is a huge drawback!

Roomba owners, does it "eat" carpet fringe? We will have oriental area rugs in the great room over our cumaru floors. I'm unsure exactly how the floors are finished but they are not polyurethaned. The best I can remember is the floor guy saying said he did a Danish paste finish, whatever that means. The roomba sounds like something I would love to use often on the hardwood floors but I always have trouble with rug fringe when I use any type of vacuum---sort of a mind wandering and the next thing I know my fringe is all tangled around the beater bar. How do you handle this with a roomba?

Thank you Flash407 for bumping this thread back to page 1. Now I've got it bookmarked. One of those things I meant to read but didn't get around to. What a lot of good info. This is better than epinions! :)

Have to say I too am sorry about spending $400 on a Dyson, (EVERY time I use it!) for a number of reasons. Strong suction but it ends there. However, mine is not a 'ball', so maybe that one is different. Considered the Roomba, and from what you're all saying it really does sound great, still not sure about the cat reaction though???

The other name coming up again and again seems to be *Miele*. Particularly for the canister vacs for hardwood and kitchens? (The backpack sounds cool but unfortunately my 'back' is beyond that :)

Have to go check these Mieles out. Anything has to be better than lugging that Dyson around OR trying to use it's attachments.

Speaking of smells...you're all lucky not to live in eastern PA. A new invasive species arrived in a cargo container in 2000, according to Rutgers Univ. in Allentown PA, called the Brown marmorated Stink Bug. They got to my area (just north of Philadelphia) a couple years ago and it's a war zone! Vacumm one of these things and the smell (an oil they can spray) will be everywhere plus in the vacuum itself for days. :(

I'm curious about the fringe issue with the Roomba, too. I just spent $600 getting the fringe replaced on one of my Oriental rugs. I just destroyed the fringe using regular vacuums over the years.

I hate the fringe issue! I'll be interested to hear the answer to this also. I think I'm just going to vow to never have another rug with fringe :) Although I seem to catch all sorts of other things in my vacuum. The latest was a nail that the contractors left lying around and it punctured the hose, so just got a new one. I was very ticked off!

Another vote for ROOMBA. I find for myself, there is nothing better than a vacuum that works while I sew! It does a better job than I do at getting under all the toe kicks, furniture, etc. As far as fringe, it is not a problem. We have fringe on an area rug in the eating area. It can usually even get itself out of a situation if it grabs a pull from the blinds.

The larger battery roombas will clean 3 rooms or so before returning to their base to recharge. I have two roombas in a 2,500 sq ft house and five dogs. I like Roomba so much I bought a Scooba too, which mops the floors! I would never want to be without this team again.

If we had all hard surface floors, I wouldn't bother with another vac at all. However, I feel that for thick, long fiber carpet, Roombas are more for maintenance than deep cleaning, so I give our plush carpet a regular vac when needed. Roombas have to be emptied and brushes checked every few runs (easy). I would still have a Roomba even if it were only to be used in our large kitchen/eating area. As we "redo" rooms, we'll be moving to NO carpet, because Roomba keeps hard floors looking great all the time, and I don't want to take the time EVERYDAY to do it personally. (:

There is a forum on the internet on Roombas.

My hardwood floor guy swears by his Roomba. But then I went on Amazon and read many, many complaints about it, especially about the arms breaking off very easily. Has anyone had this problem? I really love the idea of a little robot cleaning my floors while I'm away.

Any other experiences with roomba and fringe? I have visions of the roomba swallowing a fringe and running constantly pulling at the same place until I have no fringe left. Has this ever happened to anyone. With a regular vac the only way I've been able to disentangle after I've sucked up the fringe is to turn the vac off. Sometimes that alone will work but sometimes I have to manually unwind off the beater bar (stupid Eureka and stupid me). My sil who had the same adult ADD problem as I do says she flips up the edge of the fringe of the carpet before she vacuums the hardwood portion of the floor and then flips it under before she does the carpet itself. This is her precaution in case her mind wanders in the middle of things. Would this work with the roomba, I mean just flipping the fringe under before setting it loose?

***ROOMBA OWNERS**** Do you recommend a certain model? I would like to get one for my mother (she's about to turn 89). She has a Golden Retriever and Oriental carpets and wood (fairly soft wood) and linoleum floors. As far as I can tell from Amazon reviews, it seems as though more recent models have improved the side brush breakage problem. I'd rather stay away from the most expensive models but want to make sure I don't make a mistake by getting something of less quality.

***MIELE OWNERS*****Do you have a good source for less expnsive Miele bags! I bought cases of them quite a few years ago. My supply ran out and I recently bought a new box and was shocked by the price---nearly $20! My local place closed several years ago and I wasn't very happy with the dealer I bought the most recent box from (aside from the hour drive.)

My experience with MIELE and DYSON ANIMAL:

We have 2 Miele vacuums--approx. 15 and 23 years old. Both are going strong. I hope the newer ones are just as good.

We also have a Dyson Animal (about 5 years old) which I rarely use--it's too heavy, the bagless canister is messy when emptying out (I get bathed in a cloud of dust every time), and the floor attachment doesn't fit under our couch.

Hi Erika,
For quick cleanups I use the Electrolux Ergorapido. Swivel head, very zippy and easy to go around picking up small amounts of "stuff". Sort of like a dustbuster on a stick vac.

For the heavier cleaning, I use our Miele Orion which I have been very happy with. Very light weight and does well with the hard wood floors. The wheels are rubber so it doesn't scratch as I'm moving it around. One small complaint with it is the cord isn't as long as it should be so you have to unplug/replug more often.
k