We have over 2500 s.f. of hardwood in our home. I can't imagine the amount of Swiffer sheets I would need to use to clean my floor. For light dusting, I use a wide dust mop (sold in janitorial stores) -- it's probably about 3 feet wide and breezes through my floors. For more through cleaning, I use my central vac with the hardwood floor brush. Since we have a dog that loves to get little pawprints or water drips from her bowl all over the place, I periodically use a damp mop with only a couple drops of dish detergent in the bucket. I do a small area, then immediately dry thoroughly with large towel. I never use Murphy's. I would be very hesitant to use a vacuum because dirt gets embedded on the wheels and the weight of the vacuum along with that dirt may scratch the surface.

Not to change the subject of the post, but... (I think the question has been answered anyway) Dobesrule... the Dysons are great vacuums. The only thing that makes that model called the "Animal" is the air driven turbine tool which is supposed to be good for pet hair. The hose and cords are very long, and the dirt chamber is very easy to empty. If someone must have bagless (most vac guys don't like bagless, I feel the same) a Dyson is the only way go to. They don't lose suction and they are a dream to empty. Powerful too... there is some debate about the agitator not being strong enough for American carpets. Also, long hair will wrap around the brush roll because it is very slender so keep that in mind. If you have bare floors, you can just turn the brush roll off, or release the hose, flip the hand grip and insert the bare floor attachment. It works wonderfully! Can't break the belt... When I worked for Sears, I would throw a sock on the ground and run it over. The brush roll will stop and you will hear the most terrible racheting sound you've ever heard in your life. The clutch is preventing the belt from breaking, and the user will certainly know to remove the obstruction. Lots of ports to remove clogs too! No headlight, and it's very "tall" at the base so if you need to do under something you will need the attachments. If you are used to an Oreck it will take a while to get used to the bulk of the Dyson. The head is tall, and it weighs I believe 19 verus your flat 8 pound Oreck. But, you will be happy with the performance. You can even change the angle on the dusting brush and upholstery tool, and the upholstery tool and crevice tool have slits in them so the air flows and they don't "stick" to the surface you are vacuuming. They thought of almost everything! I hate all the plastic on the modern stuff, but I guess we have to grow with the times. I'm 23 and I like the vacuums that were made before I was born! If you can afford a Dyson, by all means get one. Orecks are traditionally known for small motors and fans and being loud, but I only know of them by their reputation among vacuum people.

I've been using a Kenmore canister for about five years now on our all hard surface (plus two area rugs) house. I remember thinking $200 was crazy to spend on a vacuum. Ha! I think our house would be a great place to test drive vacuums. We have two Newfoundland dogs (so that's about 270 pounds of dog ... most of it fur) and live 500 feet from the beach so there is always sand around. Frankly I'm impressed the Kenmore still even runs. But it's definitely slowing down. I can vacuum the rugs and still "scrape" off hair with the bottom of my shoe. Because I know a lot of people with Newfoundlands, vacuums are a big topic. I know several people with Dyson who have an unnatural love for them for the first year or so, but as they age (the vacuums, not the people) I'm hearing more complaints. I've definitely heard more complaints about the Dyson canisters than the uprights, but plenty of those too. The Rainbows are pretty much held to be the gold standard and most people I know bought them used. For me, I think a Miele is probably going to be my next vacuum.

The Dyson Outlet on ebay has cordless Dyson vacuums for less than $200. I also got a Black and Decker Lithium cordless for $129.00 on amazon. https://www.amazon.com/BLACK-DECKER-BDH2020FLFH-Lithium-20-volt/dp/B00JILGZOC/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1504231400&sr=8-11&keywords=Black+and+decker+cordless+vacuum