I love my Shark Liftaway, but yeah, it’s a bother for those tasks. Thanks to someone here I recently bought. Bissel Pet Fur Eraser hand vac and I like it so far. Cordless, fairly light weight. I wish it had a little hose, though, for lampshades and getting the cat fur behind things. It does have a power brush, an upholstery brush, and a crevice tool. I’ve been going after the cat fur more with it, since I don’t have to haul out the Shark

.Bissell pet fur eraser

I've used a Eureka Mighty Mite for years.

I use an Oreck hand vac (corded) that I've had for many years - have several very soft brush attachments that fit it. It's not exceptionally heavy and has a shoulder strap which leaves my hands free.

I have a one gal Shop Vac too and the accessories are interchangeable with the Oreck. I'm going to guess the Shop Vac one gal weighs approx 5 pounds.

I save the Oreck for things like upholstery, lamp shades, use the shop vac for slightly dirtier jobs as around washer/dryer, behind the toilets, corners of closets.

ETA: I should have added earlier that my objection to the mini shop vac is that its convenient but noisy. It makes enough sound to be irritating. DH has the larger sizes in the garage. The one gal makes no less sound than they do.

I have a really old bagged upright that I use (the hose and tools) for upholstery, lamp shades and draperies. I hate the way new vacuums are made with wands. It's too much weight in the exact wrong place.

I'm happy with my recently acquired Mighty Mite for those kinds of jobs.

Another plus for the central vac. Just the hose and hand brushes. Noise stays with the motor in the basement, and the suction power is phenomenal!

I bought a pet brush for this thing, but Eliot wasn't having any of *that*!

I have central vac. It's quiet and powerful, but a LOT of hose to lug around. I still have a Dirt Devil corded that I get out.

I use my Panasonic upright bagged vac tools. I do have one of those pet attachments (Bissel but it fits the Panasonic) but now that I'm without cats, I rarely use it. I have a floor brush attachment that I use for the stairs and uncarpeted floors - the hose is long enough and flexible enough + the extension wand, that it works easily. I use the dust brush for my bookshelves, blinds, lampshades, paintings and knickknacks.

I understand what you mean about the Shark Lift-away - I kept one to use upstairs and I do find the hand tool function very awkward. The fact that the hose doesn't fit any of my other attachments is annoying as well (I've kept all the attachments from my 1973 Hoover and every other vac since when they died). I may donate it and keep a Hoover, or a different Shark, that I've just finished fixing up instead.

I have a small but mighty canister vac. It's light enough to carry and even has a handle for that.

Be aware unless things have changed with the mighty mite the bags are changed just enough about every 5 years that they become impossible to find. My husband loved his and although they still worked with no bags to be found when we ran out it meant another vacuum. They were still sold as mighty mite bags but each rendition was just different enough that they would not fit.

Carol, who makes your small canister vac? I'm unable to read it.

My biggest vacuuming challenge is the inside of the piano, where pet hair collects underneath the strings. I recently bought a corded hand vac because they tend to have more powerful suction than the cordless models, but I couldn't return it quickly enough. The instructions said it was important to change the HEPA filter after every use. It was hard to identify the filter (I'm not sure I ever did), and once you took the unit apart it was nearly impossible to put it back together again.

So like Jasdip, I remove the head from my Shark Rocket and use that as a hand vac. It's a little heavy--but powerful.

Lucille! I’m so glad you like your Mighty Mite! I’ve had mine for years and still use it for those jobs too!

Mine is a Bissell Hard Floor Expert. It's bagless and I clean the receptacle and filter after every use.

I gave up looking for a good handheld vacuum that doesn't screech. I love my Miele tank, but it would be handy to have something small too. I just can't tolerate the loud noise most of them put out.

I have an Orek like Morz, and I do like the shoulder strap. It is especially good for vacuuming upholstery, but it is a bit of a pain to carry it around to do the floors. Another good feature is that it has an extremely long cord. Unfortunately, you have to buy replacement bags for it, but I have a good supply of those at the moment.