I Need a New Hoover

kylith

It was Christmas morning and presents had been exchanged. We were preparing for the arrival of OH's mother in the usual way; cleaning the bath, evicting spiders from corners, and desperately trying to get the dog hair out of the carpet. I was just finishing scrubbing the U-bend when from down stairs I heard a grinding noise, followed by swearing, and an acrid smell. I hurried downstairs to find OH fanning smoke out the back door, my hoover had finally given up the ghost.

Luckily I have a little bit of cash to afford a pretty good one. My criteria are:

Small. My house is tiny and I have nowhere to sore an upright vacuum.
Powerful. I have two wire haired dogs whose favourite activity is to give themselves a good scratch on the carpet. The hair is unbelievable, to anyone who doesn't have dogs.
Easy to clean. The 'easy to clean' filters of my previous hoover were anything but, water seemed to just bounce off them and I had to spend ages scraping the dust out from between folds with a chopstick. They also couldn't cope with the amount of muck that a pair of hairy dogs will bring into the house.

Should I just buy a Dyson, or is there a model more suited to my needs out there?

Pumpkinseeds

Normally I hate Dyson's but the new one they've been advertising recently looks as though it would be ideal for your needs. Its very small and can be used in two parts. It can be used as a handheld vacuum and as a normal vacuum and can also be hung on a hook for easy storage.

vibe666

don't go anywhere near a dyson, anyone who works in retail selling electronics will tell you that they have more broken dyson's coming back to them than anything else, which for a supposedly high end consumer device, isn't a great thing.

we got a Miele cat & dog one and couldn't be happier. there was only about 30 quid in the difference between that and the equiv. dyson, but the first thing i did before we bought it was look up reviews online and found out right away from the online reviews that you basically won't find a better vacuum cleaner.

they seem to be one of the few manufacturers out there that still make good quality hard wearing appliances that really last as you'd expect them to. honestly, if your budget can stretch to it, get yourself a miele, you (and your missus) won't regret it. aside from anything else, the suction is so good that it actually reduces the amount of effort you need to put in pushing it around, which is a godsend in itself.

kylith

Vibe, is that a bagged or a bagless hoover?

Gael23

Invest in a cat and dog hoover. Miele definately do them but I think there are other makes too. The miele costs €200ish but will be worth it

vibe666

the Miele one we have is bagged, but they're very cheap to buy (i think it even came with 3 spare ones in the box and i'm pretty sure we haven't used all 3 of those yet) and having gone from our old bagless to the new Miele bagged one, i feel very strongly that the whole bagless thing is a false economy when you still have to clean out the filters etc. a lot more with the bagless ones than the miele as the bag keeps most of it in.

you're also getting a lot more hoover for your money.

edit: just checked on ebay and you can get a 4 pack of the special hepa filter cat&dog bags delivered for about €15, although if you really don't want to keep buying new ones, it turns out that you can get a permanent vacuum bag that will fit it with a zip in one end that you just empty and then wash out (or put through your washing machine) and reuse.

i should also mention that on the highest setting, you could literally lift up your carpets with the amount of suction you get from it, but on the lowest setting it'll still do a decent job, but is quiet enough that you could vacuum round with a baby (or pets) asleep in the same room and not wake them, it's whisper quiet.

kylith

You're really selling that Miele! Is it the S8 you have?

borderlinemeath

I have a dyson for years and have no problems with it. I wash the filter around every 6 months which most people forget to do. My friends started smoking a bit like yours kylith and gave out hell about it and I asked her did she clean out the the filter. She didn't even know where it was on the hoover.

Pumpkinseeds

I have a Miele one myself, not the dog and cat one, but I find it brilliant. I wondered why one of our cats hated it when we bought it and never had any issues with our old hoover. Once when we were at the vets I noticed they were using a Miele, I think he associates the noise of the Miele with the vets now:)

Solair

We also have a Miele and you can't really fault them. They do the job, no fuss, pick up everything and are fairly quiet.
We'd a Dyson which we found very noisy.

The cat also hates the Miele which is probably a good thing

Mollywolly

We've had a Miele for years (12 I think) and it's been brilliant. Picks up the dog's hairs no problem and bags/filters easy to swap over. The only replacement I've had is the brush head, which isn't bad in 12 years.

I'd have real problems switching to a different "hoover" to be honest. The OH loves Dyson (cos they look gadget-y) but I'd have to be convinced

vibe666

kylith wrote: »

You're really selling that Miele! Is it the S8 you have?

i think ours is the S5 or S6, but either way it's a stonking hoover. i tell ya, a couple of years ago if you'd told me i'd be excited about how good a vacuum cleaner was i'd have told you you were mad, but these days (i'm pretty sure it's since becoming a parent:D) it's about as exciting as my life gets!

Silverfish

I got a Dyson DC34 for Xmas, I did have a Phillips something or other but we couldn't get bags for it so I had to manually empty the bags, which was not fun!
So the Dyson is handy for what I need it for (hoovering up rabbit poo)

My family have a sheddy dog, they got a Dyson and it was no use whatsoever, they returned it and got a Henry the Hoover instead, they said it's good for the dog hairs. The Miele sounds the business though.

RubyGirl

Mad cleaning for christmas morning? I have the henry and find it great, I have 3 hairy labs and 1 retriever. Try giving the dog's a good brush when they'r shedding and it will take alot of the hair off, also swimming is good.

Stheno

Best I had was the Miele, much better than a dyson

Sam Kade

A Henry is a good make.

Solair

You'll also find the Miele bags are widely available, for example in Argos. You can buy them in most major electrical retailers and also online.

Unlike some other companies, they stick to the one design of bag for years and years. They've basically two types of bag that cover about 40 years of models!

Also, the old models benefited from the new high filtration bags.

To top that off, the bag even has a self closing lid. So, when you remove it dust (and any hoovered up spiders) can't escape.

I find the bag less machines a bit of a gimmick tbh. You end up shaking out the contents and having to manually clean dusty filters. If you've any issue with exposure to dust, I'd stick to a traditional bagged machine.

Nilfisk is also a brand worth considering. They've an excellent reputation and are available at places like DID and some of the Expert retailers. They've always been the classic high quality vacuum in this part of the world.

gerrowadat

I had a Dyson DC31 for a few years, and got a DC44 in the sales. No comparison, it's a bit quieter and lasts a solid 20 minutes on the low setting, which is about as effective as the high setting on the DC31.

Solid bit of cash though, and most reviews you see are basically ads for one or the other. I can't fault the DC44 so far though, you can even wallmount it.

tk123

Our Hoover is 5 now - a cheapo Electrolux one from Argos for €35 Small and light too so probs carrying it up the stairs and never any problems lifting hairs.

Anyhoos there's a Miele one over in Bargain Alerts - http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056841001

kylith

Thanks for the heads up. I don't think I could say not at that price.

lorebringer

I have a Dyson Animal - love it, wouldn't give it up for the world.

Another one that is very good is VAX, bagless, and quite small. The price is very reasonable too!

tk123

lorebringer wrote: »

I have a Dyson Animal - love it, wouldn't give it up for the world.

Oh do you have the slicker attachment for the dyson??

Lucyfur

I have a wire haired terrier and a cat. The miele cat and dog is the business. I has a Henry and it wasn't great on carpets.

Millem

tk123 wrote: »

Oh do you have the slicker attachment for the dyson??

I have the attachment and love it! It can be used with any dyson.

DBB

lorebringer wrote: »

Another one that is very good is VAX, bagless, and quite small. The price is very reasonable too!

I have a VAX, and I hate it to the core:mad:. Poorly made, shoddy, bits fall off, and you might hoover one room before it wants to be emptied. I won't deny it's reasonably good power-wise, but every time I use mine, I curse it. I had a Dyson before which I liked, I must get up off my butt and get it fixed (it had an electrical brainfart).
Or maybe I'll buy one of those Mieles in Power City:)

Millem

I have three labs, and swear by my dyson. It is 5 or 6 years old at this stage and still going strong. It is not an animal. I would love an animal but can't justify it as my one is going strong! I bought the car kit to go with it which includes a mini turbine head which is amazing (I think it comes with new animal As standard). I tried an vax last year and honestly there is no comparison. The thing to remember is to wash the filter!