On Saturday afternoon, as I was trying to get the damn house vacuumed because it had been three days since I had last vacuumed, the goddamn Dyson shit the bed.
Now, to be clear (because I don’t think I ever wrote about it): one year and one month ago, I bought the then-brand-spanking-new Dyson model, the Dyson Animal DC25. I’d had the DC07 for six years, and although I was cleaning the filter and canister religiously, it really wasn’t working as well as it should. And to be honest, the fact that it didn’t fit all the way under the cupboards in the kitchen really bugged me.
So I got the DC25, and loved it at first. And then a month later I vacuumed something up that caused a big hole in the hose (which is totally NOT the Dyson’s fault, I know that), and had to buy a new hose. And then the plate on the bottom chipped and had to be replaced, and then something else broke and had to be replaced, and then it worked okay for several months. On Saturday I was doing the vacuuming, and the roller bar stopped turning, and I fucked around with the goddamn thing for an hour, getting more and more pissed off, and I couldn’t figure out what the fuck was going on, and then I hit my FUCK THIS wall and just like that I fell out of love with all things Dyson.
I put the Dyson in the garage and got the old one – the DC07 – out of the closet and used that, and it was still the clunky dinosaur that made me buy a new model last year. And it didn’t do nearly as good a job as the DC25.
So for now I’m going to use the Kenmore canister vacuum cleaner that’s been living out in the garage (we bought it when we were renovating the house, when Fred was refinishing the stairs, because the Dyson just refused to suck up all the dust, and Fred’s father recommended the Kenmore for the job.) and I’ll likely take the Dyson to be repaired as a backup vacuum cleaner (you hear me, Dyson? YOU ARE MY BACKUP, NOT MY MAIN SQUEEZE ANYMORE. YOU DONE DID IT TO YOURSELF WITH YOUR ROTTEN ATTITUDE, YOU FUCKER).
Granted, I KNOW I’ve been hard on the damn thing, I know that sucking up 63 pounds of cat hair, stray litter and dust three or four times a week is bound to put a strain on a vacuum, but really. You pay that much for a fucking vacuum, you expect the goddamn thing to MAN UP AND WORK RIGHT.
One thing I learned this weekend when I demanded people recommend vacuums to me – something I really should have known – is that there’s really not one answer. Some people still adore their Dysons, some people love their cheap $35 vacuum they got 15 years ago at the flea market, it really all depends on the person and their requirements. You’ll see tons of recommendations for something like the Miele, and then plenty of people saying they don’t think it’s all that. It’s kind of a crapshoot, is what I’m saying.
(But those of you who suggested your vacuum on Facebook Saturday, thank you. I spent more time Googling information about various vacuums than I could ever have imagined – and found it strangely interesting!)
Starsky and Hutch have gone off to (drumroll please!) Indiana! A reader of thishere site fell in love with them and adopted them. She drove down Friday to get them – we met at the shelter – and reports are that they are doing just fine. There are two older cats in the house AND a dog. They’re okay with the cats, but aren’t thrilled about the dog just yet. I knew they’d be fine, but of course you worry, especially when they’re half a day’s drive away. Once I met Jennifer, though, any concerns I had were pretty much put to rest because she’s AWESOME, and I loved hearing about how excited her 11 year-old was at having kittens in the house.
They’ve got new names (for the record, when I come up with names for our fosters, I always assume they’re going to be changed when they’re adopted.) – Hutch is now Percy, and Starsky is now Jack. (Jack’s one of my favorite names EVER, but Fred’s stepfather’s name is Jack – thus the reason we don’t have any cats named Jack!)
Jennifer said she’d send some pictures in the future, and I expect it will be very cool to watch the boys grow up.
So that’s the story of where Starsky and Hutch are now! And yes, we do miss their silly little faces a lot.
Oh, how the Bookworms love Jake and Elwood! Reacher, especially, loves them. You can usually find Reacher about three inches from one or the other (or both) of them.
Reacher has reached overload, apparently.
Corbie and the grays.
Coltrane hanging out in the (heated) cat shelter on the front porch Saturday morning. He’s been back inside the house a few times, but doesn’t stay for long. Tommy feels the need to sit and stare at him. Coltrane finds it a bit disconcerting, and asks to go back out.
Previously
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry.
2007: And then last night I was informed that people would start showing up between 9 and 9:30 (for a meal that will take place at noon), so I spent two hours cleaning the house whilst shooting hate rays at Fred.
2006: Barium scars a motherfucker for life.
2005: But I could manage a paper cut/ in the name of love
2004: “Oh, my heart,” I moaned.
2003: This perpetually surprised look of Michael Jackson’s makes me laugh until I wheeze.
2002: “YES, JESUS CHRIST! I DIDN’T KNOW IT WAS GOING TO BE SUCH A FRIGGIN’ BIG DEAL!” I bellowed. “I NEEDED TO BE AT MY COMPUTER, BECAUSE THAT’S WHERE THE PHONE NUMBER WAS! JESUS!”
2001: No entry.
2000: I’ve visited Wal-Mart three times in the last five days. I think they’re about to name a parking space after me.
1999: F: In Michigan, you can take this bottle to the recycling center and get ten cents for it.
After we killed a Dyson, and then in the following year three slightly cheaper replacements, I decided: I’m not using bagless vacuums any damn more.
Having tried to fix all the broken ones, I got a feel for how the bagless ones work, and it’s all that filtration to compensate for the ultimate filter: a bag. Unfortunately, if your house is coated in a thick layer of animal fur, it’s just too much for the filters.
I bought the only sub-$200 bagged vacuum I could find, which was a Bissell Powerglide, and 40 no-name bags for $1/ea (I buy another big batch every so often so there are ALWAYS bags in the closet), and I am HAPPY! I use an old litter bucket as a trash can, so I can take the full bag off the machine and immediately contain it in the bucket until I’m ready to carry it outside to the trash, and I find that process much more pleasant than having to carry the canister outside to dump.
I am sure it vacuums better, it clogs less, the bag holds more than your average bagless chamber. The $79 vacuum is just about to turn 2 years old, which may be a record.
You know, I recommended my Electrolux to you on Facebook, but I’m not sure that they make the same type of vacuum anymore. I bought mine, I think, in 1998. We had a door-to-door saleswoman come in and we bought it from her. But now it looks like the vacuums are sold in stores and online, are less expensive, and probably not as well made (the reviews were not good). Our vacuum was around $500 and used bags. So, I’m sorry if I steered you wrong!
I should have searched the Internet. The Electrolux that I bought was made by a separate company, now called Aerus. http://www.aerusvacuums.com/luxguardianupright/
Sorry for the confusion!
No problem, Melissa – thanks for the link!
Well, CRAP! I’ve had my Dyson Animal for nineteen months with no problems (yet) and you people are scaring me. If I have to replace a damned five-hundred dollar vacuum anytime soon I’m going to stroke out.
Sorry, Robyn, no suggestions here for a vacuum that works for any length of time. I’m reading way too many “My fucking Dyson died” stories all over the internet, though. You’re definitely not alone with the Dyson disappointment. Maybe they were only designed to last about two years and they didn’t tell us?
Devil, I think maybe I should send you 10 or 15 cats (maybe a couple of chickens too) to really put that Dyson through its paces!
The reviews I’ve seen have either been really good or really bad – people love them or hate them. Maybe you’ll be lucky, and in 15 years, you’ll be posting about how much you love your Dyson!
My sister-in-law and brother-in-law (husband’s brother) have a higher income and are quite persnickety. She is a border line obsessive compulsive cleaner. She has Miele vacuums-a canister and an upright as well and swears by them. They have a Miele dishwasher too that they love.
My sister loves her Bissel Pet Hair Eraser with the Power Paw attachment.
Her husband broke the beater bar vacuuming up something he shouldn’t have-his own fault, not the machine’s. They liked it’s performance so much they replaced it with the same one and are very happy with it.
I like Roseann Bar will not be happy with vacuums until the ride on model like the lawn mower comes out. I’ve heard the robotic vacuums are not that great.
Oh Corbie! *Sigh*
http://www.royalvacuums.com/Commercial/AllMetalUprights/
I inherited my mom’s Royal when she moved to a house with all-wood floors and decided she would rather dry mop. It’s probably 15 years old now, and aside from needing a good cleaning/new belt once in a while, it’s a workhorse. It tackles my thick 100% wool carpet that usually has a ton of dog hair on it from our English Springer Spaniel. It has a crazy powerful brush, but you can raise it up for hard floors (though, it is so powerful I would be wary of using it on finished wood – I have a lot of ceramic tile in my house and it doesn’t hurt it). The bags are easy to replace and I’ve never had clogging issues or anything like that.
My only complaint is that the bag likes to slip off inside of the fabric cover, and you end up having to unclip the whole thing and dump it in the trash outside to clean it out.
They aren’t cheap, but given that they don’t break and are serviceable, I highly recommend them.
I’ve had my Dyson DC07 for 8 years and with four cats it gets a good work out. Love it to pieces and have not had one issue with it.
My vacuum bit the dust (no pun intended) last weekend. Just last Monday I purchased a Hoover Rewind Pet vacuum on sale at Target for $139. The online reviews I saw were positive, I needed something that could handle pet hair, and it was on sale when I needed it. It’s only been a week so I don’t have a lot of experience with it to share, but so far, it’s been great.
Percy and Jack- named after the Percy Jackson books, perhaps? http://www.percyjacksonbooks.com/
I bought a Dyson DC-25 right after you did and primarily because you liked yours so much! I had an Oreck that had suddenly stopped working as well as it did. The Dyson has been amazing. I do get a little irritated having to take it apart and clean it but it is also nice not having to buy bags.