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Vacuum for pet hair

Our eureka died and we have been making due with a shop vac. We're teachers and just got the first paycheck of the school year. Time to get a vacuum. We had a Dyson Animal before the eureka. Both were alright on pet hair but I'm wondering if there might be something better. Not Kirby. That price not attainable right now. We have area rugs and tile floors, three dogs and a cat. Any thoughts? Online reviews are not very helpful because everything is coming out pretty much even
 
I'd say get a Rainbow, but if a Kirby is to pricey right now then a Rainbow will be as well. Couldn't even guess what other vacuum cleaners work well since I've had my Rainbow for nearly 10 years.
 
Had a Eureka PAWS for a long time. Canister not bag and haven't had any issues with two medium long coated dogs and a short+ haired cat. All carpets but the dining room and kitchen. The wand worked well on the microfiber couches too.
 
I'd say get a Rainbow, but if a Kirby is to pricey right now then a Rainbow will be as well. Couldn't even guess what other vacuum cleaners work well since I've had my Rainbow for nearly 10 years.

We had one of these run for 20 years with a Sheltie and Siamese in a small house, brilliant! However, as mentioned, this one is for your want to have list unless you can get one used and in great working condition - one that was used often and dried well each and every time. So, today, I'm using the recent model year Dyson. We're at 'good enough' with three kitties and a huge 5500 ft house that rains ceiling insulation from somewhere... (honest, it's as if the ventilation sucks it out of the attic, but there are NO common areas)

and to the folk who say it's human skin - we're talking about two old farts and it's just not happening that way!
 
Did you try to get your Dyson Animal repaired? I have read some online reviews (some linked below) where Dyson vacuums can work well but are a repairman's dream. Miele has a good reputation as well as Riccar. As far as vacuums for pet hair, I think the only thing special is a needing a good assortment of powered beater brushes, to lift hair out of deep carpets and furniture fabrics. Otherwise it is about reliability of your vacuum motor and associated parts.

Note that the original Dyson bagless system is off patent, so there are many other manufacturers which use the same technology and sell at lower prices. Though from what I understand many people dislike bagless systems because of the mess it makes when trying to empty.

If you have got hours to spare and want some interesting reading:

 
AAre you mostly carpet or hardwood/tile floors?

I really like my Hoover air cordless, but IMO it's not great on rugs/carpet. Hard wood and tile it's better than a broom in getting the wonderful lab's hairs picked up.
 
My wife and I tried three or four different vacuums until we finally bit the bullet and dropped $500 on a Dyson.

Bruce has a double coat and picking up the fine undercoat hairs was where the Dyson paid for its self.
 
Two area rugs and the rest of the house is tile and hard wood. When the dyson died it was just out of warranty and the repairman said it would not be worth the money. Apparently the piece was cheap enough but when it went it broke a necessary piece of plastic that meant a whole new something had to be put on (Don't really remember what he said it was) and that was BIG money, so we bought the Eureka.
 
We picked up a Shark Professional about a year and a half ago. Still going strong, easy to keep clean and works very well. Bought at Target for $200. I have two dogs as well.
 
The Neato BotVac was a life changing purchase for us. Our chessy sheds heavily twice a year and just sheds the rest of the year. We have mostly hardwood floors but this programmable vacuum gets around pretty good. We have it clean on Wednesdays and weekends. I just empty the dirt bin and clean the hepa filter.

Here is a time lapse.
 
^ Cool bot. I can just about imagine what my two pups would do with a vac-bot. Did it take time for your dog to learn that it wasn't a threat?
A bot is tempting. I wouldn't have so many doodle tumbleweeds flying around.
 
If your house is all tile/hardwood I'd suggest the Air cordless. I've had pretty good luck with mine, I've had to replace the brush a few times as cat hair likes to get in it and it locks up, but it's all been under warranty. I've had to do that with other vacuums in the past. The battery is pretty awesome and you get about 30-45 minute on the charge. Mine came with two batteries. I can literally vacuum the whole house on one battery though. It's pretty handy. I will say that I have a Dustbuster lithium as using the accessory hose on the air is a pain.
In working as a building manager in a past life we discovered the joys of 2 motor vacuums. If you can afford it, go to a janitor supply store and order one of these, you will not be disappointed. There are numerous brands that sell them and the suction and ease of use on these is crazy. You can even get them in wider widths if you have a lot of carpet to vacuum. We had a 5 story building with narrow winding halls to vacuum every other day. this was several years ago, something similar to this would be what we used.
 
^ Cool bot. I can just about imagine what my two pups would do with a vac-bot. Did it take time for your dog to learn that it wasn't a threat?
A bot is tempting. I wouldn't have so many doodle tumbleweeds flying around.

Yes no more tumbleweeds. We live in the woods and have a gravel drive. The Neato handles everything we track in as well.

Bay, our chessy gets along almost too well with the vacuum. I've had to call her to move so Neato does not go around her leaving a dog shaped spot on the floor.:001_smile
This is an ad photo not our 90 lb "little girl".
$Neato_and_puppy.jpg
My little girl.
$IMG_8018.jpeg
 
I can buy into this working on tile and hardwood . . . on carpet. . . I doubt it.
Much of the first floor of the house is tile and hardwood, and where there are rugs/carpet it's all low pile stuff. I have three dogs. It has been impossible to keep up with the hair. I'm hopeful letting the vac loose in the house will keep the roving dust buffaloes to a manageable amount.
 
^ Kinda like my labradoodle. He loves the leafblower after a haircut...an air massage. I use it to minimize the loose hairs.
 

Alacrity59

Wanting for wisdom
Wow. My lab is suspicious of all machines. He avoids wagons being pulled on the street, and garbage cans on rollers. Loves, loves, loves the car. I wish I could vacuum him.
 
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