Well, we moved into another house. And everything concerning my dog has changed. In the house we left this summer we were able to put a gate up between the kitchen and the rest of the house. That way my dog could come in at any time and have the kitchen and laundry room and my small computer room to enjoy. There was a leather loveseat in my computer room that he slept on at night. New house, new situation. The walkway between the kitchen and the balance of the house is far too wide for a gate. So we've given in and he now has the run of the house. Right now there isn't much of a problem..but in the early spring, he starts to shed. And I mean Shed. So I need to know, from someones experience, not from what some advertizing states, What is the best vacuum cleaner for controlling dog hair, carpets and furniture? Hopefully someone here has a clue. Thanks
Dyson vacuums are great, powerful and reliable, but expensive. They do a great job on pet hair. For light weight, the Orecks work well and can be used on hard floors as well. We own a cleaning business and rely on Oreck commercial vacuums for customers, both with and without pets.
Thanks. Are Orecks available through retailers(?) or just from the manufacturer?. And how about Sharks..I've heard that they were pretty good, but I don't know anyone that own one.
I will be interested in keeping up on this thread. I have a Golden Retreiver with a huge undercoat and I've destroyed past vacuums due to the hair. . My last one broke last week. It was a bagless and I always empty the container packed with hair several times with each run. Unfortunately I lifted it up and it broke inside so that its blowing air out.
Orecks are available through many online retailers. Their residential versions are sold at Target. I usually get them from Amazon or other vacuum retailers online. Sharks, not sure. I don't like the build quality in what i see in the stores. They look like they would break easily and we need durability and reliability for our use. We do use their high end steam mop to sanitize floors and one has lasted over 3 years with daily use at multiple homes each day. Commercial vacuums will have longer, heavier duty cords, which is a big consideration for some people over those short corded residential versions. - - - Updated - - - Sanitaire commercial vacuums are also very reliable machines.
Whatever sweeper you get, make sure it has an upholstery attachment, because you have as much mess on the floors as you have on the furniture. The more often you clean, the less buildup and the less work for any vacuum cleaner. We had many multiple dogs and cats in our homes over the years, so cleaning often is key. If you let it build up and it mats down, it makes it more difficult for any machine. The problem we found with upright sweepers is getting under furniture, so we find that canister much more convenient, although not quite as powerful. I am eager to read opinions on the Rumba type cleaners, if anyone has tried them out.
Best I can tell you, is that they all suck. But I've found Hoover models suck the best. I like : Hoover WindTunnel Max Bagged Upright, UH30600
My groomer told me to feed rex a food that has a meat listed as first ingredient. It helps the hair stick to the follicle...therefore less shedding. Rex is huge and is a great pyrenees....tons of hair plus they have a mane.
My dog is a Fox Red Lab. In the winter he grows this longish curley coat down his back, rump and tail. In the spring, we inherit it. I do feed him the best food I can buy all natural, no fillers. Blue Buffalo Wilderness. He gets a scrambled egg with breakfast (every day) for his coat and I do up a batch of skinless boneless chicken breasts every weekend (roasted). He gets 1/2 a breast every night with his dry stuff. Doesn't prevent his shedding
Once i switched rex's food his lessened. It used to look like a pillow exploded in the house. Lol. I got a sticky buddy for the furniture.
I use a 30 year old Windsor upright....old and ugly and heavy but it'll suck up bowling balls....I hate letting it go because nothing modern will last like it has. What's lightweight but tough?
I have all hardwood floors. Used uprights but the brushes throw stuff around on the floor faster than they can suck it up. Bought a cheap dirt devil canister with no brush. Considering how cheap it was it works good on wood and upholstery. Not recommending a cheap dirt devil. If you have both carpet and wood/tile you may want both a brush and brushless depending on percentage of flooring types IMHO. Last time I did the research Dyson was one of the best going with models specifically designed for pet hair but a few other cheaper models got just as good reviews. Dyson makes large powerful rechargeable hand held models that would have made a good fit for some of my areas. Beware the charge only lasts a few minutes reportedly. A few minutes was a deal breaker for me.
I'm not sure which are toughest. The Orecks we use generally give us about 1 - 1.5 years of use before they're just worn out, but keep in mind we load/unload them several times each day and they get hours of use per day. Under normal use they should last many years, but better if you are comfortable with hand tools to disassemble once or twice a year to clean them out if they suffer the occasional clog from too much of a substance sucked up at once. It's easy to work on and normally you only need a philips screwdriver. We carry a couple extra belts in case one gets broken, which is very rare unless a string gets wrapped around the brush bar. One caveat if you choose an Oreck: the handles are aluminum so you do have to be careful not to be too forceful on them during use. We've only had one break, and that was only after a screw went missing in the handle and that allowed it too much range of motion that the aluminum could not handle. I'd say from my experience, Sanitaires and similar machines (uprights) are probably most durable, but they're not as lightweight as Oreck. But those machines can take a beating, tons of use and keep on going. They have the old traditional look of uprights and I think they only come in commercial versions. Not sure they can be beat for durability on the residential market except something along the lines of a very heavy Kirby or similar all metal machine.
