Hmm, I have a totally different view of my Dysons. : (

There is a guy with a youtube channel who is great.

I found this but I don't think it was the guy i saw before. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jJb6IZdfF0

I have an old Oxygen (made by Electrolux) canister that if it ever dies I will cry. Thankfully I have been able to buy all new hoses, attachments etc. If your Oriental/Persian rugs are of any quality don't use an upright with a beater bar or a motorized canister head that works the same way. They are too rough on fine carpets. Sadly I don't have a product recommendation and am discouraged to learn your assessment of Riccar - I had that in my back pocket for the day mine dies. But I do have a hint regarding smell. It takes no time at all for vacuumed dog hair to smell in a bag even though it's no where near full. I have started putting half a Mrs Meyers Lemon Verbena dryer sheet in front of the washable filter in my canister and it works like a charm. I use her multi purpose cleaner in the same scent (which is about the only scented product I can tolerate) and it dissipates quickly but handles the doggy smell. I'm with you on Dyson - overrated IMO.

I had two Dysons and while they picked up well, the hoses would split after a few months. the last one we bought the hose didn't last a month. I went with a Shark and am happy with it.

I had a dyson and hated it too. Hyped-up expensive piece of carp.

I have a Miele canister now. Love it for tile, hardwood and carpet, and I can easily use it to vacuum my carpeted stairs. It uses a bag and it is very easy to change out.

Disclaimer: we are a pet-free house so I can’t speak to that issue.

I sometimes pick up vacuums and clean them for donation. It is difficult to get the dog smell out , although most of them have not been maintained and are usually very clogged with the dog hair and dander, so I am sure that adds to the issue.

I have been loyal to my Panasonic bagged vac for at least 15 years, but I have recently been trying out a rescued Shark and have been impressed by the amount of dirt it pulls up. I still hate emptying the dust container, though, and find that I have to use a tool to get the lint etc that clings to the top of the container out. Shark does make a bagged vacuum - I wonder if it works as well as the "cyclone" canister versions.

I don't like the Shark lift -aways. I find the handles awkward to use as a tool. The one I am using is an older model Navigator that has the long flexible hose that I can attach my very old Hoover floor tool to, to clean my hardwood and things like blinds and ceiling fans.

Has anyone had recent experience with Kirby? Do they still weigh a ton?

I have used just about every vacuum ever made. My choice is Eureka. Not too expensive like Dyson & Shark. I have an upright, a canister & a cordless. They all do what I expect them to do. The canister has metal attachments that do not crack. YMMV

We have a SEBO upright. Seems to do a great job. No complaints other than it is heavy for me to carry up and down stairs-I can still do it, but in ten years, probably not.

Have a Shark stick w/self-cleaning brush roll and it does a really good job getting the nap back up on my ancient carpeting.

That said, because I have more than one cat, the small debris reservoir fills up pretty fast.

Also, if you're picking things up like litter or litter dust, the filters clog pretty fast and the vacuum stops sucking until they're taken car of - the filters work a little too well

Following along. The best vacuum I had was a Kenmore cannister, but it was a big pita to lug up or down stairs. ( it's still working but it's so old and decrepit that I keep it in the garage for the cars and garage floor). I wish they still made them.

I bought Shark Navigator Lift away about 4 years ago. I am reasonably pleased with it ( can't beat it for not ever breaking in the 4 years so far. I never had luck like that) and it is lightweight but I totally agree about being underwhelmed on the carpet.

Although I am generally pleased wtih it, it's not as good as the Kenmore was..so I will be following along.

Could there be something wrong with the brush bar? It seems strange that it's not actually picking up some things.

Our cleaning lady uses a vacuum with backpack canister that she loves. The next time she comes I will look at the brand. The carpets look good after she leaves.

I have a mid-priced Shark that I have no complaints about but our dog wasn't a big shedder.

Sebo cannister owner. it is very solidly built, not too heavy to carry. in use it is comparable to a miele— i actually like it a bit more. ilike the upholstery attachment a lot. the bags are fairly expensive.

I'm happy with my shark lift away. They also have a model with self cleaning brushes. It sounds like your brushes may fill up with hair. My DD has a dog, and 2 cats. Her and her daughters have long hair. She has to clean her brushes every time she uses her vacuum. Depending on the amount of hair you might have to clean the brushes several times during a vacuum.

Sorry no advice as I love my Dyson. Mine does all the things yours doesn't. My new (a couple years ago) housecleaner started out wanting to use my Miele canister but wasn't satisfied because the dark rugs still had cat hair when she was done. I told her to just try the cordless Dyson stick (V8). She did and that was the end of the MIele.

I don’t think any vacuum can touch the quality and performance of a Miele. I have quested my whole life for a vacuum I don’t hate and finally found Miele. Hepa filter, powerful suction, very easily trails behind you, never flips over if you pull too sharply., internal cord rewind, decently quiet. All were on my list and it checks alll the boxes. Oh and it has a place inside for the tools. And it stores the wand extensions inside one another so it’s easy to make it longer or shorter without having to find the extra extensions.

Downside? It and the bags are expensive but worth every penny.

eta: I just saw your comment about a smelly Miele your husband had. I’m not sure you can blame the vaccum! The only time mine has ever smelled was when I broke a plate with something not too messy on it, like green beans maybe and I vacuumed up the shards and the food I didn’t pick up. Oops! It molded in the bag and boy did it stink the next time I vacuumed! Changing the bag didn’t help fully, so I sprayed some lysol sanitizing spray I’d bought for covid and sucked up the spray. That fixed it.

We have a couple of houses and own/owned more vacuums than any human should. We also have the Dyson V11 but ours works pretty good three years in. However, it's not our primary vacuum and isn't intended to replace a full-size machine. Our house has a central vacuum system that could suck the paint off the walls.

We also own two Miele vacuums - one at our beach house and one at our main residence. The one at the beach is entry level - a Homecare C1. It's quiet, compact and powerful. However, the tools don't stay on board and there's no electric powerhead. It works fine for us because our beach house is all hardwood floors. We have a Miele C3 Marin with TOL powerhead at our main residence. It's an awesome piece of machinery. I will say, the bags can stink of our dog if they haven't been changed in a while. However, that smell usually only happens when we first turn the vac on, and it dissipates within a minute of running.

Our cleaning lady uses our central vac on one level and prefers to have a regular upright vac for all the carpeted bedrooms on the 2nd floor. Rather than using her own machine, we have a Shark upright that she uses when she's here. It works really, really well.

I did hear a vacuum expert say Dyson is not the best vacuum, but it's been very effectively marketed.

I think all cordless vacs are a compromise, but now that i have one I don't ever want a cord again, on anything.

Our house has a central vacuum system

That's funny, I forgot that ours does too. Does anyone install those anymore? Our cleaning lady didn't like it and I never gave it another thought. And we didn't continue in any of the additions of course.

I actually really like our central vac with the Hide a Hose inlets when I'm cleaning an entire level of the house or the whole place. However, for just the kitchen, family room, back hallway, etc. I reach for my cordless vac. It's just so much faster.

We have a centra vac that has a lot of power. We have ports in various locations and we bought an elastic fabric sleeve for the long hose. The motor and receptical are in the garage, so there is no noise, no dust. DH wears a mask and empties the cannister when needed. If it ever clogs, we can remedy that with a powerful wet-dry vac we use for cars and workshop.

A while ago, I bought my parents a Kenmore (>progressive?) and the plastic on it broke (with gentle use) inside of two years. A sibling likes Miele.

A friend says that stinky vacs can be remedied with fabreeze. She had given me a good, rebuilt older Electrolux, but I couldn’t stand the odor and she took it back for a backup. She says that new filters and Fabreeze (sp) will fix the bad odors. I don’t think I’ve ever used ”Fabreeze” (whatever. Floral scents can choke me up.

Now I'm really curious about our system. The POs were system happy: eg elaborate sound system, a veritable water treatment plant, fountains, outdoor lighting and sound system, shower steam system, security systems and automated gates. When we bought the house these things were all probably at least 10 yrs old, and a lot of them we have since abandoned. Given how quickly these things become obsolete, for me, the less built in the better.

It wasn't cheap but our Sebo felix is the best vacume we've had and that includes a Dyson. The sebo is a bag vacume with amazing suction that gets carpets looking great, easy pull out hose, low profile to get under things and long lasting. We've had it 12 years.

My favourite vacuum is the Miele canister vacuum. It keeps on running despite heavy duty vacuuming. For my cleaning service I used the Electrolux for years but switched to Miele in the last few years and found it very good.

To me though Central vacs work the best overall. They are vented outside which means you don't get the dust kick back. You have to get used to the large long hose but if you tell yourself what a good job the extra powerful motor does you just live with it.

I find vacuuming as frequently as possible makes it light duty and keeps me used to hauling out the Central vac hoses.

Also I'm sure you've heard this as well but the best thing we did was brush our shedding dogs after the evening walk every day. Sounds like a lot of work but it was easy once we got used to it and quick.

One of our dogs would even allow us to vacuum them with a special attachment that we bought. The other one occasionally wanted to be vacuumed.

Only one of our cats will allow us to vacuum him. He purrs the whole time. I'm working on the others. We're not quite there yet..

Omg, my stupid too heavy Dyson Animal Big Ball STOPPED SUCKING after onky 18 months! I took it to a really good vacuum repair shop where he basically explained vacuums to me (he knew I has just invested $ in the stupid Dyson so wasnt trying to sell, just educate.) The Miele cannister is awesome, but I TOTALLY want a central vac now. They can be retrofitted. No more carrying a ridiculously heavy vacuum around. I had overlooked the Dyson’a many flaws (heavy, awkward, the cord doesn’t retract, etc) bc it sucked very well. When it stopped, I was so mad. It’s fixed now, but next time it breaks, it’s absolutely over. Dh balked about the central vac (of course, bc the man has literally never used the vacuum!!😩) If I can’t talk him in to the central, I will perhaps try the Miele (if they have a guarantee, bc if it doesn’t suck the hair, I’m returning it. I’m done playing with vacuums. 😂 Nini’s mad now.

Our central vac is over 35 years old. The built in pipes (hidden, out of sight) are standard.

Miele. Have had them for years!

Like Salonva - Kenmore canister vacuums were my favorites for many years but they were difficult to maneuver in small areas and awkward on stairs. When my last Kenmore died I ordered my first Shark on a whim while watching QVC in 2015. I now have 4 Sharks - 2 at home and 2 at our vacation place. Some have suction control, some have the small powered mini brush which works great on stairs and my newest one (from 2019) also has LED lights on the wand. I really appreciate the ability to use the lift-away feature to vacuum under beds and furniture and I often pop the brush head off and just use the wand to do the baseboards. To avoid the doggy smell in vacuum cleaner bags I realized that I had to replace them even before they were full and that's one of the reasons that I switched to bagless.

I abhor dog hair and I have a very hairy English lab so the thought of being without a working vacuum is the reason why I have a back-up at both places. Plus the added benefit of keeping one on both levels makes it easier to pull out of the closet to clean up a mess. Since they're bagless it's a snap to empty the dust bin into a plastic bag for disposal. They do a great job on carpet but to vacuum the fine dust from the hardwood floors I have to use the Dust Away floor attachment.

When Maggie was a puppy we bought a Roomba and it worked well in the kitchen - except the dust bin was so tiny it quickly filled with dog hair and dust and needed to be emptied too frequently. That was 12 years ago and now you can get one that returns to the home station and empties itself. But I'm not willing to spend close to $1000 to try it.

We have a mix of wool carpets, expensive silk Persian area rugs, lots of hardwood and tile in the bathrooms and I wish there were one vacuum that was perfect for all of them.

I have a SEBO now-traded in our miele canister that I hated from the first day I had it. It needed ”breaks” from heating up while using it. Excuse me??? My housekeeper talked me into buying a shark which lasted about 4 months, so thats when I got the SEBO which she loves. Me too. Its heavy but does the job. I have an Oreck for upstairs-no heavy traffic up there. We only have a non-shedding Mini Goldendoodle in our house so no cat hair to deal with.

Here's a guy on youtube that reviews vacuums: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2tJ9G_l5ROSSizfuN0Y5hg

Update: I took our six year old, or so, Miele to a vacuum store. We were out of bags so I couldn't even test it to see if it worked (well) at home. It works fine for what it is. The smell is long gone (it has sat idle and bagless for at least 4 years.) What I realized is that it isn't designed to do what I want. In other words, it doesn't have a power nozzle. It has a spinning brush, but it is powered by suction, not the canister. But it works 100% better than the Dyson. If I were to buy a new vac, the SEBO looks great, but I'm not ready to spend roughly $1600 on it yet. Not that it isn't worth it, but I'd rather get by (and then some,) with the Miele.

2 shedding dogs, two cats, and many vacuums later, I buy the cheapest, most powerful upright I can find. I loved my bagged Bravo, but it got harder and hard to find bags, and at age 6 started overheating. I had a shark for a long time before they got trendy and expensive. Unfortunately, it fell down the stairs, so cannot judge how long it would have lasted. I can say, by that time, the sharks were no longer worth their price. To me, I'd rather spend $80 every four years on a Eureka Pet with hepa filters that I wash and dry like laundry than waste big change on one that falls apart and loses suction just as fast. My Eureka sucks up the carpet nap the way you like seeing, it handles the stair case, etc,etc. I also have a dyson stick for quick jobs, but as you know, it cannot handle pets and its battery barely makes it past the kitchen.

249.00 dollars for shark professional. Its ok. Its very heavy. It wont fit under most furniture. On floors its passable. On carpet pretty good. Havent had it but few weeks. Still deciding if i will keep it. Shame there is no cleaner you can try in the store, like back when.

We just solved the vacuum war in our house with a Miele Compact C1 Turbo Team Bagged Canister Vacuum. Compact works for our small house and it has both the beater bar and a great attachment for hardwoods. I love it!