buildhousehome: A New Vacuum Cleaner...

We moved into our new home a little over a year ago. When we packed up and left our old house, many things were either give away or thrown away- including our cheap vacuum cleaner. So when we moved in last December, we needed a new one. In the middle of having to get a bazillion things for the house, the last thing we wanted to do was research a good vacuum cleaner. So off to Walmart we go and we buy the cheapest vacuum they had. And BOY was it obvious!!!! Did a horrible job of sucking up dirt, let out little puffs of dust as I vacuumed, and it was heavy!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Y'all can imagine my joy when I finally got a new vacuum cleaner- a Dyson DC41 Animal Plus!!!!! Mr. U pulled it out of the box and started assembling it for me. He said it was easy to assemble. Me? Meh. I don't do assembly very well. Once he finished, I plugged that baby in and WHEEEEEEEE started vacuuming. (Amazing, isn't it, how a new cleaning product can suddenly get you into deep cleaning mode?? Or am I the only one?)

My first thoughts of the DC41 Animal Plus was that it was heavy!!!! Yes, probably as heavy as the cheapo one I was getting rid of. BUT the heaviness of the machine appears to mean better suction and FLUFFY carpet when I was done! Yes, our carpet looked fluffy!!! Even the stairs!! I used the wand to finally vacuum all my stairs!! I'm sure I will not win homemaker of the year for the fact that I never vacuumed my stairs before!! We used a Shark Swivel Sweeper for stairs before this Dyson. Also, the chord, I discovered, is VERY long. So long that I kept getting tripped up on it. Oh and there's this little flap at the top of the vacuum......

... when you need to put the vacuum in upright position, this little flap turns into a suction machine!!!! I'm not sure why it does that, but it sucked my hair into it the first time I stood the vacuum up and it was turned on!!!! After that, I clearly avoided that!!!! And lastly, I found the Dyson kind of awkward to get to stand up. You have to push it in stand up position and push a little further than you think is necessary until you hear a "click" and then you know it's locked in place. I wasn't careful a few times and thought I had it standing up properly and then BOOM it fell over backwards. I learned quick.

So what do I LOVE about the Dyson? HOLY MOLY does this thing fluff up carpet!! And you wouldn't believe the stuff I vacuumed up!! And the vacuum gets sooooooo close to the edge where the carpet meets the wall. LOVE THAT!! With the old vacuum, I would have to sweep that section and then vacuum it up- no joke!! I also LOVE that the hose extends far enough for me to leave the vacuum at the bottom of the stairs while I vacuum each stair. Oh, and I also love the fact that the vacuum transitions from carpet to bare floor with zero effort. I do nothing, no flip to switch at all! I just keep on vacuuming carpets AND bare floors!!!

Y'all be sure and tell me what you love/hate about your vacuum. And, if you are interested, you can learn more about Dyson cleaner here at Argos

Happy vacuuming, y'all!!