If you want something really good for hardwood floors, have a look at this: http://www.eureka.com/products/upright/570b/570b.jsp I have had this for a few years now and it works fantastic! No cord and your floor will stay nice and clean! Trust me... I am like Felix Unger when it comes to cleanliness. After I vacuum, I go over the floor with the swiffer wet.
Get rid of your rugs. It's a breeding ground for fifth and bacteria and germs. Hardwood floor are so much better.
I have a Simplicity vacuum, which works well on my hardwood floors, carpets, and tile floors, but was probably overpriced. I have three short-haired cats. I also recently bought a Roomba. The advantages are that it's really really cool and that it does a good job at edges. The disadvantages are that you need to prepare in advance (for example, if there's an electrical cord running across the floor, and you're vacuuming with a regular vacuum, you can just move the cord when you get to it; with a Roomba, you have to clear stuff like that before you set the vacuum loose) and that it takes a long time to clean a floor. In theory, the fact that it takes a long time shouldn't matter, but it's so hypnotic that I can't seem to do anything but stare at it when it's running.
i have one tiny rug, the rest is hardwood, i agree about breeding ground for germs and bacteria. I will not be getting rid of my 5x7 rug. so that's why i don't need a very sophisticated vacuum. something small, portable, handheld etc. for this one tiny rug.
[/b][/quote] Well, if she volunteers to come over to our house and vacuum the floors, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt.
I debated between Nilfisk and Miele. I got the Miele. Quite happy with it for bare floors. For carpet which I don't have much of I use a very old Hoover.
Funny, I just came back and was going to report that I've seen pretty decent Miele but you beat me to it.
Not on this planet, at least for auto detailers. First of all, a Kirby is an upright. Why would you buy a $1300 upright when what you want is a powerful cannister vacuum. Second, they're ridiculously overpriced. Third, the most popular vacuum amongst auto detailers by far is a Ridgid wet-dry shop vac. Next most popular seems to be the Metro Vac N Blo. Search for Kirby vacuum cleaner in the forums at detailcity.com and you won't get a single hit. A week ago, after Xmas dinner at my parent's house (30+ guests), I vacuumed the house for my mother. She's got a Kirby, and a Hoover self-propelled Windtunnel. Guess which one I chose? It wasn't the $1300 one. The Hoover is a better vacuum (as far as I know the top-rated Hoover has always easily beaten Kirby in testing by Consumer's Reports), and it cost 1/4th what the Kirby cost. I won't deny that the Kirby will outlast the Hoover though. But I'd rather buy the latest technology when the Hoover dies, than be stuck with an expensive dinosaur that won't die.
I just bought the coolest carpet cleaning appliance today. It's ideal for people who frequently need to spot clean their carpet, because of pets or young children. It's called a "SpotBot" and it's made by Bissell. What's cool about is that you don't need to run the tools back and forth over the spot to remove it. You just put this device over the spot, hit the start button, and walk away. Three (or six, depending on chosen cycle) minutes later, your spot is gone and all that is left is slighly damp carpet. It also has a hand tool that you can see in the picture below, for manual cleaning. I've been going over a few cat vomit stains since I picked it up at Target this evening, and it's done a great job, with next to no effort on my part. [Broken External Image]:http://www.bissell.com/images/Products/1200-L.gif
