My New Vacuum Sucks!

A true Libra, I am obsessed with balance in my life. As a young child, I insisted that my hotdogs were cut into equal pieces, and I always made sure that an equal number of pieces were dipped into mustard as into ketchup. As a teenager, I resisted piercings and tattoos because they ruined the natural, beautiful symmetry of one's body. And as an adult, my Libra-ness comes out in my purchasing patterns. I don't think I've ever bought a single stick of deodorant or just one carton to Diet Coke. Everything must come in twos. Including pets (and babies).

Therefore, we have two dogs and two cats (and two babies). We failed to consider the shedding issue when we moved our black lab into a home with off-white carpeting, but have spent the last three years trying to find a solution. Those of you who have lived with a lab know what I am talking about, and while Aunt Gigi calls the endless supply of relinquished hair "little pieces of love," I call it disgusting. The other day I got the boys' cheese out of the refrigerator and there was a stray black lab hair stuck to it. Gross. I shudder to think of how many Remy hairs my babies have ingested.

I am sure the other three pets contribute to the issue, but Jud is a cairn terrier, one of the few breeds of dog that does not shed. Princess Izzy, our exotic shorthair cat, does let the fur fly sometimes, but at least it's white and blends in with the carpet. And I'd wager that all three of them together do not contribute a tenth of the hair that Remy leaves around the house.

We've had an Oreck vacuum for three years, which until yesterday, I thought worked well. It seemed to pick up the dog hair, and it definitely worked better than the two Hoovers that Larry and I brought into our relationship. Still, though, I was intrigued by the Dyson Animal, as the name implied it was vicious enough to confront our problem. But who can afford a $600 vacuum? Certainly not us.

Then Woot ran the Dyson DC 33 refurbished on special last week. I started doing some research, and found that the DC 33 is nearly identical to the DC 28 Animal, minus a few attachments. And the price was a mere $199. It seemed a worthy credit card purchase if it could rescue my babies from a sea of fur.

So far, it's the best impulse buy I've ever made. When it arrived yesterday, I tested it on a small patch of carpet that had been vacuumed by the Oreck less than 24 hours before. I ran the Dyson over an area about 6 feet by 3 feet, and this is how much dog hair it reclaimed from the carpet:

I was amazed. I waited to vacuum the rest of the living room until Larry came home, because I needed a witness to this spectacular machine and a co-celebrant in my victory over dog hair. We vacuumed our living room and the boys' room last night and had to empty the canister SEVEN times before we finished. The Oreck missed seven bags worth of black dog hair. Larry and I feel like we have new carpet now.

My college roommate was asking for vacuum recommendations on Facebook recently, and one responder said "Anyone who recommends anything other than a Dyson has never used a Dyson." I have to agree. And I mean nothing but the highest praise when I say "My new vacuum sucks!"