I'm changing my hoover as the suction is terrible, and with a jack russell who seems to constantly moult i'm in desperate need of a better one!

But i can't decide which is the best model to go for? Was hoping for some recommendations on here. Have been looking  at Vax, Dyson ...and possibly a Henry?

Any good suggestions very welcome - or ones to not go for too.

Thanks, Kate

Have tried them all plus numerous more -the only vacuum I have ever had last more than 6 months and still suck well is the Henry. Especially with the pet hair attachment on the Henry Extra.

I've had Dysons for years and still have the yellow one they first bought out. Have one up stairs and one for downstairs as they are flipping heavy to lug up and down. I use a very ancient handheld Hoover for the stairs that has a terrific suck and gets out those retriever hairs beautifully. I even have the cordless Dyson at our static. So Dyson for me.

for me the cylinder Vax. Had one for years until a foster dog chewed it. Only had my recent one for 4 years and still going strong.

I have the George, like Henry except it washes the floor and carpets as well

I have always had dysons and hated henrys and always ribbed my mom as she loves them, I have to say however after using hers with the pet hair attachment on my car I am converted,  ot got much more hair up withalot less effort. I am now thinking as I uave no carpets anymore I can get along with a henry too as the long lead appeals too and at a fraction of the cost.
I have tried the new pet hair dyson as my mil has one and although the suction is incredible it feels so cheap and not worth the £350 it costs.

Those that favour Henry's are they good for allergy sufferers?
Also do you go through lot of hoover bags and how much do you think it costs a year
it costs in bags?

We have an old Dyson and it doesn't seem to pick up the dog & cat hair very well off our carpets and
am considering changing to a different hoover but I do like 'bagless' hoovers.

The Henry/George bags hold a lot so it is not that expensive. I also bought a fabric bag for my George that just needs a shake, or occasional pop into the washing machine and it is good to go again. It is very thick fabric so will last for years and years. However I am still using my paper bags supplied with the machine most of the time, when they run out I will use the fabric one instead.

Do not, whatever you do get a VAX pet.  Useless - I would say design issues as the hair gets clogged in the intakes before it even hits the container.  I have to unclog it about 3 times if I am hoovering the whole house.  Messy and dirty as you have to pull all the hair and muck out with your fingers. 

I had a henry which was OK but gave me backache :-(

Dysons were great but my last 2 only lasted about 18mths each - not long for such an expensive machine.

I give up lol!!!

Hi Sugar,

As a the owner of a breed that coat blows to the extent it looks like there has been an explosion in a sheep pen in your front room! I believe I'm qualified to testify to the life expectancy of a vacuum cleaner in the face of extreme abuse!!
    I have a Dyson (purchased in 2004 - the DC07 Allergy) it is still going strong! What I especially like about Dyson vacuums is that the parts are relatively cheap and it is soooooo easy and quick to unscrew (plastic 'buttons' you turn with a penny and 'snap on' parts) to access areas to give them a good clean out and to replace filters. The filters are washable and in the (nearly) 10 yrs I've had this Dyson I've only had to replace the filters once! There are plenty of really good online YouTube videos from engineers that show you how to clean and replace parts so you can service your own machine and it's soo simple.
    The Dyson online store is incredibly helpful and you can send your Dyson off for a service which costs about £70 and they include the replacement of any parts you might need in that! And it comes back like a new machine! ... I must admit though that buying your own parts and doing it yourself is soo easy I've not used the service but friends have.

My 10 yr old Dyson looks as good as the day I bought it and functions just as well... It's a resounding 10/10 for me!
Hope this helps :-)

> you can send your Dyson off for a service which costs about £70

No - they come to you :) I can only repeat what you have said. I've had two Dysons (gave the first one away recently), the second is 10/11 years old and had it's first Dyson 'service' last year. It works extremely well - but they do require the (washable) filter to be washed and the other to be replaced periodically. You can't expect any bit of machinery to run and run without taking care of it both in the way it is used and also some routine maintenance :) :) I have two dogs with a double coat - one with long hair and my Dyson picks it all up without a problem (the only problem is having to keep emptying it ! but paper bags would cost a fortune) 10/10 from me :) (I bought a Vax a few years ago when we had two houses and it was awful - so badly designed :( )

I will agree that the dysons last, I have 5 japs and 3 long haired cats and its coped fantastically but I don't want the new one as it feels so cheap and fragile and as I have mainly wood I think ill get away with a henry.

I must have been very unlucky with dyson's. I had one of the early ones that didn't last any length of time and I wasn't impressed with its suction. I was recently given a very flash one by a friend who had gone over to wooden floors and rugs so didn't need it anymore. Again, I was not impressed with the suction and seemed to spend most of my time emptying the thing, which filled very quickly. It didn't last long. I do have a houseful of cats and dogs, including GSDs who I think are the worst hair producers known to man :-), so it is a bit of a trial for any vacuum cleaner. The best one was an old hotel heavy duty Hoover, which lasted for years and years but sadly couldn't get parts for it when it broke down eventually. At the moment I have a Hoover 2100W Pure Power, which isn't as good as my ancient heavy duty Hoover, but beats the Dysons hands down, and was a LOT cheaper than a Dyson. 

The early dysons were bad for setting on fire, 2of mine did. My mom likes her miele pet but I found it hard work.

> I even have the cordless Dyson at our static. So Dyson for me.

:-)  :-)

I'm down at my static at the moment.  My new neighbours have just asked me round, and they are excited with all their new buys for their first static.  I have been given a demonstration of their new cordless Dyson, and I'm well impressed.  My hands are pretty useless and I'm finding most vacuums a bit heavy.  So they allowed me to "have a go."

Cheeky buggers!  After I'd finished the hallway, they said can you do the bedroom now!  :-)

I have the cordless dyson too, its ace- best handheld ive had.

I have dysons and still have the first dc01 in working order as well as 2 dc04 ( dont ask ) however as per my other post have just fallen in love with Henry my thoughts would be one of each ! Looks like i will go for the henry extra.
Think I have an obsession with vacuum dleaners lol

Over the years we've had Hoover, Electrolux and currently 2 Dysons, the first (the old red, yellow and purple) must be about 17 or 18, the "new one" is about 5. One is for upstairs and one down. The thing I love about them apart from the great sucking up of dog hair is that they are so easily taken apart, parts washed and put back together again. If one of them was to die I wouldn't buy any other make.

> I have a Dyson (purchased in 2004 - the DC07 Allergy)

I must have bought my DC14 just after you then, it's the all floors white one, and does as good job, just remember to wash the filters, (just did mine again and they were awful, but it probably is more than the 3 months since last i did them).

For those of us who love uprights, if you have dogs with long hair then you will kill them as the hair gets around the brush-bar, (yoru need to remove the hair from teh brushbar regulary) , though the clutch does help with the newer models..

Fortunately my double coated breed doesn't have long enough coat for that, just volume.

If your emptying the Dyson can all the time, (twice a day just for downstairs here) then it's doing it's job and getting up the fur and dust.

> If your emptying the Dyson can all the time, (twice a day just for downstairs here) then it's doing it's job

Yes :) :)

I dont have a problem with my longhaird gsd hair in the dyson I just keep suckingg up odd things and kill the band. Oh is getting fed up with changing it but can't blame the dyson lol

Ah the DC14 and newer has a clutch so if anything gets sucked into the brush bar, it stops turning, so no broken belt.

In fact still have the original one when I bought it (probably 8 years).

penfold,i too had a vax pet!as you say,clogs far too easily.I relegated mine to upstairs,but i have to wash the filter after every 2 or 3 hoovers,or the hair gets clogged and takes ages to get out.In disgust,I bought a reconditioned dyson animal,which actually does the job!

now thats sensible perhaps I need a new dyson then and perhaps oh will be happier than spending ages changing the band.Ok so thats a new dyson and a henry lol

Dyson. Every time without a doubt. I have the yellow one which is a tad heavy but manageable. I dont allow the dogs upstairs so dont have to carry the hoover up every day. Apart from replacing a belt our dyson (touch wood) has been very reliable and although an expensive initial outlay I have more than got my money back worked out on useage (hoovering at least once but often twice a day) and years (nearly 5) ive had it.

We have a Dyson as our 'dog' hoover (for the areas Nando goes in) and then a 'Hetty' (like a Henry but pink) hoover for all the other areas. The 'Hetty' has great suction and is a fantastic hoover, but for the amount of times the Dyson gets used it is doing well to still be going... it is about 6/7 years old now I think but since we've had Nando is gets hammered. I hoover at least four times a day during the height of his moulting.

> Ok so thats a new dyson and a henry lol

LOL
If you think you can wheedle both out of him! 

http://www.dyson.com/vacuums/canisters/dc39/dc39-animal.aspx

This is the one that I have, I love this vacuum! worth every penny we paid for it. My mom bought one just like it after seeing mine used.

great vacuum and I wish I had known about Dyson 20 years ago, I could have skipped all the vacuums I paid for and watched die over the years, the latest was a Sears canister vacuum of my DH's. Oh and the five year warranty is absolutely the longest warranty I have ever seen on a vacuum.
You can read pet vacuum reviews at http://vacuumforpethairguide.com/ and http://www.amazon.com

Oh no could never get on with pull along vacs, has to be a proper upright for me, LOL

I have limestone floors so the Dyson cylinder grated and scratched  its way round the room, the uprights were great for the loose mats but not for the rough limestone, so the George was the best for my type of floor. I think the choice of vacuum really depends on the type of floor you have.
With carpets definitely an upright, with smooth hard floors a Dyson cylinder and for my type of antique rough limestone a Henry or George type of vacuum.

I have laminate throughout and a bungalow and would really like to try before i buy. Or i could buy and return as not fit for sale?? I also cannot stoop for long periods of time, never thought of a henry but will look into it now

Thats ok jeansw the jet wash died yesterday so may be I can do a deal with him lol

> xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">As a the owner of a breed that coat blows to the extent it looks like there has been an explosion in a sheep pen in your front room! I believe I'm qualified to testify to the life expectancy of a vacuum cleaner in the face of extreme abuse!!

One hairy dog! :-p  I think Goldmali beats you hands down with the Mali's, Paps and all those Persians & Exotics.

I have a Henry too and have 2 dogs and umpteen cats to vacuum up after PLUS we use them at the cattery I work at, and they have lasted years sucking up all matter of ****.

For a pull along I think the Henry is not bad as the wand is high (my Dad has one) , but it's not bagless or upright, and only sucks not having a brushbar (except in the pet attachment thingy).

My all floors Dyson does fine on tile and laminate.

Another thumbs up for dear old Henry from me too, just replaced my original one after a whopping 18 years of hard service tackling the fall out from my 7 hairy beasties.....I bought the new Henry Extra with a turbo brush and it's GREAT ! ...I love the simplicity of this Hoover, it's basically a bucket with a motor on top and it does just exactly what it says on the tin

Yvonne

I was disappointed with the two dysons I had, a yellow and grey one then the pet one and went back to good old Henry years ago and it's still going strong.

I am using Bissell Upright Vacuum which comes with unique features and cleans pet hair, dust and debris in every corner o your house with ease.

We have the Miele Dog and Cat (I think it's called) it's great!

Definitely a Shark best vacuum that I have had!
Previously had Henry, Dyson.
We have vinyl floors throughout and 3 dogs and is the best for dog hairs.

After three Dysons we bought a Shark Lift Away. The difference is unbelievable and my OH is its biggest fan!

I think ti depends on the type of dog hair.  We have quantity but not length, so my All floors DC14 Dyson has lasted nearly 20 years.

I love an upright, can't get on with cylinder types. So many of the new ones have such small dirt canisters, and I'd be constantly emptying them half way through..

I have the DC04 and have probably had it for about 15 years. Never had a better cleaner. I do have to cut the hair from the brushes at the bottom now and again but I have a longer haired breed.

I am using the Electrolux Canister Vacuum and it is great for those with pet allergies. You can take this versatile vacuum anywhere and cleaning is quite easy.

Another vote for Shark lift away. Had their cordless version until it broke, I thought it was doing a good job until I bought the old fashioned corded version(about £250 cheaper) and the amount it sucked up was amazing. Took a while to get used to a cord again but well worth it.