Vacuum cleaners or OMFG MY CARPET! BARRRF

[Shaka Khan]

Living in a single bedroom apartment somehow lead to me to believe that a handheld vacuum satisfies all my needs, but upon further inspection, I've recently discovered that there's enough of my DNA laying around to build a clone completely out of my hair! So now I need a legit vacuum, and I need recommendations. I'm looking at at spending $50 max, so I need a pretty affordable yet reliable solution. Anyone?

[G The Resurrected]

spend the $50 on a vacuuming service. Honestly there aren't any good vacuums for that much. You could get a small shopvac, but that won't clean a carpet well. You can get a refurbished Dyson DC25 Animal from frys for $249. And that would be my suggestion for the cheapest best vacuum out there.

[Shadow Mod]

What handheld are you using anyway? Ours does just fine.

[Shaka Khan]

What handheld are you using anyway? Ours does just fine.

A black and decker that I bought for $40 last year. It's okay, but I need something more practical when I need to cover more ground, and fast. I looked up amazon, and saw a bunch of affordable vacuums in my range that have good/many reviews, but I'm not familiar with any of their brands.

spend the $50 on a vacuuming service.

I never considered this, but it doesn't sound like a reasonable long-term solution.

[Inspector Thatcher]

I bought a dirt devil when I first moved out, and it worked fine for about 8 months, and then it stopped sucking.

About a year ago I bought a hoover wind tunnel.  And it's a heavy-ass thing that it looks like I shouldn't need it for my 1BR, but I do, and it's a lovely canister vac that sucks.  It sucks when the canister is empty and when it's almost full.  And it comes with three attachments that make my life easier.  And, if I drop the fancy attachment, it's simply-enough designed that I, who has trouble with ikea furniture, can re-assemble it with no issue.

To a point, vacuums are as good as what you pay for 'em.  Spending $40 on a vacuum will get you something that works for awhile, but not for good; find a good vacuum on sale for $120ish, and you're more likely to still be satisfied with your purchase a year down the road.

Spend $500, and you're wondering what else it will suck, because lord knows you've got nothing left in your wallet for it to swallow.

[G The Resurrected]

It may not be a long term solution, but if you're in a bind or need a fresh restart on cleaning it helps a lot. We have several cats and they shed like crazy. So when our old vacuum went tits up our floors became disgusting. So someone suggested a cleaning service and it got things clean. And since then we've got a great vacuum that cleans awesomely. I was so surprised by the crap the vacuum picks up when the floors look clean.

It didn't help that all of this went down during the great fleapocalypse, where my legs were so bit up that it looks like someone shot buckshot at my legs. Now I'm on top of cleaning the floors. I get the borax out and dust the carpets with it and vacuum. Then I take the carpet cleaner and wash the carpet clean and dry it with the heater function.

Yeah I'm dead serious about floor cleaning. Even got a steam cleaner for the kitchen and bathroom.

[Great Rumbler]

Don't have carpet. Problem solved.

[tiesto]

I have a Dyson DC26 but that's a rather pricey option.

[Groogrux]

You should be able to get something decent for $50.  I got a huge Bissell for like $60 at Walmart a few years ago.  Dyson's are nice, but in the end, you just want something to get the shit off your floor.

[Akala]

Little over your budget, but we got a little shark that has been a miracle.

[Verdigris Murder]

You should be able to get something decent for $50.  I got a huge Bissell for like $60 at Walmart a few years ago.  Dyson's are nice, but in the end, you just want something to get the shit off your floor.

We had a Dyson, and it was utterly gay. It's main suction-pipe couldn't deal with dirty carpets, nice design, but negligible practically in its cool neat looks. A bit like the iPad.

[nudemacusers]

Ball hard and get a riccar.

But really, if you're flying solo and don't have dogs and shit practically any vacuum should be ok. In college I had a $70 one that was just fine.

[Shaka Khan]

Thanks guys. I'll look into these recommendations, and I wouldn't mind bumping up my budget a bit if it's a worthy solution.

[Yeti]

Just take a shower, don't dry off afterwards, then roll around on your carpet. Repeat as necessary until all of your hair is off your carpet!

[chronovore]

Vacuum cleaners are one of those "bite the bullet, buy a good one, cry only once" deals.

People who complain about a Dyson not working well are likely not cleaning their filters properly.

[G The Resurrected]

Vacuum cleaners are one of those "bite the bullet, buy a good one, cry only once" deals.

People who complain about a Dyson not working well are likely not cleaning their filters properly.

Yes vacuum cleaners are one of those expensive items that if you don't want to buy one every 2-3 years you'll want to spend extra on.

You should be able to get something decent for $50.  I got a huge Bissell for like $60 at Walmart a few years ago.  Dyson's are nice, but in the end, you just want something to get the shit off your floor.

We had a Dyson, and it was utterly gay. It's main suction-pipe couldn't deal with dirty carpets, nice design, but negligible practically in its cool neat looks. A bit like the iPad.

Is this pre DC25 series? if so I'd totally agree. They only became worth it after the DC25 got put on the market. It was the first to have that motor design. Now all of the models post DC25 share the same motor design as well as funnel system.

You do need to clean the innards of the funnels and the filters occasionally ever few months. But I've never met a more user friendly vacuum in my life. It's so easy to clean hair and things that get stuck on the roller. It's made my life a pure joy when it comes to my carpets.

[CrystalGemini]

I have a Dyson DC26 but that's a rather pricey option.

Dyson's are awesome.  Have you tried the heater/fans?

[G The Resurrected]

I have a Dyson DC26 but that's a rather pricey option.

Dyson's are awesome.  Have you tried the heater/fans?
(Image removed from quote.)

Bought a heater/fan this winter at costco and I love it. Our heating bill used to be $80 bucks, but since we stopped using our gas heater we got it down to $50. That's a lot of money saved each month and it keeps us warm when we need it. We were wasting energy heating all the rest of the apartment when all we need to heat was our room.