Our old vacuum cleaner sucked. Or rather…it didn’t suck.

Let’s just say it did a poor job of cleaning up hair, both pet hair and human hair. I could sit on the floor after vacuuming and see all the debris that was left. The vacuum was over 6 years old, and it had seen better days.

My mom was raving about her Dyson DC24 vacuum cleaner that she had purchased through a special promotion at Target. She’s pretty frugal, so we figured if she bought a pricey vacuum cleaner, it was probably worth it. The next time Eric and I visited my parents’ house outside of Raleigh, NC, I had to try it out. I was amazed by the amount of pet hair and debris that came up when I used the vacuum on their rugs—and they had just vacuumed recently, and they only have one dog! The vacuum was much lighter than our heavy old vacuum, and the Ball Technology made steering the Dyson in different directions very easy.

When I got back home, I did some research on the different models of Dyson vacuums. I knew I wanted one with the Ball Technology, as the easy-peasy steering made vacuuming almost fun…or at least, less of a chore. With 4 pets in the house that shed to various degrees, I knew I wanted a vacuum with the highest possible suction. That narrowed my choices down to the Dyson DC25 Animal and the Dyson DC25 Multi floor. The difference between those two models is the mini turbine head that comes with the Animal, which is an attachment that is supposed to work well on upholstery and stairs. I chose the DC25 Animal model because I wanted the mini turbine head. Since we got the vacuum, I’ve found that I actually like the stair tool better than the mini turbine head for vacuuming the couch, but it may depend on what type of fabric you have.

One nice surprise with the Dyson (yep, it’s good enough to have a “the” designation before its name) is being able to see how much more hair and dirt it picks up compared to our previous vacuum. Because we live in a new home, the vacuum is also still picking up extra fibers from the new carpet in some areas of the house. When the canister fills up, we empty it over the trash can with the push of a button. The Dyson is quieter than our previous vacuum, so our dog Libby doesn’t hate the noise quite as much. It’s also significantly lighter. I used to dread carrying our old vacuum up and down the stairs (I’m a weakling, I know), but the Dyson is significantly lighter, weighing in at 16.12 pounds.

We’re very impressed with the power and convenience of “the” Dyson, and we actually enjoy vacuuming a little bit more (gasp!).

What is your favorite tool to help keep your home clean? Feel free to let us know in the comments.

Image from 3kidsandus.com