Swept Away

S and I managed to kill at least two brand new upright vacuum cleaners in first 3 or so years of marriage. (And this is from normal, everyday use and doing the recommended maintenance -- not vacuuming up construction debris or anything.) So we have gone for like a whole year, maybe two now, without a "real" vacuum. We've been using a DeWalt shop vac for bigger jobs and a little Swiffer vac for ordinary dust bunnies.

So, sick of cheap compromises and disappointments, S recently went on a major vacuum hunt. He scoured the web, read all sorts of reviews and even tested them out at stores. He was looking for something akin to the old Electrolux canister vacs that both my parents and his grandma still swear by after 30 years of use. (Seriously, they still have those late 70s/early 80s steel tanker models that if you dropped them out the window, you'd be more concerned about the sidewalk than the vacuum.)

The main criteria were: canister style (not upright), super suction power, good warranty and repair, made for hard flooring surfaces rather than carpet, friendly to allergy-prone people like us, lightweight for hauling up and down stairs, and in an affordable price range. I gotta give S a lot of credit for all his research. After tons of shopping around, he finally found the one. (Thank you Ester!)

Though we've only had it for a couple days, I'm quite fond of our newest housekeeping helper -- the Miele Olympus. I decided to test it out earlier this week on our dirty front rug and ended up vacuuming the entire living room and up the stairs as well.

I will have to come back and revisit this in a few months once we've broken it in, but here's what I think so far--

The Pros:

• Extremely lightweight (about 13 lbs.) and surprisingly small. It feels like pushing a toy.
• Available without the expensive electric carpet attachment, making it way more affordable and suited to our needs (since we have no carpet).
• Super duper suctiony. On the highest of the 6 settings (meant for carpet), it actually suctions itself to the floor. (The lowest setting is conveniently meant for vacuuming curtains without sucking them up! Though I haven't tried that yet.)
• Whisper quiet. On the normal hardwood setting, it's the quietest vacuum I've ever used.
• Easy to move. The swiveling wheels are so smooth, you barely know you're dragging it behind you.
• The warranty is generous, and we have a certified service center nearby if something goes wrong.

The Cons:

• Vacuum bags could get a little pricey.
• The tradeoff of being lightweight is that it's made of plastic, so it doesn't have the same armored durability as those old Electrolux models we grew up using.
• I wish the plastic accessory clips were a little more substantive. I don't foresee them breaking, but it's possible.
• The cord could be longer, for added convenience.

So far, so good. I really think we have a winner! I promise that I am not some oppressed housewife who gets overly excited about household cleaning items. I just happen to love finding honest opinions about things I'm thinking about buying, so I like to return the favor for other people when possible.

(Note: I was not paid or perked in any way for writing this review.)