All Hail The New Vacuum!

When I got married, I felt pretty prepared for the responsibilities of "wifedom". My mom had taught me well... I knew how to cook, had some basic sewing skills, knew how to do laundry, etc. But I think the one area she neglected was with... the vacuum! Vacuums intimidate me. ...Not the actual act of vacuuming... that's easy enough and I actually prefer it to sweeping. However, when it came to knowing the basic ins and outs of a vacuum, I was clueless and therefore intimidated by the little boogers. When we bought our first vacuum, we purchased a bagless one because the thought of changing a vacuum bag was tantamount to changing my own oil on my car! And changing a belt on these things? Forget it! I'd rather just buy a new vacuum for all the trouble it would be worth! So, with that being said... when our vacuum started making a horrific noise a couple weeks back, I thought I was doomed. Aren't vacuums supposed to last forever? I had no idea what I was going to do about this noise or the fact that it was obviously not picking up stuff even if I tried to endure the noise (which, by the way was so loud it would send Dixie into a crying fit... she is now deathly afraid of the vacuum.) Well, after putting it off and putting it off... going through Hurricane Ike, dragging dirt and debris through the house... putting it off... I still had done nothing about the busted vacuum. (Anyone who has been to my house in the past couple weeks is probably feeling a little bit dirtier now after reading this.) :) Well, FINALLY I decided to look up vacuum repair shops in our area. I found one, took the vacuum in, the lady listened to it and said for the  quality vacuum that it was and what it would cost to repair, I'd might as well buy a new one. And so, without further ado... 

All hail the new vacuum! :)

Isn't it a beauty?? And I'll tell ya what... this sucker is powerful! Is it possible for a vacuum to suck TOO much? I tried to vacuum my door mats with this (something I could easily do with my Hoover bagless one by simply stepping on the corners of the mat to hold it down), but this one just sucks the mat right from under me! It even pulled up a row of the threading on the mat and ate it! Holy suction power! I'll have to remember not to do THAT again! :)
But anyway, the point of this story was not to tell you to buy a new vacuum every time something goes wrong. It just so happens, that while I was in the shop, I had the lady educate me on vacuums and I thought I would pass on some knowledge just in case you, like me, have been intimidated by vacuums.
First, I learned that bagless vacuums are not the way to go. The dust gets sprayed all throughout the machine and ruins the motor faster (albeit there are apparently some decent bagless ones out there, but you have to get expensive filters for them in order to keep the dust out of the motor, and you have to change the filter... so you might as well just change a less expensive bag instead, right?)
On that note, the second thing I learned is that changing a bag is NOT a scary thing. I had the lady show me how to do it and I suddenly felt really silly that I had been avoiding this task like the plague my whole life. It's as simple as pull one bag off, push the new one on. No tools needed, no muscles, just easy as pie. She also showed me how to replace the belt, which granted takes a little bit more muscle, but is nevertheless not scary. Just change the bag about once a month and the belt about twice a year.
The final thing I learned... name brand doesn't mean quality. I seriously recommend that the next time you need to buy a vacuum, go to a vacuum repair shop (they usually sell them too) and find out what they have. You will generally spend about the same amount as you would for a name brand in the store, but the quality is so much better! What happens in the stores (cough cough *Walmart* cough) is that they tell the vacuum makers, "we will only pay X-amount of dollars for your vacuums" and then the vacuum makers try to compensate costs by making them with cheaper parts, etc. The lady at the repair shop goes to vacuum conventions and checks out all the latest stuff before she decides what to sell in her shop. So she makes sure it's good stuff... possibly because she knows if it breaks, she'll be the one doing the warranty repair on it. So go to a vacuum store to get your vacuums. Your carpet will thank you. :)
Anyway, that's just my two cents on the matter. I am no longer vacuum handicapped, my house is finally clean once again, and the world is at peace. Well, my world anyway. :)

Loves to all.