“You know you’ve made it when someone sends you a free vacuum.” -said no one ever. Until now. Now, I’m saying it, you guys. Because by this calculation, I’ve made it. I am someone in this world. I am someone who receives free vacuums (well, one free vacuum to be precise). The Dyson V7 Motorhead to be even more precise, which is a cordless, lightweight, super powerful stick vacuum.

How This Free Vacuum Came To Be

Following my dissertation about my adoration of our robot vacuum (the Roomba 690), Dyson Vacuums emailed me. Yep. THE Dyson Vacuum People were in my inbox asking me to try out their cordless Dyson V7 Motorhead vacuum (those are affiliate links).

Kidwoods getting that detritus

I looked over my shoulder, I checked that the email had, in fact, been sent to me, and I realized that all my hard work was finally paying off. Someone wanted to know what I thought about a vacuum.

This is salient because I am a lover of vacuums. I own a lot of them. I use them often. I detest dirt on floors and am frequently found with vacuum in hand, vanquishing the detritus of life.

Fun fact: apparently I say “detritus” a lot because Kidwoods thinks that King Triton (from The Little Mermaid) is called King Detritus. I have yet to correct her.

Were You Paid To Write About This Vacuum?

Serious vacuum work getting done

Nope. I was not paid to write about this vacuum, but I did receive this vacuum for free. I don’t write about stuff that I don’t personally use, like, and recommend. I tell you about things I like in the same way I tell my friends about restaurants I enjoy: from personal experience.

Clearly I would need to spend some quality time with the vacuum-in-question before telling you about it.

Given this, I let The Dyson People know that while I’d love to have a free vacuum, I wasn’t agreeing to review it positively or even write about it at all. The Dyson People confirmed that I wasn’t obligated to write about the vacuum and that they’d still like to send me one for free. Excellent!

The lack of quid pro quo squared away, I counted down the days until a vacuum showed up at my house.

My Unvarnished Review

Now that you know that I received this vacuum for free, but wasn’t paid to write about it, I’ll tell you what I really think about it: I LOVE IT.

My beloved Roomba (+ a banana passenger for scale)

Since I ‘m already in a committed relationship with my robot Roomba vacuum, why on earth do I need a non-robot vacuum? Two answers: kid 1 and kid 2. With two toddlers, we live in a constant state of making messes, cleaning up messes, and then making messes all over again. It’s the ground hog day of house cleaning.

The Dyson V7 Motorhead comes to my rescue during these incessant loops because it’s essentially a motorized broom (affiliate link). Not to be confused with a witch’s broom, the V7 Motorhead runs on battery and is cord-free. You push a button and it vacuums. That’s it.

You don’t plug it in, you don’t trip over the cord, you just run it along the floor exactly as you would a broom. A much more powerful, much more satisfying, much more effective broom.

Where I Use The V7 Motorhead

Here’s precisely how I utilize this motorized broom.

1) Cleaning the stairs.

The carpet-covered stairs in question

This is what The Dyson People suggested and they were spot on. Roomba cannot climb stairs so I’d been sweeping them, which took me upwards of 40 minutes and hurt my lower back (on account of needing to bend over with the broom). Our wooden stairs have carpet treads, which are superb for preventing slipping, but subpar to sweep.

Plus, owing to gravity, I had to sweep all the dirt down to the bottom of the staircase and herd it into a dustpan before the kids rolled in it.

With the V7 Motorhead, I can do the entire staircase in about 10 minutes, I don’t have to bend over because I’m not thwarted by gravity, and I don’t have to deal with two curious children menacing a pile of dust at the foot of the stairs. This makes the V7 an astronomical time-saving, frustration-saving, and back-pain-mitigation device.

2) The endless crumbs of our children.

The crumbing in our home is relentless. You could deduce every meal my children ate, and where they ate it, by the crumbs left behind. The floor under the dining room table after mealtimes is a horror show. The post-afternoon-snack couch is a minefield. And the kitchen floor–where they snack while I cook–might as well be a dirt floor. While Roomba is effective at taking care of the floors nightly, the Motorhead is my work horse for the constant hail of crumbs. I also have to hand it to the Motorhead for its ability to handle slightly damp/sticky messes. I wouldn’t run it through a puddle of spilled milk, but it gets an A+ for management of things like still-warm rice and quinoa. That stuff is sticky and kinda damp, but Motorhead doesn’t mind.

3) On furniture!

Who us? Do we look like we’d make a mess?

As mentioned, the couch is a daily victim of crumbing and the Motorhead does a superlative job on the couch cushions. I also–look I’m not going to lie–use it on top of the coffee table. What can I say, it’s much faster than getting out a wet rag.

4) In tight spaces.

Roomba has some height and size restrictions and can’t get into crevices such as the little patch of tile between the washing machine and the wall, or the gap between the stove and the cupboards, or the entry way door jamb (yes, yes, I’m that kind of cleaner, which I know has plenty of unhealthy markers to it… ). I also use it under the furniture Roomba can’t squeeze beneath.

5) Cobwebs, ceilings, light fixtures, and window frames.

Don’t faint, I don’t vacuum my ceilings. Or at least, I don’t vacuum ALL of my ceilings. The Motorhead has a really long tube (arm? extension?) that I use to vacuum ceiling corners, light fixtures, and window sills. I used to dust these areas with a rag, but then I’d have to come along and sweep up the stuff I’d dusted. It’s much faster and more efficient to do this in one pass with the Motorhead.

About The Design

The Motorhead is lightweight enough, and easy enough to operate, that Kidwoods (age 3.75) can use it (affiliate link). She’s actually pretty good with it and–since it’s a machine and a real adult thing–she loves it and I appreciate any extra floor cleaning I can get. The danger is that it’s so low profile and lightweight that sometimes I leave it on the floor and later find the baby turning it on and off and banging it against the tile, which I have to imagine is not good for its longterm longevity.

1) It’s cordless! Hooray!

As I mentioned, the thing is cordless and runs on battery. That battery, obviously, must be charged. For the first few weeks of its life with us, I plugged the vacuum into its charger on the floor (in the same way you charge a phone). But after the kids discovered they could unplug the charger (apparently this is fun to do?), Mr. FW installed the wall charging station it comes with and I fell in love (with him and the station).

2) You can mount the charger on the wall!

My wall-mounted charging station

The wall-charging system is pure genius, especially if you have: 1) inquisitive children with excellent fine motor skills; 2) pets; 3) limited floor space; 4) a desire for streamlined efficiency. The wall charging station keeps everything in one place–the vacuum, the charger, and all of the attachments–and makes it super easy for me to remember to charge it. I don’t have to bend down to the floor to plug it in, which we’ve established is a challenge for my back.

3) Bag-less filter.

The Motorhead has a bag-less filter, so there’s no need to buy replacement bags. You empty it straight into your trash can (pro tip: do NOT allow a toddler to do this on her own… it’s easy to do, but not that easy). I read that you’re supposed to wash the filter periodically, so next time I’m sitting around twiddling my thumbs just wondering what to do with my time, maybe I’ll do that.

4) It converts into a handheld vacuum and has three attachments.

The Motorhead transforms into a handheld vacuum! By removing the long tube, I can stick attachments straight onto the vacuum, making it a much smaller handheld device that’s better for cleaning furniture. I have plans to take it outside and vacuum the car, but that has yet to happen… I’ll pencil it in for next summer. The Motorhead comes with three attachments: a rolling brush head, a crevice tool (the long, pointy thing that reaches into small spaces), and a combination tool (the smaller brush head thingy).

5) It’s not too noisy.

Another bonus is that the Motorhead is not very loud. Neither of my kids like loud noises and we’ve had some vacuums that hurt their ears and made it impossible for me to vacuum when they were around. The fact that the Motorhead has a pleasant little hum is super advantageous for us.

6) It works on carpet, tile, and hardwood.

I’m impressed with how well the Motorhead does on the different floor surfaces in my house. The carpet on the stairs, in particular, eluded every other vacuum I’ve tried. Additionally, our kitchen tile has enormous grout lines, which a lot of other vacuums don’t have the suction power to clean. The Motorhead does a better job in our kitchen than the Roomba since the suction is greater and it can handle the difference in height between the tiles and the grout. I can wiz through the kitchen with the Motorhead in under five minutes and clean up all of our cooking messes (of which there are a lot).

Overall, it’s small, lightweight, cordless, has super powerful suction, a handy charging station, and it’s not too loud.

Things I Do Not Love About The V7 Motorhead

In the interest of giving you my unvarnished, unbiased opinion, there are a few things I don’t like about the Dyson V7 Motorhead:

  1. It won’t suck up cheerios with the rolling brush head.
    • This wouldn’t be an issue if I didn’t live with two cheerio-crazed critters. I guess cheerios are too big or too round? Whatever the reason, the rolling brush head extension will not suck them up.
    • When I remove the rolling brush head, I can vacuum the cheerios with ease. But, it would be a fraction easier if the brush head would just suck them up.
    • If anyone invents a cheerio-sucking rolling brush head, please email me.
  2. A near-daily occurrence

    I wish the charge lasted longer than 30 minutes.

    • The Motorhead has two modes: “power saving” and “maximum suction” and I find that I often want maximum suction for obvious and often quinoa-related reasons. The only problem is that the charge doesn’t last all that long on the maximum setting.
    • That being said, I’ve only run out of battery a few times and I use it every day. I just try to make sure and put it in its charging station when I’m not using it.
    • For me, the fact that it’s cordless outweighs that fact that sometimes the battery runs out.
  3. I wish you didn’t have to hold the button down to run it.
    • The design is such that you can’t turn it on and leave it on–you have to hold the trigger button down with your finger. This isn’t really an issue, but it took some getting used to.
    • I would prefer it if you could turn it on and leave it on.
    • However, it’s so easy to hold the button down that Kidwoods can do it on her own.
  4. Dyson does not sell a replacement battery.
    • I’m a tad concerned that Dyson does not appear to manufacture or sell a replacement battery for the V7 Motorhead.
    • I like appliances that I can repair and buy replacement parts for and, while Dyson sells replacement parts for most other aspects of the Motorhead, they don’t sell a battery.
    • There are third party manufacturers who sell replacement batteries for the V7 Motorhead, so if I ever need one, I’ll try one out (affiliate link).
    • I would prefer to buy a replacement battery from Dyson so, in my opinion, this is a downside of the Motorhead.

Other than these four concerns, I think I have my vacuum dream team with Roomba and the V7 Motorhead.

Would I Buy This With My Own Money?

My delighted vacuuming assistant

Easy for me to write about how great it is because it was free!!! But I have to tell you, after using the Motorhead for several months, I would spend my own money to buy one. At this phase of my life–constant mess, two swirling toddlers–it’s worth it to me. Just about anything that saves me time and frustration is worth it to me right now.

I did, in fact, purchase my Roomba with my own money, which serves as testament to my admiration for vacuums that work well and reduce my workload.

Why I Prefer the Motorhead to Plain Old Sweeping or Plain Old Corded Vacuums

It’s faster than a broom because I don’t have to make piles and then come around with the dustpan. Piles of dirt + kids = a way to spend a really long time not really getting a floor clean. Using the Motorhead with the kids, on the other hand, is super easy. They love to “help” me, but I don’t mind because the vacuum is out in front, sucking up all dirt in our path.

It’s easier on my back than the broom. I’ve had an increasing number of back problems and pains since birthing two kids and I found that bending over to sweep (especially on the stairs) left me in pain for hours if not days. Using the Motorhead has eliminated that issue.

It’s cordless. The absence of a cord means I’m more likely to grab it for quick clean-ups, which allows me to prevent lovely things like spilled quinoa from spreading around the entire house. With corded vacuums, I was forever pulling outlet covers off of outlets, loosing track of the covers, and getting self and children tangled in cords. Additionally, all of my corded vacuums are a lot heavier and less dextrous than the V7 Motorhead, which decreased their effectiveness for me (affiliate link).

Is it ridiculous that I write so much about vacuums? Perhaps. But for me, a clean house is a priority and anything I can do to save time and clean better under my constraints (kids, back pain, lots of messes), delivers a lot of value to my life.

What do you clean with?

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98 Comments

  1. I bought a cordless vacuum (Hoover) before recent knee surgery so I wouldn’t have to deal with the cord. I looked long and hard at the Dyson and really liked that it had the attachments. But I didn’t know about having to hold down the switch. That would have been a deal breaker for me. As it was I decided it was too pricy for me. I love having a cordless vac though!

  2. We just bought a dyson cordless animal version (perhaps meant for pets? I have four children, no pets, and it’s great). Literally got it on Saturday and it’s amazing. My nine year old vacuumed our two flights of stairs. My husband said, “there is nothing crunchy on the ground!” It even got the bits of old food out between the 1/4 inch cracks of our original floorboards. I too have a roomba. 😂 it is a great dream team!

  3. We love our Dyson. We have an eight year old, pretty heavy upright that I trash picked. Recently , after three years of use, we spent money to have it repaired. We are huge fans of items that can be repaired although we were slightly disappointed that we were pushed hard to trade in. I can confidently say that our vacuum does not get the use yours does, as we are pretty casual about cleaning the piles of cat hair from three fur filled sweeties. However, we are now kid free so maybe it’s not such a big deal.

    I’d love a good cordless vac but haven’t found one free on trash day!

  4. I also have a Roomba and a Dyson motorhead (older editions than yours) and the combo works great for us.
    One word of warning, at least in my version of the Dyson, eventually the vacuum will stop working until the filter is changed/cleaned. So, you might want to purchase a replacement filter(s) that you can swap out while you wash the original for when that time occurs.

  5. We don’t have one of these beasts but we have one of their corded vacuums and one of their cordless handhelds – love them both. At this point, since we have both, it’s hard to justify converting to just the single one – but this review sure is tempting….

  6. We have the same vacuum and love it! I was really hesitant to spend so much or have to keep it plugged in when not in use. However, I fell for it wholeheartedly after the first day. Our house is so much cleaner, especially stairs and different levels where I hated dragging our corded vacuum. I like it so much, I splurged and bought one for our duplex Airbnb so I could stop lugging around the corded vacuum (that still worked perfectly fine) over there. It honestly makes me cleaning in between guests SO much easier.

  7. I am famous for killing a snake who made his way into my first floor condo with an upright Dirt Devil …so my question is, would this vacuum successfully kill a small but unwelcome snake in the house?

    1. I can honestly say that I have no idea. I mean, probably, depending on the size and ferocity of the snake in question? But I think I’d be more worried about killing the vacuum in the process!

  8. This sounds great! I have a question about the rolling brush head. When I’ve had vacuums with rolling brush heads, the brush heads would get stuck because of tangled hair and not work. (Eventually daughters stop dropping Cheerios, and produce copious amounts of long beautiful hair that drop everywhere.) Any concern about or experience with the brush head becoming entangled or matted with human or pet hair? Thanks!

    1. It seems to do great with hair. I haven’t had to cut the roller brush free yet, but that’s probably because I run the Roomba every night, which cuts down on the amount of general dust and hair.

    2. My Dyson is our only hoover and it does clog up with hair eventually – but no more so than any other hoover I’ve had (less, to be honest), so I occasionally just yank out the enormous bunches of hair.

  9. Yes! I have this exact one and I’m obsessed with it. I did a ton of research and this was the model that hit the sweet spot of price and power for me. I def paid like over $300 for it which feels insane but I also just…never cleaned my floors, which was also not sustainable. This thing is pretty fun and made me like vacuuming!

  10. I LOVE my Miele canister vac. It was VERY pricey, but I do not regret this purchase. It’s great for hardwoods and carpet. This thing has tons of attachments. We choked a bit on price when we purchased it, but I would totally buy it again!

    1. Same! I love my Miele and I am never going back. After reading the reddit-famous vacuum repairman’s AMAs, I knew I wanted one and it took me awhile to figure out which one (the cheapest but still better than any vacuum I’ve ever had). So much suction and so easy to use!

    2. Miele anything is amazing and worth the price in my experience. We have a Miele dishwasher that we love and my in-laws have a Miele washer and dryer that they adore.

    3. We also have a Miele canister vac and my husband loves it! He does all the floor cleaning in the house because of my bad back. It was pricy but it works great at hoovering up all the cat hair on the carpet.

  11. if you have battery issues, email customer service. They were great at mailing out replacements when mine had issues. One time it was going to take too long to get a battery so they just sent me a brand new vacuum.

    1. same thing happened to me. i’ve had great customer experiences with dyson. we have a stick and a canister–i almost exclusively use the stick. it’s awesome. i bought the floor tool as well–it can go sideways, which means you can get into even tighter spaces than with the motorhead. the floor tool is also wider, which makes it faster to vacuum :).

    2. See I found their customer service so bad! 🙁 I got one a few years ago and it inexplictably broke after a few months. The store they wanted me to bring it to was only open 9-5 and was 30 minutes away so we ended up selling it at a swap meet.

  12. I have loved your review. You’re amazing even when you write about vacuums, and even when I already own a very similar vacuum to that one. Thumbs up to your writing once again!

  13. What about hair? I know you don’t have the longer locks anymore, but with 3 girls fair length hair in the house, I have to imagine there is still some shedding that goes on. Does the Dyson do well with hair and how often does the roller brush thinger need cut free?

    1. It seems to do great with hair. I haven’t had to cut the roller brush free yet, but that’s probably because I run the Roomba every night, which cuts down on the amount of general dust and hair.

    2. The Dyson does really well with vacuuming hair! We just have one person with long hair in our house (me) and I’ve had to cut the roller brush free of hair once by the end of the first year we had it.

    3. We have the Dyson stick vac and it is truly the bomb. Three out of five of us in the family have long hair and this poor vacuum needs to have a haircut like once a month. Definitely not Dyson’s fault, haha. We shed a lot. I have had to take the vacuum powerhead apart several times (say, 3 times in the last… four-ish years of owning it) to do some mega-hair-removal surgery, as our hair got wound up in the edges where we couldn’t snip it out anymore. Anyways, that’s a minor inconvenience.

      Also works great for when you’re doing your family haircuts and you can hand the Dyson over to one of your kids and put them on “hair clipping patrol.” This thing is just so awesome.

  14. For Christmas a couple years ago in anticipation of the hardwood floors we were getting installed my husband got me a cordless stick vacuum. Some version of Hoover. We have another regular vacuum for the carpeted upstairs of our house because the stick vac would do enough on carpets but I love it for the hard floors. I have messy children as well. They track in clumps of dirt and wood chips. They leave crumbs everywhere, somehow even when the meal doesn’t seem to even make crumbs. It’s just constant mess, and it’s fabulous to have something lightweight and cordless to use, or that they can even use to clean up after themselves. It has a nice tool for upholstery that I also use on my carpeted stairs and it works great. Mine has a switch you can flip so you don’t have to hold the power button which I like, but it doesn’t charge on the holder which I don’t like. It charges with an ac adapter which means you could in theory charge it while in storage, but then you have to mount it somewhere with a plug. Mine is in my hall closet and there is no plug. But it’s not the biggest hassle to go plug it in. All vacuums aren’t the same, just like any other tool. Nothing wrong with owning more than one.

  15. We joke in my family that this is the vacuum that changed our lives! My sister got one first and now my mom, my other sister and myself all have one. It’s just so handy! I got a refurbished one on super sale plus got a rebate thru Rakuten so it was reasonable. I also agree with your compliant though about the Cheerios (though handy when it comes to LEGO, ha!) If its just a couple, instead of taking the attachment off, I’ll step on them and they vacuum up, no trouble! Counter intuitive, but it works!

  16. Love your thorough review! I’m looking for a new vacuum to replace my canister style vacuum. Could you imagine using this as your only vacuum, if you didn’t already have your Roomba? I don’t think the 30 minute charge would bother me, as I really can’t picture myself vacuuming longer than that in one fell swoop anyway. I’m thinking of replacing mine with this Dyson….seem reasonable?

    1. Yes! I think this would definitely work as your only vacuum as long as the 30 minute charge wouldn’t bother you. For me, if I had to do the whole house with it, the charge time would be a hassle.

    2. I use the Dyson as my only vacuum and it works really well! I don’t often have time to vacuum the entire house in one fell swoop. Usually I just vacuum one section at a time (the stairs and entryway of our house always seem to need vacuuming more than other parts) or I just do one floor at a time and charge in between or overnight. On one rare occasion I did try to vacuum the entire house at once and the Dyson *almost* made it on one charge. Our house is about 2,000 square feet. I just plugged it in for 30 minutes, cleaned the showers/sinks/toilets, and then finished vacuuming the rest of the house. I agree with Mrs. Frugalwoods that the cordless part is well worth having to plug the battery in.

      The roomba didn’t work well for me because there were a lot of things it got stuck on (dog toys, wires, and fringe on an oriental rug), plus my pets didn’t love it

    3. Morgan, the cordless Dyson has replaced the corded one completely for me. I was very surprised. My old one is mainly used now for when we sort out our rentals so I have kept it as a spare instead of carting one back and forth. I’d be afraid to run a roomba as we have a cat with, shall we say, a delicate constitution! I dread what that would do if a Romba went over it!

  17. If you get a janitorial dustpan with a long handle you’ll never have to bend over or make little piles again.

  18. I have a Dyson and I love it for many of the reasons listed above. I vacuum my car with it too. And I have a similar vacuum saga:

    I had a roomba that I got on Craigslist previously but it didn’t work well for our house because there were a lot of things it got stuck on (dog toys, wires, and fringe on an oriental rug), plus my pets didn’t love it. We resold that on Craigslist. Before the roomba and the dyson, we had my grandmother’s old vacuum, which plugged into the wall and had a larger body where the bag was. I was always bumping it into walls as I dragged it around and sometimes that left marks. It is so much easier to just get the cordless vacuum out, especially for small messes, that dragging out the other vacuum, not bumping into any walls, and plugging it in.

    I agree that I wish the Dyson had a replacement battery but I’m glad to know there are other companies selling them at least!

  19. Thanks for offering a fair and honest review of this vacuum! One of my frugal hacks was purchasing a condo with low condo fees. Part of that trade off with low condo fees is vacuuming and maintaining our shared hallways ourselves instead of hiring a cleaning crew. The biggest challenge of this task is the lack of electrical outlets in the hallways, so I end up sweeping with a dustpan and broom all the time. And the hallways includes three stories of stairs! So that makes things even trickier. I’ll keep this option in mind as I continue exploring cordless vacuums – thanks again!

  20. We own 4 I think if you don’t count the shop vac. I found the same Dyson that you have (albeit an older model) dumpster diving college moveouts a few years ago. I LOVE IT!! In fact, I just finished using it for my daily tidy up. I’ve bought 2 batteries for it since I found it, but other than that it was free to me. If it ever died on me I’d pay to replace it. It’s awesome! I count this among my best dumpster finds of all time for sure.

  21. I LOVE our cordless Dyson. It was worth every penny that I spent on it (not as much as it could’ve been because it was on sale AND I was also able to use a coupon, but still pricey). I bought it when I was 4 months pregnant knowing it would be difficult for me to use our other “normal” vacuum with a growing belly. My only complaint is that I can’t turn off the rolling head/beater. I have one wool rug (in my daughter’s nursery–maybe not the best idea…) that I can’t vacuum with the beater on. But yes, love, LOVE, LOVE, our Dyson.

  22. We used a third party battery to repair an older Dyson cordless model I found in the garbage, and it now works great!! It’s now our shop vaccum to complement the Dyson handheld that I had bought for the rest of the house.

    My partner has a Miele and while it’s a lovely vaccuum its a bit aged, the bags are a nuisance to have to buy (and a specialty item), it takes up SO MUCH SPACE, and just doesn’t do as good a job.

  23. It never occurred to me to register for a pricey vacuum, so I didn’t, but someone got us a one of these out of the blue and it might be the best gift we got for our wedding. The first few weeks we argued about who got to use it!! It only holds a charge for 20 minutes, but I can get a lot done in that 20 minutes! We also have an old Hoover that we got at Walmart about 8 years ago, and a shop vac. I’d love to get a mini shop vac because then I think we’d really be set!

  24. I have a Hoover stick vacuum that we got last year when I was looking at this Dyson, but at 1/5 the price. It works great, does pick up cheerios with the roller bar on, and it has an on/off switch. I’m really happy with it, though I feel it isn’t great on carpet, just because the dog hair gets so stuck on the roller head and there isn’t a great way to clean it. (The dog hair sucks past better on our wood floors.) I do the kitchen floors daily.

    I also really like that it has a super long extension, great for doing along baseboards, and can be held like a small dust buster.

    So I have a bagless Hoover for the carpets, which I do weekly.

    We also have a roomba, which I don’t like. Too much babysitting to empty the dog hair. Even though it’s supposedly a pet hair one.

  25. There are reasons to have one normal vacuum and a cordless lightweight one. With only one floor we no longer have one for stairs and one for the rest of the house. I only ever had 2 vacuums that lasted. A Hoover when still made in the USA, and made out of metal instead of plastic, and our present Kirby G5 purchased like new with all the tools on Craigslist about 15 years ago. The Kirby is built like a tank and will outlast us. Plastic ones do not last more than a few years. I see them in the neighbor’s trash all the time.

    Dyson are nice. I wonder how long they last. Dyson are also over priced. That said, I’d still probably buy the V7 if we had stairs to clean, and I could find one at a good price — or better yet — used in good condition. for walls, ceilings, and ceiling fans, a good cotton dry mop and original Endust.

  26. I finally got a Dyson v10 earlier this year. With 2 kids (1 and 4) and 2 shedding dogs it’s an absolute lifesaver. It is expensive and I hummed and hawed over it for ages but when I got unexpected extra money at work I went for it. It would be nice to have the extra battery but that wouldn’t be a deal breaker for me.

  27. We have 3. A roomba, a milwaukee, and the third I can’t recall the brand. It’s on wheels and goes on the floor while a hose comes out and you put whatever attachment you want on it. That one is for deep cleaning. The roomba is for daily maintenance. The milwaukee serves the role this dyson does. It’s basically a dustbuster but has a ton of attachments including the tubes so you don’t have to bend over and I love it. It takes Milwaukee 12 volt batteries, of which I have at least 5, so they’re always charged. I really like the interchangeability of Milwaukee batteries across their products. I also have the Milwaukee heated coat and hand warmer.

  28. The dyson stick vacuums definitely have batteries that can be replaced. We have 2 of them and over the last six years have replaced one battery on each. These things are incredible and we vacuum our entire 1800 sq foot, three cat home. We do half with one and when the charge runs out we finish with the second one. We would never be without them

  29. I bought a Dyson V7 for our sewing studio. It’s super efficient and quick for cleaning up threads, lint, etc – I’ve even vacuumed my sewing machine and myself! I agree with you that the battery charge runs out quickly but the ease of use outweighs this drawback

  30. I have a dyson v8 and while I had heart palpitations while buying it because of the cost. I LOVE IT! It’s hand down one of the best things I’ve ever purchased. It does such a great job on the hardwood floor.

  31. I was recently listening to an early episode (#8) of Young House Love Has a Podcast and they interviewed a few bloggers about how much one of these kinds of posts would get them– generally thousands of dollars. Doing it for just a free vacuum is very old-school.

  32. Tested out both Roomba and Neato robotic vacuums. Neato was the far superior vacuum. Great options and better pickup than my regular vacuum. Use 6 days a week to keep my house clean of cat hair.

  33. I have this exact same model – the bright pink appealed to my child, who claimed that the vacuum was hers, not mine (sure, kid). I LOVE IT and I evangelize for it all the time. It is the only thing that gets dog hair quickly off my runner rug in the hallway (on max power) and I can vacuum my whole (small) house with it on regular mode. My only complaint is the one you have about needing to hold down the button the whole time – if I don’t position my thumb right, I get a little blister. Otherwise, this thing is the best!

  34. I used to have a bagless Shark upright that worked pretty well, though I eventually came to hate that it was bagless. SO messy trying to empty it. Then it broke, more expensive to fix it than it was worth at that point. I had read on Reddit several AMAs from a vacuum guy, and he recommended Miele. So we bought a canister vac of theirs, with the power roller brush, and I love it. It is rather expensive, but so worth it and will last forever. I’m quite sure we’ll be leaving this vacuum to the kids in my will! 😀

  35. I bought this exact vacuum a few years ago. The battery life drove me absolutely crazy and eventually the battery just died after less than a year. I just gave up and went to a similar Shark vacuum with a cord and I love it. The cord is a bummer, but I prefer it over only getting part of the job done due to battery life and it was less expensive than Dyson

  36. I have the V8 absolute and love it. It has the fuzzy roller that can get up cheerios. My tip is that if anyone is buying one new, get it from Costco and you can return it easily. I used to have the V6 but it broke so Dyson offered to let me buy a new one at a pretty good discount. To take advantage of the offer I just returned the original to Costco and bought a new one from Dyson. I’m not sure if they are durable enough to be worth the price, but their customer service is good. If I were to buy all over again I might consider a Shark, but now I’m pretty spoiled by the Dyson.

    Also, it really helps to wash the filters once a month. I do miss it the day of filter cleaning and drying!

    1. I was going to say this too! I have a fuzzy head and it does cheerios and is great on tile, hardwoods, and very low pile carpet like what you have on the stairs. It would not be very effective on more fluffy carpet. But it’s awesome for cheerios and hard floors!!

  37. Didn’t read any of the comments but I am assuming that it would work great in a vehicle for cleaning 🙂 Those little dustbusters I finally got rid of since I could do better with a brush and dustpan.

  38. I have a Dyson cordless Something (V8 I think? whatever they were selling in the UK two years ago, not the pet-specific version).
    Like you, I love it because it is light, portable, cordless, and the wall-mounted charger is the bees knees (handy, out of the way, doesn’t take up extra floorspace in the utility closet).
    We have no kids but we have 4 flights of stairs (!!) in our tall narrow house, hence got this after moving in (doing stairs with a corded hoover is SUCH a pain).
    Also like you I agree with the minor niggles – having to keep finger on button (more of an issue if have RSI or arthritis I’d imagine!), battery life could be better, and why are there no battery spares for sale? However I confess I had never assessed its suitability in hoovering up Cheerios (insert crying emoji). I live in a Cheerio free house… for now!

  39. I have been in love with Roomba since my first child was born and I got it as a Mother’s Day present from my mom and dad. 🙂 I’m on my third iteration of Roomba now and actually have two of them. I might have to try this Dyson (not sure about having to hold the button down though…seems like that might be annoying). I liked the idea of being able to get at the walls/ceilings/ceiling fans with the Dyson cordless. That would be nice. (I don’t get those cleaned enough!) We currently also have two Shark canister vacs (one for upstairs and one for down that handles the old, old shag carpeting really well). I’ve been really happy with the Shark for a deeper clean floor vac, but I will forever love my Roombas! Thanks for the review. 🙂

  40. We bought a Shark cordless vaccum last year because the crumbs from our toddler were always everywhere. IT IS THE BEST MONEY IVE EVER SPENT. haha. My husband wasn’t convinced of it’s full ise at first, but he got converted. I use it multiple times a day and love the ease. Side note: the battery can be replaced and shark sells them directly.

  41. Ha! – i bought one of these suckers about one month ago – i agree with your assessment!

    Since i did pay for it with my own pennies, i can indeed confirm i would do it again. I paid for it initially because my THIRD red dirt devil REACH MAX PLUS 3-IN-1 CORDLESS STICK VACUUM died in exactly the same fashion as the previous 2…..i am a slow learner. I calculated how much i had spent on them and hit the submit button on the dyson without hesitation.

    my only other negative is that we have 2 ruggable carpets (entryway and kitchen) – it tries to eat them every time – but since that also means it is powerful enough to eat a carpet i really cannot complain that it is powerful and now i just tell myself i bought wimpy carpets (although i do really like them for what they are).

    regards,

    M

  42. That trigger button made the vacuum unappealing to me. I have arthritis in my fingers and that would make it super hard for me to use! I wish they’d make it a switch instead! We have the cordless shark and it does the job just fine, with no buttons having to be held down! Very nice to get any vacuum for free though!!

  43. I love Dyson vacuum cleaners but have recently replaced my smaller stick version ( which replaced my 20 year old upright) with a discontinued upright model which was heavily discounted. This was because I found having to continually hold the trigger button was a problem for my hands. I think that this is something that Dyson need to consider. Having to continuously hold onto a switch to activate places stress on joints and muscles. My daughter who is at university was very happy to give the stick vac a new home.

  44. I’ve had my dyson cordless for 6 years and would buy another tomorrow if I needed to. I live in an old house with very few outlets and a mix of wood and rugs. It simplifies cleaning —no way would I go back to a cord. It is quirky though and I have a lot of cat hair so it would be hard for visitors to use. I have replaced the battery and the main vacuum head but it was worth the fixes.

  45. Have had a Dyson cordless for a few years now & love it & I’ve been able to purchase replacement batteries through the Aussie Dyson website with ease. Glad it’s making things easier for you too!

  46. I bought a cordless Dyson 2-3 years ago and I am a better person for it! But seriously, my apartment is way cleaner. One thing that worked in my favor was the 2 year warranty. I was able to send mine to a Dyson store (free shipping), where they replaced a couple of parts. When my battery wasn’t lasting/charging, they sent me a replacement battery. Great customer service.

  47. I have both the Dyson Animal and the Roomba. I have three small dogs – but they aren’t the messiest souls in the house! Its DH and DS25. The Roomba – whom we named “Reginald” – is programmed to run the same time every day in our open-plan living-dining-kitchen area. The Dyson is mostly used on stairs and in the bedrooms and media room. I suppose I COULD carry Reginald upstairs to do the bedrooms and such but so far I have not…

  48. Thank you for making vacuums interesting! I have a husband who vacuums (we are a “role reversal” household). I just know it wouldn’t work to have one that only lasted 30 minutes due to the infrequency of the vacuuming (one big clean not very often – maybe its a guy thing) and therefore length of time needed to do the job. I agree with you on the need for replacement parts so ‘boo’ to not being able to replace those as vacuums always need fixing eventually..Also, not being able to pick up things like cheerios or other similar sized objects would be a deal breaker for me. I have a Dyson and so like the brand in general. Thank you for such a fun article and sooo cute pictures.

  49. I have this exact vacuum and it’s amazing! Really great for cleaning out my car too. I’ve had just this vacuum (even the magenta!) for several years now. It’s wonderful for apartment living and I have used it exclusively. I even had a situation where part of the vacuum cover broke off (old roommates), and I contacted Dyson to try to order a new one, and they sent me one for free! For my frugal-loving heart, this was some amazing customer service. I’ve never had such a great experience replacing a part.

    I will likely be getting a Roomba (as my holiday wish!) to automate the dog fur cleanup that came when my boyfriend and his pooch (long, flowing fur that gathers in clumps in my apartment) moved in. Because I sincerely dislike corded vacuums, I hope the Roomba + Dyson is the only combo I need!

  50. Glad you love the vacuum! Mine is dying. I’m going to go without for a little while, but I’ll probably get one eventually, and that model would be a good replacement, so I appreciate the information. About backs: I have old upper spinal problems, and two little kids like you, plus the homesteading. Last fall I threw out my lower back for the first time, which really made me feel middle aged. Then I did it two more times in a couple of months. Not fun. Then I read this woman’s book: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/06/08/412314701/lost-posture-why-indigenous-cultures-dont-have-back-pain. I’m not very good at the postures yet, but I haven’t had another injury, and I have fewer migraines, too. Much more frugal than back surgery.

  51. This is so timely. I was just talking with friends about the cordless stick vacuums a week ago. I have 4 vacuums: a Dyson, a hardwood floor vacuum that I’m pretty sure I learned about from you, a Deebot, and a handheld. They are all (other than the Deebot) corded, which is a total pain and none of them does everything I need. I end up using none of them as often as I should and it shows. It doesn’t help that my dog is very sound sensitive and hates them all. So it’s good to know the Dyson stick isn’t particularly loud.
    I do like the Deebot and it gets the most use, but it has issues with a couple of my area rugs and will get stuck, which is so frustrating since I try to run it when we’re on another floor or out of the house because of the noise issues. Going to have to keep looking into the stick vacuum option!

  52. As someone who also once received a free Dyson vacuum cleaner in exchange for an honest review, welcome to the club! That battery-powered model looks pretty nifty. I have a comparatively boring corded Dyson canister-style vacuum cleaner. Still works great after several years though!

  53. I have a cordless and an upright Dyson vacuum cleaner. I confidently went to the Dyson warehouse to buy a replacement part for my old upright. Not available. They gave me a big discount off a new vacuum but I was very upset. I have a cleaner who comes once every two weeks and after every visit I have to pull the machines apart and fix the damage she has done.

  54. I’ve been loving Dyson’s for over 20 years. We got our first one direct from the original factory (UK) as we lived in the next town. It lasted over 10 years before my ex hubby took it. I got a newer one about 10 years ago and it’s still going strong. About 5 years ago I bought the cordless one (a V5 I think) as I’m disabled and the heavy corded one was harder work for me. I rarely use the old corded one now. It lives upstairs where hubby uses it while I only use the cordless one now. It’s great for pet hair. We have a ragdoll (very furry) cat and I have to vacuum sofas every single morning before they can be sat on! It does a great job. What I have found with Dysons (like most things) is that if you look after them and clean them regularly they will just keep on going. I have no idea if my ex still uses the first one but it was working great when I gave it to him so who knows?

  55. We have two vacuum cleaners. Both are corded units. One is a Miele canister unit with a hepa filter and bags that only weighs 11 pounds, has different attachments for cleaning upholstery, a power cleaning head for carpets , great cleaning power and is very well made. It cleans well without sending dust into the air. It was $1000, but it will last for 30 years or more. For things like cleaning up sawdust, hair clippings or larger spills, I use a Ridgid 5 gallon shop vacuum. I am not a fan of battery powered appliances as they phase out making the batteries and render the item useless.

  56. Your life could be a sitcom…and I mean that in a nice way. And you could write it. I laughed a lot while reading this post. Nice work!

  57. What about clumps of dog hair? Thick clumps. Like my German Shedder blowing her inner coat? Like, why isn’t she bald?

  58. Umm 4 vacuums. A single guy with a Labrador can’t have too many. 3 shopvacs. An old craftsman in the garage, two Ridgids in the shop, one large and one medium. A Shark Navigator in the apartment which is the perfect device for corralling Labrador fur in hardwood floors and carpet and couch.

    One of the Ridgids sucked a wasp out the air, but no vertebrates.

  59. Thank you so much for your review of the Dyson! I confess that the affiliate link to Amazon was very confusing to me because it showed 3 different prices of the same model Dyson you reviewed. I wish you could actually share the link to the product you got WITHOUT all the myriad of other choices. I know this isn’t your fault! But since you have connections I never will, let Amazon know I would have clicked and bought if I could see the model you reviewed and added it to the cart without all the other distracting choices. (You did the comparison work for me in the article you wrote, right?)

    But because It wasn’t clear to me what the actual differences were and why I needed to pay more (and I couldn’t tell if I might be buying a refurbished Dyson), I went straight to the Dyson website and ordered there. In the process, Dyson offers free attachments with the model that I wouldn’t otherwise get. Excited to get this new tool soon and thank you again!

  60. For those asking about longevity of the Dysons, I bought the Root Cyclone in 2000 or 2001 and it’s still going strong. The only repair I’ve had to do is to duct tape a hose that cracked. I *finally* broke down and bought a second vacuum, the Dyson Small Ball. Boy, I wish I had done that years ago! We have three stories and two bad backs which made it hard to take the big Dyson up and down the stairs at times. I tell ya, seeing Kidwoods with that cordless vac in hand makes me seriously consider a third vacuum…she could be Dyson’s official spokesmodel. LOL

  61. So your kids definitely don’t look like they make mess:) But I love the part about knowing where your kids ate a snack based on where the crumbs are! I feel you. Even though my kids eat at the table, there is a big radius of crumbs around them. Sometimes I feel all surfaces should be covered in cling wrap so you could simply lift it up each night and throw it away 🙂 Good luck with the vacuuming!

  62. Dyson should pay you for this posting! After reading your post, I went and bought this vacuum and I too love it. My husband has actually used it more than I have but he thinks we should buy a couple more for the cabin and the camper. I love reading your stories of your life on the homestead. It sounds like a wonderful life to me.

  63. Definitely not ridiculous! I loved reading this. When we bought a Dyson stick vacuum it was life-changing for exactly all of the reasons you mentioned (the stairs especially!) and maybe my husband’s favorite Father’s Day present of all time.

  64. I have an upright Dyson Animal, a hand-held Dyson, and a Black + Decker but also have three boys aged 7, 5, and 17 months. Those vacuums get their fair share of use! I’ve been known to tell my kids to freeze after they finish eating so I can quickly vacuum the crumbs off their laps before they get up 🤣 The black + decker is simple enough to use that my two older boys can grab it and clean up their own messes now

  65. We have two Dysons that I love. Best human operated vacuums ever (much better than the Miele vacuum we had before—it can actually get the pet hair out of this rug we have that seems to be like Velcro for hair)

    My partner got both of them “certified refurbished” from amazon, which really helped with the price. They looked brand new when they arrived and work great. Definitely something worth looking into for those that find the normal price points too high.

  66. I had the worst experience with an older model of this vacuum. I wanted to love it for all the reasons you outlined. I got it as a gift and it broke. Then it was really hard to get it fixed (limited hours, far from our house) so we sold it at a swap meet. Their customer service was terrible and left a bad taste for Dyson. I got a simpler Shark that has a detachable handheld option and was much cheaper. It can also stay on. I’d love to see a comparison with a more affordable option over the long term.

  67. I have a Shop Vac (yes, for in the house) and two Simplicity Sport portable vacuums. We have all wood floors in the main house, with two dogs and four cats, and a tight weave carpet in the guest house, where no pets ever go.

    The Shop Vac is versatile and lightweight. The Simplicity vacs weigh only seven pounds, aced you wear them on your shoulder. Add someone with fibromyalgia, this is invaluable to me! We use the Shop Vac downstairs, add i keep the Simplicity upstairs. Makes cleaning with a chronic illness a breeze!

    Of course, the Shop Vac also gets used outside, in the barn, etc!

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