Those of you who read my review of my Shark cordless vac may be surprised to learn that when buying a new vacuum, I went with a Shark instead of a Dyson. But when the cordless Shark worked, it worked okay, it just has a very poor quality battery.
What I got to replace it was a Shark Navigator Lift-Away Pro. This is the 'pet hair' model of the Shark vacuum line, with comparable features to the Dyson Animal. The only place I could find the 'Pro' version of the Shark Navigator Lift-Away was at Bed, Bath & Beyond, for $199. It can be ordered online from other retailers, but Bed, Bath & Beyond seem to be the only outlet to carry this model in-store.
With my 20% Off Bed, Bath & Beyond mailer coupon, this made the Pro the same price as the regular Lift-Away model. The body of the regular model, which they have tons of stacked in the aisle, is purple, and the Pro is white and silver - just so you know, if you go into Bed, Bath & Beyond looking for one. The Pro features a canister that is twice the volume of the regular purple model, as well as some other cool features such as a hard floor and carpet setting, and extra accessories. The double volume of the canister was what sold me on the Pro.
With my 20% Off Bed, Bath & Beyond mailer coupon, this made the Pro the same price as the regular Lift-Away model. The body of the regular model, which they have tons of stacked in the aisle, is purple, and the Pro is white and silver - just so you know, if you go into Bed, Bath & Beyond looking for one. The Pro features a canister that is twice the volume of the regular purple model, as well as some other cool features such as a hard floor and carpet setting, and extra accessories. The double volume of the canister was what sold me on the Pro.
The deciding factors for me going with the Shark instead of the Dyson -- after doing extensive online research and reading lots of reviews on multiple websites -- were 1) price for similar 'pet' features -- I mean, I know Dyson is top of the line, but really, $500 for a vacuum cleaner?
And 2) length of cord - many of the Dyson reviews said the cord was simply too short, while I found the Shark cord to be quite generous. Granted, I have a small house, but I was able to plug the Shark into one central outlet and do the entire house without switching plugs.
So - let me tell you - right out of the box, I loved this vac. It snaps together, no tools required, and is good to go in less than five minutes. The regular vacuum part really works well, and there are two settings: hard floor (tile, in my case) and carpet - we have a large sisal area rug in the living room and it's now the cleanest it's been since we bought it. The difference in the two settings is that on hard floor, the beater bar doesn't go around, scattering stuff, it just sucks up everything! This is the reason I had to replace my old carpet-friendly Dirt Devil in the first place -- the always-on beater bar scattered more kitty litter than it sucked up. The hard floor setting of the Shark is a godsend for homes with multiple litter boxes!
The canister truly does lift away, and in this Pro model it is rubber-gasket sealed to the base with easy-to-detach side clips. Once you're over the trash can, there's a one-button release to dispose of what you've sucked up.
The canister truly does lift away, and in this Pro model it is rubber-gasket sealed to the base with easy-to-detach side clips. Once you're over the trash can, there's a one-button release to dispose of what you've sucked up.
So, the basic vacuum part of this model is great enough, but then I played with the attachments. Who ever designed the two-foot long crevice tool for Shark is a freakin' genius! The handle of the Lift-Away Pro becomes your attachment nozzle and the long pointy crevice device is AWESOME. Who knew a long skinny sucking tube could get me so excited?
Next was the basic dust attachment - now, there is no revolutionary design here, 99% of vacuums come with this same bristle brush device. However, on most vacs with the attachment hose, they just don't have enough sucking power to truly vacuum. The Shark Lift-Away Pro leaves all the others in the dust, so to speak, and truly is a dusting attachment. I love it. I did bookshelves, baseboards, picture frames on the wall, light fixtures, lamp shades, around the bathroom mirror, and even behind the toilet!
Next up was the pet hair attachment. This is a rotating-head attachment for the hose. I was skeptical about how the beater brush would rotate, since there was not a power attachment for it, it's just air-driven. Well, let me tell you - it works! We have one of those microfiber sofas, to which cat hair loves to cling, and this pet hair attachment got the sofa the cleanest it's been since I took the shrink wrap off after delivery! I also then used it to vacuum the carpeted parts of our two cat towers and again, it worked amazingly well.
The final attachment is a floor duster. It again is a separate head to go onto the extender tube of the handle nozzle, with a microfiber (washable) pad. So, after you vacuum, you can go back over your hard floor surfaces and suck up finer dust particles. The best part about this is that it still has a slit for regular vacuuming, so stray dust bunnies that weren't captured the first go around still get sucked up. Frankly, the floor duster attachment was my least favorite of the accessories, but maybe I was just tired out after a couple hours of playing with the other toys. That's the other thing - after a couple of hours of non-stop sucking, this model didn't lose one bit of suck-strength, and was not over-heated in the least.
Next was the basic dust attachment - now, there is no revolutionary design here, 99% of vacuums come with this same bristle brush device. However, on most vacs with the attachment hose, they just don't have enough sucking power to truly vacuum. The Shark Lift-Away Pro leaves all the others in the dust, so to speak, and truly is a dusting attachment. I love it. I did bookshelves, baseboards, picture frames on the wall, light fixtures, lamp shades, around the bathroom mirror, and even behind the toilet!
Next up was the pet hair attachment. This is a rotating-head attachment for the hose. I was skeptical about how the beater brush would rotate, since there was not a power attachment for it, it's just air-driven. Well, let me tell you - it works! We have one of those microfiber sofas, to which cat hair loves to cling, and this pet hair attachment got the sofa the cleanest it's been since I took the shrink wrap off after delivery! I also then used it to vacuum the carpeted parts of our two cat towers and again, it worked amazingly well.
The final attachment is a floor duster. It again is a separate head to go onto the extender tube of the handle nozzle, with a microfiber (washable) pad. So, after you vacuum, you can go back over your hard floor surfaces and suck up finer dust particles. The best part about this is that it still has a slit for regular vacuuming, so stray dust bunnies that weren't captured the first go around still get sucked up. Frankly, the floor duster attachment was my least favorite of the accessories, but maybe I was just tired out after a couple hours of playing with the other toys. That's the other thing - after a couple of hours of non-stop sucking, this model didn't lose one bit of suck-strength, and was not over-heated in the least.
The final thing I like about this model is its size. It is much smaller than my previous Dirt Devil, and fits into my microscopic Florida closet. Since it has a cord, it doesn't need to stay out and charge 24/7 like the cordless Shark model. So, it is out of sight when not in use. But what I wanted was a vacuum for daily use, and I think I selected the right one!
Thanks fur sharing! We are always on the lookout fur more efficient ways to clean up the ever-present hair and litter. Haf a great Sunday. Purrs.
ReplyDeleteGood for you. The Woman has a phenomenally expensive Kirby Vacuum but then her mom had one so she was able to trade in the one from the 1950s for a more updated model and get a Millenium one. It works great and it is supposed to run forever!
ReplyDeleteWow, that Shark sounds awesome! We need to get a new vacuum soon, so we'll look into that one for sure!
ReplyDeleteWe have an old flat round Hoover what exhausts the air from the middle of the bottom an it FLOATS. No wheels. Coolest thing ever, an it still works after 45 years.
ReplyDelete