I’m not a big fan of purchasing anything as mundane as vacuum cleaners. Firstly, most of my house is tile, linoleum or hardwood, because I have allergies and the doctor recommended it. Secondly, I did have an old clunker of a vacuum that at least ran.
But, as most of my readers know by now, I also have a very furry Shih Tzu. I had been told that Shih Tzus are one of the long-haired dogs that don’t shed. Well either I have a very weird dog, or “they” are totally wrong because he sheds enough to make you think he must be bald by now!
I do have one large area rug in the bedroom, a braided rug in the computer room, and a very large and sometimes hairy sectional in the living room. I thought the old clunker vacuum was doing okay. After all, dog hair is hard to pick up no matter what type vacuum you have. At least that’s what I used to think.
A simple staubsauger test (read it as vacuum cleaner test as I love the german term more) helps in identifying the worth of the brand and how long it is going to last.
I started seeing all of these advertisements for vacuums that were designed specifically for pet hair. Oh yeah sure, like that’s gonna work, was my first thought. How could it be any better just because it says pets on it?
I looked at this little Dirt Devil, Purpose for Pets several times at our local Wal Mart. “Maybe if it goes on sale.” I would tell my husband when he encouraged me to buy it. Well, we were shopping along the aisles one day and I decided to check on the Dirt Devil Purpose for Pets, and it was down to $74.99. HMMM, maybe I could live with that.
My husband, who is not a big fan of wallowing in dog hair to watch television, picked it up and put it in the cart. I guess our decision was made, and I informed him that he was putting the thing together. I also stated that if it didn’t work well, he better not complain about it. Of course, he knew I’d do enough of that for both of us.
The Dirt Devil Purpose for Pets went together very easily. He had to put in two screws and the rest snapped right together. He had it sitting on the floor ready to use in about five minutes. “I could have done that.” I told him, and he merely smiled.
The Dirt Devil Purpose for Pets is a very compact and light weight vacuum. Which is great for me, as vacuuming sometimes wears me out, due to my breathing problems. And it’s a pretty blue, (if color matters to you) and the attachments slip on and off easily.
Okay, but how well does it work? As I said, I have a small area rug in my bedroom, and a braided rug in my computer room. I certainly thought I was keeping them as pet hair free as possible. Boy, was I surprised when I used the Dirt Devil Purpose for Pets on them.
The bagless canister that fills with the dirt is standard size, but I filled it to capacity in no time at all. How embarrassing! The area rug in my bedroom is a black, white and tan, leopard design. I was shocked to find out that the black was really quite vibrant again, and that the white was very white! Honestly, it looked brand new… and was totally pet hair free!
The one thing I did not like about the vacuum was actually my own fault. Who needs to read directions right? It’s a vacuum cleaner after all, and we’ve all used them. Well, the dirt canister comes off of the vacuum quite simply, by just pushing a button right on its handle. The entire section of canister lifts off. My old one had a canister that slid out from under the hepa filter.
That was easy enough, but then I started to examine it for how to get the dirt out of it. I assumed that the bottom part with the dirt in it came off somehow, and maybe this push button here would do it. Yeah, I pushed the button, the bottom fell open on the canister full of dirt and pet hair and it was all over the floor again!
Once I realized how to open it, I decided that I quite liked that idea. The next time, I carted the canister to the trash can, pushed the button and walla…the dirt and pet hair was deposited right where I wanted it!
The Dirt Devil Purpose for Pets also has an electrostatic pet hair brush attachment. I used this on the hairy old sectional, and again got way more pet hair than I would have imagined, or that you could see. The sectional has lost its shaggy look and hubby can happily watch tv again!
The Dirt Devil Purpose for Pets also has several removable hepa filters on it that is great for pet odor reducing, not that my dog has an odor, mind you! I also saw when I purchased the Dirt Devil Purpose for Pets that Wal Mart also stocked a hepa filter to fit it that was supposedly a special pet odor controller. It had baking soda in it. But it was $20.00 and I didn’t think it was worth that much. The Dirt Devil Purpose for Pets does a fantastic job without it.
So, would I recommend the Dirt Devil Purpose for Pets vacuum cleaner? That would be a definite yes, just remember my warning about emptying it, or you’ll be using it twice really quickly, just like I did!
