What a Difference a Dyson Makes

It's not every day that a vacuum cleaner completely changes the way I look at my home. Then again, yesterday was not every day.

After 8 apartments, the old Hoover Dimension finally died. Perhaps we should have waited a decent interval for mourning a vacuum that had crossed the country twice, but we went right out and replaced it with the Dyson DC-07 Animal, billed as "The most powerful upright for pet hair." That's a big selling point for someone with 2 longhaired cats and nigh on 2 1/2 feet of her own hair (also a shorthaired cat and shorthaired husband, who do not contribute much to the overall interior furriness). I forgot how beige my carpet is until I set the Dyson on it. I vacuumed regularly with the Hoover, but one pass with the Dyson and the carpet actually changed color with the layer of grey and black cat fur gone. This vacuum sucked up six, count 'em SIX vacuumfuls of hair, fur, and carpet dust off just the living room and bedroom floors. Not only that, but by the time we were done, the brush was absolutely packed with my hair--which you may recall was the Roomba's undoing earlier--and this thing never stopped sucking up the dirt and fur.

My carpet looks new. I had to clean the rest of the apartment because all the clutter that was OK with grungy carpets now makes the place look messy and is just wrong with nice clean carpets. I can't be certain, but I think the Dyson may be turning me into a clean freak. Check back on that one.