Pet hair vacuums
So I recently bought a hand held pet hair vacuum from Bissell. WHY did I not do this before?! This thing works miracles on my furniture, and it was obvious from the very first use by how much hair this sucker collected! I had to empty it twice.
This is the model I bought from amazon.ca:
It's available right now on walmart.com for $29.00. (I paid a bit more - but don't care). It's available lots of other places too.
This things sucks up the pet hair for sure. About the only thing I'm not crazy about is that it does not have a crevice tool, to get into all those hard to reach places inside the sofas and chairs. And I actually love the fact that it is NOT cordless - because I haven't had a lot of luck with those types of vacuums.
Now Bissell has another pet hair vacuum for sale:
It is way more expensive, but it has everything I can think of for getting at the pet hair, including an innovative crevice tool.
Just wondering if anyone here owns one of these, and what your opinion is of the machine before I plop down $250.00. I think I trust the opinions of DUers much more than the reviewers on amazon or wal-mart. I already have a lightweight upright that I use on floors - and I don't have carpeting in my home currently, though I'm considering an area rug in the future. Is this worth the money (?) or should I just stick with what I've already got?
TIA
= new reply since forum marked as read
I picked one of these up at COSTCO for ~$150 several years ago. You can use it on rugs and floors and furniture. It sucks up a load of stuff every time. It is bag-less and has a long cord and a long crevice tool which I agree is essential. Those cracks and crevices that you cannot otherwise reach are breeding grounds for moths and other sorts of insects, etc. that you do not want in your home!
It is still going strong and I'd buy another one as it definitely does the job and the price is right and it comes with a 5-year warranty as well. You can find them at many place besides COSTCO. Shopping around might be well worth the effort. 
I have three cats that are indoors only FYI so I know the need, believe me!
Thanks very much.
Bag-less is essential!
I'd never had a bag-less vacuum before but this one has been easy enough to use.
You can even wash parts it out (the bag-less part of it).
There was a thread here at this group re: this vacuum in particular. It was a few months ago. It should still be around -- will look for it and kick it up when I find it.
to the Shark Navigator Professional (they have phone service that IS readily available btw -- I thought this sort of thing was done and gone these days!).
But it was all all the way!
If you have any questions about it let me know. Would be happy to help in what way I can.
The only thing I don't particularly care for about it (I am disabled) is that is quite heavy IMO. My husband agrees btw. Otherwise, I like it just fine and it has a setting for floors and one for carpets. I have a lot of area rugs in the house as I don't have the funds to have new carpeting installed. 
Best of luck regardless of what you decide to purchase.
It cost me around $200 (at Target) and I've been happy with it - and I know it was rated higher than Dyson.
so I don't have to drag that monster into rooms. It gets everything in cracks/crevasses, dust off ceiling fans, vents and even my air conditioning filters are' vaced' off in place mostly hardwood floors and many smaller carpets. I like microfiber by the doors so dogs & shoes don't track in water and dirt.
I put a shop vac muffler on it so it doesn't blow out any dust, is quieter and use the filter that traps dust.
short hair dogs do shed couple times a year. when they get a bath usually a 'rubber scrubbie' with suds brings out a lot of the shed. a toweling helps take out more shedding.
before a bath I may use a shedding blade side of a horse tool, outside and gently because that blade takes out a ton of shedding hair.
I also like a fine tooth comb, that takes out a bunch of shedding hair from short hair dogs.
the kind you wash dishes with. The static took of quite a bit of the hair, then I'd use the upright to roughly go over the upholstery.
Pretty time consuming task though.
Another tip I've picked up is to make a mixture of liquid fabric softner/water and lightly spray the furniture. Then vacuum. The hair comes off easier that way, and your furniture smells nice.
Won't work for people who are sensitive to scents though...
All in all, I'm very glad I got the Bissell hand held though. Makes a much easier task of cleaning the furniture.
The rubber scrubbie you mention works very well - I agree.
