Eureka - Boss Smartvac Bagged Upright Vacuum Review

I am not a neat freak, I really hate to clean...so I look for things to make cleaning easier and limit how often I have to do it. With two rambunctious dogs working against me at all times, that's easier said than done, but I still try:)

I had joined the whole bagless craze a few years ago, and had a decent vacuum, but I always felt that the dirt returned much too quickly. With a little help from Consumer Reports magazine, I was turned back on to bagged vacuums, especially for dealing with dog hair.

This vacuum was a top rated bagged vacuum, especially in dealing with pet hair, and I believe one of CR's "best buys" and so I discussed it with my husband and we decided to get it. It was under $150, not bad for a good vacuum, especially when you compare it to just about any Dyson.

This vacuum has been great and I really like the one attachment, "the power paw" even though there is no place to store it on the vacuum. But it's a great attachment for vacuuming upholstery and the stairs and it really gets up pet hair well. I have a shorthaired dog and he sheds like crazy, leaving behind lots of tiny hairs on the couch, the "paw" is great about getting much of that up.

In my opinion, bagged vacuums are better for pet hair, maybe even especially short pet hair, because they contain it better whereas I feel with bagless vacuums a decent amount of what you think you are vacuuming up gets back out into the air, and that in turn I personally believe is why my house seemed to look dirty again so shortly after vacuuming. When I vacuum with my Boss Smart-Vac, I feel like my house is staying cleaner longer, and that means a lot to me.

I've had this vacuum for quite a few months now and only use it on the first floor of my house and so it is used on three carpets and a hard wood floor and I have only had to change the bag twice so far. It uses type RR bags which I have had trouble finding in my grocery store or target, but they sell them at Lowe's (where I bought my vacuum) so I just stock up on them when we go there. I guess it's a bit of a pain to have to make sure you have bags on hand when it comes time to change, but it's not that big of a deal. Plus, I actually empty this bag myself, where I made my husband empty the bagless because I think it's a very dirty job to empty a bagless.

Also, 2 of the carpets I use the vacuum on are typical short pile but we have a new carpet that is more like a shag carpet though shorter and it works great on all of the carpets. It just definitely needs to be set on "high pile" for the shag carpet.

It's got great suction and I really love it. As another reviewer said, the foot control to unlock the vacuum handle is hard to push down and, with mine, the tube attachment hangs a bit loosely from it's holder and often falls out, but neither of these are issues that take away from the good job the vacuum is doing.

And that job, my friends, allows me to vacuum less, which I much appreciate:)

~Erin

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