Lately, I’ve been wanting a dust buster. Remember those? They were those small vacuums that were battery charged and you could quickly suck up small messes. My grandparents had one mounted in their garage (I bet they still do) and I’ve come to learn just how practical that is. It’s just another way I’m a grandmillennial!
Similar to my grandparents, our kitchen is right off the garage and I think it would be so handy to have a small, battery powered vacuum to quickly get up small messes–particularly the crumbs that get under the cabinets in the kitchen. I sweep every night in cleaning up the kitchen, but I feel like a vacuum would do better. And who wants to lug out the big vacuum from down the hall every. single. night just for a few crumbs? Not me.
I’ve also been thinking of others uses as to why I wanted, ahem, needed such a vacuum. It would be portable and lightweight for me to take to the shop and get between my booth and my neighbors and under furniture to keep the space clean. In my home, I’d not only use it in the kitchen, but the bathroom to get up near the toilet where my thick head of hear always seems to shed and get stuck back there. I’d also use the handheld part to clean the crevices of my car because our shop vac is old and not really doing a great job lately. It’d be nice to have this lightweight vacuum for quick clean ups before company.
Obviously, I needed this type of vacuum. I’ve been searching at every estate sale I visit hoping that the previous owners of the home would also be like my grandparents and have the dust buster in the garage. I never found one, so when I found this vacuum for about $100 on Amazon, I went for it! **note: it must have been on sale for a lower price when I purchased it, but there is still a coupon to make it $119!**
I’m sure you recognize the style and shape as being similar to a Dyson and maybe you’re wondering why I didn’t just purchase a Dyson to begin with. In all honesty, I can’t bring myself to pay that much for a Dyson. We’ve previously had a Dyson, and I did love it, but I just couldn’t justify spending that amount on a secondary vacuum. I currently own this Shark, and love it, but that’s another blog post.
Now that I’ve tested out this $100 vacuum, let’s get into the highlights and objectives of this little amazing dust busting stick vacuum.
- Cordless – It may sound lazy, but the fact that I can pick this vacuum up and finish my job quicker because I don’t have to unwrap a cord and plug it in, makes me love this vacuum. I’m a fan of anything cordless; in similar fashion, we have a battery powered blower that we were gifted for Christmas to use to quickly blow our deck so we wouldn’t have to pull out the main blower and extension cords from our garage. Well, we rarely use the main blower now and pretty much only use the cordless, battery operated blower. It’s something about ease of use that really helps me complete chores.
- Attachments — I appreciate that this has the long stick and roller like a normal vacuum that allows me to vacuum as I normally would. This allows me to get up under furniture too. Y’all, there were places that hadn’t seen a vacuum in quite a while and this guy found some serious dust bunnies. It also rotates very well and I was able to get around the toilet easily, too! It also comes with a shorter, narrow stick to really get into crevices. I liked this for getting between the fridge and the cabinets. This will also be helpful for cleaning between the seats in the car.
- Suction — Initially, I thought this wasn’t as strong of suction as my normal vacuum. However, it picked up some serious crumbs and dust bunnies. It also has two levels of suction! I think the quietness of the motor is what throws me. It’s such a soft noise–another pro!
- Carpet — If you have a lot of carpet in your home, I don’t know if this is the vacuum for you. As I went over the rugs with the vacuum, it definitely sucked up dirt, but it doesn’t glide over rugs as well as my normal vacuum does. My normal vacuum almost drives itself over carpet.
- Roller — I noticed that the roller on the stick attachment got a little clogged with my hair. I don’t know if that’s necessarily the vacuum though. I think that was probably the fact that I have a lot of hair that sheds and it’s been while since I vacuumed, so this was a lot at once for a small vacuum.
- Narrow Spaces — As mentioned, the narrow attachment was really good for getting between the fridge and the cabinet; it was nice to do my window sills, baseboards, and air vents. I know, I could have done that with my normal vacuum, but the hose on my normal vacuum is heavy and clunky. This cordless style just makes it that much easier, so I do it!
Overall, I’d say I’m very pleased with my purchase just for the easy to grab and use, get it done quickly appeal. I’m still debating on the best location to store it. Initially, I thought the garage so it could be close to the kitchen, but I’m wondering if I could mount it in the pantry. I’ll keep you posted!
***upon further research, this brand makes several vacuum models at reasonable price points. You may want to try this one with a few other attachments or this one that mentions durability for pet hair. This one looks like a slightly newer model of what I bought. Happy Cleaning!***
