Vooooooom!

I recently broke our second vacuum cleaner. I seem to be jinxed when it comes to the bloody things. Our first vacuum, a £15 rubbish one from Argos broke after a year and a half when I stepped on the hose by mistake. And this second one, a £35 monstrosity from Robert Dyas, broke from apparent overuse - the floor head attachment cracked and no amount of masking tape would fix it enough to get the crap that seems to accumulate in our carpets, especially since this last weekend we were planning to clean up after the builders (another story for another time). To be quite honest, I'd been lusting after a new vacuum cleaner for a while now so perhaps it wasn't quite as accidental as I made it out to be.

We toyed with the idea of getting yet another cheapie vacuum cleaner, but decided against it, as we felt we'd moved sufficiently up the ladder of life to get away from our studenty lifestyle and get something that would actually work and (hopefully) last longer than a year and a half. Asking around, the advice seemed unanimous - when it came to vacuum cleaners it would appear my colleagues all put their faith in a Dyson. But £240 for a vacuum cleaner? I couldn't bring myself to do it, and my wallet fell apart in protest. No, seriously. So I would need to add on the cost of a replacement wallet to the £240.

Just when all seemed lost, a last glimmer of hope showed itself. A Miele Cat & Dog TT5000, winner of a Which? Best Buy Award, almost universally good reviews (except, presumably, from my Dyson-loving colleagues) AND for £60 less than the Dyson! I was ready to buy it based on the lower price alone. The missus was sold on the fact that it was a bagged vacuum cleaner, which I agreed made sense - no matter how clever the design of a bagless vacuum, I just cannot believe that no dust will escape into the air when you empty the bin. And come on, the Miele's German!

I can safely recommend to anyone who ever finds themselves in the same position as us - go for the Miele. It's powerful, it's quiet, it made using our old vacuum cleaners feel like we were trying to suck dirt out of our carpet with a drinking straw, it comes in a pretty box with a ridiculously cute cat on it, it's a German machine, and it's £60 cheaper than a Dyson. Sure, it's £150 more expensive than our old one. But it was worth every penny.

It might be called a Miele Cat & Dog but it doesn't mean these two don't like it