A few months ago, with no real provocation, I started quietly shopping for a new vacuum. I searched around online for reviews and recommendations until I finally came to the realization that unless our current Bissell unit died, there’s no way we’ve got the budget to chase my whims into a new piece of household hardware.
Now, I skimmed over a point there that’s probably important to note. We have a fully functioning, albeit aging, vacuum that has served us very well. I remember when my wife, then girlfriend, bought it many many moons ago. It’s a fancy machine with lots of windows into moving parts, blinky lights, knobs and levers to mess with. It has stood up to many apartment moves, cross country moves, and more spilled coke and snacky foods than my wife would care to admit (remind me to tell you all about the large brown Coca-Cola perma-stain that existed in front of the couch in our first apartment). I digress. It’s only really important to note that the vacuum is in working order, so my shopping was really an exercise in futility. It was simply the latest mild obsession of an undeservingly snobby consumer.
Still, I carried on. I found all sorts of products and information in my online travels that would usually culminate to a short presentation to Janey on the merits of one of the Oreck models. Then we’d talk for a few minutes about why I was wrong**, and life would go on to repeat this cycle a few times. Life went on like this for a few months. I did mention that it was a mild obsession, right?
** Aside: No No No… I’m only kidding. She didn’t tell me I was wrong. She just didn’t like the products I ended up liking. My experience as a husband is what told me I was wrong.
Well, at some point in the research phase of one of these cycles, I ran across a post on a blog I subscribe to that announced a giveaway contest. One of the prizes was the dreamy pie-in-the-sky could-never-afford-it-even-if-i-wanted-to Oreck Vacuum that had just come out and I had been reading about for a few days. Not thinking too much of it, I dropped my name in the entry box, and went about my online business.
I’ll do my best to shorten this story and skip forward about a month when I got an email with the following subject:
Your Reply Needed – You are an Apartment Therapy Holiday Giveaway Winner!
No. Freaking. Way.
I knew what it was even before I opened it, but didn’t dare let myself think that it was real.
By damn, it was real. My name had come up in the drawing to win the sweetest damn vacuum I’ve ever heard of. A quick email exchange confirmed that it was indeed real, and we’d be seeing the prize on our doorstep soon. I raced to tell Janey about it and was met with a luke warm response. She didn’t understand… but I was sure she would soon.
We would soon be the owners of a brand new Oreck Edge!
Skip forward again about 3 weeks. The vacuum is here, assembled, and seriously changing the way our house feels. It makes our carpets look brand new, and is the perfect tool to pick up all the dog hair that accumulates on our hardwood floors (we’ve been fighting a losing battle with the light dog hair on the dark floors). I have never seen an upright vacuum kick so much ass cleaning hard floors. Normally they blow stuff around and pick up about 20% of what you hope. This sucker makes short work of anything that comes within about 3 inches of the cleaning deck. It’s crazy powerful, and quite a bit quieter than our old vacuum.
Not only is the upright insanely awesome. But the package came with a canister/satchel style vacuum that has been lovingly dubbed the Proton Pack. It’s tiny but beefy. It runs quiet, but has more suction than my wet/dry vac in the shed.
Since these wonderful little toys arrived, I’ve taken every chance I could to try them out. Both of them are absolutely a joy to use.
Now, being a design geek I can’t help but appreciate the beautiful simplicity too. Our old vacuum, as much as I loved it, is the cleaning appliance equivalent of a Las Vegas casino. There’s levers, knobs and buttons all over it. Little windows to peek in on the action in different sections. Even a blinky red & green light that supposed to tell us when the floor is clean. In stark contrast, this Oreck Edge is simple, sleek and classic looking. The materials feel great, and the fit & finish is perfect.
The old vacuum has little nooks and crannies that, I assume, are to make it look fast, like some sort of blue plastic sports car. In actuality, these little spots turned into places for dust and other crap to wedge in and become un-cleanable. I may be the only one in the universe, but I hate the idea of trying to clean with a dirty tool. It never feels like I’ve done a good job. This Oreck, though, has beautiful clean lines and is dead simple to wipe off and never know it’s ever been used.
So, there’s my story folks! We won a killer vacuum that we never would have been able to afford. …and it’s brilliant.
If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.