Thea’s Most Expensive Tip

Frank and I were in the market for a new vacuum. We realized the other day that we had never bought one. The one we have now was given to us as a wedding present five years ago, and the ones we had when we were single were hand-me-downs from our parents. His was even from his neighborhood’s club house. I know because it was written with a black marker: Property of Governor’s Place Club House.

We’ve bought all sorts of other random floor cleaners: The Dirt Devil Broom Vac, the Swiffer, some special wet/dry vac, the Dustbuster and another hand-me-down from his dad that we use on our cars and is held together with duct tape.

But we were never pleased with them. And every time we use our wedding present vacuum we say, “This thing sucks. Well, actually it doesn’t suck. That’s the problem.” And then we giggle. And then we get frustrated again.

We knew we needed to just invest in a nice vacuum. But nice ones are like $500. I’m serious. Or maybe you knew that.

Then two Saturdays ago I spoke with Tips from Thea and she gave me her ultimate tip: we should buy the Dyson DC 15. She bought the Dyson DC 15. She loved it. It sucked for real. She brought it to her parents house and they were so amazed that the whole family was fighting over whose turn it was to clean. So they bought a Dyson DC 15.

“But those things are like a million dollars!” I said.

She agreed but said that she got hers refurbished on Amazon for a fraction of that cost. Plus, it had free shipping.

Since Thea's tips had never failed me before (Kashi, How I Met your Mother, The Real Housewives of New York City, Bam), not 24 hours later, I, too, bought a refurbished Dyson DC 15 on Amazon with free shipping.

Eight days later, my Dyson arrived. We tried it last night.

I just have to say that I am so sorry to anyone who has ever walked on my floors. I didn’t realize that they were so grainy. Now they’re so smooth I practically slip on them. Other good things about the DDC15:

--It’s twistable and flexible so it can maneuver into hard to reach places
--Speaking of hard to reach places, the nose (head) of it is so flat it can get under my kitchen cabinets
--It’s on a ball so I think that’s ideal for some reason
--The DDC15 is a subtle sucker. Yes, it gets up crap but it doesn’t suck in a way that sounds like it’s in pain because it got a scrap of paper. (The old vacuum smelled like something was burning when it picked up even a thread.)
--Look at all the stuff the DDC15 picked up in just two rooms. Either it's a great sucker or we're just gross.




--While you're looking at the picture, please note that it is cute. It's also pretty lightweight (which you'll have to take my word for).
--It’s got a super long cord so I can practically do my whole house from one outlet.
--Apparently there are all sorts of attachments you can use but I haven’t tried those yet. About to tackle the stairs.
--It’s cute!


Bad things:

--Because of the ball I guess, it doesn’t make those cool lines on your carpet.
--It’s not very loud. Tried to use it to get Leo to sleep. Didn’t work. Might need to save the old vacuum for those purposes.

So thanks, Thea. Although you're most likely not reading this; you're probably busy holding negotiations with Dyson to be their next spokeswoman.