Do you ever want to weep when you buy a product that actually works how it’s supposed to?
It’s like reaching the Promised Land after a thousand years wandering aimlessly through the Wasteland of Faulty Merchandise.
For the past 10 years, vacuums have been the bane of my and my wife’s consumer life. My wife and I run through them like they’re going to rot.
By my count, my wife and I have had seven vacuums (again, I should emphasize in 10 years). In twenty years, my parents had one. And my mother-in-law is devoted her Electrolux that is older than I am.
If there’s one area where I’m cynical going on completely pessimistic, it’s with vacuums. So my behavior should be understandable when my wife approached me a couple weeks ago and broached the subject of getting a new vacuum because our latest (some newfangled swivel stick) is now only good for ‘snowplowing’ (pushing) dust around the floor; I told her I didn’t see the point.
“It’s going to break in a few days,” I said.
Let’s say I didn’t win her over with my attitude.
But after a week, I finally agreed to go look at the new vacuum: the Shark Navigator Lift-Away.
Seeing the display model, my first impression was that of a cyborg. It was silver and purple and mechanical and looked too smart for its own good. And its main selling point was exactly the reason I mistrusted it. It could be both a push vacuum and a handheld (hence the name). Flip a latch here, push a button there, and go from floors to stairs without breaking rhythm.
But what about breaking the vacuum?
I’m all for multifunction household products, but I don’t believe products and appliances are truly made to stand up to the abuse of being taken apart and put back together as part of their standard use.
And, of course, there’s the ever popular threat with vacuums: will it lose suction?
After about a half-hour ruminating over the vacuum (and playing with it, testing it, rolling it, twisting it), my wife and I decided to buy the Lift-Away based on positive reviews by regular homeowners my wife found online.
I remained skeptical.
When we got home and I began assembling it, I told my wife it felt like assembling a bazooka. And, of course, when I was finished, there was that infamous leftover part.
Despite my bazooka comment, I admit it was easier to assemble than I thought, but the telling moment would be in its operation.
My wife started it up, and to my surprise, the Shark Lift-Away worked like a charm. It could even be named the Blast-Away, as it propelled itself across our 5’x7’ area rug. It is singularly the best vacuum to ever grace our floors.
Its forward pull is so strong, it can move by itself, if you let go, which makes the “push” motion very easy. On the contrary, it makes the “pull” motion a little tough, but the pick-up power on the backswing more than compensates for the minor inconvenience. The Lift-Away is also lightweight, has terrific maneuverability, and has great suction.
Remember that 5’x7’ area rug? It’s the favorite snack-eating spot of our dog. My wife had just vacuumed earlier in the day with our old snow plow, and after the Lift-Away blasted over that area rug, it’s perfectly brand-new dust canister was full! FULL!!! Maybe that is why our dog has been looking a little slender these days.
Only time and weekly use will tell if this machine truly has what it takes to appease even the most critical of owners (like me), but right out of the box, it’s done a great job, which is more than I can say for the dehumidifier we recently bought that didn’t even turn on.
