Lately I’ve taken an interest in trying to save my carpets at home from an early death. They’re not in horrible shape, but there are a few stains here and there that have always bugged me. We really don’t have money to rip everything up and replace it, so Operation This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things is now underway!

The Eureka Optima may not win any awards for looking cool, but holy cow it’s the greatest vacuum I’ve ever owned. I just picked it up at Costco over the weekend and have been amazed at how much dirt it picks up.

It’s bagless, so it’s got one of those clear tanks in the front that shows you how much has been picked up. I was up late last night vacuuming and having the time of my life. Just two days after our cleaning lady vacuumed our house this thing managed to suck itself full in no time at all. Every few minutes I’d stop, take out the tank, then run to show Tammy and we’d both go “Eeeww.” Also I think Tammy threw up in her mouth once.

The Eureka is pretty small to begin with, but it shrinks down even smaller for storage purposes – and it only weighs 11 pounds! In a world where good vacuums routinely sell for over $200, I snagged this little wonder at Costco for just 54 bucks.

The second phase of Operation TIWWCHNT begins tonight. UPS just delivered a Hoover SteamVac which I’m hoping will revitalize some of the more high-traffic areas of the carpet and extract some of the stains that have been there since we’ve moved in three years ago. I literally spent hours researching this purchase, because apparently most carpet shampooers are built like American cars – shittily! With lots of leaks! And frequent repairs! Insert favorite American car joke here!

Both of these purchases would never have happened if it wasn’t for Amazon’s review system. I could have just gone to Target and picked up whatever looked big and tough, but no! I put up with waiting a week for UPS to deliver the goods because I had to get something that was rated four and a half stars on Amazon.

If the Hoover carpet cleaner is anywhere near as awesome as the Eureka vacuum was, expect to read all about it tomorrow!