Shark Navigator Vacuum Review

Cleaning: We all hate it. Even if we “like” to clean, it’s because we like things being clean or the stress relief it provides. No one likes to clean.

With that being said, there are some things that make it less miserable. One of those things is being paid to do it. A couple of years ago, I cleaned people’s homes for cash. Hey, it’s not the shiniest job in the world, but it provides satisfaction, appreciation and a flexible schedule. I’ll take what I can get.

Anywhooooo, I worked for this really nice lady that had an old Bissell vacuum from (my guess would be) 1985. It was a beast. Heavy, loud, clunky… But effective. One day- and I kid you not- the front of the vacuum flew off like a rocket across the room. It didn’t seem to work right after that…

So she got this new vacuum. A Shark Navigator. Being that I don’t have TV, I had never heard of such a thing, but it sure looked fancy (if you don't know what I'm talking about, see it here). I picked it up and it was light as a feather. I turned it on, and it made this kind of high-pitched whining noise, which is a tad annoying, and is generally indicative of a POS vacuum. But no. Ohhhh, no.

I pulled the handle back and that sucker tried to take off on me! I now understood that Shark does not kid around when they say “self-propelled.” It did a great job vacuuming (her already perfectly clean house, because she’s that type of lady) and I decided I had to have one.

I searched and searched and found them on sale at Best Buy. I got it in Champagne, which sounds appropriate for a fancy, expensive vacuum ($120). I got it home and it worked just as well as the other I had used. I have (basically) a zoo in my house, plus a toddler, plus a distractible, messy husband (love him dearly, but we’re being honest here). I half-expected the vacuum to take one look at this house and run away in the night.

Thankfully, that didn’t happen. The vacuum does everything it’s supposed to do, just as it’s supposed to do it. The canister is easy to empty, the filters are easy to clean, and it has settings for hard floor and carpet (I still use the carpet setting on the hard floor, but that's probably a bad idea if you prefer your floor without scratches).

The only thing I don’t like about it is if you have a lot of hair or fur in your house (as we do during shedding season all of the freaking time), it’ll likely get caught up around the top filter in the canister, causing things to not enter the canister correctly. It’s relatively easy to deal with… Simply open the top of the canister instead. But it is a minor hassle, and thus must be mentioned in a review.

Sometimes it's a lad less-easy to deal with, but that'll generally be when I'm not paying close enough attention. No offense, friend. Just speaking truths.

Sometimes the hair and fur gets all caught around the filter in the top of the canister, and I vacuum up so much stuff that it backs up into the vacuum hose. I could solve this problem myself by simply looking at the vacuum.

Overall, I’d recommend the Shark to anyone. When this one eventually breaks (we’re two years in, and no signs of wear yet), I’ll buy another. And when that breaks, I’ll buy another one then, too.