It’s no big secret that I’m a huge college sports fan. Basketball and football are my favorites, and a lifelong love for Mississippi State teams of both varieties has left me well-acquainted with all sorts of game-related stresses. In fact, if you asked me how, as an adult, I’m able to remain relatively calm in the midst of a stressful situation, I would refer you to a dozen different clips on YouTube that chronicle a shocking, come-from-behind win by the Bulldogs – or a devastating, last-minute loss.
The Bulldogs have taught me some ridiculously strong coping skills, y’all.
I can’t remember the exact date, but I think it was sometime back in the mid-90s when I realized that the perfect way to get through a tense basketball game was to turn down the volume of the game, plug in my vacuum cleaner and GO TO TOWN cleaning whatever rugs or carpets were in the reach of the vacuum’s power cord. Over the years it’s become my all-time favorite stress reducer when I’m just BESIDE MYSELF with game time nerves. And as an added bonus, the living room / kitchen / playroom / wherever I happen to be watching is oh-so-clean by the time the game is over. Win or lose.
A few weeks ago I got an email asking if I’d be interested in receiving a (free) new Oreck Magnesium vacuum cleaner to use and review, and it took me all of about 45 seconds to respond to the email with a hearty “YES, PLEASE.” My old vacuum was on the brink of collapse, and since my mama and my sister have always raved about their Orecks, I thought the new Magnesium model would make a lovely addition to our family.
And oh, was I ever right.
My husband assembled the Oreck Magnesium in all of two minutes, and I decided that the perfect time for its inaugural run in our house was during a Mississippi State basketball game the next afternoon. I was watching in the playroom since I could only get the game via ESPN3, which meant that the vacuum cleaner was going to be put to the test on hardwood floors as well as a lime green shag rug.
I don’t know why I felt it necessary to mention the color of the rug.
Apparently I like to overshare when it comes to the various flooring surfaces in our home.
By the middle of the first half I was vacuuming like there was no tomorrow, and there were several things about the Oreck that won me over right away and continue make me want to refer to it as “The Baby.”
1) I don’t have to stop and adjust the vacuum height when I move from a rug to the hardwood floors. The vacuum works equally well on both.
2) The Oreck is incredibly light, which means that I don’t have to wrestle with it when I’m trying to turn corners, vacuum couch cushions, etc. If I wanted to, I could lift it over my head with one hand. Which I don’t. BUT I TOTALLY COULD.
3) Much to my surprise, the Oreck is really powerful. I can pretty much control it with the tip of my finger, which is a whole new experience for me when vacuuming that shag rug.
4) Because it’s so small, the Oreck easily fits in between the bottom of my kitchen cabinets and the floor. I don’t have to sweep and then vacuum – I just vacuum. Love that.
And in addition to all that stuff, the Bulldogs beat Alabama on the Saturday when I first tried the vacuum. So I think it’s probably a given at this point that I AM A FAN OF THE ORECK.
Storage is a big plus with this vacuum cleaner, too. In the past I’ve stored our vacuum in the hall closet, but the Oreck Magnesium is so small that it fits in a little corner of our laundry room – without sticking out in the middle of the floor and without needing to be moved whenever I open our pantry cabinets.
See? Doesn’t that just make you sixteen kinds of happy?
In all seriousness, it’s so great to have the vacuum on the end of the house where we need and use it the most. It’s handy if I need to clean up crumbs at the breakfast room table or if I accidentally spill sugar all over the kitchen floor.
That last thing is an embarrassingly common occurrence, by the way.
The bottom line is that I’m absolutely thrilled to have the Oreck Magnesium, and I think you’ll love it, too. If you’ve ever lugged a vacuum up or down stairs, the Magnesium is going to be a dream come true for you. It’s lightweight, compact and powerful – which, in my opinion, is pretty much the best of all worlds as far as a vacuum is concerned.
If you’d like to enter for a chance to win an Oreck Magnesium of your very own, it’s oh-so-simple. Just visit Oreck.com, do a little reading, then come back here and leave a comment telling us one thing that you learned about the Magnesium.
If you’d like an additional entry, then just mention the giveaway on Twitter (making sure to tag @oreck) or Facebook, then come back here and leave a second comment with a link to your tweet or post.
I’ll leave this giveaway open until next Thursday, February 8th at noon central, at which point I’ll draw for a winner using random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to my notification email. If the winner doesn’t respond to my email within 48 hours, I’ll draw for another winner.
Happy Oreck-ing, y’all!
The giveaway winner must be a resident of the U.S. 48 contiguous states.
Oreck Corporation provided the prize for the sweepstakes but is not the sponsor of the sweepstakes.
This giveaway is now closed.
I like the idea of the Quickswitch which enables the vacuum to switch easily and effortlessly between floor surfaces. Great giveaway!
I love that it lays flat and has a long cord!
monk5 at charter dot net
I read that the Magnesium uses a HEPA inner bag.
7lbs?!?!?!!? Seriously, that means I could hold the baby and the vacuum simultaneously! I’d call that a win.
How great that it goes under the edge of furniture! I always have a little stash of crumbs under my couch and recliners, which I guess would be good in case of a food crisis.
It is only 7.7 lbs!! that is awesome!! – We are sooooo in need of a new vacuum, and one that works on carpet and hardwood would be perfect!! :)
I like that it is so powerful it feels like it self-propels! I could use that!
I love the especially long cord. It is such a pain, in the vacuum, when the cord pulls out of outlet.
A 7 year warranty!!!! Two of my children would graduate from high school before I had to replace this vacuum!
I love the long cord and that it is super light weight!
I’m a little OCD about vacuuming and have been going through 1-2 vacuums a year. I was excited to see the 7 year warranty. We have mostly hardwood with thick area rugs so I loved the self adjusting height and the big “off-roading” wheels on back.
This is the lightest wreck upright ever. Love that!
A 7 year warranty is awesome! Clearly they’re confident in the product.
I love that it’s lightweight so it’ll be easier to carry upstairs. I also like the long cord and the HEPA filter. Our vacuum cleaner is on its last leg so winning would be great.
OOOooooo…..I NEED this! :) My Hoover has not lasted well at all and currently I can only vacuum 1 room and then it shuts itself off. I’ve been hearing and reading great things about Oreck’s. I love that this one is so light weight (b/c my Hoover weighs a ton!) and I also love that it switches easily between different types of flooring and carpet heights. Thanks for the giveaway!!!
Oh my! It is lightweight and full power and has a long cord! Be still my beating heart! My husband would no longer be the beast of burden, hauling our behemoth vac to the third floor of the townhouse.
Silly enough I love the carrying straps:) I have 3 floors and hauling the vacuum is the worst!!! I would LOVE to win this!
love that it uses a hepa filter and has a 7 year warranty plus yearly tune ups!
We have tile floors and most uprights are not made for them so I was surprised that this vacuum works well with wood or tile, as well as carpet. The Oreck Magnesium sounds like a wonder-tool and I love that it will lay flat and is lightweight.
The Magnesium has a 5 ft. slinky hose
It’s great that it has a hepa filter.
I love the fact that it lays ‘practically flat’!!
Thanks for the chance to win!
It has a 5 foot slinky hose! Can’t beat that!
Awesome giveaway…besides the obvious, I love that it has a 20 foot power cord. Means I don’t have to unplug it often!!!
Love that it’s lightweight and would be easy to use in the kitchen.
Awww the things I LOVE about the Oreck….EVERYTHING!!! With 2 animals (4 if you count my husband and son) this vacuum has it all. It virtually lays flat so I can vacuum in hard to reach places, hepa filter, 30″ cord, and its light weight which I know all of us mamas need that for are poor backs! Thanks for doing this awesome give away too!
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000605735744
Shared it with facebook. Hope you can see since I am set to private.
i love the The new ‘Easy Snap’ cord
https://twitter.com/#!/purplelover04/status/165695829947064320
I learned that the oreck magnesium is the lightest full-powered vacuum in America!
I learned that:
a) I think I finally found a vacuum that would keep up with my miraculous cat. He weighs nearly 20 pounds, and I think he sheds about 12 pounds of it daily but somehow still has fur enough to cover himself each day. A miracle.
b) If I wanted to buy this vacuum myself, I’d have to sell my car.
First of all it looks cool! But I really like that it lays virtually flat to go under beds!
I learned the Magnesium has twin LED headlights. That’s funny and useful!
chrisdeglen(at)gmail(dot)com
Shared on Facebook
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chrisdeglen(at)gmail(dot)com
I love the idea that it’s easy to push and to carry. The vacuum we have now is quite old and is literally so hard to push on our living room rug that I have to use my whole body weight on the handle.
I learned quite a lot about the Magnesium. Their website was user-friendly and informative. I like how it has a 7 year warranty. We paid quite a bit more for a vacuum 5 years ago, and it is barely hanging on. I would like the security of knowing that it WILL work for 7 years. Even if I end up buying one, less than $100 a year for a vacuum is pretty good- at least for me.
This would be so great! I love that it has high performance rear wheels to push through high pile carpet with ease.
http://m.facebook.com/?_rdr#!/profile.php?__user=1355011412
Link to my facebook post
I learned that it is the lightest, full-powered upright vacuum in America! Wow-I would love this!
tweet!
https://twitter.com/#!/JenniferCNP/status/165802608009822209
Wow!!! Love because it is lightweight and would help so much with constantly trying to keeep floors clean since we have the dog that sheds more than any other!!!!!
Thanks for this great opportunity!
Blessings,
Kaye
I learned it has a HEPA filter ( a must have for us with allergies) and a 3 year limited warranty. We are miserable here – allergies, rugs everywhere because we live on a cold concrete slab in New England, but no vacuum cleaner because we can’t afford one! I borrow my mom’s once a month.
It’s lightweight which my aging back would appreciate especially when vacuuming stairs.
I didn’t realize that it had a shoulder strap so you could carry it. This looks like a great vacuum.
Was just checking for vacuum cleaners online…..this would save me the hassle! Would love to win this as I’ve never heard anything bad about an Oreck! Wish me luck!
Love you blog…..what writing style you have!
Thanks for the offer! Needing a “durable frame” so it will hold up well even with my strong, sometimes overly-eager boy vacuum operators.
The over the shoulder strap for carrying would make it so easy to do stairs!! Come on and draw my number :)
Thanks!
This is the lightest weight vacuum with full power. I can’t say I have ever been excited about a vacuum cleanier before but this one sounds exciting. I would love not to have to flop a switch to go from bare floors to carpet!
boomama, our vacuum died YESTERDAY… so this would be so awesome! love that it is lightweight, love the HEPA filter, love that it has a stinkin’ 7 year warranty! that’s incredible!
I love the idea of a shoulder strap–that would be great for stairs!!
I would really enjoy being able to use it on carpet, hardwood floors and rugs. That is a super multi-purpose feature! Oh, and lightweight too, I’m IN.
I like the free tune-ups feature and the fact it’s easy to carry it everywhere, good suction.
I love that it lays down flat to get under furniture!
I’m liking that it “feels like it’s self-propelled”! Thanks for doing the giveaway!
Love the 7 year warranty and the HEPA filter. We have dogs. And dog hair. And long people hair. :)
Lightweight and powerful too – a winning combination! Very different yet cool looking cleaner!
The one pass cleaning promise is ideal for our family! With three little boys running around, the messes do abound!
It lays flat on the floor…always a sexy feature in a good vacuum. Especially if you suffer from a proliferation of dust bunnies on the hardwood under your sofa and love seat. That’s what I hear…
Everything I read sounded so appealing. The fact it virtually lies flat getting to some of my hard to reach areas. The Hepa bag is the big plus with this, as well as light weight and a 30′ cord. I would LOVE to own the Oreck!
I love that’s it lays flat and is easily stored. I also learned that’s its the lightest vac in America! It would be wonderful not to have to lug an old 30 lb vacuum up the stairs!
I had an Oreck many years ago. This new one with the magnesium frame sounds perfect. I need a light vacuum with a long cord. Thanks for the opportunity, BooMama.
Lightweight, HEPA -and- it cleans hardwoods, too!
I love that it is a traditional floor vacume but can also be used for ceilings, walls, stairs, etc.!!
The Oreck Magnesium has so much power, arrgh arrgh! (done in my best Tim Taylor voice) it feels like it’s self-propelled on most surfaces. I love power…I need me one of these!
The 7 year warranty is what I NEED. I am rough on a vacuum cleaner. Or my three boys that actually make the messes. Yes, let’s blame it on the kids :)
A tweet! https://twitter.com/#!/KappaVelvit/status/166019651178991617
I learned that the vacuum can lie flat to fit under furniture. Great feature for getting dust bunnies.
weighs less than eight pounds!
and lays totally flat!
TOTALLY FLAT.
All I can say is I’ll be on my knees til you use that random number picker.
I would love to have this vacuum.
I learned that it has two-setting shoulder strap for carrying by hand or over the shoulder, also a hepa filter truly impressive vacuum!
Tweeted https://twitter.com/angelgenius27/status/166024412506750976
Love that it’s so light and will fit under furniture!
I love the shoulder strap! I hate vacuuming the stairs but this would make it so much easier!
Umm. The Oreck Magnesium costs $599.99. Please, random.org, pick me!
The hepa filter would be helpful since I’m all kinds of allergic to dust. The other thing that impressed me about the magnesium is that it “lays virtually flat” which would be awesome since I’m kind of ocd about making sure dust bunnies do not take up residence under my furniture. Our current vacuum is big and bulky, and not easy to use.
I learned that it has two speed settings and a HEPA filter. I currently don’t own a vacuum and really need one for my new apartment so I would love this Oreck vacuum!
Direct suction design! Makes so much more sense than the looptyloo airflow diagram they have of my current bagless monster. I feel like I clean my vacuum out more than it cleans the floors :-)
I learned that I want one!!
I want it for its lightness. I hate how heavy my current vacum is. And that it switches to hardfloors!
I learned how skinny its head is. Is that rude to say? I guess not – it’s just a vacuum. It’s not like I’m telling a hormonal mother that her newborn’s head leaves a bit desired…
Long ago (before kids) when I was running a small Christian Bookstore we had an Oreck. It worked like a charm, and I might have coveted one for home, but never got one. We are actually in the process of looking at a new vacum and I would love this vacum as its so light. I’m always carrying my current one up and down flights of stairs.
I wondered if it had a canister or a bag & found that it uses a HEPA bag. I would love to have this to use. I have always had the best luck with Sear’s canister vacs. I’ve always wondered if Oreck was as good as everyone says.
I love that it is made by Oreck – they really are amazing. I am really just positive that I will be the lucky gal who wins this wonderful thing – is it wrong that I really love the color?!
First of all I love that it is only 8lbs, even my 10 year old can use it! I certainly wouldn’t mind using it everyday…I would actually love to vacuum! The Oreck® Magnesium also features two-speed QuickSwitch™ power control. The high speed cleans carpet, while the low speed is gentle enough to clean delicate Oriental and Persian rugs. This is great since we have had carpets chewed up in the past.
Tweet:
https://twitter.com/#!/bvbabybv/status/166295887671336960
I love the 30 ft cord. I hate plugging and unplugging all the time.
I learned that it costs $600. Which I cannot afford. So I hope I win, because I want one!
I learned that the vacuum virtually lays flat for easy cleaning.
tweeted!
https://twitter.com/#!/hobbitx2/status/166325392876113920
That Oreck looks amazing..it lays (lies?) flat..I could vacuum under beds more regularly..it also has a handy switch to change the suction level for changing from one surface to another… SUH weet!!!
I learned that the Oreck Magnesium frame is very durable; stronger than many kinds of steel. This is good since my kids have broken my last two vacuum cleaners.
I shared this post via Twitter
https://twitter.com/#!/alas3lads/status/166339600577597444
I like the fact it has high performance rear wheels. I’d love to win.
Thanks!!
I like that it has high performance rear wheels. Thanks for the chance to win!
love the 7 year warranty and that it fits under kitchen cabinets!! Awesome product!
I love that it is the lightest, full powered vacuum in America! It would be wonderful to have something that can really get the job done but wouldn’t be so heavy to haul around the house. All of the accessories sound great too!!!
I learned there is a 20 ft. cord and that this retails for 599.99 (oh my word), but I totally would love it! It looks awesome!
I learned that the Magnesium has a durable magnesium frame, which would be really awesome, because my current, ancient vaccuum has parts that fall off while it is being used and I have to keep stopping to put them back on. Infuriating when you are just trying to get it done, you know?
30 ft cord. 7.7 lbs. Works well on carpet AND hardwoods. YES, please!
I like the HEPA filter and that it has headlights–I’ve got some dark corners! This is a great giveaway–Thanks!
It’s got a HEPA filter and that = awesome.
Love the HEPA bag to cut down on allergens.