N.
Hi Lisa,
I bought that little microwave cleaning thing that you mentioned in your note once and my husband said it worked great. We've also used the Mr. Clean Eraser thing and he says that works great too. I swear my husband is not the only one who cleans the microwave! LOL! It's just I usually use a cleaner like Lysol Antibacterial Kitchen Cleaner and a little elbow grease when I clean it out. I think I'll try the lemon juice method the other moms mentioned though the next time we give ours a good cleaning.
In regards to the vacuum, I lucked out and found an Oreck on Ebay for $29. Don't expect to be so lucky 'cause I've looked many times since and haven't found anything even close. But if I didn't have my Oreck, I would probably buy something in my budget from either Sam's or Costco. I say Sam's or Costco 'cause we tended to go thru vacuums like they were disposable for a while there and both Sam's and Costco are supposed to have the most liberal return policies of practically any retailer. I've been told by the Costco manager that if I wanted to return anything for any reason, even years later, broken or not, as long as I have my receipt, they will take it back (except computers which have a 6 month return policy). I asked the Sam's customer service clerk what their return policy was and she told me it was whatever, whenever (with receipt) as well. As a result, I buy most of our stuff at either Sam's or Costco so that if I ever do need to return something, there shouldn't be any problems. We're pretty rough on vacuums. Lots of pet hair, people hair, crummies (messy kids with crackers, cereal, chips, etc.), and about 2800 sf of carpet. :-)
