I am surprised by all the good reviews of this vacuum.  I purchased this recently and am returning it right away.  I used it for about 5 minutes, and the smell from the machine was so horrible I had to air my whole house.  It actually made me ill.  It is made of plastic that smells, and for anyone sensitive to smells, beware of this vacuum.  It also does not have a place to add a hepa filter, which it had stated in the description, and I really need a hepa filter on the vacuum.