Anyone ever owned a vacuum cleaner?
What features should I suck for/avoid?
shareIn the UK there was a brand called Electrolux, which was never sold in the US. I swear on my life that there was an ad campaign that went ‘Nothing sucks like an Electrolux.’
shareI know I've heard the name, and according to Wikipedia,
"In North America, the Electrolux name was long used by vacuum cleaner manufacturer Aerus LLC, originally established to sell Swedish Electrolux products. In 2000, Aerus transferred trademark rights back to the Electrolux Group, and ceased using the Electrolux name in 2004.
Conversely, Electrolux-made vacuums carried the Eureka brand name, which Electrolux continued to use while also selling Electrolux branded vacuums after 2000. Electrolux USA customer service maintains a database of Electrolux made vacuums and provides a link to Aerus's website for the convenience of owners of Electrolux branded Aerus vacuums."
http://www.aerushome.com/Site/AboutUs
My parents always had Electrolux vacuums, so they go back in the us to at least the 50s. I have one too somewhere in storage, but I think it gave up the ghost.
shareThis one from the 30s, check it - https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/1799
shareNice design! It doesn't look far off from the design my parents' had. That one's from 1937, theirs may have been from about a decade later.
shareIt says it was manufactured in the USA, not Sweden, so as indicated in my above post, the Aerus Company may have started out as importers, or maybe the ones for the US market were made in the US from the get-go. The Aerus website (link above) says they started out in 1924!
shareMaybe they were first invented/designed in Sweden and soon got a plant and established a customer base here.
1924, think of it. I'll bet in 1924 there were few vacuum cleaners in the whole world. Most people used either a broom or one of those carpet sweeper things.
I beg to differ, handy Andy. Electrolux is sold in the US. As a matter of fact, there's an Electrolux plant right here in my city. Well, okay, it just closed last November and most of the jobs were sent to another plant in South Carolina, if I remember correctly. Electrolux is actually a Swedish corporation, headquartered in Stockholm.
shareIt's Swedish? I'd have never guessed that.
shareI didn't know it either, until I looked it up, which I did, even though I know Electrolux has been sold here for years. I wondered if perhaps it was a different company here from what's in the UK. Target-Australia has nothing to do with Target here in the US, which is why I checked.
shareOops, I stand corrected.
shareMy family has owned at least 2 or 3 (including miniature ones for staircases). Research brands and models that have proven to last a long time. Look for the model you're most comfortable with, and suits your needs best. And don't buy it at Wal-Mart!
My family once bought me a nice, purple Dirt-Devil with an attachable hose, a clear plastic dust chamber, and I could even put scented filters in there. One small problem: one of the little wheels broke on the bottom, and I could not use it properly ever again. It was basically a cheap piece of crap we got from Wal-Mart.
Strangely enough, we still have and use this ancient, very heavy Kirby that my parents bought back in the mid-90s, and despite its age, it still works! The only part I dislike is that I can't find the hose feature. The Kirby did once come with a nice storage box you could mount on the wall, with different attachments and the hose. I used to use that to clean up tiled floors and get into little corners where the normal "face" on the vacuum can't go. So for now, I just use a broom and dustpan for areas like that.
I bought a little cordless about 2 years ago. It works so well! I actually almost enjoy vacuuming. (Which is a good thing because I've got a heavily shedding dog.) I used to dread hauling out the big vacuum, putting on the hose and attachments and dealing with the dreaded cord. I'll never buy another corded vacuum again.
shareWhat's wrong with Wal-Mart? Dirt Devils have always been budget vacuums, some are cheaply made, but Wal-Mart doesn't manufacture them. Wal-Mart has a good selection and good return policies. I bought my carpet shampooer from Wal-Mart and it was a good price and works great (a Wal-Mart exclusive Bissell).
My Hoover Wind Tunnel Air Bagless Upright vacuum I bought on Amazon, $110, free shipping, it works great, though I have a small apartment, I don't know how it would hold up in a houseful of carpet.
Kirbys are monstrously expensive.
I suppose it's the Dirt Devil brand itself. We once had a small vacuum from them as well, and it was terrible at sucking up dirt on the stairs of whatever house we had.
Still, there are just some things you don't buy from Wal-Mart if you want an investment. Backpacks and cheap vacuums are among them.
I'm guessing the Kirby was an investment by my parents, because they wanted a vacuum that would last, and could do all the things Kirby's were advertised to do. I actually remember them buying it in the mid-90s, with a lady representing the brand coming to our house and showing us how it worked. They even watched a video on how to turn it into a rug-shampooer.
Haha. I have a small wood floor electronic one, I dumped my huge old school one when I moved into my last place because it was all faux wood floors. I still use it as my kitchen as it is laminate but I need a new Dyson.
shareYes a few. Infact I briefly sold them. Ever since I was a little wee pipsqueek I've been fascinated by them. I'm fascinated by cleaning machines.
shareIs it worth buying a small vacuum cleaner in order to clean a larger one?
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