This "sucks"... the Hoover And Other Vintage Vacuum Cleaners

[PrettySquareGal]

I am in the market for a new vacuum after experiencing poor quality from newer models over the last few years. I am tinkering with the idea of vintage. I love the look of the gleaming canister models, but am wondering if anyone here like LizzieMaine is successfully using a vintage model? If so, do you buy replacements bags or filters online and hope they come up often and not for too much, or can you use new bags in the old canisters? Any personal experiences and info is appreciated!

 

[Dexter'sDame]

Durable like tanks

Can't speak for availability of bags and parts, but I can say they're built like tanks. Until 1990 my mother had a Hoover canister vac she received at her wedding shower in 1958, and it still ran. She only got rid of it because she was moving cross country. My grandmother had one from the 60's that worked into the late 1990's.

 

[Foofoogal]

I bought a vintage Hoover Celebrity canister used or reconditioned at a vacuum store. One tough machine with metal guts the guy told me. I used it forever but it finally went kaput. I no longer have a need for a vacuum but would recommend it to anyone.
http://www.hoover.com/parts/?category=bags&part=4010009H

I personally detest uprights and the cheap vacuums made now.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

That is exactly why I want one!

 

[Dexter'sDame]

That was it!!! The Hoover Celebrity!

That was it!!! The Hoover Celebrity canister vac is what both Mom and Gradma had for decades.

 

[LizzieMaine]

*The* vintage vaccuum if you're in the market for one is the Electrolux Model XXX, the classic canister-on-skids model built from 1939 to 1952. These are still very common in working condition, don't require a disposable bag (there's a cloth sack inside you take out and empty over the back fence into your neighbor's yard) and they take standard Electrolux attatchments.

You'll pay about $50 for a good one, and you'll never need to buy another. Best vacuum cleaner ever built, period. I'm the proud and satisfied owner of one, if you haven't guessed.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

Lizzie I KNEW you'd know! Thanks!

 

[Dr Doran]

(there's a cloth sack inside you take out and empty over the back fence into your neighbor's yard) .

lol

 

[dhermann1]

Electrolux

When I was a kid my mom had an Electrolux. They've become almost a cult item. The one drawback with them is emptying the bag. It's a full scale ritual.
You have a fabric bag, rather than a disposable paper one, and it has to be emptied. The method I've always seen requires newspapers spread on the floor, tilting the bag upside down while keeping toes on the metal rim of the bag, to keep the edge more or less sealed. Then you dump the contents, and give the bottom of the bag a good shake, to make sure it's empty. Then you roll up the newspaper, making sure dust doesn't go flying.
There may be a way of dumping it into a plastic grocery bag, also. But either way, you have to be careful. As I said, it becomes a ritual.
However, if you can do it, and it's nowhere near as odious as I just made it sound ( ), then they are really great.
Another great American brand is Eureka. There are old ones available, too.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

Thanks, dhermann1. That sounds better than cleaning those filters that come on the vacs these days! It's so gross- you have to dig into the groves of the filter to get rid of the gunk. It defeats the whole purpose of the HIPAA filter if, in order to clean it, you look like Pig Pen after the fact. I love the idea of a bag I dump and don't have to dispose of!

 

[Mike K.]

My momma used to always tell me...life is like a vacuum cleaner, sometimes it sucks!

 

[LizzieMaine]

When I was a kid my mom had an Electrolux. They've become almost a cult item. The one drawback with them is emptying the bag. It's a full scale ritual.
You have a fabric bag, rather than a disposable paper one, and it has to be emptied. The method I've always seen requires newspapers spread on the floor, tilting the bag upside down while keeping toes on the metal rim of the bag, to keep the edge more or less sealed. Then you dump the contents, and give the bottom of the bag a good shake, to make sure it's empty.

It's a lot easier with the Model XXX. The back of the canister lifts off completely after unlatching a lever, and you just ease the bag out. The rim is rigid, and has no need to be sealed, and the shape of the flange holding it in place is slanted just enough that there's no danger of spilling.

Then you just carry it out to the back yard, and using the handle stitched to the bottom, you shake out the dust -- as I say, over the fence into the neighbor's yard. (I live next door to a scrapyard, so I can get away with this.)

After you empty the bag, it's a good idea to beat it a bit to get all the dust out of the fabric. I whack it a few times against a convenient maple tree, taking care to stand upwind as I do so. And if I'm in a bad mood, beating the empty bag is quite satisfying.

 

[Geesie]

I bought a vintage Hoover Celebrity canister used or reconditioned at a vacuum store. One tough machine with metal guts the guy told me. I used it forever but it finally went kaput. I no longer have a need for a vacuum but would recommend it to anyone.
http://www.hoover.com/parts/?category=bags&part=4010009H

I personally detest uprights and the cheap vacuums made now.

THANK YOU! I've been trying to figure out what my parents' vacuum model is and it's just like this Hoover.

35 years old, continuous use, and still sucks!

 

[Tomasso]

My momma used to always tell me...life is like a vacuum cleaner, sometimes it sucks!

lol

 

[LizzieMaine]

My Electrolux XXX in Action!

Track mud in my kitchen again and I'll have your head for a hood ornament!

 

[carter]

Mulch adieu sans vaccuming

...(there's a cloth sack inside you take out and empty over the back fence into your neighbor's yard)...

Don't dump that in the neighbor's yard. Use it in your mulch! Who knows what wonders you may grow?

 

[Bourbon Guy]

Track mud in my kitchen again and I'll have your head for a hood ornament!

That's like the electrolux my mother got back in the 50's. It's now in my garage. Does a good job on the inside of the car. [aside: I haven't seen a galvanized bucket in a while, either.]

 

[retrogirl1941]

That's like the electrolux my mother got back in the 50's. It's now in my garage. Does a good job on the inside of the car. [aside: I haven't seen a galvanized bucket in a while, either.]

You can still buy galvinzed buckets at Ace hardware. We also still sell washboards amd tubs to scrub your clothes in! Most of the time you have to have them order you one(its only takes a few days) and the logo still loooks like it did in the 30's!

Samantha

 

[Flivver]

*The* vintage vaccuum if you're in the market for one is the Electrolux Model XXX, the classic canister-on-skids model built from 1939 to 1952. These are still very common in working condition, don't require a disposable bag (there's a cloth sack inside you take out and empty over the back fence into your neighbor's yard) and they take standard Electrolux attatchments.

You'll pay about $50 for a good one, and you'll never need to buy another. Best vacuum cleaner ever built, period. I'm the proud and satisfied owner of one, if you haven't guessed.

My Mom had a 1946 Electrolux XXX when I was a kid in the 1950s. I loved the sound it made...a pretty good imitation of a 1950 Buick Straight Eight with Dynaflow!

She relegated it to the attic in the 1960s in favor of an "Electric Broom" even though the Electrolux was still working perfectly. She said she was tired of dragging it around the house.

I need to dig it out of the attic...I'm sure it's still up there. I'll bet it's much better than the modern cheap plastic Hoover I'm currently using.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

My Mom had a 1946 Electrolux XXX when I was a kid in the 1950s. I loved the sound it made...a pretty good imitation of a 1950 Buick Straight Eight with Dynaflow!

She relegated it to the attic in the 1960s in favor of an "Electric Broom" even though the Electrolux was still working perfectly. She said she was tired of dragging it around the house.

I need to dig it out of the attic...I'm sure it's still up there. I'll bet it's much better than the modern cheap plastic Hoover I'm currently using.

....but you plan to give it to me?

I'd love to see pics when you find it and your review!