Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

Hello everyone!

I thought it was time to start a new, more creative thinking thread. I'll go first, and others can follow with their own examples.

What if Oreck had bought Airway? Superb all metal American made vacuum  for a canister, but even better, the perfect venue for recreating the Airway twin motor uprights, or the Vorwerk/Mighty Maid (Clarke) could even have been a tandem open-fan system., with a fan in the head, like Oreck.The motor fan unit in the handle tube could still have incorporated the Airway suction diverter to use the open handle as a way to use tools with out a hose. A small handle grip was part of the system to use the unit like a Kirby hand portable. The hose could have been used like a shoulder portable (Worwerk style) or on the end of the open handle (Airway style) Sebo has copied the newer vorwerks with their Felix uprights, clean fan design, instant on/off power nozzle w/ manual adjustment and lifetime belt warranty, hose that can be used with the unit standing, or with the p/h removed and handle lowered, adjustable power switch.

Or, how about this for the ultimate in cleaning convenience? Take the Oreck platinum, the New hoover windtunnel, or the Riccar supralite, add a backpack, like the Nikfisk, super light weight, with a cord that PLUGS INTO THE HANDLE OF THE LIGHTWEIGHT UPRIGHT. So both units could run at the same time, upright in one hand, wand of the backpack in the other. No switching except the tool on the end of the hose, which could be the ultimate 12 in 1 transformer tool and a telescopic wand. The backpack could of course have a longer cord to allow it to be used away from its companion upright, but think of the speed and convenience!

Couldn't resist this one, Bissell and Dyson merge to produce a multi-cyclone Lift-Off vacuum!

Come on, let's have some fun and some creative thinking instead of beating the same old dead horses!

Ah, Trebor, a vacuum man for all occasions!  Years ago, HOOVER added a chargeable cordless hand cleaner on its Concept upright!  Nice touch, despite the bulk and weight.  More recently the HOOVER Z, not one of your favorites but mine, which allows users to have the advantages of a canister for cleaning steps/stairways and an upright for carpets.   And may I add morph into a canister design for easy storage and transport.  DIB illustrated the picture of the HOOVER Z for cleaning steps on another thread.

You saw where Ken Garcia assigned the halo rights for the UV-C technology to ORECK [in November 2008].  I would anticipate/expect an ORECK lightweight that utilizes the UV-C technology.  Niche vacuum for germ phobes, more in line with what the halo should/could have been.  Perhaps OBT for ORECK like the halo?  A financial windfall considering ORECK's lock on the hotel/motel industry.  This fusion [no pun intended HS] is more congruent with the past and existing ORECK venues than aligning with an old water hydrant type metal canister [Air-Way] that, while notable in its own day, was stuck forever in time.  A sedentary cleaning beast among mobile ambulate household cleaners.  It's demise.

And now a dose of reality.  It is impossible, despite the endless possibilities to remake better floorcare products, for vacuum companies to form a partnership/consortium for that purpose.   Hasn't happened in the industry to my knowledge.  The best that can be achieved is one company combining several features/technologies across product types into one.  The HOOVER Floormate, for example, comes to mind.  It died a long time ago and came back to life with new vigor.  Or, HOOVER's use of bags and bagless in one upright for the last 7/8 years [Savvy].  Maybe it will be done for a canister too! 

Cordless technology is the new frontier in the industry.  Westinghouse tried and failed several years ago.  HOOVER/TTI is leading the way now with the cordless WT Stick and the Accu-charge battery charging process.   I see a trend in brand name[s] for forging ahead in the industry.   

Still the possibilities to advance are endless given the wherewithal of businesses and their leadership to be so inclined. 

Carmine D.

Carmine,

Airway's downfall was their unwillingness to refocus on a network of vac shops as their exclusive vendors. The Airway was a very nimble, versatile, durable canister. Their bags were awesome, and kept the motor spotless, even after 30 yrs or more of use. The design allowed it to be pulled up stairs w/o actually lifting it, and the original metal rug nozzle was one of the very best ever designed. I believe that given the choice, a great many American Miele buyers would choose an all-metal American-made vac over a plastic German one, no matter how pretty and hepa filtering it is.

But I was really more interested in the possibility of a vac combining the old Airway twin motor uprights with the older Vorwerks with the soft bags. Now there would be a 'home cleaning system' to give Kirby a run for their money! Upright, hand portable, shoulder portable, bare floor vac, floor buffer, spray/suds, gun carpet shampooer.

For those who have not visited the website of the Vorwek collector in Deutschland, it is very interesting, The 'PolsterBoy attachment looks suspiciously like the Kirby ZippBrush, and the really old polished metal Vorwerks had an upholstery/stair nozzle that ran off a flexible shaft like on a Handi-Butler. There are other vac in the collection. I don't have the link handy right now, but the site is worth the time to look it over.

I too wonder about the OBT option for Orecks, although the Halo only carried a stretch-hose, crevice tool, and small oval brush. not much of a tool set at all. Oreck does sell an OBT upright in their commercial division. Don't know if they make it themselves.

Thanks for responding, Carmine, and I hope others will, as well.

A dealers outlook of why air way,filter queen, royals metal tanks and canisters have gone to  vacuums long lonesome highway to nowhere,It was taken over by the MIELES and riccars of the world,They created to the dealers the emmer besser philosiphy and the dealers bit and ran with it, Not to mention the inflated prices on the domestic brands,B.T.W the Europeans are following the same path that killed the high end domestics,

Aerus/electrolux, and kirby are the only two american brand names left,And dont forget about the chinese parts,they all use them, Even the bags and filters are made in P,R,O,C, .But this is just the way it is the consumer is use to it now,Its a moot point.

I like this bumper sticker,hungry? ot of work? cant find work? eat your TOYOTA..........

SELL SELL SELL.

regards

MOLE

mole wrote:
Hiya MOLE,

This is an off the wall question but do you think the change in American homelife may have also had a influence on things?  In the hayday of the cleaners you mentioned there were more women at home fulltime and I sort of think they paid more attention to stuff like this.  There was a post here a while back mentioning that on occasion an at-home mom might well leave her vacuum out just to be sure a visiting neighbor could see she was no slouch.

Air-Way, Royal and FQ were also frequently advertised in "ladies magazines" -- a thing I have little awareness of now.  I don't even know if Ladies Home Journal or Good Housekeeping still exist.  Business being a main focus, I think working women AND working men are not all that prone to be in the mainstream of info when it comes to housekeeping so there's little imprinted in their minds save for what they see on TV or piled up in front of them at the big box stores.

The main reason I have developed an affection for European-generated vacs is that they appear to display more forethought in the making. Most of the time I feel that I am looking at product that's nothing Eureka, Hoover and others are now in the hands of money men looking make with as little bother as possible.

Best,

Venson.

Trebor wrote:

Hi Trebor:

Back in the late 50's, early 60's, when A*W was still sold d-t-d, A*W opened a company store in North Jersey but for all makes and models.  A young hot shot kid salesman, maybe you knew him/of him, Lou Martucci from Neptune, NJ, with the blessings of the then A*W VP, I think his name was Young, was put in charge of the store.  Lou was the best d-t-d salesman in the vacuum business that I ever met.  His store was going great guns and so were A*W sales in NJ.  Making money hand over fist.  But Lou, a married man, with a lovely wife and small children, had a betting problem:  Nags.  He was also a top notch horse handicapper.  But greedy.  Didn't know when to stop and thought his winning streaks would never end. 

Lou squandered the business money in short order.  Then he devised a scheme to defraud his loyal vacuum customers.  He had access to the company check book and wrote/signed checks to himself.  Then, he would get unsuspecting customers to cash the checks for him in the middle of the night or weekend under the pretense that the banks were closed, he was short money, and in a jam.  He had car problems and couldn't get it fixed w/o the money.  Most bought his line and fronted him the money only to have the checks bounce.  Lou was on the lamb for months, and finally got stopped by a cop for running a stop sign.  Being followed by the cop, he sped up and away, not realizing the stop was for a traffic violation not the check fraud.  When the cops finally stopped him in a road block, they did a background check and found the outstanding warrants his arrest for check fraud.  He went to jail for 18 months.  The store went under, so did A*W sales in NJ, Lou and his family.  Very sad story. 

Carmine D.

Venson wrote:

Hello Venson:

Back in the day when vacuums were still commonly called sweepers, owning a vacuum, and getting for a gift, was a status symbol.

Carmine D.

Give me a lightweight canister like the Miele Carina with a powerhead and a sealed system HEPA for under $500 dollars.

That's all I want.

Though I am in reality not a fan of the Dyson because of all the plastic.  I would like to see Dyson come out with a central system that uses a larger version of the dust collection.  Now this is a bagless design that would benefit from not losing suction and would not differ too much from the already norm.  Then if you could pair this CVS with a Oreck as a power nozzle; you would have a pretty good system.

Luckey1

Your wish will come true. Miele is doing away with the swivel hose design. Both the 514 and the Mango Moon are being discontinued, to be replaced with a canister designated 'S2' according to the local Miele dealer. It is supposed to retail for 599.99, and I'm sure there will  somes discount/trade in available. Do not know if it will be a choice of P/N available, or if it will be one just for this model. I was sad to see the battery operated P/N from Miele go by the wayside.

Lucky1 wrote:
Lucky1 and Trebor,

Yes, you are correct - supposedly the Miele S2 will be coming at a lower price point and options for power head...Don't know when it is coming to the states..

http://www.miele-presse.de/de/en/press/home_5105.htm (photo @ bottom)

here's another: http://www.miele.de/de/haushalt/produkte/1325_22225.htm

interesting...