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hooverman


Joined: Jan 10, 2010
Points: 251

Dusting brushes
Original Message   Mar 22, 2010 8:57 pm
Why can't today's vacs have decent brushes like these?

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vacmanuk


Location: Scotland UK
Joined: May 31, 2009
Points: 1162

Re: Dusting brushes
Reply #3   Mar 23, 2010 9:37 pm
Venson, it could well be the expense of using natural animal hair against nylon plastic constructions and I know in the UK you can buy real horse hair brooms etc but some people get allergies. Frankly I don't know how they can get allergies from a real animal hair dusting tool or similar unless they are confusing themselves with the dust that gets picked up and not the actual hair.

Horse hair in particular is used for musical instruments such as violin bows etc so it doesn't surprise me that where once it was probably available to the masses, animal hair is now restricted to other forms that need it the most.
This message was modified Mar 23, 2010 by vacmanuk
Venson


Joined: Jul 23, 2007
Points: 1900

Re: Dusting brushes
Reply #4   Mar 24, 2010 3:00 am
vacmanuk wrote:
Venson, it could well be the expense of using natural animal hair against nylon plastic constructions and I know in the UK you can buy real horse hair brooms etc but some people get allergies. Frankly I don't know how they can get allergies from a real animal hair dusting tool or similar unless they are confusing themselves with the dust that gets picked up and not the actual hair.

Horse hair in particular is used for musical instruments such as violin bows etc so it doesn't surprise me that where once it was probably available to the masses, animal hair is now restricted to other forms that need it the most.

Hiya vacmanuk,

Horse hair,  etc., was once a mainstay in the production of many products including furniture and mattresses.  (it's now been given up for foam that has a "memory" and the stuff they've given up rubberized felt for for carpet. padding -- who knows what that is.)   That said, having used both vacuum dusting tools made of synthetic  and natural I still feel nothing beats natural materials.  On the fashion side of things, women have not yet given up natural material for synthetic for brushes they apply cosmetics with.

To be truthful, I think vacuum dusting tools are best  for getting up stuff that's heavily collected over time.  You know, like who besides those already meant for Heaven ever look on top of those hutch style china cabinets more than once a year?  When you do decide to look, it's usually obvious that there you need a vacuum.  But for regularly used and visible surfaces like dining or end tables, your best off laying your money a plain old dust cloth.  A swipe and your done way faster than the time it takes to retrieve and attach a vacuum tool (even if onboard), use it and put it back.

Venson

vacmanuk


Location: Scotland UK
Joined: May 31, 2009
Points: 1162

Re: Dusting brushes
Reply #5   Mar 24, 2010 2:31 pm
I use my dusting brushes for the following: * Dinner table at the end of the day, because despite the food stains, it's the pepper and salt that goes everywhere and it can be sucked up instead of ingraining a cloth. * Dusting of computer keyboards and piano instruments. * Curtains and curtain rails etc. * General dust that a feather duster could probably do but I've had electrostatic ones that claim to keep dust in, yet spread it around.
hooverman


Joined: Jan 10, 2010
Points: 251

Re: Dusting brushes
Reply #6   Mar 24, 2010 10:06 pm
Venson wrote:
Those two dusting tools are from way back in the day. The squarish one is from Kenmore.  It goes as far back as maybe the 1970s and and the round one is so standard it's hard to guess.  The color suggests that it might have come off a Compact but I don't think so becaues of the look of the neck.  As far as our history goes, swivel neck dusting tools are new.  However, vacuums that used curved wands like Filter Queen, GE and Rainbow were a lttle more convenient for dusting the tops of doors and other high flat aras.  Kirby was good for this too. Our Air-Way used a vee-shaped dusting tool throughout manufacture, many, many years and Electrolux devised a combination tool back in the 1950s that still exists

Europe, or should I say Asia, has had strong influence on floor tool design.  I'm not very appreciative of the new ideas as they employ the red velcro strip for routing surface litter and not floating brush strips as in past.  Electrolux, Air-Way, Filtex and Westinghouse (at one time) developed rug nozzles that did not use brush strips. 

I have heard of no animal rights protestors input but the interestng aspect here is that mainly animal hair was used for the the brushes in all these tools.  I pretty sure horses are glad fo the doing away with of "glue factories" but I am curioous to learn how and why the transition was made. For all the bacon that turns up on our table, there an awful lot of scrub brushes with plastic bristles around I still much prefer vacuum attachments that employ brushes made from animal hair

Venson



Yes, Venson, the brush on the right is from a Compact/Tristar; I've had it since 1985 (bought new) & its the best til I got the one on the left; which doesn't tend to suck delicate surfaces (drapes)
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