Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

I love my Filter Queen vacs so far; but want to know if the 360 style tools are good/bad or the old style tools are better?  Mine are the brown & salmon mdls (salmon one is suction-only; brown one has Mdl 88 Power Nozzle)

this is my mdl 31 Filterqueen

CarmineD wrote:

I can't think of a vac warranty that covers odors.  Me thinks that you BS is smelling as much as any vac.

vacmanuk wrote:

I'm referring to new vacuum warranty periods by the original manufacturer and odors even with following manufacturer's instructions.  Pet owners should be irate to pay $600 for a high priced bagless and after 4 years haver a pet odor that permeates the vacuum and the house when in use.  The house is the same age as the vacuum.  I doubt replacing the hose with a new one on this bagless will eliminate the pet odor. [Tho it probably would in most bagged models].   I also doubt the retailer/manufcaturer will make this offer to the customer.  Sadly, the filter maintenance on this bagless is the original lifetime filter warranty with 6-9 month cleaning [2002-2007] schedule initially promulgated by the high priced bagless.  Not the 2-3 month schedule that was later prescribed by the bagless manufacturer [2007-now].  While the later short schedule may eliminate/reduce the pet odors during the manufacturers' 5 year warranty period, and may be a reason for the filetr cleaning change, I'd bet he odor is problematic after the warranty period.  The difference is that the retailer/manufacturer can put the onous solely on the owner after the warranty period and recuse themselves from any warranty coverage.

Carmine D.  

HARDSELL wrote:

I can't think of any bagged vacuum except this $600 bagless vacuum that has the pet odor problems under warranty.  Can you?  Perhaps pet owners should avoid buying these high prioced bagless vacuums if the manufacturer/retailers don't warranty against pet odors during the warranty period.  I know this one will no longer.  I suggested to her that she contact dyson, the LV retailer, and the entity that approves the vacuum for its fresh clean air smell during usage.  Perhaps one/more will provide some consideration/remedial action with the odor issue/problems.  Especially since the vacuum still is under warranty and clearly displays the UK seal of approval.  The odor problem will only get worse with time and use.  Maybe she can recover part of her original cost/get some more normal usage out of this one until she buys another vacuum more suited to households with a pet and children.

Carmine D.

PS:  Imagine that you bought a TOL toyota vehicle for $60,000 with a 5 year 50,000 mile warranty.  Gradually you noted a toxic smell entering the drivers/passengers' compartment while the vehicle is still under warranty.  It appears to get worse and worse.  What would you do? 

CarmineD wrote:

Common sense tells me that any vacuum will omit odors if the odor omitting substance is left in the bag/bin.  Air has to pass through the bag same as the bin.  Hold a rag over your nose while in a port a pottie and it still smells like poop. 

If ol Rover's hair smells so foul he needs a shower. 

HARDSELL wrote:

You can change the bag.  Good as new.  Especially if one of the many odor resitant/retardent paper bags is used as a replacement.  One of the innovative vacuum technologies for bagged vacuums in recent years.  Can't change the bin and get rid of the smell in the high priced bagless.  Can't wash/change the high priced filters that are in the high priced bagless brand and eliminate the odors.  Can't chnage the hose and dirt by-pass to eliminate the odors.  Why?  You can't remove the odors in the cyclones in this high priced bagless no matter how hard you try and regardless of what you do. 

The dog smells fine after grooming.  Just like a person after taking a shower.  Odors are gone.  Washing works for people and pets.  Not for odors in high priced bagless vacuums.  Can't give a high priced bagless a shower.  Maker's instructions tell you not to.  Water is bad for cyclones.  So what do you do?  Open the windows in the car when you drive and in the house when vacuum?  $600 bagless vacuum and $60,000 luxury vehicle.  That's common sense?  Remember the heat of July gets to 115 degress in the desert in Las Vegas.  Doesn't make sense to use the air conditioner to overcme the heat and then open the windows for fresh air.  If the heat doesn't overcome you then the dry sandy air will.  Nevada authorities cite pet owners for keeping their pets outdoors in the heat during the summer.  Same for leaving babies and children outdoors too.  Maybe common sense says the vacuum should go oustside instead.  In the trash and off to the dump where it will be right at home among the smells.  I know one bagless brand buyer who feels this way now.  Lets' see what she is told by dyson, the big box retailer where she bought it, and the UK entity that sanctioned the $600 brand for persons with allergies and breathing problems. 

Carmine D.

Actually Carmine, you can clean out bagless models INCLUDING the cyclone. It depends on the brand in this case. I note that on the Vax Mach Air, all the cyclones come apart and the whole thing can actually be washed completely. It doesn't matter if it is bagless or bagged - if you're a pet owner and your vacuum stinks it's because it hasn't been maintained and cleaned out properly. Hoses are the worst for keeping old pet hair clogged up particularly on cheaper "less flexible," plastic hoses or the types that have metal coils in them. The old black carbon filters that used to protect the motors in hard box uprights are also notorious for not being kept clean -those too can be washed although buyers are seldom told these things, being pushed to buy new filters and thus buying yet again something else other than a belt.

Filter Queens have a CELLUPURE (white on both sides) cone that MUST BE CHANGED monthly, an ENVIROPURE (black on both sides) MEDIPURE (black on outside; white on inside) & flat disc filter on motor (inside cone guard) must be changed EVERY 6 MONTHS; & the bating filter once a yr.  I changed all filters; smell still there.

vacmanuk wrote:

Would you please elaborate here on your steps and vacuum components to "maintain and clean out properly"  to prevent and overcome smells and odors emissions during usage.  Not just pet but musty dirty smells in general that are pervasive in bagless [at least from reading on-line posters' reviews and questions of assistance].  If you focus on the high priced bagless brand it will be useful.  Also feel free to quote directly from the users manual if you are familiar with it's authoritative manufacturer instructions not just experience and opinions.  Since you speak with expertise, do you have a pet[s] and use a bagless vacuum?  How long?  What are your feelings and findings. 

Same question for you HS?  You appear to be an authority on pets, smells, and vacuum odors, enlighten us on your knowledge and experience.

Carmine D.

hooverman wrote:

After 50 years, I can fully understand having the lingering puke perfume smell.  Sadly, its there forever now.  I suspect it was left unused for a period of time with the smell pervasive throughout the unit.  No way to get it out now with reasonable effort and costs. 

Carmine D.

Briefly Be it Bagless or Bagged, if your vacuum stinks after a couple of months of ownership and you've washed the filters and still smell that pet hair stench, the simplest way is to put the upright's hood on the base of a floor with the beater bar in the air, remove the belt and then do the following:

1. Clean the brush roll, especially if it has pet hair and threads wrapped around it.
2. With an antibacterial cleaning cloth with bicarb of soda soaked in to continually wash out the dust channel. Depending on what vacuum you have (and for me its Sebo here) so its dead easy to clean out with a bendy wire or bottle cleaner with a "wet wipe" wrapped around and tied down with rubber bands. Constantly swabbing the interior of the dust channel gets rid of nasty dirt that suction can't move.
   
3. Then I take off the entire hose and lay it in a bath of cold water and 4 tablespoons of bicarb of soda and some vinegar. I let the hose air dry and it can take a period of up to three days to ensure the hose is completely clean and smells clean! Ive also manually dried a hose by continually packing it up with cloths wrapped around a thick stick that won't bend or tear the hose.
4. I don't know if you guys in the U.S get disposable cleaning cloths but they're all the fashion in the UK; ones with Orange oil aren't effective on vacuum hoses and dust channels. Antibacterial and/or non-abrasive coated "wet" cloths are ideal for "sterilising" a vacuum cleaner.
5. Then I do the same to every tool I've used for pet hair pick up, crevice tool, upholstery brush and even lint brush.
   
6. I then take a bendy wire again with antibacterial wipes or similar again and swab the back of the dust channel leading to the hose. You can then dry the inner channel with a dry cloth like a J Cloth. Until all tools and inner hoses have been completely cleaned out, then there's less of a chance that once everything else is installed and dry the reek of pet hair / that puke smell will be banished.
7. Once everything is back in place, I sprinkle a load of bicarb powder into the carpets and let the vacuum cleaner pick it up to put in the bag. In the UK we don't really have the Arm & Hammer coated bags (even Electrolux stopped selling many of them) when it would make more sense to have bicarb/ in a paper bag or canister "live" as opposed to through layers of filter paper before the dirt.