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The art of the up-sell...

It's usually a challenge for me to walk away from a Kirby in a thrift store, kind of like an active alcoholic walking past a bar. But last night it was easy. I was walking around a Goodwill store, killing a little time, and saw a Kirby G6 with its tool kit and a shampoo system. I actually...

The last of the 501s got the finger guard as well. I have a blue one with and one without.

Yes, both of my QuikBrooms are the model S2015. One is the later white-footed variant, while the other is the earlier blue-footed version, but my blue-footed one has the same slider switch as the later version, albeit in black instead of red. For a while, I also had a QuikBroom Supreme, which...

I have two of the QuikBrooms from the '80s. Both are blue and white, but one has a blue floor nozzle while the other one's is white. I know the white nozzle one is from 1986, I don't know whether the blue nozzle one is older or newer. They're handy little things for sure. The only thing is the...

That is indeed an amazing curb find, and just the right person to find it and appreciate it. Those machines have real 'unicorn' status these days. I've never seen one in a thrift shop. I'm glad you were able rescue it and save it from an ignoble fate. My grandmother had one of those in that same...

I buy a lot of my parts off of eBay. The vendors I end up using most there are EZ Vacuum Parts, and of course Kirbyfans, but I believe I saw on here that Kent Oyler, the owner of the latter, has passed away and his wife is winding down the business, selling off existing inventory. Of course...

Tylerhawkins84 wrote: Why on earth someone would throw away a perfectly good vacuum especially one as well made as a vintage Electrolux is beyond me. I reply: They probably tossed it because it was "old", used filter bags, and didn't have onboard tool storage. The industry has pretty well...

Glad you got it fixed. I hate when stuff like that happens.

Can you describe the odor? If it is an electrical odor, it could need to have the carbon brushes replaced. If it's an odor from something that's been sucked up, other steps may be necessary. I have a Oreck BB mini vac that had an obnoxious dog odor when running. I solved it by removing the bag...

I love those Royal handhelds. I've got three of them, two of which I picked up at thrift shops, and one on eBay. They certainly don't make 'em like that anymore.

Paint job looks nice. I'm in the midst of a similar restomod project on a vintage Kitchenaid mixer.

Sometimes, you just have to accept that you cannot win an argument with someone whose thinking is stuck in 'don't confuse me with facts; my mind is made up' mode. Better to just shake your head and walk away because they can't un-drink the kool-aid.

Finally, a test run... I can't believe I've had that machine for almost a month and hadn't really tried it out until today. I will freely admit that I get much more enjoyment out of working on vacuum cleaners than I do from actually running them and cleaning house, but today was the day. I...

Looking at vacuum cleaner advertising, say, from the 1950s and '60s, compared to the past 20 years, it's interesting to see that the 'advantages' touted back then for disposable filter bags and for bagless machines today is virtually identical. Phrases like 'quicker', 'less mess', and 'more...

What do I think of him? I prefer not to rent him space in my head.

Love that Lewyt canister. We had a similar one when I was little.

Looks like one I picked up at Goodwill a few years ago for $2. I had fun doing a little refurbishing on it, but in the end, I just never warmed to it and thus donated it to my church's rummage sale, along with a Filter Queen Majestic I also disliked. I hope they got more than $2 for it.

Nice score! And not a bad price from eBay, where vacuum cleaner prices are usually well beyond insane. That one must have really flown under the radar. Surely that didn't include shipping. For all intents and purposes, they are the same as the Avalir machines being offered today, just a...

The Electrolux Intensity was sort of a variation on the Hoover Z theme and also a pretty awful machine. A handheld masquerading as an upright with way too much fragile plastic. I used to work for the discount store Tuesday Morning, and we got a bunch of them in one time, probably just after they...