Stinky bagless vacs and bulky item day trash finds.....

[kloveland]

I picked a Dyson V7 with all attachments this Saturday at a thrift store for $9.99. Nothing apparently wrong with it. It is clean except for a very putrid dog smell. I’m thinking the owner donated it because of the smell or upgraded to a newer model.

This was also the weekend of bulky item pick up. I retrieved two Dysons from the trash, a couple of Hoovers, a Riccar Moonlight canister, Shark Apex, Eureka Bravo and a Bissell Healthy home. These are for me to play with/resell. Every year around this time I amazed at what people will throw away. The Shark Apex still had the tag on it and it appeared to only be a couple of months old. As with my experience in the past most of these vacuums worked fine. Most needed unclogging, belts and half needed cords thanks to the scrappers that were ahead of me.

In my experience most bagless vacuums will start to smell after a while (especially if the owner has pets). Proper maintenance would probably negate this. I blow my bagless out after every use especially after using it in a house with pets. This is time consuming, so I prefer bagged as most collectors. I'm wondering how the average bagless owner deals with stinky bagless vacs.

 

[blackheart]

How the average user deals with it

Well seems like a lot of people still use products like these only causing the machine to further clog.

Sounds like you've gotten some good machines for resale.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

All of those 'sprinkle powders'

are horrid.  I never used them.


  I'm still amazed at the people who never clean/change the filters on the baglss vacs. "There's a filter"?


 you can smell pet hair, smoke, God knows what else!!

 

[tolivac]

When folks buy these vacuums-they throw away the owners manual still in the box!You know the attitude-"Its a vacuum cleaner-I know how to use and care for it already."

 

[tolivac]

"sprinkle carpet poweders-for some vacuums-the warrantee is invalidated if you pick this stuff up.If it gets into the motor-will fry the bearings.And it sneaks in somehow-no matter what filters or bag is used.Something about those sprinkle stuffs-they can corrode metal and even some plastic vacuum parts.Plus they are good at eroding direct air fans.

 

[mark40511]

Lord have mercy we bought carpet fresh like crazy in the 80s... I did smell good though...I know it's horrible stuff and I haven't used it in FOREVER... but I don't remember it ruining our vacuum cleaners back then....We had the same vacuum for years it was a bagged hoover upright...

I think the entire thing would need to be taken apart to get the dog out of it.

 

[kloveland]

I did use carpet fresh when I was younger. I don't use it anymore. It seems to me this would make matters worse especially in a bagless vac. I'm thinking caked on carpet fresh around the cyclones.

My neighbor has a Dyson canister. I've seen him blow the canister out with his air compressor. So I know there are some people who take care of their bagless vacs. Many do not.

 

[huskyvacs]

There was a member on here that coined the phrase "love my carpet, hate my vacuum" (in reference to the powder). And it's true.

It may not affect bagged vacuums that much - but you can not use this stuff with bagless vacuums. It will absolutely decimate the filters in record time. They will clog solid.

A better alternative is any foaming carpet perfume, and just using a carpet rake.

Dysons do have a tendency to stink because of the way the cyclones are arrange they can trap dirt within the unit, and their filters can trap musky smells in the motor housing which is exhausted out. Enzymatic cleaners and a full bath can take care of the issue.

The reason you get pet odor in vacuums is because the keratin in the fur will break down and decompose and in large amounts it becomes smellable.

 

[texaskirbyguy]

Carpet powder was also quite bad for direct air machines with dump-bags.
Shaking the bag left most of the powder embedded in the fabric. Add some humidity and that powder would become part of the bag like plaster.

I had a heck of a job cleaning that petrified crap out of my 505's bag several years ago. In fact it had glued the top section of the bag closed and the top clamp would barely slide off. After many washes, it came clean - and no smell either!

Most all of the curbside vacs I see have been much abused and newer so I rarely pick them up. If it is vintage, or in decent shape I will.
Only late model one I have taken was an Oreck from 2009 or so - it was overall pretty nice. My neighbor bought it from me and I donated their old Oreck that smelled like dog. In fact I had also donated a 2-3 year old cordless DieSoon (in pieces) that reeked of dog. They said they cleaned it all but could not rid the smell. I think it embeds in the plastic or something. Or they are not cleaning it right.......

 

[gsheen]

Carpet Powder Keeping guys like me in Business for ever, dry carpet cleaning powder is even better as people vacuum that stuff up by the ton

 

[niclonnic]

My mom used carpet freshening powder in her apartment several years ago (after she divorced my dad and moved out) with her old Dyson DC07 Animal, in an attempt to get the dog smell out of it. While it didn't kill the vacuum, the powder caused the cyclone assembly to whistle less (this was one of the later DC07 models), and the pre-motor filter got clogged a bit. And yet, the vacuum never lost suction! But after a few more uses, the dog smell lingered. She even bought a new HEPA filter, and despite that, the dog smell remained.

If my mom didn't have pets, then why did she take that vacuum? A vacuum that was "designed for homes with pets," as Dyson advertised? I understand that it's a rule of divorce, but I found it downright ridiculous. That Dyson was our daily driver at my old house for YEARS, until my dad received a Hoover WindTunnel 2 Rewind Pet as a free product for review; I used that in place of the Dyson due to the Hoover having a better brush roll. I remember trying to convince her repeatedly to buy a new vacuum, but she always refused, citing the inability to afford a new one. Eventually, she was getting tired of how bulky and heavy the Dyson was, so a few years ago, I gifted her with a new Hoover Air Steerable, whereupon I got the Dyson back in my home.

huskyvacs, yes, I found out the hard way that the inner cyclone assembly in my DC07 was the source of the pet odors I was experiencing. So I took the whole cyclone assembly apart, washed it in soap and water, and sure enough, that got rid of the odor! But the pre-motor filter, on the other hand, didn't smell bad from what I recall.

Anyway, in my house, I used to own a cordless Oreck that I got for Christmas 2020, so I used carpet powder on my upstairs carpet late last year. I vacuumed it up, and I had forgotten how overpowering the scent was. My sister could smell it after she came home from work that day; she wondered if I had cleaned the carpets, and I told her yes.

Because of clogging, I've decided to stay away from carpet powders from now on. I even sold my Oreck a couple months ago, as I'm not a fan of bagged vacuums.

 

[madman]

I think a big part of the problem with bagless vacs and stinky pets is simply that the operators don't empty the damn things.

 

[fan-of-fans]

I think even if you empty it there are oils in dogs fur that stick to the bin and leaves odors. I’ve noticed even with bagged vacuums you get an odor. I think what you pick up leaves residue on the air passages of the vacuum and in the brush roll chamber.

Really have to take apart and soak everything to get rid of the odors.

My mom used to use carpet powder, I did like the smell.

 

[tolivac]

Not just dumping their bins--but not cleaning or replacing filters.Now if the owner READ the owners book about the vacuum they would learn about the filters that need attention besides dumping the bin.Honestly these folks would be better off with a BAGGED vacuum-when bag gets full or stinks--CHANGE IT.

 

[kirbyklekter]

I've heard people on here saying

they could even smell the dander odor on the motor windings and other places on the vacuum cleaner and also on attachments like the extension tubes and the power nozzles.The powders only make things worse, requiring more time and effort from you to cleanup your machine after every use more extensively or else!

And if you live in an area with high humidity and use a dump bag on your Kirby/Sanitaire/Hoover etc. and use powders and have pets, I call that "The Perfect Storm." P.U.

 

[jo]

Wash wash wash

The bagless vacuums need not just the bins dumped and washed but the filters and the entire air path washed. On the Dyson for example all those cones are where the finest dusty air goes through to be trapped by the final filters and it is inside there that a buildup of very fine powdery dust gets caked on lightly including pet dander and that dust starts smelling.

I’ve seen what the carpet powder combined with any moisture and humidity do to a vacuum particularly in the brushroll area where it’s bearings are. Not pretty. I don’t recommend the stuff honestly unless you live in a very dry environment with super dry carpet and no humidity. Plus the powder leaves a residue on the carpet which attracts dirt making things worse.

Just my observations.

Jon

 

[mark40511]

Wow - they STILL sell the stuff! I'm not sure why, but I've never noticed it on shelves or maybe I just haven't paid attention. I just went to amazon to look and you can still by it. Love my carpet, hate my vacuum <-------- LOL .. I guess in my mind since I swore off all that stuff YEARS ago that it was no longer made. You used to see adverts for all these things constantly on TV and you don't any more...but it's still out there for purchase. LOL

I love dogs and cats...Being a clean freak I'm trying to imagine how I'd deal with having a dog. I'm thinking it wouldn't be easy...

the best way I've found with bagged vacuums is sucking up some activated charcoal pellets periodically....but that wouldn't work in a bagless vacuum. Apart from taking the entire thing down to clean it... I don't know.