dysondestijl
Well-known member
I was given it. No idea how old it is but it looks 80's!
Any info on this??
- Thread starter dysondestijl
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midcenturyfan
Well-known member
I have got one of those, but I acquired it with a job lot of vacuum cleaners and I don't know any more about it than you do.
Robin.
Robin.
vacbear58
Well-known member
MUCH MUCH Earlier
You are giving your youth away now.
This is a carpet shampooer, and dates back at least to the early 1960s when it was known as a Bex Bissel.
Basically the orange bit is a tank in which you mixed water and carpet shampoo - typically 1001 (God does the advert on the link ever take me back). There was a trigger on the hand grip which released the liquid onto sponge rollers which moved as the shampooer was moved back and forward. We are not talking deep cleaning here. However the only alternative at the time would have been something like a Hoover Shampoo Polisher or down on your knees with a scrubbing brush
You let the carpet dry and vacuumed the residue off - well, in theory you did!
Very popular in its day, the one above was from the 1970s - my Mum had one just like it.
There was a later version with similar tank which had electrically driven rollers, indeed I think there may have been one in the catalogue scans which Anthony recently loaded.
I would say the introduction and popularity of the orange Vax cleaner just about killed these stone dead. Unless its something like 99p, don't waste your money
Al
You are giving your youth away now.
This is a carpet shampooer, and dates back at least to the early 1960s when it was known as a Bex Bissel.
Basically the orange bit is a tank in which you mixed water and carpet shampoo - typically 1001 (God does the advert on the link ever take me back). There was a trigger on the hand grip which released the liquid onto sponge rollers which moved as the shampooer was moved back and forward. We are not talking deep cleaning here. However the only alternative at the time would have been something like a Hoover Shampoo Polisher or down on your knees with a scrubbing brush
You let the carpet dry and vacuumed the residue off - well, in theory you did!
Very popular in its day, the one above was from the 1970s - my Mum had one just like it.
There was a later version with similar tank which had electrically driven rollers, indeed I think there may have been one in the catalogue scans which Anthony recently loaded.
I would say the introduction and popularity of the orange Vax cleaner just about killed these stone dead. Unless its something like 99p, don't waste your money
Al
My Mum and my Gran had the early green and white ones. Don't ever remember them generating that much foam. Found a more recent type on Amazon (other mail order companies are available)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ewbank-Carpet-Shampooer/dp/B001TW5G4I
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ewbank-Carpet-Shampooer/dp/B001TW5G4I
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
vacbear58
Well-known member
Ewbank
Gosh
I cannot believe they are still available, this looks like it operates on the same principle as the Bissell above. They really are a complete waste of time, you would be far better getting a wash and suck machine, even second hand, than one of these.
Al
Gosh
I cannot believe they are still available, this looks like it operates on the same principle as the Bissell above. They really are a complete waste of time, you would be far better getting a wash and suck machine, even second hand, than one of these.
Al
sebo_fan
Well-known member
Actually, the Bex Bissell was probably one of the only wet carpet treatment machines offered. My gran had the early green one and then a white one. Not very effective when I think back as the roller was just a thin layer of orange/yellow sponge that turned the shampoo onto the carpet rug. That and Hoover's twin head polisher were about the only alternatives for the home owner if they wanted clean hard floors and washing carpets.
vintagerepairer
Well-known member
I too feel ancient. I have to suggest though that Argos did sell this very same design right into the late 1990's, and of course Ewbank still are making them. The larger electric model was known as the spinfoamer. Whilst I don't personally rate the effectivness of such machinery, it was all the rage, with Hoover selling their shampoo-polisher for a good deal of years, and even the cleaning system of the Kirby is essentially the same.
dysondestijl
Well-known member
I knew it was a carpet foamer as I have a red bissel manual carpet foamer in its box in the loft. It's not very effective!
I remember seeing one in our house when I was a kid (mid 60s) but I don't ever recall anyone using it.
Gary
Gary
"I remember seeing one in our house when I was a kid (mid 60s) but I don't ever recall anyone using it." I think that says it all really, people bought these because they seemed a good price for what they purported to be, but they turned out to be far less impressive than previously thought.
vintagerepairer
Well-known member
I always recall them being well used. It has to be remembered that until Vax came along, shampooing was the only in-house method a housewife could opt for.
vintagerepairer
Well-known member
It has taken me a long time to find this and work out how to make it show here, but I have done it now. After acquiring my first TV set around 1980, this was one of the first comedies I recall sitting through, albeit some years after I got a TV. The part with the carpet shampooer is about 3 and a half minutes into the film.
"I always recall them being well used. It has to be remembered that until Vax came along, shampooing was the only in-house method a housewife could opt for." I stand corrected! I always assumed the consumers would be disappointed with the poor performance and put them away to collect dust.
vintagerepairer
Well-known member
No, it was the vacuum cleaners which collected dust, literally so.
sebo_fan
Well-known member
I think one of the reasons to why this mechanical roller exists is simply because there is a market for it. Unless you get down on your hands and knees with a Bissell Pet "Little Green" machine, there's still a purpose for the shampoo foam rollers - caravans for starters can benefit as other residential places that are simply too big to have a carpet upright washer or tub vacuum in the first place.
