best hoover vac ever made.

[briankirbyclass]

Sorry to say but after cleaning a large 2 story house many times with wall to wall plush carpet with one, the WORST cleaning vaccum i ever used was a Hoover Dial a Matic.
With the suction path only being on one side of the brush roll, the opposite side only made the dirt and dust jump (on the no suction side),and didnt suck it away. Cleaning up to the baseboards of a room or hallway was a joke with no suction on the one side.
The strength of the suction itself was pityful, even with a fresh bag. The "Check Bag" light never worked.
The machine blew and belched dust out of its front exhaust like crazy, and the bag was a mess to take off and change. No way of holding the dirt in the bag when taking it off,(unless you lay the entire vac on its front and slowly open the back, all the while trying to undo the bag),dirt and dust always fell out and leaked out all over.
The tool suction was pityful, especially if the bag was even partially full.
I found the machine to be loud, obnoxious,clumbsy, heavy and hard to push, especially on thick carpet.
It even burned a hole in the carpet one time from standing too long while using the hose.
Not my idea of the best vacuum , but hey, to each his own! Wish we would have had a Convertible!

 

[gottahaveahoove]

Although the DAM is not my favorite oamong the HOOVERS

I NEVER had any of that trouble  with any of mine.  The tools work  great,  (better than our beloved Convertibles). They are great for Chinese rugs or any rug with fringe, it NEVER gets stuck. I will admit,  it doesn't "swing"  on a rug as well as the Convertible,  but, then  what cleaner DOES? It is amazing, that they


aRE the forerunner to all of these current day cleaners.  Too bad  they never "tweaked" it a bit. Suffice it to say,  if there were  a fire, (God forbid),  I'd take my 1076  before the DAM. Still like it, though.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

and, I'd NEVER "bash" another brand, I MUST s

I was at my cousin's house.  She  was vacuuming  with a vac   with a "ball".  She used to swear by it.  Now, she swears because of it.  That  absloutely belched dust everywhere.  She then asked me about my collection.  Hinting in a rather sarcastic manner,"How many "sweepers"  do you really have?" All I could think was, "Hmmmmmmmmmmmm, I'll have to get back to you on THAT one".If she had a brain in here head, it would be lonely.  Her first mistake  was marrying my cousin.  I'd guess another was buying that "ball". Nothing in my house, including me, belches anything.

 

[pinkge]

Best cleaner would be...

the Hoover 26,27,28,then the 60 series.They were very well built and cleaned you carpets and floors.

 

[vacbear58]

I agree with Hans & Fred

In my opinion the 150 wins hands down, with the DAM a close second - both in their ways revolutionary cleaners. The 150 was not in sale here, and I have always found it odd to see with the "fork" handle but I have used my friend Jack's and it really is the most well balanced cleaner for ease of use, not to mention the suspension and other such innovations like the bag full indicator.

Al

 

[gottahaveahoove]

Alistair,

you are very correct.  I never ran a 150 until recently.  I ran Rick Benedikt's in CAlifornia,  then the one at The Historical Center.  For a cleaner THAT old,  it runs like a dream.  a very "comfortable" feel to it,  plus stellar performance.  Now,  if thew could make a retrp  type  cleaner modeled after it,  you'd have something.

 

[xraytech]

John,

I too have to agree about the One-Fifty cleaner. I just used one for the first time at the Historical Center on Friday, it is such a dream to use so quiet and maneuvers so well, and I'm sure gets all that deep down grit. That machine is so ahead of its time. I am now on the lookout for a One-Fifty.

Sam

 

[bagintheback]

Sadly, I haven't used a great number of Hoovers in my life, but the best Hoover for the consumer, I think, was definitely the Caddy Vac from the late 90s. The tools were easily accessible, had good filtration for the time, and was a great cleaner. It had a look that told you it was ready to destroy the dirt.

My grandparents owned a Caddy Vac from 1999 to 2008 and survived shag, small stones and a lot of dust. The fan needed to be replaced and the brush roll was going bad, so when I told my grandpa the price of replacement parts, they got a new vacuum. Which ended up being a 1989 Sears Hoover Convertible! I still miss the Caddy Vac.

Here's a picture of the Caddy Vac, operated by me when I was 5 years old!

 

[brandon_w_t]

You know the 150 really wAs so far ahead of it's time.


I wish I could use a nice one. My 2 model 150s are missing bags and don't run yet. But I'm getting there.

 

[silverlux]

All this '150' talk made me- - - - - -

[COLOR=#003366; font-size: medium]Get mine out and give it a spin through the house.  I have a few different kinds of carpet in the house, and it handles them all with great ease.  No fatigue for the user, either!  It's truly a 'star' in the Hoover crown!  The second you turn it on, you know it means business.  A joy, indeed![/COLOR]

 

[vacman117]

For me,

It would be the Hoover Decade 80. It has the Power Surge feature, bright lights, long cord, air freshener, and a very sturdy feel. With all that combined makes a fantastic cleaner in my eyes.

 

[air-waycharlie]

I'm in the...................

150 crowd. The design is perfect. The 2-speed motor is perfect. The cushion handle grip is perfect. The color scheme is perfect. The use and ease of attchments is perfect. The length of the cord is perfect. The weight is perfect. The height adjustor is perfect. The bag full indicator is perfect.

All in all, a wonderful piece of functioning artwork that holds up today......and CLEANS!

My runners up: 63,Citation 64, Slimline 66 and rare and beautiful 67.

 

[kenkart]

Charlie...

Don't you think it was much further ahead all the way around, than any other brand.

 

[electrolux~137]

 


 


 


<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; font-size: medium;">No offense to anyone, but I am not the huge, hope-to-die Hoover Fanatic that some people here are. And that's entirely because I saw so few of them growing up. </span>


 


<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; font-size: medium;">By a =huge= majority, most of the people in our area had Electroluxes. I'd say Kirbys came in second, and after that Hoover, Kenmore, Eureka, etc., and then the oddballs - Bee-Vac etc. (n.b., I never saw a single Fairfax or Compact until I moved to Los Angeles in 1980.)
</span>


 


<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; font-size: medium;">I will say, having met Stan Kann and spending so much time with him when he lived in Hollywood, I came to appreciate Hoovers in a way I never had before, and it was in his collection that I first saw (to my recollection) a Model 150.
</span>


 


<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; font-size: medium;">Of all the Hoovers, to me who, again, is not at all an expert or aficionado of that brand, I'd have to agree that -- all things considered -- Hoover's apex was reached with the Model 150.</span>


 


<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva; font-size: medium;">There's really not a single fault to be found with it, whether in terms of workmanship & construction, the groundbreaking design & appearance, its gently purring motor, or its efficient performance which, as some have noted, would stand up against almost any other vacuum cleaner from any era. Even the advertising for the 150 was top-notch.
</span>

 

[air-waycharlie]

I am at times perplexed by the advances of the Hoover 150 and the Air-Way twin motors at same, (or nearly the same), time frame.

The Dreyfuss designed Hoover 150 is, as I said is a functioning piece of art from the art deco era. It's simplicity, with wonderful performance, makes it a gem.

However, the pioneering design of the Air-Way Chief and Super Chief are right up there in terms of brillance. The fact that Air-Way had TWO motors with a beater bar type agitator and the incredible wood pulp cellulose disposable bag............well, where does one draw the line? (Hoover was shaking out cloth bags for years to come.)

Argruably, the Air-Way had more engineering but still maintained ease of use and with the hose sliding onto the hollow handle...........it was poetry in motion. I think the Hoover was better designed in terms of durability and that is why we see so many survivors today. It also had better marketing and a better sales force. Plus, the price was less than the Air-Way.

In cleaning contests at past conventions the Air-Way twin motored vacuums have tied or surpassed the Hoovers of the same era. Since the club does not differentiate between pre WWII uprights with beater bars, the Air-Way's had a competitive edge with the 2 motor system.

In terms of visual pleasure combined with design, I do think the Air-Way twin motors are unique and very much a, "one kind of machine". Put side by side in original,(or restored condition), I find the Hoover 150 and Air-Way Super Chief both just beautiful. That is why I have both and appreciate each for their uniqueness and wonderful cleaning abilities.

These two vacuums and companies will always be like comparing Cadillac and Imperial. Cadillac had the volume and survives today with a very good product line that has kept up with the changes and made it a survivor. They are now manufacuring cutting edge automobiles with innovative changes for 2012 and beyond. (Although TTI acquired Hoover and, "dumb downed", the product, the Hoover name is still VERY powerful with those making a vacuum purchase.)
Imperials were, like the high end European imports, hand made, hand built, hand crafted automobiles into the 1970's, but, were always lagging behind in sales and marketing. Ultimately, Imperial faded into the sunset like Air-Way has.

Was Hoover, "better"? That is subjective. The Imperials of yesteryear in mint shape draw huge sums of money..............as do the Air-Ways. You be the judge.

Charlie

 

[1926700]

i will say in responce.....

as some one once told me....Hoover used a basic formula and stuck with it for years and years, but at the same time made little adjustments and improvements. so when someone went to buy another Hoover i may be sightly better but is still was the same easy to use, and easy to maintain machine that was before it....and the Air Way might have been close or surpassed the Hoover....but the Hoover was Still so much better than other things on the market....like the Eureka Challenger, that was made to compete with the hoover head on, and Eureka believed that it could do just as good as the 150. but the 150 had a better designed fan and a better brush roll, and Eureka did not really clean as good as a Hoover till the Automatic upright was released in 1947....and Hoover certainly out cleaned Delco, GE, Westinghouse, Premiere etc.....

 

[oreck_xl]

That's all very true, but companies like G.E., Westinghouse, Delco, etc. manufactured other electrical appliances besides vacuum cleaners, so it wasn't their main focal point. Hoover dabbled in appliances, but it was never the backbone of the company. Other makes competed with Hoover by offering vacuum cleaners in the low price field. And to an extent, it worked. I'm sure there are dozens of makes that went out business due to the depression. But for me, I'd say the best Hoover vac was the Dial-A-Matic. Despite its flaws, it was the originator of the clean air design, and the suction is adequate.

- Hershel