Big Box stores- Buy a new Vac, We will show you how to ruin it...

[mpbyrd]

I see this all to common at many different stores, vacuum displays with carpet fresh right under them. Years ago I recall someone telling me that these company's work together to boost each other's sales. Buy a new vacuum, use carpet fresh to "refresh" your carpet, carpet fresh ruins the vac, customer comes and buys a new vac sooner. Move more products, make more profit. It all makes since. I have had so many vacuums people have brought to me for repair because it's "making a racket" and the fans are caked in fine powder, the vacuums is covered in the white dust and brush roll ends melted due to all of the powder seizing the bearings. I just can't seem to get why people don't realize how bad this stuff is. It's not only ruins your vacuum but your carpet as well. I have a cousin who buys a vacuum almost every year due to carpet fresh. I have taken one of my Kirbys over there and literally almost filled the bag, most of it being left over powder from her floor and she still uses the stuff. I caught my grandmother using it with her Rainbow and about died lol. She was oblivious to what it did and stopped once I showed her how it could ruin her beloved Rainbow. Yes, higher end machines can withstand it longer but it ruins them as well. My point is why would people continuously buy something that is destructive and is causing us to fill our landfills even quicker?

 

[crazykirbydude]

I'll Tell You Why...

Money, Money, Money! Mostly CEOs that want more money because two Rolls Royces won't do.

 

[mark40511]

Ugh

So true - people are making their houses NASTIER by using this gross stuff....Clogging their bags/filters and ruining their vacuums. It's all negative. There's nothing positive about the stuff. Not surprising if that conspiracy is true.

 

[mpbyrd]

It saddens me...

That money and profit have driven us into this disposable society we are today. Vacuum cleaners used to be considered as an appliance you keep for years such as a washer or dryer. Now people consider them a disposable appliance and by them every year or so. I have seen several reviews on cheaper vacuums with people saying "if I only spend $50 a year I will be happy..." but yet we are producing more trash than ever.

 

[human]

"Love My Carpet" = "Kill My Vacuum"

There was a brand of that carpet freshener crap called "Love My Carpet". I'm not sure if it's still being made, but I remember ads for it on TV in the '70s and '80s. That's why I call that stuff "Kill My Vacuum". It seems to be particularly popular with people who smoke and/or have smelly dogs as the power, which is really nothing but heavily perfumed baking soda, masks the odor of both.

When I lived in an apartment complex, I used to rescue and rehabilitate vacuum cleaners left beside the dumpsters. Every last one of them was absolutely caked with carpet powder and usually dog hair and their overly full bags were like sandbags. The rehabilitation process usually entailed cleaning the carpet powder out of it and replacing the bag and belt. The last vacuum cleaner I rescued was my Kirby Gsix. Its bag must have weighed 5 pounds! It's still running strong and trouble-free today.

The other thing manufacturers do to catch people up in the endless replacement cycle is to add unnecessary circuit boards to their products. These are really little more than self-destruct mechanisms, intentionally designed as a weak link to disable otherwise durable appliances. Those circuit boards are overpriced and manufactured on a schedule of a rapid obsolescence, specifically to prevent said appliances from being repaired.

I just encountered this on my range. The oven control board went out and is no longer available. Interestingly enough, all of the components on that control board are still available so my home warranty company had it sent out to be rebuilt--replacing every micro switch and relay, along with the cosmetic overlay. The only thing that will still be original when it comes back will be the chassis, at which point the stove should be good for another 20-25 years. Take that, Kenmore!

 

[mpbyrd]

Very good point,

Those circuit boards are extremely annoying. Pretty much all of Hoovers new china made crap has that. I have had many of the canisters that are just piles of useless junk now due to circuit boards burning up.

 

[vexorgtr]

Does it really???

If a vacuum is designed with the motor after the bag and the filter, other than clog the bag will this really destroy it?

 

[human]

Carpet powder is mostly baking soda, which is abrasive and will wear down moving parts prematurely. It also promotes corrosion of metal parts, so yeah, it can do a lot of damage.

 

[paul]

Fyi ... Carpet Fresh was introduced by the WD-40 Company in 1976, and Love My Carpet debuted in 1979.

Common ingredients of manufactured carpet fresheners are benzyl benzoate (sold under the brand name Scabanca and used as a medication and insect repellant); sodium aluminosilicate (widely used as food additive E-554 for its anticaking properties); sodium bicarbonate (baking soda); sodium sulfate (used as a filler); and perfumes.

______

Using a vinegar mist on the carpet periodically is one of the most effective and vacuum cleaner-safe treatments of neutralizing odors in between regular carpet shampooing or extracting.

 

[myles_v]

Look at the package for Febreze carpet powder... It is either manufactured by Bissell for Febreze or it is endorsed/recommended by Bissell.

Bissell even sells this product on their website! https://www.bissell.com/febreze-extra-strength-pet-odor-eliminator-carpet-powder-49w61

To top it all off? I bought a canister of the Gain scented Febreze carpet powder 1-2 years ago (I don't regularly use carpet powder, but I have used them in the past) and that stuff is a VERY fine powder. I truly believe that Febreze carpet powder was developed with Bissell specifically to destroy Bissell machines. Bissells already have some of the worst filtration designs as it is.

The powder was so fine that anywhere I applied it to on my carpet stayed white after multiple vacuumings.

 

[tolivac]

DON'T use the Febreeze or Gain powders or any that contain sodium carbonate or bicarbonate-they are corrosive to BOTH metal and plastic vacuums and parts-and that powder wrecks havoc if it gets into motor bearings-AGAIN----DON'T use it-with some vacuums use of the stuff invalidates the warranties.Use a product called Featherlyte instead-safe for both flooring and vacuums.No baking sodas or carbonates.

 

[jimjimmunster]

The Hoover 62 i recently got

was caked in that evil carpet powder. Now that I rebuilt it it runs like new. I scraped off that powder for 20 minutes. Why aren't vacuums meant to last anymore?

 

[tolivac]

The plastivac ,bagless vacuum builders want to you to buy a NEW one every year to keep them in business!

 

[human]

Jimjimmunster wrote: Why aren't vacuums meant to last anymore?

I reply: Because the companies that make them can't see past their next quarterly profit/loss statement. Vacuum cleaners, for the most part, are effectively no longer 'durable goods' but disposable products.

 

[luxkid1980]

I agree that Carpet Fresh and other similar powder-type products are bad news for vacuums, especially bagless models. The only product I have found that does not seem to have the issue of clogging up the vacuums with a powder is the Oreck Crystal Aroma II, which has the consistency of fine salt and is not powdery. I am sure there are other similar products on the market like the Oreck branded one, but I enjoy the fragrance of this product.

 

[crazykirbydude]

This video sums up the matter of plasticrap vacuums:

 

[crazykirbydude]

What about Dyson Zorb powder? I hear it comes in large clumps.

 

[tseg]

Doesn't the ultra-expensive Vorwek Kobald VK200 come complete with powdered freshener and a freshener spreader? Not sure if they are intentionally trying to destroy their own vacuum or this whole subject is an urban legend?

 

[tolivac]

Believe the Dyson Zorb is a dry carpet cleaner like Host or Capture.Wonder if that Vorwerk product is again-a dry carpet cleaner-not a deodorizer.