Electrolux Model S is rescued!

[gibrocks]

I have been wanting a small vintage Electrolux to use around my apartment, and to clean my car. I was looking for a Model E, L or S. I found this model S on Facebook Marketplace. The owner had donated all of her other vacuums to Goodwill, and when they came to pick them up, they cut the cords off to get the copper. Undoubtedly, the vacuums went into the garbage. This model S only came with its original hose, which is completely shot, and an absolutely nasty original cloth bag. The motor is still working great, and suction is good. The vacuum is pretty grimy, with some rust, so I have to give it a good cleaning. At some point, a new plug was put on, but the cord looks to be original. I ordered a new plastic hose, so it should work out great. This is the original photo in as-is found condition. When I polish it up and try to remove some grime, I'll post a new photo. Does anyone recognize the hose as original? I'm not sure, but someone on here will know. I'll keep it, and maybe someday it can be revitalized.

 

[electroluxxxx]

The Model S is a pretty uncommon machine to come by, it was a no frills and as basic as it gets machine. Charles Richard would have a good amount of info on this machine! It is great to see that you rescued it, and I am sure you will do a wonderful job on its restoration.

 

[electrolux137]

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The Model S is a very cute and dainty Electrolux! That is the original hose.

 

[gibrocks]

My Electrolux Model S cleaned up!

I scrubbed the dirt and grime off of the Electrolux Model S that I rescued, and it definitely looks better. I used a Magic Eraser and Peek metal polish. I got most of the grime and scars off, but not all, but that is the best that I can do. Maybe some day it can be painted, when I research on this website on how to best do it. Thanks to Mr. Lester's pictures he posted, I noticed that my vacuum is missing the front brush clip on the front of the handle. Would anyone have an extra one from a Model E, L, R or S lying around? I would gladly pay for it. I searched on Ebay and the web, and couldn't find one.

I must say that I really miss Mr. Lester's website. His website is how I learned so much about Electrolux. I can understand why he took it down, but it was the best way to learn about Electrolux. You did a fantastic job!

 

[electrolux137]

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Sorry for the inconvenience about my web site. I took most of it down for two reasons. First, the entire site needs a drastic overhauling. Second, people kept "borrowing" my photos for their own use. I can't tell you how many times I came across eBay listings with my photos on them. Someone in China even went so far as to copy and paste my ENTIRE web site into a Chinese site.

 

[detroitdirtbag]

Try the E,ectrolux guy I used, his info in in my F thread. Be clear with him what you want .
I noticed the stealing of photos, most sites let spider it’s in, most ad company’s steal all your pics. Google has a lot of my stuff if you do searches. You just can’t stop it it seems.

 

[detroitdirtbag]

I used Griots Garage fine hand polish on the paint on my f, it came out nice. It won’t remove paint, just dirt and scratches.

 

[suckolux]

I still thank you Charles for that site, had I not written to you I would not possibly have found this place!

 

[stricklybojack]

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I just posted an ad in shopper-square thatI came across on craigslist for this vacuum. Not mine but looks nice!

 

[jo]

We have one too!

My parents have an S, it was my Grandmother’s she bought new and she passed it on to my Mother when she got married in 1960. It has seen the test of time and is quite beaten up as my Dad uses it in the basement. It still works. It’s had 3 hose and needs another now as the last is covered in tape. I always loved the machine for its light weight. The switch has been replaced 2 or 3 times as well as they wear out. I have the original dusting brush and the original rug and floor tool got accidentally given away with a 1205 we got off someone’s trash and fixed up and gave to my Aunt’s lifelong best friend who we think may have been her life partner but things like that weren’t revealed back in the 80s or earlier.

I know these are rare and I’m a bit upset my Dad is careless with it in his workshop as last winter when I visited it had two new Significant big dents in it. But I insisted on using it to clean the basement stairs and some of the basement to give it a run. It didn’t start at first but I got an idea to see if the motor would turn and put a screwdriver in through one of the bag compartment holes to see if I could move the fan and it moved. I plugged it back it and tried it and it came right on this time. Not sure why it did that but was nervous for a minute there that it had died and with it being so battered and they have a model L in the basement too, I was worried it would end up getting thrown out.

We’ve also replaced the cloth bag once as the original developed small holes.

I replaced the cord in the 80s with a cord from a Silverado so it is genuine...the original worked but it was kinda hard plasticy....but at least it’s an original Electrolux cord.

Fans were replaced too at one point and are thicker than the usual ones.

Notice in the instructions that a crevice tool was never included with the S. My Mom stopped using the S in the house in the early 70s after yellow gold carpet was put in the house and she bought an L with the power nozzle. At the time she bought the L I think the Electrolux man likely replaced the hose on her S as it was the model L blue with white stripes. At that time the vac was in its teens so makes sense but I was only 3 or 4 and I don’t remember any other hose but the blue one. So, since the early 70s it has always been the basement vac to clean the basement or vacuum out the cars. I’m guessing between it having no power nozzle and if the hose was bad, this prompted my Mother to call out the Electrolux man for a new one. Her mother and Sister all had changed to models with the power nozzle previously and told her it was al definite improvement.

Your cleanup looks good.

I would not repaint it...almost always repaint jobs chip easily and end up a mess. I’ve done it to my F and am sorry I did.

I think I have a tool clip, I’ll have to look in my extra parts tub. Odd that someone took it off. Did you know the clip on the other side of the handle over by the switch is to hold the cord from unraveling once you wrap it around the back of the machine body for storage?

You can use the C paper bags with the S. Just make sure the rubber cone is on the inside of the bag door. I have often wondered what side of the bag door is correct for “up” since the design is at an angle. It will fit either way, but the look changes!

My Grandmother always had two Electrolux’s one for upstairs and one for downstairs and usually had a top model and a no frills model.

For a year in 1984 the S was passed to my Sister In Cincinnati far from its home in NJ but I swapped it out a year later for a model G convincing her it was better although heavier. I wanted the S back since I was still living at home. In 1995 the S made a pilgrimage back to its original first house when my Aunt ended up quite ill in the hospital (she had inherited my Grandmother’s house) and was astranged from the family. We discovered she had not cleaned the house for years...It was a mess. Not junky at all, she didn’t collect anything just very, very dirty. I was visiting for the holidays at the time so of course I was helping clean the place and I took the S with us because it had the cloth bag as we would have filled bag after bag very quickly with the Golden Jubilee and Olympia in the house and didn’t want to ruin the auto controls picking up the heavy superfine powdery dirt in the carpets.

Once in a great while I’ll see one on eBay, but not often.

So while this model is a no frills model on the one hand, it was never Short of being a real powerful workhorse Straight suction Electrolux at all.

Jon

 

[gibrocks]

Oh, the memories!

I also have a special attachment to this particular vacuum. My grandmother had one when I was very young in the early 1970s, and she gave it to my mother when she married my stepfather. We didn't have it very long because I had the bad habit of taking things apart, so I managed to #$*@ it up and my mom probably threw it away (!). I guess my grandmother gave it up since she had a new Hoover Dial-A-Matic that she loved. The early 1970s is also when vacuum cleaners became embedded in my consciousness. I grew up in southern West Virginia, and Electrolux salesman still made house calls then. I still remember when one gave me a postcard with the then-new Model 1205 on it. I wore that card out looking at it! For me, Electrolux is the vacuum that gives me a thrill. Plus, I was surrounded by them. Apparently, southern West Virginia was a prime territory for Electrolux, because I don't remember many other types of vacuum cleaners. My aunt had a Model G, which filled me with awe at even that young age, and my uncle had a Model AF with the optional cordwinder, which for some reason looked scary to me. If I am obsessed with Electrolux, I came by it honestly.

 

[jo]

Ha! Me too!

Yeah, there were so many in my family and they really are easy to use and durable that it just seemed to become a fascination of mine as well. I remember the door to door salesman coming as late as in the mid 80s but definitely less frequently than years past.

Jon

 

[real1shep]

Isn't this.....

the model the salesmen used let suck itself(the tank part) to the bottom of a table?

Kevin